UT Staff Council (UTSC) Frequently Asked Questions

Organization | Meetings and Activities | Election Process

Organization

Q. How is the Staff Council organized?

A. Representatives to the Staff Council are nominated and elected from approximately 70 Staff Council districts. These districts follow the general UT Austin organizational structure, first by Vice-President portfolio, then by Dean. The districts are designed so there will be a Staff Council Representative for roughly every 100 employees.

Eligible staff members within each district nominate and vote for the Staff Council Representative(s) from their district. All Staff Council Representatives serve 2-year terms. Odd-numbered districts elect representatives in odd-numbered years, and even districts in even years. In districts with multiple representatives, the final decimal numbers indicate election years (i.e. the representative for district 160.1 is elected in odd years, 160.2 in even years).

The Staff Council members serve on internal standing, working, and ad hoc committees, and annually elect officers (Chair, Vice-Chair, Recorder/Secretary) and committee chairs.

The Chair and Vice-Chair of the UT Austin Staff Council serve as the campus representatives to the UT System Employee Advisory Council.

Please see the UT Staff Council Bylaws for more details on committees and the Council's structure.

Q. What district am I in, and who is my representative?

A. Please visit the "Who Is My Representative?" Web page (UT EID required).

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Meetings and Activities

Q. When does the Staff Council meet? Are the meetings open to anyone?

A. The Staff Council holds regular monthly meetings, usually the 3rd Thursday of the month, with the agenda set by the Executive Officers. See the upcoming meeting schedule.

The meetings are open to the public. Guests will be asked to introduce themselves at the start of the meeting.

Work time will be used for representatives to attend the monthly meetings. Council Representatives will also receive two (2) additional work hours per month for Council-related activities.

Q. Is two additional hours per month enough for UTSC reps to accomplish their work?

A. Not always, but the current implementation of the Council contains that limitation.

Q. I have an issue I'd like the Staff Council to review. What should I do?

A. Contact your district's Representative, who will help determine if the issue is appropriate for consideration by the Staff Council. Individual or office-specific issues may need to be dealt with through other methods, for which the Representative can provide assistance.

If the Representative agrees the issue is appropriate, they will submit the issue to the UTSC Issues Committee for review. The Issues Committee presents all submitted issues to the entire Staff Council at a regular meeting, and the Council votes whether or not to accept the issue for further review. In most cases, accepted issues are referred to one of the Council's standing or working committees for further investigation and action.

For more information on the issue submission process, see the Issues Process FAQ.

Q. What are some of the Staff Council's accomplishments so far?

A. These are a few examples of changes or improvements made as a result of UT Staff Council actions:

• Creation of an Employee Emergency Fund. This fund can provide limited financial assistance when staff members are unable to meet immediate, essential expenses because of a temporary hardship related to an emergency situation. Interested UT staff may call the Employee Assistance Program at 471-3366.
   
• Extension of the Staff Educational Benefit to UT Austin staff employees working at remote locations, such as the McDonald Observatory at Fort Davis or the Marine Science Institute at Port Aransas. These employees will now be provided an educational benefit to take classes at a local institution, equivalent in value to that provided staff working on the Austin campus.
   
• Alteration of the Funeral Leave Policy to provide time off to attend coworkers funerals.
   
• Improved working relationship with the UT Faculty Council and the Faculty Committee on Committees, resulting in more staff members included on University Committees.
   
• Improved communication with Parking & Transportation and UTPD, facilitating solutions to parking problems, and producing more regular radar checks and speeding enforcement in problem areas of campus.

Q. What is the role of Human Resource Services in the Staff Council?

A. When the Staff Council was created, HRS helped shepherd the implementation process and provided "seed" support: organization, advocacy, funding, clerical support. HRS' ongoing role is to provide the primary interface for communication between the Council and UT Austin administration, and technical or clerical support as needed.

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Election Process

Q. Who is eligible to nominate, vote and participate in the Staff Council?

• March 1 of each year is used as the official eligibility calculation date
   
• In order to nominate/vote in a UTSC election one must be:
  • Classified or administrative and professional staff
  • Below the level of director
  • Appointed one-half time or more for 6 months on the eligibility calculation date (note that this translates into appointment on or before the start of the current fiscal year - i.e., by September 1 of the previous calendar year)
     
• In order to run/hold office in the UTSC one must be:
  • Classified or administrative and professional staff
  • Below the level of director
  • Appointed one-half time or more for 1 year on the eligibility calculation date (i.e., appointed on or before March 1 of the previous calendar year)
     
• View your eligibility status on the "Who Is My Representative?" Web page (UT EID required).

Q. How are nominations made for the elections?

A. Staff Council elections are held in late spring. Prior to an election, nomination forms are made available online. Staff members in districts holding elections will be notified by email, or by campus mail when email is not an option. An eligible staff member may nominate themselves, or another eligible staff member from the same district. The nominee must sign the form to verify his or her interest in actively participating in Staff Council.

The names of the nominees will be validated to insure eligibility and alignment with the appropriate district, and a list of nominees by district will be available online before the election.

Q. How should nominees campaign for the election?

A. The intent of organizing the Staff Council into local districts is to allow staff members to know their respective representatives, so representatives will understand the localized issues of their coworkers.

In an effort for staff to know their nominees, each district is encouraged to hold an open forum meeting where staff will be able to meet and ask questions of the nominees. Information on the date, time and location of these open forums will be available from specific Staff Council district contacts.

Nominees are encouraged to prepare a one-page overview of their interests in and qualifications for serving as a representative. The overview should be distributed at the open forum. Nominees are discouraged from sending flyers or e-mail as part of their campaign effort, or using work hours to actively campaign (other than organized forums).

Q. How are the elections managed?

A. Eligible employees will receive information on the dates and process for elections.   Currently, elections are conducted online for employees with active email, and on paper ballots for employees without email access. In the case of a tie, a runoff election will be held within two weeks between the nominees receiving the highest number of votes.

Newly elected representatives begin their terms at the regular Staff Council meeting in May.