Staff Council Hosts First Town Hall

Georgia Tech’s Staff Council continued a run of firsts this year with its inaugural Town Hall event on May 21.

Of course, in an effort to serve all staff, not just those who work normal business hours, the Staff Council hosted not one, but three town hall sessions: at 6 a.m., noon, and 3 p.m. The morning and afternoon events were for Facilities staff who work alternate shifts, and the lunchtime event was open to all staff. 

In total, a few hundred staff members took the opportunity to attend and voice their feedback in one of the three open forums. At each event, the Staff Council opened by introducing its members, providing an overview of its committees, and then opening up for questions from the audience.

“It was a diverse range of folks who attended, but we did notice themes from all three,” said Rick Clark, chair of the Staff Council and director of Undergraduate Admission. Some of the topics mentioned at multiple sessions included bereavement and maternity leave, campus transit issues, and maximum compensation for internal promotions. 

While some of these issues are specific to Georgia Tech, others will require working with staff councils across the University System of Georgia (USG) to find resolutions. Clark said Tech’s council is willing to take on the challenge.

“The issues that are applicable across the board — regardless of where on campus you work or your classification — those are the ones we are focused on attempting to impact and improve, as they likely have the most traction,” he said. 

The issue of maternity leave was also raised at the president’s Staff Town Hall on May 7. The current policy comes from the USG, but Georgia Tech has worked with the University of Georgia in the past to formalize a request for an update to the policy. Now that Georgia Tech has its own Staff Council, it is represented among the others in a collective USG group. Tech’s Staff Council is also working with the Office of Human Resources (OHR) to look at the policy, how it’s being used on campus, and how it may be affecting employee retention. The policy that caps compensation for internal promotion is also under discussion with OHR.

Other town hall questions covered topics such as domestic partner benefits, additional summer camps at lower rates, and parking costs. Though the majority of questions were aimed at making improvements, staff also expressed gratitude to council members for their work so far.

“Thank you for all you’re doing and for representing us — this is great,” said Ann Blasick, corporate relations manager in the Scheller College of Business, following a suggestion she brought forth about campuswide mentoring. Blasick suggested mentoring as a solution to the “silos” that often form and keep various groups of campus employees from interacting with one another.  

Clark hopes to hold at least three town halls per year but recognizes that they will need to have items to report on to merit holding an event. He’s encouraged by the enthusiastic response the council has received thus far. 

“The big thing I’ve taken away so far is that people are invested. They love Georgia Tech and they really want it to be a better place to work. Maybe there are frustrations and things they wish they could change, but they’re showing up and willing to put in the work to see it change. You’d hate to work at a place where people think things will never change or don’t care enough to make things better.”

In the fall, elections will be held to replace six members of the council, which was structured to have representatives rotate out in bunches every two years. Three administrative/professional seats, two skilled trades seats, and one information technology seat will be open for next year. 

In addition to holding town halls, the Staff Council is in the process of setting up a physical office with walk-in hours, where employees can stop by and talk with representatives and committee members. Staff can also submit feedback or questions anytime via email at staffcouncil@gatech.edu. Learn more about the council and view more follow-up from the
May Town Hall under News and Events at www.staffcouncil.gatech.edu.