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CSEA CONNECTION by Saodat Aziskhanova, CSEA President |
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The topic of my article in this issue of Chaparral is shared governance, the importance of participation in the decision-making process. Strengthening shared governance should be a priority for our chapter. Shared governance incorporates the views of faculty, students, administrators, and classified staff at all levels of decision-making. The CSEA Executive Board is in the process of updating the Blue List because we have people who retired, some whose terms have expired or have resigned and some who never attend meetings. Shared governance is a way of effective participation in decision making on the issues and policies which affect all of us. It is a process of open communication and feedback from all constituencies. I want to thank those who volunteered for the first time to serve on various committees, and those who renewed their terms. We still have some seats we need to fill in order to have full participation. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Frankie Strong in the Governance Office or me. Every decision, issue, and policy affects classified staff in one way or another. By engaging in effective and collaborative governance we can help shape our own future at the college. Decisions made in shared governance committees include budget planning, campus planning and development, so decisions made by shared governance have actual influence in all areas of the college. Some of you might say, “I don’t have time,” or “We are short on staff,” or even “I don’t know anything about this.” By active involvement we all can make a difference for our betterment. As you know, we have made some amendments to our Chapter Constitution and are waiting for approval by the regional CSEA office. If it is approved, our chapter will have a second vice president whose duties will be, among others, to monitor shared governance committees’ representation by the classified staff. He/she will receive reports and/or minutes, among some other duties, to monitor staff representation on the shared governance committees. The second vice president will also be responsible for assigning a proxy in a CSEA representative’s absence. So far CSEA’s participation in the governance process has been ineffective in that information has not been relayed to the membership. We are trying to make some changes in order to improve communication from the committees to the classified staff. All staff representatives should commit and take responsibility for informing the membership regarding issues discussed at the governance committees. While the final decision is made by the college President and/or the Board of Trustees, our participation is necessary and important. This is a time to take advantage of that power! & |
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