Revived Staff Organization speaks for staff concerns and advocates for professional development
This fiscal year, for the first time since 2014, the staff employed by VCU Libraries had an active organization within the governance structure to specifically represent the staff voice.
VCU Libraries had a Staff Organization for a number of years, originally called Staff Association. It disbanded in 2014. After a 2021 Shared Governance Task Force report recommended reconstituting Staff Org, the group reformed and 2023-24 was its first full year of operation.
Caroline Meyers, co-chair of Staff Org and research and collection specialist, discussed the revival of the organization. “Several people worked to look at the archives of the former staff organization and also to think about what we would want to see differently. What does a staff organization look like? They wrote a new set of bylaws and envisioned what the group would do.”
In 2022, the Staff Organization Implementation Work Group was charged to develop recommendations for a staff organization in response to the Shared Governance Task Force report that concluded “there is great interest in increasing support for employees to participate in existing and future groups (standing and ad hoc) and decision-making processes, in recognition of the benefits gained by exchanging ideas and perspectives and fostering personal and organizational relationships.”
The new organization focuses on staff advocacy, equity, respect, community engagement and professional development. The group also serves as a bridge between staff and administration, increasing communication regarding issues affecting and involving staff. The organization has made strides in creating resources and establishing its structure, with ongoing efforts to support staff development and community building.
An important focus has been on professional development. Highlights included:
- Collecting and sharing information about professional development and membership opportunities on campus and beyond. The new intranet page includes information on organizations, listservs, job sharing and upcoming professional development opportunities.
- Reminding staff of available funding for continuing education through VCU’s tuition benefit program. The libraries also make available $500 to each staff member for their professional development for attending conferences or workshops.
- Working with the Emergency Planning Committee to establish a de-escalation task force to explore approaches and training for staff facing difficult or challenging interactions with patrons.
- Starting the Student and Hourly Employee Supervision Guidelines Group that collects resources to improve guidelines and practices for hiring and supervising student and hourly employees.
- Organizing staff development days that featured lightning talks from staff about various projects, a benefits overview with VCU Human Resources and two sessions with an Employee Assistance Program representative on how to deal with challenging people and how to give feedback.
Dillon Thomas, co-chair of the organization and research and collections specialist, highlighted the group’s role in professional developmental opportunities. “We want to have as many opportunities as possible for people to pursue avenues to success in both their personal professional lives and their jobs,” he said. “And I think that the resources we’re putting together are going to be useful for folks going forward.”
Kathy Bradshaw, associate dean for organizational development, who serves as administrative liaison to Staff Org, emphasized its role in advocating for staff and promoting equity among employees. “As a part of the shared governance process, it’s helpful to have an organization that represents a specific constituency,” she said. “That doesn’t mean that everyone’s voice isn’t important. But when you’re looking at a group that is comprised of people in the same job classification, meaning staff versus faculty, it is not unreasonable to expect that because those two employee groups are governed by different sets of rules, some of the needs that staff have would be different from the needs that faculty have. One example is the career pathing initiative, which is only applicable to staff. When it was rolled out, people were excited and they wanted to know how this was going to apply to them. Having an organization that can focus on those kinds of questions and that can ask their membership, ‘What is important to you? What would you like to see?’ is important to the libraries.”
Staff Org’s structure includes committees and work groups, focusing on specific areas such as documentation or career development. The organization represents collective staff interests. It offers a platform for staff to discuss issues and propose solutions and aims to build on past efforts by addressing current staff needs by fostering communication and community within the libraries.
Liza Hazelwood, the organization’s communications chair and lead collections care technician, discussed the role of Staff Org within the libraries organization. “Our mission is to serve as a conduit between staff and other parts of the library and different organizations, working groups, and councils, and to figure out what it is that staff want or need. We can also be a place for staff to feel community with themselves, to come together and talk to each other about different things that are going on in their different departments, and see if there are common problems that they can work together to fix.”
Future goals and ongoing work involve expanding professional development opportunities, expanding subgroups to address particular staff needs, and ensuring a smooth continuation of the Staff Org as it elects new leadership each fall.
Categories Community, Faculty/Staff, Leadership, Librarians at Work