FY22 Chair Reflects on a Successful Year
It is a privilege and honor to represent the classified staff as the Chair of the University Classified Staff Council (UCSC) this year. The UCSC accomplished many achievements, by increasing our presence and having a positive impact at UTHealth Houston. My goal as UCSC Chair was to focus on giving back to our community. We hosted a successful donation drive for the Star of Hope, which took place from December 1 – December 16, 2021. Given the high volume of donations we received, the Star of Hope sent one of their large vehicles to collect the items. I was proud to see our council members and classified staff unite for this amazing community service event.
Our UCSC members are leaders throughout our institution that advocate for our classified staff. Our UCSC members discussed several important topics this year with our Executive Leadership. We invited various UTHealth Houston Leaders to our monthly meetings to discuss mentoring and professional development.
Our Communication Committee, chaired by Megan Everett, wrote over fifteen articles and sent three newsletters in FY22. The Communication Committee also increased our mailing list by 201 new subscribers this fiscal year. In addition, the Communication Committee emailed almost two thousand new classified staff employees and informed them about the UCSC.
Our Educational Awards Committee, chaired by Kevin Banks, Ashley Galvan, and Tara Green raised more than $32,000 this year and awarded scholarships to 30 students of classified staff. The Educational Awards Committee collected donations through several fundraising events and crowdfunding efforts. We held a virtual retreat on July 28, 2022, to honor the students and their parents.
Our Staff Recognition Committee, chaired by Michelle Balderas, held four virtual workshop sessions this year. Staff Recognition Committee hosted various speakers to discuss important topics from professional development to work-life balance. The Staff Recognition Committee created our first UCSC Staff Recognition Spotlight Award. The Spotlight Award objective is to recognize classified employees who display outstanding work performance across our 8 schools/ units. We received 35 nominations and selected five winners.
Our Election Committee, chaired by Alianna Talton, maintained our UCSC roster monthly. The Election Committee held our annual call for UCSC nominations from May 31- June 10, 2022. The Election Committee planned our first in-person retreat in two years.
Our Staff Development, chaired by Stephen Jones, held four virtual Brown Bag Sessions. These sessions provided important information and resources to our classified staff. The Staff Development Committee created a Leadership Development Course Survey to research the interest in professional development within our council.
I want to express my gratitude to every UCSC member, committee chair, and officer; each of you has an important role and responsibility to our University, our President, and Executive Leadership Team at UTHealth Houston.
I want to thank President Colasurdo, Mr. Kevin Dillon, and UCSC’s Executive Sponsor, Mr. Eric Fernette for supporting our council. With the support of our Executive Leadership Team, we can continue our mission and discuss important matters that affect the classified staff at UTHealth Houston.