APSAC, CSSAC formulate action items at joint meeting
October 14, 2013
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Kurt Stull (left), director of Operations and Maintenance, received the 2013 Community Spirit Award during the joint meeting of APSAC and CSSAC on Tuesday (Oct. 8). Stull is shown with Luis Lewin, vice president for human resources. (Purdue University photo/Steven Yang) |
Members of APSAC and CSSAC at their annual joint meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 8) discussed common interests, formulated a plan to address 10 action items and presented the Community Spirit Award.
The committees' common interests revolved around the topics of University benefits, communications to constituents, staff compensation, professional development and staff relations. The representatives broke into five groups, and each group then formulated two primary action items to address challenges specific to one topic.
During the next year, the committees each will work on five action items, say APSAC chair Beau Moore and CSSAC chair Cheryl Files. How the committees will split the action items will be determined at a later date.
Each month starting in December, Moore will report APSAC's progress at a CSSAC meeting and Files will report CSSAC's progress at an APSAC meeting. The idea, the chairs say, is to pool the committees' experiences and strengths to develop solutions to pressing challenges.
"During this year's joint meeting, we wanted to give each committee direction and focus on putting together actionable solutions to some of the common concerns we hear about," Moore says.
The 10 action items formulated were:
Benefits
* Establishing a voucher program for employees who wish to join non-Purdue fitness clubs and organizations.
* Establishing paid, short-term leave for employees to visit and learn from other units and organizations on campus.
Communications
* Further employing APSAC's monthly newsletter, The Sentinel; the committees' websites; and social media accounts to spread the word about each committee's activities.
* Conducting more informational presentations on campus about both committees.
Compensation
* Benchmarking University employees' pay rates against comparable rates in the private sector to identify wage compression.
* Expanding and encouraging consistency in the University's performance review system.
Professional development
* Increasing funding for APSAC and CSSAC grants.
* Establishing a campus-wide center for professional development
Staff relations
* Creating a system-wide awareness campaign for APSAC and CSSAC.
*Establishing a listserv for CSSAC members and constituents.
Moore and Files say they were impressed with how well the two committees worked together to formulate the action items. They look forward to seeing how each committee develops them into recommendations that could positively affect Purdue's working environment.
"We look forward to coming up with sustainable and effective solutions to benefit our constituents," Files says.
Also during the meeting, Kurt Stull, who is director of Operations and Maintenance, received the 2013 Community Spirit Award for his volunteer work at Almost Home Humane Society in Lafayette.
A joint creation of APSAC and CSSAC, the award is given to those who set a high standard for service, who encourage a sustained commitment to civic participation and who inspire others to make service a central part of their lives. It was established in 2011.
Stull has volunteered at the humane society since June 2012. He is a member of its board of directors, serves as a hands-on volunteer at its shelter and fosters pets in his home until they are adopted. Stull also regularly volunteers his time to complete necessary maintenance work and mechanical repairs at the shelter, according to his nomination materials.
Stull most enjoys fostering animals and using his professional skills to help the organization.
"My family enjoys fostering kittens and puppies because we get to socialize them and help them grow until they are old enough to be placed in adoption," he says.
"Secondly, my 20-plus years of experience with Purdue facilities allows me to share my skills with the staff at Almost Home to improve their own facilities, which ultimately improves the well-being of the animals during their stay at the shelter."
Writer: Amanda Hamon, 49-61325, ahamon@purdue.edu
