CSSAC chair Q&A: Jeremy Wampler

Jeremy Wampler, 2019-20 chair of the Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee. (Purdue University photo/Rebecca Wilcox) Download image

Jeremy Wampler took office Sept. 1 as the 2019-20 chair of the Clerical and Service Staff Advisory Committee. He is a pharmacy technician at Purdue’s Veterinary Teaching Hospital. Here, he answers questions from Purdue Today about his plans in leading CSSAC.

How long, and in what positions, have you worked at Purdue?

I started at Purdue in October 2008, working in the Veterinary Teaching Hospital as a small animal receptionist. In the spring of 2012, I moved to a pharmacy technician role for the hospital. The Veterinary Teaching Hospital is an amazing place to work, and I have learned so much over the past decade working here.

Why did you decide to become involved in CSSAC? In what capacity/on which committees have you served?

My supervisor actually said something to me about CSSAC. I was completely unaware of what CSSAC actually did until then. In years past, I have received the flyers through campus mail, but never really put a lot of thought into the idea. I am glad my supervisor brought this to my attention and encouraged me to apply. (Any supervisor reading this, please, encourage the growth of your employees. It is amazing what they can accomplish with just a little nudge.)

As for the committees I have served on, I was the vice chair for CSSAC’s Professional Development subcommittee, which assists with the selection process for awarding the clerical and service employee and dependent grants. This subcommittee also selects the winner of the Clerical and Service Excellence Award, which is presented to a recipient annually. I have also served on the University Policy Committee, which has been one of my favorites, along with the 2020 Combined Health Plan Committee and the Executive Committee within CSSAC.

What did you learn as vice chair or as a committee member that will assist you as chair this year?

I gained a lot of self-confidence during my time as vice chair. Mandy Smith is a great mentor and has done a lot for this committee, and I hope that I can lead this committee with the drive and passion that she had during her time as chair.

What will CSSAC be working on during the upcoming academic year?

I’m looking forward to picking up where Mandy left off. She has done an amazing job reorganizing the committee. We recently just added 11 new members to our committee, with the majority of them representing the service staff. We are excited to see our committee at capacity with representation equal on both the clerical and service staff sides.

I really want to find a way to help boost the confidence of the service staff at the University. We as a committee have been working on ways to communicate with the service staff to let them know we are here for their suggestions and concerns.

What are your own goals as the chair of CSSAC? What do you hope to have contributed to CSSAC and to the University once your term ends?

Again, I am looking for a way to make the service staff here feel more appreciated. It’s always the people behind the scenes that go unnoticed. I really think the administration is trying their best to recognize the employees. The majority of the clerical and service staff was able to be a part of the bonus this year. That was an amazing thing that the administration did for its employees, and we all appreciate things like that.

I really hope that we can all be connected and respected as a family at Purdue. That’s what I really want. I want the administrative assistant or the custodian who is talking to a friend or family member to say without hesitation that Purdue University is a great place to work.

What would you like faculty and staff to know about CSSAC?

I really would like to tell the faculty and staff that CSSAC is a wonderful way to have your suggestions heard. I know last year that there were some issues with benefits, the new Job Family Structure and issues with the service staff morale. I know that is definitely not the intentions of the administration here at Purdue and if we didn’t have committees like CSSAC or APSAC they wouldn’t know about the issues.

CSSAC is here to help create a strong bridge that connects any divides between the support staff of the University and its administration. We act as an advisory committee to let the administration know how changes may affect us (the support staff).

It really is a great committee to be involved with.

How can faculty/staff get involved with CSSAC?

Getting involved is easy. If you are an Administrative and Operational Support or Police, Fire, and Skill Trade employee in the new Job Family Structure, you can apply when we have enrollment. This is usually in June.

If you have questions, concerns, or suggestions you can fill out a bridge form online at https://www.purdue.edu/cssac/Bridge/index.html or email us at CSSACexec@purdue.edu.