Early Bird

Staff Senate recap

Senators hear presentations on policy development and a new ITS client portal and conduct a first reading of the Staff Alternative Work Arrangements Policy.

By Lindsey Coulter

February 17, 2021

The Metropolitan State University of Denver Staff Senate met Feb. 9 to welcome several guest presenters and cover important updates.

Rebecca Reid, Staff Senate president, encouraged employees to refer to recent communications concerning the Auraria Campus point of dispensing and vaccine availability. Reid also highlighted the Staff Senate’s input with regard to ensuring an equitable vaccine rollout.

She reflected on the previous Staff Senate meeting, which welcomed several student leaders and employees to present the Safer Spaces Resolution.

“I want to remind us of President Janine Davidson’s call to put the problem on one side and all of us on the other,” Reid said. “I know many of us are experiencing stress and uncertainty in our lives. We all have valid concerns for safety and security on campus, and resources – financial and emotional – are scarce. But we must be united and collectively seek solutions together.”

Reid also encouraged Staff Senate members and all employees to join in anti-racism and equity work happening on campus, acknowledging that diversity-equity-inclusion work is often shouldered inequitably by employees of color.

“The work of diversity-equity-inclusion and anti-racism expands outside the scope of a handful of academic departments and committees,” Reid said. “All of us at MSU Denver have a responsibility to do this critical work.”

University policy overview

Megan Jones, policy administrator, Office of the President, and Erica Buckland Anderson, director of curriculum and catalog, Office of the Provost, presented on University Policy Advisory Council activities and processes as well as important policies that are undergoing review.

MSU Denver policies are developed in alignment with the University’s mission, strategic plan and core values. The policy-development process generally includes:

Step 1: Identify the problem or need.

Step 2: Advocacy and sponsorship (identify policy champions and responsible offices; complete University policy template and cover memo).

Step 3: Review (policy-council review, community review, President’s Cabinet review).

Step 4: Approval and publication.

Step 5: Implementation and communication.

Step 6: Evaluation.

Following the inclusive development process, University administrative policies are approved by Davidson for operational policies and the MSU Denver Board of Trustees for governance policies.

Buckland Anderson gave a brief overview of the process to develop academic policies, which govern the organization and operation of academic programs, including policies pertaining to curriculum, subject matter and method of instruction, scholarly activity and those aspects of student experience which relate to the educational process. Most academic policies are housed in the University Catalog or the Policy Library as applicable.

The University Policy Advisory Council welcomes all Roadrunners. To see details and learn more about the policy-development, -review and -approval processes, please visit msudenver.edu/policy.

Members who are interested in joining the Staff Senate Policy Review Committee can contact Lisa Lanford at llanford@msudenver.edu.

Welcome to Edward Brown, chief of staff

Edward J. Brown, chief of staff to the University president, introduced himself to the Staff Senate and shared his background in K-12 and higher education, including working at Tuskegee University and North Carolina State, where he also served on that university’s Staff Senate.

“I’m here today to communicate that I am an asset for Staff Senate. One of the roles for the chief of staff is to serve as a relationship-builder and a conduit between the Office of the President and constituencies,” Brown said. “I am an advocate for staff and a thought partner with President Davidson, and I want to build relationships whereby staff feel they are appreciated and have a voice in shared governance.”

Members of the Staff Senate can contact Brown at 303-605-7448 or ebrow100@msudenver.edu.

New ITS client portal

Anna-Liisa Breit, service-desk manager for Information Technology Services, provided an overview and demonstration of TeamDynamix, a new ITS service-management tool and client portal. TeamDynamix will debut March 1, and Roadrunners can find more information in Tuesday’s Early Bird. TeamDynamix is more efficient, will not require users to connect to a VPN to request a service and will require only a single sign-on. The portal also gives users a different way to view and interact with the ITS service catalog and simplifies requests for support.

The new knowledge base will be structured similarly to the new service catalog to help users easily find information about different tools and systems and will include a search tool. It will also be easier to view and manage existing tickets and project requests, and existing open tickets will be migrated.

Learn more at www.msudenver.teamdynamix.com or TDXInitiatives@msudenver.edu.

Updates

• See Monday’s Early Bird for an update from the Budget Recommendation Committee.
• The Staff Alternative Work Arrangements Policy underwent a first reading during the Staff Senate meeting.
• The University Material Lending Policy is undergoing additional edits after review by the President’s Cabinet.
• The Protecting Children and Minors Policy and the Employee Employment and Recruitment Policy are still in development.
• The Signature Authority Policy is under community review.
• The Part-time and Student Sick Leave Policy is still undergoing Human Resources revisions.
• The Staff Senate Elections Committee has documented all elections processes and will propose bylaw changes regarding tiebreakers. The next election cycle will begin at midsemester.
• The Staff Senate Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee will share a draft of goals and guiding principles and is speaking with the University Office of Diversity and Inclusion about plugging in to existing efforts.
• The University Policy Advisory Council meets Thursday. Staff Senate members and other Roadrunners are encouraged to join.