On May 11, 2010 the Education Staff Council was presented with an Improving Our Workplace Award by University of Iowa Staff Council President Amber Seaton. Following is a transcript of President Seaton's remarks.
It is an honor today, as President of the University of Iowa Staff Council to recognize the College of Education Staff Council for having recently received an IOWA Award. Your council was nominated by Chris Annicella and Ann Farland from your College to recognize your ongoing dedication and commitment for open communication, collaborative contributions and consensus building within the College of Education. You have worked hard to fulfill the obligations and goals outlined in your council Bylaws and to improve your workplace and to be a voice for your constituency.
During this past year, your council worked diligently to provide your constituents, as well as other staff in your college, with many opportunities to participate and learn more about issues of importance on our campus. You, the Council, developed a series of FAQ sessions on such subjects as Benefit changes, Sustainability, and Comp and Class restructuring. As well, you developed a council email, extensive website with resources and links to other departments on campus. You have provided the staff in your college with a voice and respected their confidentiality by developing an anonymous SUGGESTION BOX form on your website which has been used not only by your Council, but by the Dean’s office to solicit new ideas for budget savings, nominations for our UI Staff Council and to receive additional comments and feedback on the Working at Iowa Survey.
Most recently, you acted upon your initial commitment to the Working at Iowa 2008 Survey by providing an open forum for discussion with the office of Organizational Effectiveness and Dean Damico from your college. In addition, you took suggestions from that open forum and prepared and organized Focus Groups for the Working at Iowa where staff could speak openly about concerns in their workplace. And, you formed an ad hoc committee to write a Focus Group report from notes taken during those focus groups and input provided by College of Education Staff. All participants of the Focus Group were welcomed and some provided input on the report before it was made final and shared with the Dean of your college. This Focus Group report not only outlined themes of the survey results for your college, but also shared staff’s desire to advocate for positive change and to develop an ad hoc committee to work on each theme of the report. As a council you have helped bring about initiatives for positive change within your own workplace.
In a short period of time, the College of Education Staff Council has made many positive contributions to your college and to the University of Iowa campus as well. The impact you have made is evident by a request from Provost Loh to meet with your council and a charge to you to nominate a staff representative to serve on the New Dean’s Search. Your council not only accepted the charge from Provost Loh, but also advocated and received a second staff representative on that very same Dean’s search committee.
Therefore, for these efforts, it is with the great gratitude of your nominator, your constituents and your UI Staff Council – that I am honored today to present these I.O.W.A. Awards to the College of Education Staff Council.