Open letter from Staff Council Executive Board

May 4, 2021

University Relations

Dear UAF staff members,

The UAF Staff Council Executive Board has been monitoring how the UA system office is approaching the return to work for UA employees. 

We have three goals with this message. The first is to urge all staff to provide feedback to the Post-COVID Workplace Team by filling out the employee experience survey, which is open until Friday, May 7. The results of this effort will have impacts on every workday going forward. You can also monitor the project's progress on their website

The second is  to make you aware of the challenges facing staff governance and shared decision-making with our leaders. 

The third is to encourage you to participate in and contribute to staff governance and other shared decision-making processes however you can. Join your Staff Council. Give public testimony during the UA Board of Regents meetings. Send your testimony and input to your representatives and Staff Council. 

As you may know, the UA Human Resources office has convened a Post-Covid Workplace Team to determine what our new “normal” will look like for employees returning to the workplace. 

UA leadership stated the team was composed of representatives from the system office and all three universities. While technically true, staff governance was not a part of selecting those individuals. Staff governance was not initially invited to be part of the leadership team until we explicitly requested to be directly involved.

Staff Council was established to represent you, the staff employee. Part III of Regents’ Policy commits the university to shared governance; however, over time UA leadership has struggled (or in some cases failed) to keep staff governance and shared decision-making a priority. This is shown by leadership not constantly implementing shared decision-making processes on important issues and decisions affecting staff.

Leadership states that employee engagement and feedback is critical to understanding this topic; however, there was no overt indication of leadership soliciting input from staff prior to the announcement and creation of this team. When Staff Council was made aware of this initiative, we insisted on a seat at the table. Having a team built to shape our future workplace without including any representation from staff governance demonstrates an ongoing trend to exclude shared decision-making, and staff governance.

Staff governance seeks a culture of shared decision-making where those who are affected are fully integrated in the process. While the university does practice shared decision-making in some areas, staff governance has observed a decrease in the use of truly inclusive shared decision-making processes. This may be partially due to everyone having more to do than hours in the day, but staff and staff governance must fight for their seat at the table in every decision that affects them. Anyone who has been charged with a decision must enlist those affected and engage with staff governance from the start to ensure the decisions we make are well informed and ultimately successful.

Staff Council is certainly aware that most staff have absorbed multiple jobs as a result of continued budget cuts, but until we as staff come together and stand up for ourselves, nothing will change and important decisions will continue being made without our input. Staff Council cannot do this without you, nor should we. You have a right to voice your opinion, and we all have an obligation to continue rebuilding our university.

We thank you for your participation,

UAF Staff Council Executive Board