Newsletters

USC Newsletters

• Spring 2024 Newsletter

  Dear Campus Community,
  
  As we are well on our way through a wonderful spring term, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the past year.
  
  USC has continued to build and foster relationships across campus. We have partnered with the Chief Diversity Officers (CDOs) and Human Resources on events throughout the year, learned about major institutional initiatives from members of the wider campus community, and had countless great ideas shared with us by staff colleagues.
  
  Over the last year, we advocated for updates to our time away benefits and proposed a new employee recognition awards structure.
  
  Our advocacy for a more equitable and inclusive time away policy led to an increase in the amount of vacation time hourly staff members earned regardless of length of service to the College, and additional shared time off that will enable us all to disconnect without coming back to a full inbox. We also received a less prescriptive bereavement and trauma leave policy that no longer defines the types of relationships that merit bereavement leave and, by recommendation from the Benefits Committee, eliminates the need for staff to use vacation time for a range of events, such as catastrophic damage to your home.
  
  Our proposal for a new employee recognition awards structure evolved into the U Make A Difference Colleague Recognition Program and worked with staff, faculty, and HR colleagues to make recommendations for the annual recognition award.
  
  We encourage members of the campus community to get involved through one of our three ad-hoc working groups focused on Employee Wellness, Employee Recognition, and Policy. If you are passionate about one of these areas, please reach out and let us know!
  
  If you are interested in joining USC, in June we will be holding elections for a representative from Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, ITS, and Dining.
  
  While we are tremendously proud of all we have accomplished in a little over two and a half years, it is critically important that we continue to listen to and learn from our colleagues across campus. To that end, please be on the lookout for the launch of USC office hours before the end of the spring term. We hope you stop by and share your ideas, thoughts, and suggestions!
  
  Thank you,
  Emily Brown and Mercedes Susi
  USC Co-Chairs

  WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU

  The goal of USC is to promote the best interests of Union College staff members. If you have any ideas for how we can help improve campus life for our staff colleagues, please reach out.
  
  Our community is diverse and we know that the more we connect and communicate, the healthier and more active we can be.
  
  Email usc@union.edu with your ideas!