Staff Advisory Committee

Guidelines

I. PURPOSE

Assists CANR leadership to effect strong, respective relationships between staff, administrators, and faculty by:

1. Providing a direct communication link to the Dean regarding issues and opportunities of importance to CANR staff members
2. Gathering information from CANR staff about matters which will help CANR be a more effective organization
   
   1. A variety of information gathering measures shall be employed such as surveys, individual and group discussions, etc.  
      
      1. Information presented to the Dean’s office will focus on issues, opportunities, and themes; the Committee will preserve the anonymity to ensure all staff have a safe environment to provide feedback  
3. Fostering conditions which lead to these ends, including effective communication, systems efficiencies, training within the college, team building, and diversity  
4. Makes final recommendations to CANR Human Resources Director for staff awards

Serves as a parallel group to the CANR College Advisory Committee.   

The CANR Staff Advisory Committee does not address contract issues or represent staff interests in such matters, as the majority of CANR staff members are covered by collective bargaining agreements.

II. MEMBERSHIP

Representatives

1. All regular, benefits-eligible staff in the College are eligible to serve on the committee. Those not eligible to serve include temporary, on-call, faculty, academic staff, and student employees.
2. Each designated unit within CANR may elect a representative to serve on the SAC
   
   1. If a representative is not elected within the unit to serve, a member may be appointed by the committee to serve
3. The following units shall have representation on the committee
   
   1. Academic Departments
      
      • Agricultural, Food, and Resource Economics (AFRE)
      • Animal Science (ANS)
      • Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering (BAE)
      • Community Sustainability (CSUS)
      • Entomology (ENT)
      • Fisheries and Wildlife (FW)
      • Food Science and Human Nutrition (FSHN)
      • Forestry (FOR)
      • Horticulture (HOR)
      • Plant, Soil, and Microbial Sciences (PSM)
      • School of Packaging (PKG)
      • School of Planning, Design, and Construction (SPDC)
   2. Non-Academic offices (one representative from each of the following numbered groups –representation may rotate through different units in the group if more than one is listed):
      
      • All south campus farms (animal and plant farms)
      • All off-campus research stations
      • Kellogg Biological Station  
      • AgBioResearch Director’s Office, Land Management
      • ANR Communications & Marketing  
      • CANR External Relations
      • ANR Information Technology
      • CANR Administration (includes dean’s office & budget office); Office of Academic and Student Affairs; Institute of Agricultural Technology; CANR Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
      • MSU Extension
   3. Ex-officio representatives (without vote)
      
      • CANR Director of Human Resources (Gagnier)
      • CANR HR Admin position (Chester)
      • CANR DEI committee – staff representative

Responsibilities of members

1. Actively participate in all scheduled meetings for the committee  
   
   1. Members who are unable to attend a meeting shall notify the Chairperson or the Vice Chairperson prior to the meeting
   2. Any member who has three (3) unexplained absences within a single year shall be automatically dropped from the committee  
      
      1. The Committee shall submit the names of any dropped members to the Dean
      2. The Unit Administrator will appoint a replacement to serve for the balance of the term
2. Active engagement in Subcommittees and / or working groups
3. Electing and seating the Leadership Team; all other committees filled on a voluntary basis from existing committee members

Term of service

1. Committee members are elected to a three-year term
2. The committee term begins August 1 and ends July 31
3. Committee members may not serve more than two consecutive terms (re-eligible after being off one (1) term). However, if at any time there are not eligible committee members willing to serve, then members who have served two consecutive terms may serve additional terms.

III. SUBCOMMITTEES/WORKING GROUPS

Staff Engagement

1. Review summary of All-Staff event and provide email to Communications sub-committee for distribution to staff
2. Discuss with MSUE Annual Meeting contacts about ways SAC could be involved
3. Discuss with DEI committee ways SAC can be more involved – i.e. coordinate/collaborate on staff activities
4. Plan engagement events and execute, including annual all-staff meeting event, others like sporting tickets, fundraising/community service

Recruitment & Management

1. Responsible for communicating with unit administrator when the representatives term is ending, or when a vacancy exists.
2. Review and determine if current committee unit composition is representative of CANR staff.
3. DEI Representative
   
   1. Send DEI recruitment email
   2. Coordinate DEI committee member initiative between staff person and DEI committee
   3. Obtain quarterly reports from staff rep on DEI committee  
4. CAC Representative
   
   1. When vacant responsible to recruiting SAC member to attend CAC meetings and report

Awards

1. Review existing staff awards
2. Benchmark against other MSU college staff award programs
3. Create and implement staff award/recognition program
4. Manages the award process – nominations, review submissions, and make recommendations to the full committee for awards

Communications

1. Update SAC website presence
2. Submit SAC information (event, award, department rep requests, etc.) to CANR Communications & Marketing for inclusion in Dean newsletter
3. Explore new channels for communication that may be relevant to staff engagement (e.g. social media, etc.)  
4. Surveys/polling 

IV. APPOINTMENTS - FULL COMMITTEE

1. Each unit shall appoint one representative to serve on the Staff Advisory Committee.
   
   1. Units are responsible for defining the process on how representatives are selected
2. In April each year Recruitment & Management subcommittee shall send out invitations to departments whose representative term will expire the following July 31 to name a representative
3. All current regular staff in the College (except temporary, on-call and student employees) are eligible to serve as a representative
4. A listing of the current committee membership will be provided to all support staff in the College each year and/or when it changes via the SAC’s website.

V. SAC LEADERSHIP

Overview  

1. Responsibilities
   
   1. Liaison with CANR Dean’s office
   2. Submits annual budget to the Dean’s office
   3. Plans and leads monthly committee meetings

Roles and Responsibilities

1. Chair Emeritus
   1. After completing the one-year term, the Chairperson becomes the Chair Emeritus
   2. Serves in an advisory capacity to the SAC Leadership to ensure successful transfer of knowledge
   3. Solicits nominations for committee officers for the coming year
   4. Serves in place of the Chairperson when the Chairperson and Chair-Elect are unavailable.
2. Chairperson
   
   1. After completing the one-year term, the Vice Chairperson becomes the Chairperson
   2. Leads Committee and Leadership Team meetings, including the preparation and distribution of meeting agendas
      
      1. In consultation with the Secretary to ensure promotion of action items from minutes
   3. Liaisons with the Dean’s office, on behalf of the Committee
3. Vice Chairperson
   
   1. Leads Committee and Leadership Team meetings, including the preparation and distribution of meeting agendas when the Chairperson is unable to do so
   2. Liaisons with the Dean’s office, on behalf of the Committee, when the Chairperson is unable to do so
4. Secretary
   
   1. The Secretary creates and maintains all records for the Staff Advisory Committee meetings, decisions, and will:
      
      1. Assist the Chair in preparation of Committee meetings, either by distributing meeting agendas and/or arranging meeting locations
      2. Take minutes for Committee and Leadership subcommittee meetings
      3. Distribute minutes to membership, update minutes as necessary, and once approved, upload to SAC team’s folder  
5. Treasurer
   
   1. The treasurer plays an integral role in engagement events by working with the SAC subcommittees to prepare the annual SAC budget.  The budget is shared with and discussed by the Leadership Team and ultimately presented to the Dean.  The Treasurer will:
      
      1. Work with the Staff Engagement and Awards subcommittees to draft the annual events budget
      2. Review the draft budget with other members on the Leadership Team
      3. Present the final budget to the Dean
      4. Work closely with the Staff Engagement and Awards subcommittees to ensure events are within budget

Elections/Appointments

1. Any member from the Staff Advisory Committee can nominate themselves or other members of the committee for open positions on the leadership team.    
2. Elections will be conducted by the Chairperson Emeritus, via online survey of current SAC members
   
   1. The call for nominations is put forth at the April meeting.   
   2. The online ballot will be submitted to members on/before May 1
   3. Members shall have two weeks to cast votes
   4. Election results announced at June meeting
   5. Leadership terms begin August 1 and ends July 31
3. Chairperson Emeritus, Chairperson, and Vice Chairperson serve one-year terms each.  Only the Vice Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer are elected.
4. Secretary and Treasurer positions serve staggered two-year terms to aid in continuity on the Leadership Committee

VI. BYLAW REVIEW AND DEAN SEARCH

1. Bylaws will be reviewed during the second quarter of every odd year with a majority (more than 50%) carrying revision decisions.
2. Per Appendix A of the CANR Bylaws, which outlines the procedure for selecting the Dean of the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Search Committee is to include one staff representative who “shall be selected by the CAC from two names that are submitted by the CANR Staff Advisory Committee.” Those two names to be submitted to the CAC will be decided upon as follows:
   
   1. The SAC Communications subcommittee will request nominations from the current SAC members via email. Only current SAC members will be eligible to be nominated.  
   2. Nominations will be compiled by the Communications subcommittee and an election will be conducted by the Communications subcommittee Chair. The election will be held via an online survey of current SAC members.  
   3. Members will have one week to cast votes. Each member will choose up to two selections.
   4. The two names receiving the most votes will be submitted to the CAC.
   5. In the event of a tie, another vote will be held, including only selections involved in the tie.  
   6. If there are no volunteers from the SAC roster, a member of the SAC Leadership Team will serve. The Leadership Team can decide upon their nomination as they see fit at the time. 
      

Revised: May 2022