RIT Staff Council

This week's Staff Feature Friday is our new Vice Chair, Emily Heyman!

Our next Staff Council meeting is tomorrow, March 18th, from 2-4pm, featuring a discussion with Dr. Watters, Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration. Check your email for Zoom connection information!

Are you interested in taking part in RIT's shared governance? Staff Council is looking for nominations for blocks 1, 3, and 5! Nominations open on Monday, March 1, 2021 and close on Wednesday, March 17, 2021. Staff Council will be hosting Zoom Open Houses on the following dates: Thursday, March 4, 2021 11:00 am - 12:00 pm... Wednesday, March 10, 2021 10:00 am - 11:00 am Monday, March 15, 2021 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm Please stop in with any questions that you have about Staff Council.

Show your appreciation for all of the 2020 Presidential Awards for Outstanding Staff nominees and recipients! Leave a congratulatory message and we will post it on the Awards page of the Staff Council website. rit.edu/staffcouncil/awards/congrats

This morning we held our annual ceremony for the Presidential Awards for Outstanding Staff. Congratulations to our 2020 Award Recipients! Rising Star Award: Michelle Teal Excellence Award:... Matt Campbell Stephanie Haynes Jeffrey Siegel Benjamin Willmott Isaac L. Jordan, Sr. Staff Pluralism Award: Dr. Christopher Hinesley Dancy Duffus Award for Outstanding Citizenship within the RIT Community: Sharon Kompalla-Porter Albert J. Simone Legacy Award: Louis Spiotti, Jr.

Tomorrow, Staff Council hosts the Presidential Awards for Outstanding Staff in a virtual ceremony from 10am-12pm. Check your email for details!

Our next Staff Council meeting is today from 2-4pm! Presentations include the RIT Service Center, the 2021 Academic Calendar, and information about Elections. Check your email for the Zoom meeting information!

Our next Staff Council meeting is today from 2-4pm, with a virtual open house prior to the regular meeting at 1:30pm. Sharon Ting from the Board of Trustees will be presenting today. Check your email for the Zoom meeting information!

Our last Staff Council Gratitude selections are Marielle Santoriello and Elizabeth Jackson Machmer. Thank you for your efforts! Marielle Santoriello, a Senior Project Manager in FMS Construction Services, was responsible for the logistics of signage orders related to COVID. It was an integral part of RIT’s ability to reopen. For just two buildings, she needed to order nearly 1,000 signs. All were handled and printed perfectly. Marielle also planned the vendor visits and co...ordinated each area meeting with the contractors for signage placement. Adding even another hurdle in the project, the staff who were ordering signs could not be on campus. Every aspect of working with Marielle, including how she thought of every detail through the product pick up in building 99 was efficient and as seamless as possible. Kudos to her for stepping up on such an unusual task for a campus of our size! Elizabeth Jackson Machmer is an audiologist in NTID Communication Studies and Services. During this time of uncertainty, Liz has gone above and beyond in her efforts to maintain a safe and efficient environment for our RIT community as they access audiological services on campus. Liz has devoted much time to extensively researching best practices and collaborating with local service providers in an attempt to ensure health and safety in our Audiology Center. We are grateful for Liz's dedication to high quality service, and want to ensure she is recognized for going the extra mile and maintaining your smile along the way! These are challenging times, and our department and the RIT community is pushing through because people like Liz who are willing to lead us through with excellence!

Staff Council is recognizing the dedicated work of individual RIT staff members since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Stephanie Ryan, a Career Services Coordinator, has been instrumental in transforming the co-op prep courses for Golisano College from an in-person offering to an online format. Over the summer she attended several sessions held by the ILI, conducted research on effective online instruction for career prep courses, and spent lots of time investigating Zoo...m and all of its functionalities. Most importantly, Stephanie motivated the group of coordinators who support the Golisano classes to rethink and reimagine the class and delegated responsibilities so the large amount of work could be accomplished in a short amount of time. Throughout the semester Stephanie has remained agile and developed ad-hoc content addressing the ever changing needs of students in the class. She is also already brainstorming new possibilities for spring. Stephanie's leadership and focus has made an enormous difference for many. Thank you Stephanie! Denise Schwan is a Staff Assistant in the Saunders College of Business. When RIT shut down in March, Denise created an electronic system for assisting the program directors and coordinators in making admissions decisions. This saved an enormous amount of hours and, more importantly, frustration. The system proved to be more efficient and it will continue to be used moving forward. Denise has also be integral is assisting staff as they adjusted to working at home. Her quiet demeanor and sense of calm permeates through everything she does. She needs to know how truly appreciated she is for all the extra work she has done. Staff Council agrees with this sentiment, so congratulations Denise- and a hearty thank you! Make your nominations here! https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/gratitude Our last two awards will be presented at our next meeting!

RIT Staff Council would like to thank all who contributed to our fall food and funds drive to benefit the RIT FoodShare! With your help, 95 donors contributed an amazing $7,418 in monetary donations, and 53 donors purchased 185 items off the Amazon wish list! Your generosity is much appreciated! This will have a big impact, as the FoodShare has distributed over 858 filled grocery bags to those in need. Thank you!

Wishing our RIT family a safe, healthy, and happy Thanksgiving!

Congratulations to this week's Staff Council Gratitude winners, Jeff Siegle and Autumn Geer! Jeff Siegle is an Associate Director for Intercollegiate Athletics/Student Affairs. Jeff was called to action to help assist on the Tiger Team for the Covid-19 testing from the very beginning. He has been extra working long hours to develop and organize last minute pop- up testing sites as well as working with surveillance testing in the Student Life Center. He is well versed in all ...aspects of the Broad test and has really helped keep our campus safe this semester. All of this was done on top of his role working in RIT Athletics and advising the Student Athlete Advisory Committee. A hearty thanks to you Jeff! We are very happy to be able to let the RIT community know all you have been doing. Autumn Geer is the Chef De Cuisine RIT Catering. She, and the entire Catering team, have worked solidly throughout the pandemic. During the shutdown, Autumn was integral in creating a process to make sure none of the excess food that was left in stock went to waste. She coordinated the delivery of meals to Unity and Strong Hospital, so that the front line medical staff could enjoy hot meals. The Catering team also prepared, packed and delivered 14,000 boxed lunches during Orientation. Autumn has overseen the catering team in providing meals and grocery boxes to all students in isolation or quarantine. Autumn continues to adapt on a daily basis and continues to lead her team and the rest of RIT Catering in making sure no student goes hungry and serving the greater Rochester community as best she can whilst promoting RIT. If you know someone who has gone above and beyond in any way, please nominate your colleague for recognition. https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/gratitude

Congratulations and thanks to Sarah Haberbusch on 50 years of service!

RIT Staff Council wants to extend our congratulations to Allyson Martel and David Lake, our first recipients of the Staff Council Gratitude program! Allyson Martel is an interpreter in NTID. From the first announcement of working and studying remotely, Allyson was concerned about Deaf or hard of hearing students having complete access to their classes and professors. She worked many hours on her own time to form the Content Production Team. She reached out to Faculty and ot...her Interpreters to interact and learn together. She facilitated many Zoom sessions to help colleagues understand and get comfortable with this new technology and service model. She continues to take the lead and keep everyone informed of the updates and glitches with Zoom. Dave Lake is a Facilities and Operations Manager in the College of Science. Dave had multiple nominations, but the same comments kept appearing: incredibly helpful, positive attitude, working tirelessly. We all need to work as a team, but this sentence stood out: Dave provided amazing assistance in helping me with parts of my job that require me to be there in person while I was mandated to stay off campus. Work that otherwise would have had to wait months was able to be completely quickly and promptly. To make your nominations, please go here! https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/gratitude

Every fall, Staff Council organizes a food drive for RIT’s FoodShare. Celebrating their five year anniversary in April, the RIT FoodShare focuses on eliminating food insecurity for students, faculty, and staff. The RIT FoodShare Center has provided over 700 filled grocery bags to Tigers in need since April 2020. This year, we’ve gone virtual due to the COVID-19 pandemic and state restrictions. Instead of collecting food items, the RIT FoodShare has asked for monetary donations at http://bit.ly/FOODSHARE-Direct or items from their Amazon wish list at http://bit.ly/RIT-FoodshareWishlist. Most needed items are pasta, pasta sauce (with and without meat), rice, peanut butter, canned vegetables and canned fruit. The food drive ends October 31st, let’s make it a plentiful month for them!

Staff Council is recognizing the dedicated work of RIT staff members since the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you know someone who has gone above and beyond in any way, please take a few moments to nominate a colleague for recognition! https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/gratitude

RIT's Division of Diversity and Inclusion presents Breaking Bread: Pairs. Applications are due September 25th! https://rit.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_a2yBEGTm44HgtjT

Our next meeting is tomorrow, September 24th, from 2-4pm via Zoom, and features a discussion with President Munson. Please check your email for meeting details!

Next in our series on Keeping RIT Going, Shana Chaffer from the NTID Admissions Office.

Join us tomorrow, September 10th, at 2:00pm for our next meeting, held via Zoom. Check your email for details!Join us tomorrow, September 10th, at 2:00pm for our next meeting, held via Zoom. Check your email for details!

Part Two of our Keeping RIT Going series is up on the blog! https://www.rit.edu/staff/keeping-rit-going-david-koslowski

Join us tomorrow, August 27th, at 2:00pm for our next meeting, held via Zoom. Check your email for details!Join us tomorrow, August 27th, at 2:00pm for our next meeting, held via Zoom. Check your email for details!

Join us for an hour of What's Your Diversity? This episode we will have Dr. Alesia Allen and Erica Ford share how they define and experience diversity throughout their lives. Students, staff, faculty and alums are welcomed. The program runs from 12pm-1pm eastern time zone. Please register to secure the access link. https://rit.zoom.us///tJcrd-mhqzoqGNGfjrvNSe4Xfcdk643DVW6I

Come learn and ask questions about new programming for Year 2 of Dr. Smith's diversity education offerings. Some impact data on last year's programming will be shared as well. Students, staff and faculty are welcomed. The program is scheduled to last for 45 minutes. Please register to secure the access link! https://rit.az1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_etf43RIshF6SawZ

Many of our amazing staff are also alums of RIT! Check out the plans for Alumni Week during Brick City Weekend!

During the President's Address to the RIT Community this morning, Staff Council Chair Lindsay Vallone emphasized communication. Staff Council wants to know what YOU want communicated! Let us know with a comment!

Staff Council is dedicating several blog posts to the folks who kept RIT running 'behind the scenes' while many of us were working off campus. First up, Paul Allen from the College of Science!

Today we’re introducing a color-coded COVID-19 alert system to keep the RIT community informed and help us respond quickly to rapidly evolving health conditions.... You’ll find the alert status at the top of the RIT homepage each day.. Today’s RIT COVID-19 alert status is Green, representing a low risk. We will update the current status each day on Twitter (@ rittigers). We all play a role in keeping the risk on campus as low as possible. Find out more about what each color condition means. https://bddy.me/3ihSXzd

This week's Staff Council Meeting is scheduled for Thursday, July 9th at 2:00pm, and open to all members of the university community. RIT's General Counsel, Bobby Colon, will be joining us for a Q&A session about the Workplace Safety Plan. Check your email for the Zoom information!

A year to remember, that's for sure!

RIT Sustainability is hosting a course via the Center for Professional Development called "Sustainability in Practice", with sessions on Thursday, June 11th and Wednesday, July 15th. For more information and to register, click here: https://rit.sabacloud.com//shared;spf-url=common%2Fledetai

Please welcome the 2020-21 Staff Council Executive Committee!

RIT will host a vigil, "Calls for Justice" on Zoom this Friday. https://bddy.me/3gNd1tk

We have a special Staff Feature up on the SC Blog - Carol Reed! Carol will be retiring at the end of June, and RIT will miss her very much!

RIT is a family that supports one another! Our new SC Question of the week: Have you experienced or done a little RIT act of kindness recently? Please share!

Congratulations and welcome to our new Staff Council representatives! We also bid a fond farewell and a thank you to those leaving us this year.

SC Question of the Week: Where are you ordering take-out, and what are you getting? Share your recommendations!

RIT's IT department has been doing exceptional things (and quick!), to get our campus set up for distance learning and working. Read all about the transition and all that was involved in this month's Staff Council Blog, and THANK YOU to all members of the IT team! https://www.rit.edu/staff/rit-its-preparedness-and-covid-19

Your next Staff Council Meeting is Thursday, May 7th from 2-4pm. We will have a Special Employee Resources Presentation by representatives from CPD, the Employee Assistance Program, Better Me and RIT FoodShare. Check your email for agenda and zoom link. All welcome!

New SC Question of the Week: Is it helpful or harder to do work with your pet around? Bonus points for sharing pics of your furry, finned, or feathered office mate!

New SC Question of the Week: What's growing in your yard? If you can, share some pics that prove it's Spring!

SC Meeting Today, April 23rd, from 2-4 by Zoom. President Munson will be joining us from 3-4. See emailed agenda for link. All welcome to attend!

Looking for a way to stay connected with the RIT Community in a unique and meaningful way? RIT's Director of Diversity Education, Dr. Taj Smith, is offering a new session of "Breaking Bread". For more info, listen to the Intersections podcast about the program: https://www.rit.edu/news/podcast. Applications are due April 28th for this next session.

Staff Council elections have begun! Please keep an eye on your email if you are in blocks 3, 4, or 6! Block 3 is holding an election for one non-exempt seat, Block 4 is electing three exempt seats, and Block 6 is looking to fill two non-exempt seats. Thanks for participating!

New Question of the Week: How are you staying connected with your RIT colleagues for fun? What are you doing to keep in touch and laugh a little?

SC is starting a new feature on Facebook to help our staff stay connected when so many are working remotely. Please share you response below the Question of the Week! Q: If you are working from home, what do you miss most about being on campus? If you are on campus, what do you miss most about the campus environment right now?

Reminder: Staff Council is meeting virtually today, April 9th, at 2pm! Check the agenda sent out by email for the link to log in. All welcome to join!

Looking for a way to help your fellow Tigers? The RIT FoodShare has reopened and is supporting our RIT community. We have 200+ students on campus, with even more surrounding the university, and many are struggling to get meals. Though they are not accepting food donations at this time, please consider making a monetary donation: https://securelb.imodules.com/s/1624/giving//interior.aspx

A positive message from RIT Student Life in these unprecedented times. We're all in this together.

Staff Council is here for you! Please see our blog regarding support and resources for RIT staff during the Coronavirus. Be well Tigers! https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/were-here-you

Next Staff Council Meeting is March 26 at 2pm. Join us via Zoom! You can access the link in the agenda that was sent by email. All welcome to attend.

Reminder! Your next SC meeting is March 12 (SAU, 1829 Room at 2pm). All welcome to attend! John Zink, Associate Vice President Global Risk Management and Lindsay Phillips, Medical Director Student Health Center will be presenting a Coronavirus update. You can see the full agenda here: https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/meetings

This month's SC Blog features Katie Beczak, Associate Director for International Enrollment! Meet Katie here: https://www.rit.edu/sta/february-staff-feature-katie-beczak

Considering being a part of Staff Council? Curious about what we do and what we're all about? Stop by on Thursday, February 20th from 1:30 to 2 pm in the SAU 1829 Room. Light snacks provided. We look forward to meeting you!

Still seeking representatives for the Staff Grievance pool. Check the email from your SC representative for more info, or contact [email protected]. Deadline is Feb 12 at 4pm.

SC FoodShare Drive results are in! Congratulations to Block #6 and thank you to all who donated! There is a continuous need, so please keep giving if you can RIT FoodShare.

Reminder! Your next SC meeting is February 6th - in the SAU at 2pm. All welcome to attend! You can see the agenda here: https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/meetings

Do you have a colleague who you think would be a great representative on Staff Council? Are you looking for more opportunities to connect with RIT on a larger scale and make a difference in our RIT community? SC is calling for nominations! Stop by our Open House on Thursday, February 20, 1:30-2:00PM in the SAU 1829 to hear more about serving on Staff Council. https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/call-nominations

Reminder! SC meeting today, January 23rd - in the SAU at 2pm. All welcome to attend! Kate Mason will be providing a parking and transportation update. You can see the full agenda here: https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/meetings

Reminder! The next SC meeting is today - January 9th - in the SAU at 2pm. All welcome to attend! You can see the agenda here: https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/meetings

Happy Holidays from SC!

December's Staff Feature is Amanda Burns from RIT's Facilities Management Services. Learn more about Amanda and her role as a Junior Project Manager here! https://www.rit.edu/sta/december-staff-feature-amanda-burns

2019 COMPENSATION UPDATE! Join us for Focus & Feedback, where you are invited to participate in the discussion with Judy Bender during the next SC Meeting (12/19/2019).

The next SC meeting is Dec 19th in the SAU at 2pm. All welcome to attend! You can see the agenda here: https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/meetings

Our newest staff highlight blog features John Schrenker from RIT's Classroom Technology Team! Meet John here: https://www.rit.edu/s/november-staff-feature-john-schrenker

The next SC meeting is today in the SAU at 2pm. All welcome to attend! You can see the agenda here: https://www.rit.edu/staffcouncil/meetings

The RIT Foodshare Drive ends this Thursday! This is an initiative for our campus food pantry that provides both non-perishable and perishable items to any RIT community member in need (student, staff, faculty or alumni). Don't forget to bring your donations to your SC Rep!

Our newest blog features Cliff Cisco from RIT Dining Services, and one this year's Presidential Awards for Outstanding Staff nominees! Meet Cliff here: https://www.rit.edu/staff/october-staff-feature-cliff-cisco

Stop by our table at the RIT Benefits Fair and fill out a raffle ticket to win a $25 Barnes & Noble gift card! Sue and Gina and our other Staff Council representatives are here to answer you questions! Today and tomorrow, 9-3 pm in the Fireside Lounge, SAU.

Today was Peg Meyers last SC meeting before her retirement. She banged the gavel to close out the meeting then handed it on to Denise Acton, new SC coordinator. We celebrate Peg and thank her for all her years of service! RIT and SC especially will surely miss you! Welcome Denise!

Staff Council Meeting today at 2pm in the SAU. All welcome to attend. Don't forget the special Parking "Focus & Feedback agenda item!