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Saint Michael's College
Staff Welfare Committee

Charter

Mission:

The mission of the Saint Michael's College Staff Welfare Committee (SWC) is to provide staff a focused and direct involvement in the governance of non-academic affairs and in the life of the Saint Michael's College community.

The Staff Welfare Committee will work to ensure participation of staff in the College’s policy-making process, promote visibility of staff as valuable members of the Saint Michael's College community, and facilitate a sense of belonging within the community. The SWC will examine policies affecting the employment environment and the community and make recommendations to appropriate committees and administrators. The SWC will actively seek to involve all segments of the College’s diverse staff in the College’s decision-making process.

Purpose:

The Saint Michael's College Staff Welfare Committee is a staff employee organization. Its purpose is to make Saint Michael's College a better place to work for all staff. Elected by the staff, and acknowledged by both the trustees and the administration, its twelve members establish priorities and implement planning to carry out its goals and objectives.

The SWC will engage in the following activities in order to realize these goals. Act in an advisory capacity to the President.

• Act in an advisory capacity to the Vice President for Human Resources.
• Advocate on behalf of rights and needs of College staff.
• Provide a communication network for the exchange of information among staff.
• Communicate regularly with designated Faculty committees (e.g. Faculty Welfare Committee).
• Enhance communication between staff and the College.
• Examine College policies affecting staff and make recommendations to appropriate administrators and committees.
• Establish standing and ad hoc committees as appropriate to the performance of its functions.
• Recommend staff representatives to the President or other appropriate administrator for appointment to College committees.
• Conduct public meetings, forums, surveys, etc., to determine staff needs and opinions and to discuss topics of interest.
• Exercise control over the internal operations and maintenance of the SWC.

The Saint Michael's College Staff Welfare Committee is not a labor organization. Nothing contained in this Charter will be construed as authorizing the Staff Welfare Committee to negotiate grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment or conditions of work.

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Composition: 

The Staff Welfare Committee shall be comprised of twelve individuals from the staff (administrative/managerial; clerical; skilled trades; maintenance/custodial; professional; technical).  One or two of the members of the SWC will serve as Chair or Co-Chairs.

The twelve Staff Welfare Committee members come from different areas and departments of the College and provide a breadth and depth of experience.  The SWC members serve as resources to the College in gaining an understanding of employee perceptions, attitudes and concerns. 

The names of SWC members will be communicated to all College employees, so that individual staff members may approach any SWC member with specific issues to be added to the SWC agenda for discussion/action.

The twelve Staff Welfare Committee memberships shall be apportioned so as to represent the six broad employment areas on a pro-rata basis as follows:  

 Note:  This breakdown is adjusted when an area does not have a representative available to be elected to the SWC.

Selection of Committee Members and Term of Service: 

Members shall be elected to a three-year term of service, thus one-third of the Staff Welfare Committee positions shall be subject to election each year.  Open positions shall be filled in a manner that shall maintain the proportionate representation established under “Composition”.  Terms of service shall run from September 1 to August 31.

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Nomination and Election Process: 

1. Each Spring (no later than April 30), the SWC shall solicit nominations for positions which will become open the following September. Members of the staff who wish to serve on the Staff Welfare Committee should self-nominate.
2. The Staff Welfare Committee shall appoint a sub-committee of the SWC to serve as Elections Committee.
3. The Elections Committee shall review all nominations, gain nominees’ consent and prepare ballots. The ballot shall contain a write-in category for each open position.
4. The Committee shall conduct an election no later than June 15. The Elections Committee shall count the ballots and submit the results to the Staff Welfare Committee.
5. The successful candidates shall be announced and shall begin service at the first meeting after September 1st.
   
   The Staff Welfare Committee is authorized to appoint staff to fill vacant positions that are not filled through the normal election process or positions that become vacated before the term is up.

Failure to Fulfill Term of Service:

Should a Staff Welfare Committee member be unable to fulfill his or her term of service, or miss without reasonable cause two consecutive meetings, that person will be resigned from the SWC.

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Meetings/Minutes:

The Staff Welfare Committee generally meets monthly.  Minutes of Staff Welfare Committee meetings are posted on the Staff Welfare Committee Web page.

Decision-making, Meeting Culture, Ground Rules

The Staff Welfare Committee is committed to truthfulness, transparency, and fairness in its relations with internal and external constituencies. 

The Staff Welfare Committee endeavors at all times to ensure that communications, deliberations, and reporting on matters are prepared and conducted in a manner that gives all committee members the information necessary to comment and to participate appropriately.

Each committee member is entitled to submit agenda items, information, suggestions, requests, or motions for consideration by the SWC.  Agendas are posted on the SWC Web site in advance of the meeting. 

Saint Michael's College staff members may request an item be placed on an agenda by contacting an SWC member or by using the SWC Web site suggestion box.  If a staff member wishes to attend an SWC meeting, he or she should contact one of the co-chairs of the SWC.

Decision-making:  Consensus and Voting

In general, decisions of the SWC are made by consensus -- a democratic method by which the committee comes to an agreement. The input and ideas of all committee members are gathered and synthesized to arrive at a final decision acceptable to all.   

Occasionally it may be necessary for the committee to choose between several alternatives.  In this instance, a vote will take place.  Each SWC member shall be entitled to one vote on each matter submitted to the SWC for a vote.  Two-thirds of the voting membership of the SWC constitutes a quorum.  Therefore, if the committee is comprised of 12 members, at least 8 members must be present for a vote to occur.  Decisions will be made by majority vote.

Meeting Culture

The SWC’s strength lies in its ability to serve as an elected body which represents the concerns of Saint Michael's College staff in the form of a collaborative and unified committee.  This does not mean that all committee members will agree with one another or that all members will agree with the final decision or vote on a matter.  However, opinions and concerns are to be expressed during meeting discussions.  Once a decision or vote has been made as a group, committee members are instructed to leave the discussion and differences of opinion in the meeting, and avoid negativity. 

Basic Ground Rules for SWC meetings:

1. A written agenda for each meeting is distributed via email by the SWC co-chair, in advance of a scheduled meeting, and posted to the SWC Web site.
2. Start and end meetings on time.
3. Stick to the agenda.
4. One speaker at a time.
5. Ask for clarification if you are not sure what someone meant.
6. Designate responsibilities.
7. Create action items and assign accountability for each action item.
8. Honor commitments.

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FINAL 5/29/07
SWC mission 12/12/2006
meeting addendum 5/30/07
last edited for format and links 10/4/07 

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