In order to give staff members representation in Elon University's shared governance structure, President Lambert calls for the establishment of a Staff Advisory Council.
In 2009, the Academic Council establishes a task force to investigate a shared governance structure at Elon University. In 2010, their work coalesces into a shared governance statement:
“Elon University recognizes that the most effective way of conducting university affairs necessarily entails the active engagement of all of its distinct constituencies; the board of trustees; administrators with faculty rank (with titles ranging from dean to president); teaching faculty; support staff with faculty rank; staff without faculty rank and students.”
Seeing that staff members without faculty rank have little representation in the new shared governance structure, President Lambert calls for the establishment of a Staff Advisory Council. To this end, President Lambert appoints Tom Flood and Mary Morrison as co-chairs of a planning committee tasked with creating Elon University’s first Staff Advisory Council.
From the fall of 2010 through the spring of 2011, the Planning Committee lays groundwork to make President Lambert’s vision of staff representation a reality. By late April of 2011, the committee is hosting open forum discussions, creating initial guidelines, and preparing to announce the official establishment of Elon University’s Staff Advisory Council. In late May, during the 2011 staff appreciation day, President Lambert and Tom Flood announce the council and call for nominations. The newly drafted Staff Advisory Council guidelines state that nominees will represent all non-faculty employees through fifteen council seats divided into three constituencies. Those constituencies are Administrative, Office/Support, and Physical Plant.
Throughout June and July of 2011, the planning committee accepts nominees to the new council and hosts the University’s first Staff Advisory Council election. In August, the newly elected council meets to select an executive committee from among its own ranks. They select Tom Flood as the first person to be chair of the new council. Other executive committee members include Fred Melchor (chair-elect), Jay Harper (elections officer), and Zaire McCoy (secretary).
Collectively, the Staff Advisory Council will work to facilitate active and direct communication between staff employees and the President, provide a forum for input and discussion of issues important to the staff, and participate in the Univerity’s shared governance structure. The establishment of the Staff Advisory Council is historic. It highlights Elon University’s efforts to promote institutional unity while also creating an unprecedented community of scholars. Though the elected representatives on the Staff Advisory Council, non-faculty employees now have a greater role in the University’s decision making process.