Updates from the Staff Council - April 6, 2026
Good afternoon,
We have two announcements today.
First, we want to invite you to the inaugural Staff Excellence Celebration on for Thursday, April 16th at 2:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Odeum. The program will be about an hour with a reception following. You may also view this ceremony over zoom. This year we have had over 120 nominations for 6 awards, 5 of which are brand new! We hope you will join us.
Second, the Staff Council election process is now open, and this year we're doing things differently. Before you scroll past, it's worth a quick read; the change affects how seats are filled and who can run.
The short version: all seven elected seats are now open to any eligible staff member, regardless of department or division. In previous years, the ballot was divided into groups by area, and only one person per group could be elected. That structure had real limitations. Some areas consistently had more candidates than seats, while others sometimes had no one run at all.
This year, we're running a single institution-wide election with ranked-choice voting. The field is open.
To keep the ballot balanced, the election committee* will review the full candidate pool after the call for nominations closes. The general goal is to have no more than two candidates per divisional area on the final ballot - enough to ensure the open election doesn't produce a council dominated by a single part of the institution.
That said, divisional size matters. A division like Academic Affairs, which spans multiple schools and functional areas, may have more than two candidates advance if they represent genuinely distinct parts of the division. A division like Student Affairs or IT would not have that flexibility. If five people from either area ran, a primary election process would be held within that area to bring the field of candidates down to two.
When the final candidate list is published, the election committee will explain how they made these determinations.
After the seven elected seats are filled, staff council will meet and use two appointed seats to address any gaps in representation across the institution.
Who can run: Any regularly benefited staff member in good standing, excluding union members and members of the President's Cabinet.
This approach to elections is a one-year trial. If it works, we'll propose making it permanent. If it raises issues, we will consider other alternatives or return to the previous structure next cycle.
Important dates:
April 6 – April 22: Nominations open (self-nominations and peer nominations both accepted)
April 24: Applications due by end of day
May 4 – 8: Primary elections, if needed
May 11: Candidate Forum on Zoom — a moderated session where staff can hear from and meet the candidates.
May 11 – May 22: Voting opens after the Candidate Forum
June 5: All candidates notified of results
Mid-June: Institution-wide announcement of newly elected and appointed members
To nominate yourself or a colleague, use the nomination form. Nominees will then be sent an application to formally apply to run.
If you have questions about the process, please reach out.
Thank you,
Mike Hamilton
On behalf of Staff Council
Staff Council Elections Committee
- Mike Hamilton
- Sarah Miles
- Jessica Sabourin