Staff Advocacy Committee September 2010 Letter to the Community

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

We on the Staff Advocacy Committee would like to take a moment to commend Yaniris Fernandez, Staff Trustee, and Beth Ward, Secretary for the College, for their work to ensure staff participation during the President's transition and the recent Board of Trustees retreat. SAC is also grateful to the Board of Trustees for accommodating their requests and for their active participation during the question-and-answer session on August 27th.

While Cabinet members and other high-level administrators have the opportunity to participate in the on-going decision-making processes of the Board, past practice has not included the rest of the staff in these discussions. SAC applauds recent efforts by Yaniris and Beth to begin to encourage broader participation. We are excited and encouraged to continue to work to improve communication between the Board of Trustees and staff.

Many of those in campus leadership express a belief that good ideas can come from anyone in our community without regard to position or status. Hampshire College demonstrates this belief by being one of the first and few schools who has a staff member sit on the Board of Trustees as an active participant. SAC would like to encourage our President and the Board of Trustees to continue this progressive approach to campus leadership by including diverse groups of staff in substantive discussions at the next Board retreat.

Sincerely,

The Staff Advocacy Committee

Lani Blechman (Co-chair) Marge Dunehew (Co-chair) Suzanne Karanikis Katie Knox Matt Krefting Kevin Schmith