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Staff Ombuds - https://ombuds.utexas.edu/staff
UTSC Issues Process - http://staffcouncil.utexas.edu/resources-2/utsc-issues-process/
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A: We'll have a guest speaker from the Budget Office at an upcoming UTSC General Meeting.
Q:
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Is there a way to see Departmental budget reports?
A: Yes. The Budget Office is responsible for budget operations, strategic planning, reporting, financial tables, comparisons, and impact studies on proposed and actual legislation affecting the University's budget. You can find the reports at: http://www.utexas.edu/business/budget/
Q: Could we get a big-picture perspective on campus and how it all works?
A: We'll get a guest speaker to address that in one or more upcoming UTSC General Meetings.
Q: Where can I find information about alternative transportation?
A: Parking and Transportation manages alternative transportation for the campus, including:
- BikeUT, your source for bike registration, "The Kickstand" bike hub, and maps for on-campus bike racks and pumps, as well as routes to campus.
- A car-sharing initiative with ZipCar
- UT-Austin’s relationship with Capital Metro to provide campus shuttles.
Q: Campus Carry?
A: Please see https://campuscarry.utexas.edu/ for info on, but not limited to:
- How to request specifics listed in policy (ie appropriate signage)
- Leeway at local level (office, department level)
- Boundaries and compliance
- How to answer common questions or get questions answered
UTSC
Q: How do I describe the mission of UTSC? What it is, how is helps, what it has done, and what it can do.
A: From the website: Staff Council’s mission is to promote a positive, collaborative work environment via assessment, prioritization, and communication of staff needs. The purposes are many:
- To serve as a representative advisory council;
- To provide a vehicle for communication of interests, concerns, and issues that affect staff;
- To present recommendations to University leadership;
- To provide nominations to University Standing Committees
Also see UTSC accomplishments and our orientation for new reps.
Q: What are realistic expectations for UTSC accomplishments?
A: Committees are expected to provide a report for President Fenves at the end of the term year.
Committee projects should have measurable impact and benefit campus as well as staff.
The more an accomplishment benefits campus rather than just staff, the more ambitious it can be.
Q: How do we measure success of UTSC and the projects?
A: We gauge success in a few ways:
- Metrics for specific projects
- Staff awareness of UTSC and its accomplishments
- Access to/influence on Campus leadership
- Continuing funding for projects from the President’s Office
Q: What is UTSC's scope of influence?
A: Issues that affect staff in more than one department or geographic area of campus. For more info, see UTSC Bylaws: http://staffcouncil.utexas.edu/organization/bylaws/
Q: How to get managers to support UTSC time?
A: Your manager must support at least 4 hours per month, per our Bylaws, HR, and the President’s Office. Beyond that, it will be up to your manager. Showing them UTSC accomplishments (https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/utsc/UTSC+Accomplishments) may help, as these accomplishments have benefited all staff and oftentimes all of campus.
Q: What do we do when we get elected? What is the welcome/onboarding process?
A: The UTSC Resources Chair hosts two orientations after each UTSC election.
Q: What are things we can change without requiring leadership support/resources—“low hanging fruit”
A: UTSC reps can raise their constituents’ awareness of available campus resources for handling staff issuesstaff issues and professional development.
Q: Why is the UTSC general meeting structured the way it is?
A: Meetings are set up to give updates on UTSC business and issues important to staff.
Q: Who is allowed at UTSC general meetings and who can ask questions or raise issues?
A: Our meetings are open to the public. Anyone can ask questions or raise issues, be it in-person or via social media (Twitter, etc.). For more info, see UTSC Bylaws, section V.
Q: When are webcast videos uploaded?
A: They're immediately available; you can find them here.
Q: What are the Districts/where are they?
A: See our list of Districts and Representatives. The "Departments in District" column will show the exact departments within a given District.
Q: Can we broaden who can serve on UTSC: student employees, temp staff, faculty?*
A: See UTSC Bylaws, section II.b for info on UTSC’s constituency. UTSC meetings are open to the public; improvements in UTSC communication and outreach should help address this concern.
Q: How do we get the word out in general?
A: Refer to:
- The How to Succeed as a Rep handout.
- Regroup email system: https://utexas.regroup.com/
- Regroup documentation: https://wikis.utexas.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=112330717
- Also flyers, posters, talking to constituents, and/or hosting a brown bag lunch to talk about issues.
Q: How do I engage constituents that are non-English speaking, shift workers, non-Main campus, temp employees, non-computer users, researchers, or other siloed/isolated/remote units?
A: That is something a committee could look into. The main problem to solve is tools and procedures for reps to use to effectively reach constituents in these groups. Note that per UTSC Bylaws, section II.b, temp employees are not UTSC constituents, but they can attend general meetings to be heard.
Q: How are UTSC guest speakers chosen?
A: Based on current events and constituent interest. The more your constituents tell us what they want to hear about, the better we can serve them.
Q: Redistricting: What is it, how do we get involved?
A: This has been largely taken care of recently by Jeannie Farahnak, former UTSC Vice Chair.
Q: UTSC budget—how is it allocated/funded?
A: UTSC gets budget from HR for running UTSC itself (badges, annual retreat, etc.). UTSC recently got a budget from the President’s office for funding yearly projects, such as the Professional Development Grant.
Q: Why does UTSC use Regroup instead of UTLists?
A: We don’t use UTLists because Regroup is set up to limit who can send messages, reducing spam or other unauthorized use. Also, UTLists is opt-in while Regroup is opt-out.
Q: What is UTSC relationship with UT Leadership?
A: The UTSC Chair speaks with Directors and the President’s Office monthly. The better UTSC serves the interests of campus, the better those relationships get.
A: We'll get a guest speaker to address that in one or more upcoming UTSC General Meetings.
Q: Campus Carry?
A: Please see https://campuscarry.utexas.edu/ for info on, but not limited to:
- How to request specifics listed in policy (ie appropriate signage)
- Leeway at local level (office, department level)
- Boundaries and compliance
- How to answer common questions or get questions answered
UTSC
Q: How do I describe the mission of UTSC? What it is, how is helps, what it has done, and what it can do.
A: From the website: Staff Council’s mission is to promote a positive, collaborative work environment via assessment, prioritization, and communication of staff needs. The purposes are many:
- To serve as a representative advisory council;
- To provide a vehicle for communication of interests, concerns, and issues that affect staff;
- To present recommendations to University leadership;
- To provide nominations to University Standing Committees
Also see UTSC accomplishments and our orientation for new reps.
Q: What are realistic expectations for UTSC accomplishments?
A: Committees are expected to provide a report for President Fenves at the end of the term year.
Committee projects should have measurable impact and benefit campus as well as staff.
The more an accomplishment benefits campus rather than just staff, the more ambitious it can be.
Q: How do we measure success of UTSC and the projects?
A: We gauge success in a few ways:
- Metrics for specific projects
- Staff awareness of UTSC and its accomplishments
- Access to/influence on Campus leadership
- Continuing funding for projects from the President’s Office
Q: What is UTSC's scope of influence?
A: Issues that affect staff in more than one department or geographic area of campus. For more info, see UTSC Bylaws: http://staffcouncil.utexas.edu/organization/bylaws/
Q: How to get managers to support UTSC time?
A: Your manager must support at least 4 hours per month, per our Bylaws, HR, and the President’s Office. Beyond that, it will be up to your manager. Showing them UTSC accomplishments (https://wikis.utexas.edu/display/utsc/UTSC+Accomplishments) may help, as these accomplishments have benefited all staff and oftentimes all of campus.
Q: What do we do when we get elected? What is the welcome/onboarding process?
A: The UTSC Resources Chair hosts two orientations after each UTSC election.
Q: What are things we can change without requiring leadership support/resources—“low hanging fruit”
A: UTSC reps can raise their constituents’ awareness of available campus resources for handling staff issuesstaff issues and professional development.
Q: Why is the UTSC general meeting structured the way it is?
A: Meetings are set up to give updates on UTSC business and issues important to staff.
Q: Who is allowed at UTSC general meetings and who can ask questions or raise issues?
A: Our meetings are open to the public. Anyone can ask questions or raise issues, be it in-person or via social media (Twitter, etc.). For more info, see UTSC Bylaws, section V.
Q: When are webcast videos uploaded?
A: They're immediately available; you can find them here.
Q: What are the Districts/where are they?
A: See our list of Districts and Representatives. The "Departments in District" column will show the exact departments within a given District.
Q: Can we broaden who can serve on UTSC: student employees, temp staff, faculty?*
A: See UTSC Bylaws, section II.b for info on UTSC’s constituency. UTSC meetings are open to the public; improvements in UTSC communication and outreach should help address this concern.
Q: How do we get the word out in general?
A: Refer to:
- The How to Succeed as a Rep handout.
- Regroup email system: https://utexas.regroup.com/
- Regroup documentation: https://wikis.utexas.edu/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=112330717
- Also flyers, posters, talking to constituents, and/or hosting a brown bag lunch to talk about issues.
Q: How do I engage constituents that are non-English speaking, shift workers, non-Main campus, temp employees, non-computer users, researchers, or other siloed/isolated/remote units?
A: That is something a committee could look into. The main problem to solve is tools and procedures for reps to use to effectively reach constituents in these groups. Note that per UTSC Bylaws, section II.b, temp employees are not UTSC constituents, but they can attend general meetings to be heard.
Q: How are UTSC guest speakers chosen?
A: Based on current events and constituent interest. The more your constituents tell us what they want to hear about, the better we can serve them.
Q: Redistricting: What is it, how do we get involved?
A: This has been largely taken care of recently by Jeannie Farahnak, former UTSC Vice Chair.
Q: UTSC budget—how is it allocated/funded?
A: UTSC gets budget from HR for running UTSC itself (badges, annual retreat, etc.). UTSC recently got a budget from the President’s office for funding yearly projects, such as the Professional Development Grant.
Q: Why does UTSC use Regroup instead of UTLists?
A: We don’t use UTLists because Regroup is set up to limit who can send messages, reducing spam or other unauthorized use. Also, UTLists is opt-in while Regroup is opt-out.
Q: What is UTSC relationship with UT Leadership?
A: The UTSC Chair speaks with Directors and the President’s Office monthly. The better UTSC serves the interests of campus, the better those relationships get.
Miscellaneous
Q: Is there a way to see Departmental budget reports?
A: Yes. The Budget Office is responsible for budget operations, strategic planning, reporting, financial tables, comparisons, and impact studies on proposed and actual legislation affecting the University's budget. You can find the reports at: http://www.utexas.edu/business/budget/
Q: Where can I find information about alternative transportation?
A: Parking and Transportation manages alternative transportation for the campus, including:
- BikeUT, your source for bike registration, "The Kickstand" bike hub, and maps for on-campus bike racks and pumps, as well as routes to campus.
- A car-sharing initiative with ZipCar
- UT-Austin’s relationship with Capital Metro to provide campus shuttles.
http://hr.utexas.edu/current/leave/sick.html