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By Larry B. Dendy
ldendy@uga.edu
Brenda Keen, business manager for the Georgia Review, is the new president of Staff Council.
 Keen, who served as council secretary for three years and as coordinator for the past year, was elected at the June council meeting. She will hold the office for the next year.
Other new officers are vice president, Robyn Ansley, senior administrative secretary in the School of Marine Programs; coordinator, Melanie Andrews, law office manager in the office of legal affairs; and recording secretary, Melanie Parker, research technician in the department of crop and soil sciences.
Among the issues Keen hopes the council can address are parking, pedestrian safety and better communication among staff employees.
“I hope we can work more effectively with administrators who make decisions about parking, and staff who have legitimate parking needs that impact productivity,” Keen says. She would like to see consideration of sliding-scale fees to help lower-income employees, and a carpool program that would ease the parking crunch and contribute to a better environment.
Keen says the council wants to emphasize to both drivers and pedestrians the importance of awareness and courtesy. “Drivers should always stop for pedestrians at crosswalks, whether or not there are flashing lights, and pedestrians should only cross at crosswalks, and always look both ways,” she says.
The council also needs to address a “very low level of participation” among staff in council programs, Keen says. “We’ve made inroads through our representative structure, the various listservs and our newsletter, but we still need to expand dialogue among staff members and increase interaction with upper-level administrators who can address staff concerns. I would like all UGA employees to realize how valuable their input is and to become more involved.” |
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