University of Georgia Staff Council president Shannon Scott believes staff members need to have a louder voice in university matters.

Their most pressing issue this year, Scott said, is obtaining staff representation on the University Council, a representative body that wields power over general educational policy and university welfare.

Currently there is only one staff member on the University Council, but if an amendment passes its second reading at the Oct. 4 meeting, that number will increase to nine.

“Staff members already serve on committees within the body, but we have only one vote. The by-law change that we are hoping for will actually give staff better representation and a vote on the committee they will serve on,” Scott said.

An assistant editor in the Institute of Continuing Legal Education, Scott believes that the amendment will give staff more influence over university policy and decisions.

“People in the workforce need to feel that they have some kind of voice in the institutions in which they work,” she said.

The Staff Council’s secondary concern, she said, is to improve communication among staff. Some staff members remain unaware of their own benefits and opportunities, partly because of limited access to computers.

“We need to get a more streamlined process of communication so that people can access information better. Knowledge is power,” she said.

Off the job, Scott shares her Jasper County home with a flock of blue Cochin chickens, three cats and three dogs.

She also drives a 1977 Harley Davidson motorcycle, when it’s not broken that is.

Scott has been part of UGA for seven years and served on staff council for three years.