APSAC elects vice chair, 4 emeritus members

Annual elections for vice chair and emeritus members of APSAC, the Administrative and Professional Staff Advisory Committee, took place at the committee's April 12 meeting.

Brittany Vale, health information administrator at the Veterinary Medical Teaching Hospital, was elected vice chair for 2017-18. As an APSAC member, she represents the College of Agriculture, Cooperative Extension Service and College of Veterinary Medicine.

Under APSAC's operating procedures, Vale will become chair for 2018-19. The current vice chair, Loran Parker, will become chair for 2017-18.

APSAC elected four members who are completing their terms to serve an additional year as nonvoting emeritus members. Their role is to assist with continuity, using their knowledge of the University and APSAC's structure and process. The 2017-18 emeritus members will be Tiffany Weatherford, Mary Ann Prah, Nicole Noel and Sam Guffey. Guffey is completing a year as APSAC chair.

These persons will take their new positions June 1, the same time at which new members officially join the committee. APSAC will have a recognition luncheon and transition meeting May 10, and 11 new members will be welcomed.

Other business

Also at the April 12 meeting, APSAC discussed a range of University efforts and concerns as part of its central role in cross-communication with A/P employees and the administration. Among those topics were charter bus service and aspects of health insurance. Members also heard brief updates on three topic areas on which ideas were gathered in March at the spring APSAC-CSSAC joint meeting: parking and transportation, professional development and the discount program. Task groups are sounding out ideas and shaping proposals.

APSAC also heard a report about the change management portion of the Business Process Reengineering project. Among other features of the change management work, starting in May some individual employees will begin engaging in a "readiness review" in which they can express and discover how prepared they are to use new processes and tackle new tasks. The readiness review process will, in time, will expand across the whole transformation project.