VCU news

By VCU News staff

Elections for the Virginia Commonwealth University Staff Senate — which represents and advocates on behalf of VCU’s more than 3,600 staff members — opened Monday and will run until July 31.

Dozens of VCU staff from across the university signed up to run in the elections, which are being held in 25 “meta-units” that encompass all of VCU’s 60 major business units. Each meta-unit is assigned one senate seat per 50 full-time staff employees.

Founded in 1991, the Staff Senate currently allows members to join through self-nomination or through school or departmental appointments. Under the new model, senators will be elected by peers and serve three-year terms.

In moving to an elected model, the senate is aiming to have greater diversity and better reflect VCU’s workforce, allowing the senate to be a more effective voice in advocating on behalf of staff and in working with VCU senior leadership.

As part of its duties, the Staff Senate provides staff representatives for committees and other important positions across VCU. Staff Senate leaders say the elections will help ensure that these representatives reflect every area of the university, and that staff voices are more clearly heard in the decision making process at VCU.

Additionally, the Staff Senate each year co-hosts with VCU Human Resources a career development conference, organizes VCU’s annual Employee Appreciation Celebration, sponsors the annual VCU Staff Senate Awards of Excellence, and many more activities that celebrate and advocate on behalf of VCU staff.

VCU staff can vote in the elections by visiting https://staffsenate.vcu.edu/elections/#metaunit and selecting the appropriate meta-unit to find their ballot of candidates. More information about the nominees is available on the meta-unit page.

More information about the Staff Senate and its elections can be found at https://staffsenate.vcu.edu/.