February 2019 President's Report
This Spring semester is off and running and so far it has been a busy one not only for all of the staff at Clemson, but for the Staff Senate and our incredible Standing Committee members who have been hard at work to achieve their goals for the year! Staff Senate continues to be “On The Move” progressing on many fronts.
Luncheon to Recognize Staff and Faculty Degree Achievement
Increasing staff recognition has been an important platform goal of mine and for our Policy and Welfare Committee and I am very pleased that an event that was long overdue has come to fruition. On January 30th, a very special luncheon was held at the Madren Center to recognize and honor staff and faculty who have received a degree while employed full time at Clemson University. The event was sponsored by Human Resources with support from the President and Provost’s Office as well as the Staff Senate. This appreciation event was a catch up event that included almost 200 staff members and I am proud to say that this will be an event that will be held each year going forward.
I remember when I was a struggling college student working part time to just be able to buy gas and books and I can only say that for those who earn a degree while working full time, that has got to pale in comparison to such a herculean effort that I believe should be considered a lifetime achievement for those who worked fulltime and in many cases, managed their families as well.
We are very proud of our staff, many of whom have also taken advantage of our employee tuition benefits. To be able to recognize such an incredible accomplishment is something that will truly make a difference for staff at Clemson. Congratulations to the hardworking staff and faculty at Clemson University!
Read more about the event in Inside Clemson: https://media.clemson.edu/humanres/communications/Graduation-Recognition-Luncheon.pdf
Staff Senate Endowed Scholarship Program Update
As I have reported previously, the Staff Senate has been very busy working with the University Foundation to analyze our Endowment fund balances and spending account with the goal of expanding the overall benefits of our Scholarship Program. We saw an opportunity to work creatively to use our investment income allocation along with our spending account balance to prepare a pro-forma that, with conservative assumptions and an annual review, enables us to sustain a long term commitment to increase scholarships for the children of our staff. Our Executive Committee met to discuss this plan and approved a final proposal that not only increased the number of annual scholarships 25% from 12 to 15, but also in the interest of helping to “stem the rising tide” of increased annual tuition over the years, we will be increasing our annual scholarship award amounts by 67% from $1,500 to $2,500 per year! This proposal was approved unanimously by the Staff Senate. The deadline for applying for the Staff Senate Scholarship is fast approaching and all applications are DUE by March 1st.
For more information go to: http://www.clemson.edu/faculty-staff/staff-senate/scholarship.html
Staff Senate Scholarship Program Update to ongoing Highlights
- The Staff Senate Endowed Scholarship Fund balance exceeded $516,000 in 2017.
- As of July, 2018 - 239 employees contribute to the Staff Senate Scholarship through payroll deduction.
- 274 Staff Senate Scholarships have been awarded to children of staff members totaling $315,025 since 1990.
- Funds are continually raised by payroll deduction and from other fund-raising efforts by the Staff Senate.
- Through the Spring 2019 Semester, twelve - $1,500 scholarships have been awarded based on need and academic achievement each year.
- Effective with the Fall of 2019 Scholarship awards, Staff Senate has approved an increase in the number of scholarships to fifteen at $2,500 each that are awarded based on need and academic achievements each year.
Many thanks to the Foundation and all of the hardworking staff and donors who made this year’s efforts our most productive yet! You have helped us to “Make a Difference” for our staff as well as their children for years to come! Go Tigers!