Finance Matters: A Conversation with UVAFinance's Staff Senators



Amanda Meares and Reshma Gali, UVAFinance's staff senators, recently dropped by to talk about the importance of the Staff Senate and how the UVAFinance Team can interact with them to everyone's benefit.  Listen in to the conversation above, or check out an abbreviated version below.

Resources Mentioned:
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UVAFinance's Staff Senators

● Why did you want to join the staff senate?

Meares: Nothing is more important to me than making sure staff members are heard and
included in larger leadership discussions, especially in higher education. While the faculty
often comes to mind, many forget about the staff and students who help back those faculty
members. It’s so important that as staff we get to share our thoughts and ideas on leadership,
and that we make sure we have people who can share their voices and feel confident that they
are encapsulating other staff voices as a whole.

Gali: Because we work in higher education and so closely with students, often that can
overwhelm our thinking to where we may forget about our staff members and to raise our own
concerns (because we’re advocating for students). Staff senate is so important because it
provides us an opportunity to learn about what we can do to help others and advocate for
ourselves and other staff members–also it's a good opportunity to interact with the University
and other staff members outside of Finance.

● What are some of the things staff senate has done in recent past that people might recognize?

Meares: The paternity leave policy really materialized when staff was able to look across the
medical field versus the academic field’s policies, where we realized that on the medical side,
paternity leave was already instated. So this is another benefit to the staff senate looking over
employee discrepancies and remedying them–making sure there is consistency across different
facets of UVA. Also, the staff senate worked to include tuition coverage in the education benefit.

Gali: COVID policies and the feedback that leadership used came primarily from a
combination of staff senate surveys. Specifically, feedback considering flex and remote work was
reviewed by leadership.

● What are you all currently working on?

Gali: We want to emphasize how vocal and inclusive we want to be across the University staff
as a whole, so one of the main things we’re working on right now is finding ways to interact with
everyone to hear others' concerns. We're putting together materials to gather this feedback.

Meares: We are about to go into the period of open enrollment, so we’re working closely with
HR to make it known what our actual benefits are and include, health plans, etc. Benefits have
huge impacts on staff members, and it can be hard to understand all of the benefits included, so
we’ve been working with HR to gain better resources and further illustrate all of the
benefits included as UVA staff members. We’re looking at new changes to the health plan so
there is more transparency for staff and so it easier to understand and use.

● What do you wish people knew about the staff senate?

Meares: Staff senate is here for EVERY staff member–no issue is too small. Even if something
doesn't get sent to leadership, the staff senate will work to provide people with the appropriate
resources for their concerns. So not only are we making sure to take UVAFinance staff concerns
up to the higher levels, but we also look to build a repertoire with those in UVAFinance
leadership roles so that they can understand the wider perspectives of their staff members.
People come from different perspectives and backgrounds so it’s important to hear those
perspectives and bring those ideas to light to make sure the experience is improved for
everyone.

Gali: Collaborative partnerships don’t solely apply to people in your constituent unit- we aim to
collaborate across different facets of the University with staff members from all over. We work
with all different schools, departments, units, etc. If a staff member from another unit has a
question or idea about finance, Amanda and I are open to meeting and discussing their
thoughts despite being staff members belonging to different departments.
Just because you aren’t a staff member in finance doesn’t mean you won’t have questions
about financial operations, and so it really is beneficial that the staff senate bridges and
connects these partnerships across units.

● Where can people go for more information/how can they get involved?

Meares: Go to our staff senate website! It’s a really great resource to see what we’ve been
working on, past projects, goals, etc. Also, there is a form there that you can fill out if you want
to remain anonymous but have some ideas or opinions you’d like shared to make sure your
voice is heard–we’ll bring it up in the next meeting! Also, come talk to us! We’re pretty open
books, either on Zoom or in the office and we would love to hear from you. We’re working on
more communication facets, but we’re especially excited about the future implementation of
monthly staff senate Zoom drop-in sessions; we’ll set a time and offer a place for people to drop
in and speak with us (and breakout rooms if you want a smaller group).

Gali: In addition to that staff senate form, we’re also looking to create a form that just Amanda
and I will see, so if there’s anything you want to discuss but don’t necessarily want the whole
staff senate or leadership to see, that form will allow you to reach out more
one-on-one, as more of a direct conversation with us.

● How would you like to interact as staff senators? What can our audience expect from you two?

Meares: We’ll be getting more communications and updates coming in the next few months (we
just finished up our first meeting), and please, please, please interact with those–we need that
data to make changes! So fill out those surveys, and if you are someone passionate about
change or know someone like that, those surveys and interactions drive that change.