News

Employee Council welcomes new faces

Voting for seven vacancies on the NMSU Employee Council drew to a close on Dec. 3, and the certified election results include four new exempt staff members, one new faculty member and one new off-campus branch representative.

New exempt staff council members include Patricia Hartell, financial operations manager in the Physical Science Lab's Anderson Hall Research Center; Cherri Lambeth, director of business and resource planning in Research and Administration; Anthony Parra, director of information and communication technologies; and Paul Ponce, HVAC supervisor with the Office of Facilities and Services.

Roseanne Bensley, associate director of Career Services and sitting chair of the council, was reelected to another three-year term as well. Lambeth was an ex-officio member of the council through Dec. 31, 2010, and served as chair of the Fringe Benefits Committee.

Effective Feb. 1 Bensley will be past chair and Steve Loring, associate director of NMSU's Agricultural Experiment Station, will take over as council chair.

"I am excited at this chance to serve and make a difference, and to represent employees' views and make sure the president and provost are aware of those views for policy purposes," Loring said. "The Employee Council is here to give the administration advice from an employee viewpoint - advice they solicit. My job is to make sure we have good communications with both the administration and university employees. Good communication is the key to our success."

Allan Kaplan, associate professor of music in the College of Arts and Sciences, now represents university faculty.

Linda Beavers, who has served as a council alternate, was elected to represent off-campus branch employees. Beavers is assistant to the vice president at NMSU Alamogordo.

Alternate members elected include: Karen Reid (off-campus branch), Nancy Oretskin (faculty), Carmen Kottong, Cheryl Archuleta, Mari Langford and Peggy Spiegel (non-exempt staff).
Each newly elected member will serve a three-year term from Feb. 1, 2011 through Jan. 31, 2014.

"The Employee Council is the conduit to providing the administration with the concerns of college employees," said Loring. "I want to reiterate that everyone is welcome to attend council meetings or contact council representatives. We are here for the whole campus community, and no question or concern is too great or too small."

Loring pointed out that the council website is home to a previously asked questions page (http://www.nmsu.edu/~acap/questions.html) that serves to address common employee concerns. If employees have questions that do not appear on the FAQ page, Loring noted that they may contact council representatives or e-mail empcouncil@nmsu.edu.

"Serving as chair has allowed me to observe firsthand the dedication and commitment our administration has for the care and wellbeing of all university employees," Bensley said. "It has been a privilege to serve on the Provost Search Committee and Efficiency and Effectiveness Committee, and to chair the Employee Recognition and Awards Committee, to provide guidelines and recommendations to provide new forms of recognition for the dedication of employees to the mission of NMSU."

The next Employee Council Meeting is scheduled for 3 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 13, in Milton Hall, Room 85. Meetings are open and anyone may attend, but only elected members have voting privileges.

The Employee Council investigates matters involving the policies and procedures of the administration of the university, and makes recommendations based on such investigations to the university president. The council also establishes and maintains an organization of university staff to provide communication between the staff and the administration of the university, as well as to provide communication among the several parts of the university staff.

For more information visit http://www.nmsu.edu/empcouncil.

Written by Mark Cramer.