Hello Fellow Staff,
This week we celebrated the exchanging of the gavel in Staff Senate. As my term as President has ended, I am reminded of the many interactions and experiences from this past year. I am reminded every day of what makes this place special and it’s the people.
We had a fantastic year on Senate and accomplished a lot. Last April, I challenged our Senators with ambitious and strategic goals. I am pleased to report that we met, and in many cases surpassed all our goals. We engaged with approximately 1,500 Clemson staff this year through various outreach, recognition, and service efforts including appreciation luncheons, blood drives, and department visits.
We are implementing a senator mentorship program and adopted a new representation model which will position Senate for strategic and moderate growth. We raised nearly $15,000 in our “Battle of Senates” campaign for the Employee Emergency Fund and we are currently selling limited-edition watercolor cards to benefit the Staff Senate Endowed Scholarship.
We partnered with leadership in Faculty Senate and Human Resources to form the Tuition Remission Benefit Task Force and continued serving as liaisons to university committees and commissions. We established a new Staff Senate blog and held our monthly meeting in CU-ICAR in February where we had the pleasure to fellowship and engage with staff not on main campus.
Each of our committees contributed significantly to fulfill our goals. The impact will be felt for years to come as we have positioned Senate for continued success to advocate and serve our fellow staff.
I had the opportunity to highlight our accomplishments to the Board of Trustees at their quarterly meeting in April and detailed the work of our 52 senators.
At the 2023-24 Staff Senate Awards Luncheon, treasurer Christy Babb (left) was named Staff Senator of the Year and Kevin Allmond (right) won the Sam Hoover Staff Senate Innovation Award.
Senate will be in great hands with Jeff Anthony! He is one of the most genuine, dependable, and active senators. He will be an outstanding President.
Being a graduate of Clemson, a native of Aiken, SC, and having served 10 years as an employee, I have always been proud of my alma mater. However, after serving in this role and becoming familiar with the internal structure and unique characteristics of our university landscape, I am beyond proud of this university and the leadership in place.
Thank you all for your many continued contributions to this special place we call Clemson University.
Burn bright, not out.
Go Tigers!
Jake Anderson
Staff Senate Immediate Past President
