From the President's Desk

Greetings, IUB Staff! 

‘Tis the season… to take care of ourselves! The end of 2024 is upon us, and it is important to be mindful of our feelings during this season. There are a lot of changes occurring right now – it is (finally) getting colder, the sun makes an occasional appearance, stress levels are raised, and the campus and city will be “empty” in the snap of a finger! 

As the end of the year draws near, if you are like me, you may be very reflective as you review this year’s events. Reflection can be helpful and positive, full of good times and memories, and it can also be constructive as we consider areas for growth and learning in the new year. However, sometimes reflection leads to some not so good feelings, like self-criticism, grief, or even regrets. Given the flexible nature of our feelings, the theme of this note is self-care. 

Some of us spend more time with friends and family, and some of us do not or are unable. Either way, ‘tis the season to take care of yourself. I encourage you to visit IU’s Workplace Mental Health website, specifically the “Find Help & Resources” tab to learn about ways to support your mental health wellbeing during the winter holiday season.  

Also, IU Human Resources provided information to help us understand the changes to the winter break policy and how they impact you. Hopefully, this new policy allows you to save the PTO you might normally use this time of the year to use it during another time to support your ongoing wellbeing and work + life balance. Plan to take time off when you know that your energy may be lower or in need of a recharge. 

We are honored to serve as your advocates and the link between staff and IUB administration and leadership. Please, take care of yourself and those you care about during the winter break. I hope you can engage in that which brings you joy as you bring in the new year. Whether you are traveling or staying in the soon-to-be-deserted Bloomington, be well and be safe. 

Take care, 

Jen Berry 

Jenifer L. Berry IUB Staff Council President, 2024 - 2025

Can you believe we are already half-way through November and quickly moving toward the end of the calendar year? To add to that feeling, it may seem like we are in a constant season of change, which can create a host of feelings that can be unpleasant or leave us confused, or unsure. Fortunately, one of IUB Staff Council’s (IUBSC’s) strongest partners is Human Resources (HR) and they provide a plethora of resources to help us take care of ourselves regardless of what is happening to us personally and around us locally, nationally, and even globally.

HR resources help us to achieve a work/life balance so we can be our best selves at work and at all other times. They help us understand and select our employee benefits and compensation, connect us with self-care resources like the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) through Healthy IU, support professional development through initiatives like Performance at IU, and so much more!

To keep the council well-informed and to elevate your concerns, IUBSC has regular meetings with HR Senior Directors and Directors, a dedicated HR liaison for Staff Council, HR guest speakers at our monthly business meetings, and HR-related presentations in our Speaker Series.

If you have any HR-related concerns or questions, please reach out to your HR Business Partner. If you are not sure where to start, please connect with HR through askHR.

Visit the IU Human Resources home page to find resources related to these areas and more:

• Benefits
• Compensation
• Development
• Employee Relations
• Employment
• Healthy IU
• HR Systems
• Policies
• Workers' Comp

Thank you for all you do to support Bloomington and IU!

Jen 

Jenifer L. Berry IUB Staff Council President, 2024 - 2025

Hello, October! 

Time is moving quickly, and we are getting more of the “autumn vibe” that many love so much, including myself! 

It is hard to argue against IUB being one of the most beautiful campuses in the fall season and as we move through the month, please take some time to enjoy. I encourage you to not just enjoy the changing leaves and milder temperatures, but also the events and programs that IU has to offer. Please, keep an eye on IUBSC events so that you can get to know our campus better, and our IUB community. 

If you work in a space that you think might be a “hidden gem” on campus, or somewhere folks might like to know about, please contact us to discuss being a part of our “Get to know your campus” series. 

Additionally, if you work in a space that might be a good location for Staff Council to host a “Get to know your colleagues” event, please reach out to us! We are looking for spaces around campus to bring people into to get to know more of our IUB community. 

Lastly, I encourage you to nominate an amazing staff member on the IUB campus using our Staff Spotlight form. All these events and opportunities are the IUB Staff Council’s contributions to growing the IU Bloomington’s community connections. Hope to see you soon! 

Jen 

Jenifer L. Berry IUB Staff Council President, 2024 - 2025

Hello, September!

Even though temperatures have still been feeling like summer, the leaves are beginning to change and fall, and the days are getting noticeably shorter, it is almost sweater weather!

I think many agree that campus morale, unfortunately, feels very low and disconnected. Our hope is that our new Staff Spotlight series will play a part in rebuilding and reconnecting our IU Bloomington community. As the season changes, and we settle more into the fall semester, what better time to learn more about and recognize the people in our IUB community?!

Our Communications and Outreach committee has been working diligently to create and launch our Staff Spotlight form. This process allows any IU Bloomington community member to acknowledge any IUB staff member for their contributions to our community. No contribution is too small or unimportant! Please keep in mind that this process is for non-students, and non-faculty as there are other ways to recognize their important work. Our focus here is on IU Bloomington staff, all staff.

We encourage you to check out our form and submit a colleague for recognition.

Lastly, one of our most important roles on campus is to ensure that IUB staff are educated about and aware of policies and how they affect us. To that end, we are connecting with our partners in relevant offices across campus to bring you information to help you make informed decisions. Please, be on the lookout in the upcoming months for updates and helpful information to keep us all safe throughout our community. Our monthly Speaker Series is also a place where our partners share updates and important information.

Thank you for the wonderful work you are doing to keep the IU Bloomington “machine” running as smooth as possible.

Jenifer L. Berry IUB Staff Council President, 2024 - 2025

Greetings IUB Staff!

While the work hasn’t stopped for us over the summer months, it is still the beginning of a new year - welcome to 2024-2025 academic year!

I am honored and thrilled to be your newly elected President of the IU Bloomington Staff Council. I first want to thank my fellow Staff Council members for their votes of confidence in my leadership.

Over the next year, I hope to increase visibility of “the people in our neighborhood,” specifically staff. I want to increase the Bloomington community’s awareness of how staff support and advance our campus vision and mission. While the parameters we operate in may look and feel different than those for students and faculty, that does not diminish our value to our community, nor the importance of our roles.

I hope you read our first “Staff Spotlight” in this month’s newsletter! Details are forthcoming as to how you can nominate staff that are doing great work around our campus!

Lastly, the Council will continue to be the voice of staff and to do our best to elevate your concerns to the appropriate leaders on campus, as we did with the Expressive Action Policy review process - thank you to those who provided feedback.

We are an extension of you! Please continue to use the various ways to connect with us if you have general inquiries, want to request outreach, or you want to provide general comments or feedback, with an option to remain anonymous. Again, we are here for you, let’s engage!

Jenifer L. Berry IUB Staff Council President, 2024 - 2025

Hello IUB staff members.

I hope that your summer is going well and that you can find some time to rest. We at IUBSC have found some time to rest but continue to do our best to represent staff to the university as a whole. One way we have rested is that we are putting the Speaker Series on hold until August. This gives the staff members who work on the project time to rest as well as our potential speakers.

A way we are working this summer is our recent ask for feedback on the proposed Expressive Activity Policy and are working on summarizing this feedback. We are also working on the survey that we would like to present to staff members, but that is being put on hold at this time as we work to elect the new IUBSC Executive Committee Members.

That being said, this is my last message as President of this incredible organization. I have had a formative experience serving as president for the past two years and I cannot thank the council enough for allowing me to serve in this role. We are very excited to elect a new executive committee and will inform you all of the results in the August Behind the Scenes.

Once again, I want to offer our organization as a place for you to voice your concerns and I hope that you are having a good summer

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Hello Everyone!

On behalf of IUBSC, I want to congratulate IUB staff members for successfully navigating the 2023-2024 academic year. We are continuing to work through the feedback that staff members have sent to us. About a week ago, the IUBSC Vice President and I met with the Provost to discuss the overall themes of the feedback with the hopes for action planning to address many of the points that were brought up in the feedback. We are also putting the final touches on a staff survey that we hope to send out in June to collect quantitative data. This data will aid IUBSC in planning programs and initiatives to support staff members across the university. The feedback form is always open on our website and I am always willing to discuss concerns with staff members. Please do not hesitate to reach out to the council, we are here to help.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

My fellow IUB staff members, I want to first thank all of you who sent us feedback last week. Your input is invaluable, and we deeply appreciate hearing from our fellow staff members. I wanted to respond to some of the feedback directly.  

To begin, I want to outline the actions we have taken and our future plans. Last week we received well over 100 responses to our call for feedback on the recent events. The IUBSC executive committee pulled themes out of the feedback to present in a meeting with the Provost’s staff which occurred on Friday of last week. We wanted to represent the staff voice that we felt had not been heard up until this point. We were not able to meet with the provost himself, but we do have a meeting with him scheduled for a later date.  A predominant theme that we presented was the lack of communication with staff members and the feeling that staff members were not sufficiently included in the decision-making processes. Additionally, staff also expressed fear, both physically on campus and regarding the potential repercussions of speaking out. At this point, it is hard to imagine how to move forward. We at IUBSC want to do our best to help our colleagues feel safe and feel part of a community. We invite you to attend our meetings and events and share your feedback with us. We will continue to elevate staff voices and I will report back in this newsletter when we have more to share.  

Furthermore, there were numerous inquiries regarding the ad-hoc committee convened on April 24th. I asked for more information about the policy behind the ad-hoc committee and I wanted to share the information we were given. The policy is BL-ACA-I18 and it refers to the ad-hoc committee in section C of the policy.  

During this time, we also want to make sure that staff members know their rights regarding participation in protests.  Following discussions with IUHR, it has been clarified that protesting during work hours is not permissible, and staff members should utilize PTO if they wish to participate in protests. This information is outlined in policy HR-7-50. Our intention in sharing this information is to empower staff members to engage in activism if they choose while ensuring compliance with institutional policies. 

We also received many calls for the staff council to hold a vote similar to the Bloomington Faculty Council vote.  It is important to clarify the distinction between the IUB Staff Council and the IUB Faculty Council. IUB Faculty Council possesses shared governance with the university, granting them authority to conduct votes such as no-confidence motions. IUBSC is not a shared governance organization. We represent the non-union, full-time staff members on campus and do not have the same authority as IUB Faculty Council. However, we are committed to amplifying the staff voice and are working to formalize mechanisms to gather more feedback to better understand the current climate among our constituents  

Once again, I appreciate the courage it took for each of you to share your thoughts and feelings with us. Please know that we are here to elevate your voices and have a continued commitment to serve our fellow staff members.  

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Happy April everyone! 

We at Staff Council hope that your semester is wrapping up well. I wanted to highlight the guests that we will have at our April Meeting. IUBSC is happy to welcome Dr. Lamar Hlyton, Vice Provost for Student Life and Dr. Vicka Bell-Robinson, Associate Vice Provost for Student Life, Involvement and Belonging. They will speak to the new Office of Student Life and the exciting initiatives from their office. 

I also wanted to thank folks for sending IUBSC questions throughout the semester, and I encourage you all to continue to reach out to us. We may not always have the answer, but we will try to connect you with the folks that do. You can email a staff council member directly or use the staff council feedback form on our website. Thank you all again for reaching out. 

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Hello Everyone!

As we look forward to the rest of the semester there are many exciting opportunities ahead. On March 20th we welcome Brad Seifers, IUPD Deputy Superintendent, and Amanda Roach University Director of Emergency Management and Continuity to speak to the council on behalf of the Eclipse Planning committee. This group has been hard at work, and they want to answer questions that staff members have about April 8th. We also are welcoming Aimee Heeter, Vice Provost for Finance and Administration, to discuss budgetary changes across the university. We invite you to attend this meeting from 3:00 pm to 5:00 pm at the CIB.

We also are excited to have the next Get to Know Your Colleagues event on March 25th from 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM hosted by IU Outdoor Adventures. The event will take place on the lower level of Eigenmann Hall room #020. Staff members will have the opportunity to mingle with colleagues and experience the fun of indoor rock climbing by taking a turn on the bouldering wall.

We are excited about these opportunities and hope you are as well.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Hello Everyone!

IUBSC is looking forward to an eventful semester and we hope you all will join us. We will be hosting the 2nd Meet Your Colleagues event on Thursday, February 15th from 10:00 am to 11:00 am at the Global International Studies Building in GA1060 and the Lounge. Please join us for refreshments and connection. There will also be another giveaway so make sure to bring your business cards.

As we look towards the semester, we are also excited to have some guests join us for our next few meetings. In February we welcome Christan Royer of IUHR to speak with us about IU employee Health Care and Benefits, Samantha Schaffer of Healthy IU to discuss Healthy IU initiatives, and Dr. Kathy Adams Riester and Katie Paulin to speak with us about The Demonstration Response Safety Team and First Amendment rights and Free Speech. This meeting will occur over Zoom and we encourage you to join us to learn about these topics.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Happy second semester everyone! 

We at IUBSC hope that your break was restful. We are very excited to report that the first Meet Your Colleagues event of 2024 went well, and we want to thank everyone who attended. As well as we want to thank Ernie Pyle Hall for hosting us. Keep your eyes out for more information about our next Meet Your Colleagues event occurring later in February. If your department or building wants to host a Meet Your Colleagues event, please reach out to me at asinadin@iu.edu. We are looking forward to the rest of January and are working on planning the work that IUBSC will be doing over the next semester. If you have feedback or ideas, please utilize our feedback form found here. We are open to topics of discussion, event ideas, or items you would like IUBSC to address. We hope to hear from you soon and we hope you have a good semester.  

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Hello Everyone! 

During the last month, a staff member reached out to me and asked how the university was addressing gender-affirming care and services. I spoke with IU HR and I wanted to share the information I received with you all.  

• IU-sponsored medical plans cover gender-affirming care, and have for nearly a decade, including coverage of medical and pharmacy services for both adults and children. 
• Among other services and procedures, this includes coverage for counseling, surgery, medications such as hormone replacement therapy, hair removal, etc.  

• Gender-affirming care is covered the same as any other medical or pharmacy service, subject to plan cost shares, i.e., the annual deductible, copay or coinsurance, and out-of-pocket maximum. 
• Recently, some states, including Indiana, have passed legislation restricting the delivery of gender-affirming care, generally to minors under age 18. This legislation currently does not restrict what can be covered by the employer’s medical plan, rather it effectively prohibits providers licensed in the state from providing gender-affirming care.  
• IU medical plan benefits include a travel benefit of up to $2,000 annually for covered medical services that are not available within 100 miles of the member’s home.  
• IU HR is also working on a gender transition guide, which provides information to employees on how to navigate their transition at IU. This guide was drafted with help from employees currently transitioning while working at IU and will be available more broadly in the near future.   

I hope this information from IU HR helps clarify questions surrounding gender-affirming care. If you have other questions or concerns, please email us at iubsc@iu.edu.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Hello everyone and happy fall! We at IUBSC hope that you are doing well. We wanted to invite all staff members to attend our meeting on October 18th from 3:00pm to 5:00pm. We will be hosting Indiana University President Pamela Whitten from 3:30pm to 4:00 pm. You can register to attend this portion of our meeting here.

I also wanted to thank everyone who attended our September meeting and anyone who submitted questions prior to the meeting. We are summarizing the questions you all have for President Whitten currently. If you have more questions and would like to submit them, please email iubsc@indiana.edu or me at asinadin@iu.edu. Thank you again for your feedback and we hope you join us in October.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Happy September! We hope that the beginning of the academic year has gone smoothly for you. IUBSC is very excited to host President Whitten at our October meeting and we invite staff members to join us during our September meeting to discuss questions and topics that we would like her to address during her time with us in October. We will be meeting on September 20^th at the CIB from 3pm to 5pm. During our discussion breakout time, we will ask members and other attendees to come up with discussion items for President Whitten. Please join us if you can. If you are unable you can submit your thoughts via our website feedback form. We hope to see you in September!

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

I am very excited and honored to serve as the President of IUBSC for a second year. Thank you to the IUBSC members for re-electing me. I am looking forward to what we will be bringing staff members this year. As we move into the new year, I want to remind staff members that we have a feedback form on our website for folks to send in concerns they have. These are not just questions, concerns, or comments about IUBSC, but if you have any feedback about your experience as a staff member at the university you can utilize this form. You can leave your contact information if you want us to respond directly to you. You also have the option to give feedback anonymously. If you do, I will try to address the question in the next BTS newsletter. We also want to make it clear that when staff members ask us questions either through this form or in emails directly to us, we never use your information or any identifying information when seeking answers to your questions. Make sure to reach out to us if you have any feedback. We are here to serve and advocate for you. Have a happy August and good luck during move-in and the first few weeks of classes!

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Your  fellow staff members on the IU Bloomington Staff Council hope that your summer is going well. As we begin a new academic year, we are looking forward to all the opportunities that are in front of our organization and ways to engage and enrich the staff experience on our beautiful campus. This time of year, we are sad to lose long serving members and excited to welcome newly elected council members. We will conduct elections for a new executive committee prior to our monthly meeting. You are always welcome to join us.  We  are excited to meet our new leadership team. Watch for the announcement in the August newsletter. As always, IUBSC is here to advocate for staff  members. We will continue to do so during our transition to the new year. We hope you are having a wonderful summer and if you need anything, contact us. 

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

June marks the end of the fiscal year and the end of the year for IUBSC. As I reflect on this year with IUBSC I cannot explain how proud I am of the work that this organization has done. Over the past year, we have had many accomplishments such as: 

• Multiple members serving on IUB 2030 committees 
• Representation on multiple campus-wide search committees 
• The introduction of the Get to Know Your Colleagues events, with 3 successful events throughout the semester 
• We hosted multiple Get to know your Campus events with full RSVP lists 
• We restructured the Speaker Series events and hosted 11 wonderful speakers with our 12th happening later in the month 
• We hosted prominent individuals of the university at our monthly meetings such as Provost Shrivastav and IUHR VP Richardson 
• The Grants committee revitalized and structured the grants process to make it a better experience for those applying. They also were able to award 11 grants with the hope of allocating more money to expand the number of awardees for next year.  
• The Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee was formed and created a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Statement for the council.  
• We surveyed the IUB Staff population and are currently figuring out how to utilize this data to inform our work and advocate for staff needs. 

Our hope is that we have served you all as staff members well over this past year and that we can continue to serve you. We are already planning for next year and are excited to continue to represent, advocate for, and help staff successfully navigate the staff experience positively. 

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Happy May everyone.

We at IUBSC hope that your semester is wrapping up smoothly. We want to thank Vice President of IUHR Todd Richardson and the IUHR team for joining us at our last meeting. If you were unable to attend, you can watch a recording of the conversation.

Also, I wanted to thank all of you who filled out our staff survey. There is a lot of helpful data that we are working through. We have shared some of the data with our campus partners and will compile a summary to share with you all and other partners. Please note that the data that we have shared does not have any identifying information in it.  

Lastly, I wanted to invite you all to our last Meet Your Colleagues event of the academic year. It will Be Wednesday, May 10th from 10:30 am to Noon in the Wells Library Lobby. Please join us for casual conversation and refreshments.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Happy April everyone, 
We at IUBSC are very excited about the month ahead as it brings us many great opportunities. We want to invite you all to attend our April meeting via zoom. At this meeting, we are honored to have VP Todd Richardson of IUHR join us to answer your questions. 
If you have questions that you would like to ask send them to us prior to the meeting either via our feedback form on the IUBSC website or our email address: iubsc@indiana.edu. We are also concluding our survey and will be reviewing all of your responses to assist in any way we can. Lastly, we are opening our elections. We encourage you to take part by either nominating yourself or a colleague to become an elected member of the council. If you have questions or want to know more please reach out. 

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Happy March everyone! During the past month, the Vice President of IUBSC, Lamara Warren, and I met with the Provost and the VP of IUHR Todd Richardson. We had a productive conversation and are very excited about what is to come from the new IUHR plan. IUBSC will host VP Richardson at a future meeting to discuss the plan, so please watch out for more information about this. We hope you can attend the meeting to ask questions about the plan and any other IUHR questions. In the meantime, Lamara and I will begin meeting with VP Richardson monthly so if you have questions, please send them to us. 

During our last meeting, we asked a staff member a question and I wanted to share the answer with you. A staff member asked why staff members who take classes at IU are required to pay student fees. Provost Shrivastav and VP Richardson said they would look further into staff members paying fees. Once we know more information, we will bring that back to you. 

Once again, if you have questions or concerns you want to ask IUHR, please send them in so we can bring them up to VP Richardson. IUBSC is here to help you. 

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

IUBSC wanted to thank everyone who came out to the Coffee, Cocoa, Cookies, and the Council event on January 5th. We really enjoyed meeting all of you and want to continue this program. We heard from many of you that you want more opportunities to meet colleagues from across campus. To assist with this, we will be introducing a new series called Get to know your Colleagues. The first event is in the works and will be occurring hopefully in the first week of March. Be on the lookout for more information on these events. If you have other ideas for programs or things, you would like to see from IUBSC please email me at iubsc@indiana.edu or utilize our feedback form on our website. IUBSC is excited for a new semester and is here to help IUB staff enhance their experience. Please reach out to let us know how we can help.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

On behalf of the IUBSC, I want to thank all the staff members at IUB for their arduous work this past semester. We know the effort you put into every day and want you to know we see it. I wanted to reflect on this past semester and tell you what we are working on for the next semester.

In the Fall of 2022 IUBSC:

1. We worked to establish stronger relationships with the ex-officio members of IUBSC (IUB Faculty Council, IUSA, CWA, IUHR, Bloomington Academic Advisors Council, and the Graduate Professional Student Government). If you are a member of an organization that wants to be represented at our meetings, please contact us.
2. We hosted 4 impactful Speaker Series webinars.
3. We hosted our first Get to Know Your Campus event at the Lilly Library. This event was so popular that the spots filled in minutes and a second tour is scheduled.
4. The IUB Staff Council Vice President, Dr. Lamara Warren and I met with IUHR and the Provost multiple times to discuss current staff issues.
5. The newly created IUB Staff Council Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee has worked to define its purpose. It created information sheets about the cultural centers on campus and how they support staff members.
6. We Improved our monthly newsletter to inform the campus of our priorities and the work that we are doing on your behalf.
7. We engaged with staff members via email, phone conversations, and the newly created feedback form on our website to answer questions to enhance their employment experience.

Next semester we are hoping to:

8. Continue to engage with you – IU staff members.
9. Host events for you to meet staff council members (the first event is on January 5^th at 10 am in the IMU Restaurants Coffee, Cocoa, Cookies, and the Staff Council).
10. Continue to host Speaker Series webinars and Get to Know your Campus events.
11. Represent staff to upper administration and IUHR.
12. Represent staff needs and concerns through the IUB 2030 process.
13. Send a survey to staff members to gauge concerns and share observations with senior leadership.

We are looking forward to the rest of this academic year. We hope to see you at some of our upcoming events.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

I met with the Provost Shrivastav recently and I asked the following questions – below are his answers.

Q: Can you share a bit of background regarding IUB 2030?

Provost Shrivastav: This fall, IU Bloomington launched a campus-wide strategic planning process, IUB 2030 aligned with other IU campuses, to define the next steps in our future together as an IU community. Our planning process is driven by the planning framework shared across IU, which is shaped by three pillars: student success and opportunity, transformative research and creativity, and service to the state and beyond. It is my hope that our collective efforts will create a meaningful and ambitious plan for IU Bloomington that leads us to an even brighter future for 2030 and beyond.

Q: How were folks selected for the IUB 2030 committees?

Provost Shrivastav: We shared an open call for members of the IU community to nominate themselves or others to serve on IU 2030 working groups. We also solicited nominations from the Faculty Council, academic deans, and other campus leaders. We thought it was critical to ensure each of the working groups included a wide range of perspectives. Staff, in particular, are well represented across each of the planning pillars.

Q: How is IUB 2030 assisting in the betterment of the staff experience?

Provost Shrivastav: Our people at IU are our greatest asset—and the foundation for all we do. As the 2030 plan emerges around the three pillars, we will dedicate similar attention to the people needed to accomplish our priorities. Our staff are critical in helping to achieve our aspirations through IUB 2030 and realize future success for IU.

Q: If you are not on a committee how can you contribute to IUB 2030?

Provost Shrivastav: We encourage everyone to participate and have your perspectives included in this process. All staff are welcome to share ideas and feedback through an online form that can be submitted at any time. You are also welcome to reach out directly to the plan co-chairs or any of the working group co-chairs (posted on the website). In January, we will seek additional feedback from academic and administrative units on planning ideas to date. We will also have two open town halls on the draft plan on February 15 and 16, for anyone who would like to participate.

Q: What is the implementation plan for the finished IUB 2030 plan?

Provost Shrivastav: Once the 2030 plan is finalized in March, we will create a more specific implementation plan toward achieving the final plan goals and outcomes. It is likely that some items will be initiated in the next budget cycle, while others will take longer. Staff will be included in all these efforts.

Q: Moving to the results of the My Voice survey, what is the university doing to improve staff engagement?

Provost Shrivastav: Guided by the helpful feedback from the MyVoice process, I have charged each of our academic deans and vice provosts to develop action plans to meaningfully drive staff engagement. One of the key items we will begin to address, starting in spring term, is performance management. We want to ensure all employees have a clear sense of job expectations and are receiving continuous feedback on achievement. Each of us wants to make an impact in our work, and we should receive the feedback and development opportunities to help us continue to grow and thrive.

Q: If staff feel like their voices are not being heard what can they do?

Provost Shrivastav: I hope all staff feel empowered and encouraged to share opportunities to improve their experience at IU. The regular MyVoice process is a primary way to provide feedback across campus. Staff may also share ideas with HR business partners within your area of employment or Staff Council, with whom I meet regularly.

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

I am very hopeful for the future of the staff experience and satisfaction at IUB. Through efforts like the My Voice at IU survey and the IUB 2030 plan, there is an opportunity for staff members to share their experiences to increase their engagement and satisfaction. On a quarterly basis, IUBSC Vice President, Lamara Warren, and I meet with the Provost and IUHR to advocate and encourage ways to address and meet staff needs. Please take advantage of this opportunity to send us your questions or concerns that we may share on your behalf. We strive to maintain your confidentiality. We do not share any identifying information. Once we get an answer from the Provost or IUHR we share it with those who asked. You can send your questions or concerns to iubsc@iu.edu or my personal email asinadin@iu.edu.  

We also have a new feature on our website where you can leave comments, suggestions, or concerns via a form Link: https://staffcouncil.indiana.edu/contact/index.html. Please do not hesitate to reach out to us.  

Sincerely,

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

As the leaves change and evenings chill, the volunteers of IUB Staff Council continue to devote our time to serving you and representing staff concerns across campus. Since I began my term, I have received many important questions from staff members at IU. I want to share one such question and answer with you today. A staff member emailed me to ask if IU would cover travel for reproductive health services for staff members to other states for services no longer allowed or readily available in the state of Indiana. I connected with a representative from IUHR to discuss this topic regarding health care coverage. The representative stated:

• Medical Coverage: Currently the IU-sponsored medical plans cover abortion without restrictions and for any reason (elective or medical). Abortion for any reason will continue to be covered by IU-sponsored plans when the procedure occurs in a location where it is legally allowed.
• Contraceptives: No changes to coverage. Many contraceptives are covered for free, as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Plan B is considered a contraceptive medication, covered at no cost under the ACA preventive drug list, and can still be obtained at a retail pharmacy.
• Travel Coverage: IU will be implementing a travel benefit effective 1/1/2023: Plan benefits will be expanded to include a travel benefit up to $2,000 annually for covered medical services that are not available within 100 miles of the member’s home, subject to plan cost share.
• Other Travel Options: For employees enrolled in an HSA, IRS regulations allow you to use HSA funds to pay for travel (flights, mileage, hotel, etc.) to receive medical care in another state.

I want staff across campus to know that we are here to be advocates, to be available, and to assist the staff community. If you have questions regarding the staff experience at IUB please email me at asinadin@iu.edu or our general mailbox iubsc@indiana.edu. We will do our best to help you get the correct information.

Sincerely,

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

As we welcome the academic year, I want to share my goals for the IUB Staff Council with you. My first goal is for IUBSC to become better advocates for the staff at IUB. IUBSC can advocate for staff members in many ways, one being, that members can serve as witnesses for staff members at grievance proceedings. We can offer support, take notes as an unbiased third party and ensure you know your rights through the process. See more information on this process.

We also act as advocates by lifting your voices. Over the past month, I have received questions from fellow staff members. I appreciate the opportunity to find answers to those questions. If you have questions regarding the staff experience at IUB please email either myself at asinadin@iu.edu or iubsc@indiana.edu. We will do our best to help you get the correct information. We also take this information to departments when the IUBSC Vice President, Lamara Warren and I meet with them. We have discussed the issues that were brought up to me with IUHR and the Provost. We want to be your voice so please feel free to share your thoughts.

Another goal of mine is that IUBSC helps create a community among staff members at IU Bloomington. We are planning events throughout the year to attempt to create a sense of community and belonging. We hope that you will see representatives at events on campus in order to get to know us better.

My hope is over the next year you will see that IUBSC is a resource for the staff community. We are here to be representatives of the larger staff community as a whole to the university. Please get to know the council members and utilize us. We are here for you.

Sincerely,

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025

Hello!

As the newly-elected IU Bloomington Staff Council, my goal for this organization is to help create a stronger community for all staff on the IU Bloomington campus. Our organization exists to represent staff and help them successfully navigate the staff experience positively. We are committed to advocacy for staff. This year we hope to be more visible, to offer more engagement opportunities, and to develop transparency to better define our organization’s role.

Sincerely,

Alison Sinadinos IUB Staff Council President, 2022 - 2025