Staff Council serves as the official liaison between staff and other university constituencies and is a recognized part of the university governance. Staff Council provides visible and proactive voice on issues having significant staff impact.
The purpose of Staff Council is:
- To represent the concerns of staff and provide a forum for staff to voice those concerns.
- To facilitate shared governance for staff in university planning and decision making.
- To preserve the Catholic, Vincentian and urban nature of the university community by being sensitive to and caring for the needs of each other and those we serve.
In order to fulfill this purpose, Staff Council does the following:
- Advocates for staff and staff issues.
- Provides information to the President, Provost, and Executive Vice President about staff concerns.
- Works collaboratively with Faculty Council, Student Government Association, Joint Council and other committees and councils throughout the university to provide staff input.
- Hosts monthly meetings.
- Hosts public forums, conducts surveys and polls the DePaul community to determine staff needs, provide forums for discussion, and creates opportunities for community building.
- Provides vehicles for communication for staff ideas, issues, and input.
- Recommends staff-at-large for university-wide committee appointments.
- Reviews policies and procedures that impact staff.
- Evaluates its own policies and procedures to ensure effective leadership for staff.
In recent years, Staff Council has either been involved with or responsible for the following university initiatives benefiting staff:
- Updates to the Salary Administration Policy to include a new Vacancy Pay measure (2023)
- Updates to the Involuntary Termination Severance Pay Plan to remove the distinction between exempt and non-exempt employees (2023)
- Addition of Juneteenth as a university holiday (2023)
- Creation of additional identity categories for use in the demographic information collected for university staff (2022)
- Advocated for a staff salary equity review (2022)
- Establishment of a COVID-19 booster requirement (2021)
- Increase in annual vacation rollover from five days to ten days per year (2021)
- Secured funding for recipients of the Staff Diversity Award (2021)
- Strengthened shared governance leadership with SGA & Faculty Council (2020)
- Creation of a new two-week paid Parental Leave Policy (2018)
- Advocated for part-time staff tuition benefits (2018)
- Updates to the Guiding Principles on Speech and Expression (2017)
- Addition of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day as a university holiday (2016)
Staff Council Constitution and Bylaws: