Staff Council

The Staff Council, serving in an advisory role to the President, will examine issues related to staff members and encourage a balanced perspective and the open exchange of information. Its primary charge is to support the professional well-being of Grinnell College staff members while contributing to the College's mission.

The members of the Staff Council will meet a minimum of once per month. Generally, there will be two meetings per month, with one scheduled to include the President and his/her designee for the purposes of guidance, information sharing, and open communication. 

 
Send your ideas, comments, suggestions to the Staff Council at staff_council@grinnell.edu

Staff Council Annual Election

Beginning Monday, February 4, the Staff Council will begin taking nominations for three open positions from staff members who are interested in serving on the Council. Nominations will be accepted until Friday, February 15.

Terms for the three openings are as follows:

• three-year term for non-exempt staff (2 positions)
• three-year term for exempt staff (1 position)

Elections will take place electronically (with paper ballots being provided to Dining Services staff) from February 22-March 1, 2013. The Staff Council will be responsible for the election process, including tabulating results. An announcement regarding the election results will be made Wednesday, March 13. If you are interested in running for Staff Council, please go to: https://survey.grinnell.edu/se.ashx?s=2511374534767FB3 to complete the nomination form.

(Staff Council minutes are located in PioneerWeb, under the Organization ~For Staff.)

Committee Members:

Carlie VanWilligen, Chair

Carlie has been with the college since July 1996, and while she’s held many positions, is excited to have stayed with the same employer for so long! She spent the first 11 years working her way up the Information Technology Services organizational chart, and since 2007 has been in the Office of Analytic Support and Institutional Research. Carlie has lived in Poweshiek County for most of her life - except the decade from age 18-28 when she was out "discovering herself!" She didn't get very far, only to western Illinois, and returned to her roots when she started at the college. Carlie has a degree in Mathematics and Secondary Education from Simpson College, and a Master's in Business Administration from St. Ambrose University. She has served on the Benefits Committee and is a member of the Staff Council and Assessment Task Force. Carlie participates in Staff Council to help the college develop action plans that signal not only do we care about our employees, but that we respond to concerns that resonate with the staff. She also wants to encourage more transparency in campus operations, and facilitate the development of a formal avenue for sharing of information and activities across offices. In her free time, Carlie is an adjunct instructor of Business, Communication, and Information Technology courses, spends way too much time watching TV, and loves reading mysteries where she can figure out who-done-it before the big reveal.

Mark Watts, Co-Chair

Mark Watts has worked at Grinnell in ITS since 1998, originally doing all sorts of training, and now as an Information Technology Support Specialist. Mark interacts with many people on a daily basis, helping with technology issues and opportunities. In his travels, he visits with lots of different areas of campus, and hear lots of great comments about things they see, ideas they have, and ways to make this a better place for the students, faculty and staff. Mark is interested in joining the Staff Council to be able to share those ideas, and hopefully make a positive impact.

Laura Gogg

Diane Hawkins

Diane Hawkins' employment at Grinnell College began in the Accounting Office the Fall of 1981. During her years at the College, she has also worked in the offices of the Registrar and Dining Services, and is currently in the Career Development Office as Technical Assistant II. Diane has observed many aspects of the Grinnell College community, and appreciates the opportunity to be a staff advocate focusing on issues dealing with campus climate. She would like to work on improving communication, building trust within the campus community and promote opportunities for open and honest dialogue allowing individuals to have their voices heard. Diane is beginning her second year on Staff Council.

Brent Jaeger

Brent, his wife Dawn, and son Kyle moved to Grinnell from De Pere, Wisconsin in 1994 when Brent joined the College's Development & Alumni Relations staff as Director of Development Operations. In 2000 he transferred to Information Technology Services (ITS) as Manager of Campus Information Services (CIS), and in 2006 was promoted to Assistant Director of ITS. Brent served as co-chair of the Datatel Implementation Planning Team (IPT) and now chairs the Grinnell College Data Users' Group (GC DUG). He has been involved in the implementation of Ellucian (formerly Datatel) – Colleague & Benefactor; Pioneer One-Card system; PioneerWeb community portal; The Raiser's Edge fund raising & alumni relations system; alumni on-line communities; Recruitment PLUS for student recruiting & admission; Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system of ImageNow, and the Slate student recruiting system replacing Recruitment PLUS. Brent and his wife Dawn are graduates of Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa where their son Kyle became third-generation Wartburg Knight. Brent is pleased to be working with the members of the Staff Council using a balanced perspective examining issues of importance to staff members in support of the well-being of staff, students, and faculty in accord with the College's mission of educating bright, inquisitive, exploring, and maturing students.

Doug Peterson

Doug has been with Grinnell College since January, 2009. He has spent his entire time in the Science Division Office, first as an Academic Support Assistant, and now as Technical Support. Doug spent a year participating in the Process Committee, and will soon join the Benefits Committee and the Parking Committee. He enjoys learning new things and communicating with people. One of the things Doug likes best about working at Grinnell is the daily interaction with faculty, staff, and students. His current hobbies include bicycling, grilling pizza, and building home audio speakers. Doug would like to use his time on the Staff Council to help improve the working environment for all College employees.

Mary Phipps

Mary Phipps has worked at the College since March of 1987 when she relocated to Grinnell from Tacoma, Washington. She has been in the Office of Admission for the entire time, as a member of the support staff for the first twenty years until she was promoted to an administrative position in 2007. Her current role is serving on the Admission Leadership Team as Coordinator of Operations and Information Management. She came to Grinnell with an AA degree from Tacoma Community College and in October 2012 received her BA from William Penn University's College for Working Adults. Mary served previously on the Support Staff Relations Committee, the Affirmative Action Committee, the Strategic Planning Steering Committee, as chair of the Transparency Working Group (one of the subcommittees of the Strategic Planning Steering Committee in 2011-12) and she participated in the Poweshiek Leadership Program in 2010-11. Mary prides herself on being able to view issues from different perspectives and is happy to be serving her peers as a member of Staff Council. In her spare time, Mary enjoys playing cards and games with family & friends, riding her four-wheeler on the country roads or curling up with the dog and a good book.

Barb Shell

Barb Shell has been a member of Grinnell College’s staff since 1976, joining the college shortly after receiving a bachelor’s degree in home economics from the University of Iowa. Barb has worked in different areas of the Dining Services department over the years, including eighteen years as associate director and manager of the (now closed) Cowles Dining Hall. Her current duties include the oversight of the department’s office functions, and the operation and maintenance of the campus ID system, the Pioneer One-Card. Through her work on the Staff Council, she is particularly interested in how college programs, policies, and benefits are administered across the campus and how they affect different segments of the staff. She appreciates the opportunities for the open exchange of information that the Staff Council is involved in.

Angie Story