Maybe it was while planning the staff social. Or while coordinating details for the annual Soup and Spuds event. Perhaps it was while figuring out the logistics for a new option that invited staff for chair massages.
Caroline Bertrand and Andrea Fernandes can’t pinpoint exactly when it happened, but at some moment while serving as the co-chairs of the Staff Council’s Activity Committee, which organizes a handful of popular staff events throughout the year, the two realized that they worked really well together.
Really, really well.
“She’s the fluff to my peanut butter. She’s my jelly,” laughs Fernandes. “We complement each other really well. There isn’t a day that goes by that we don’t check in with each other on something.”
So when former Staff Council chair DawnMarie Hines announced that her four-year term was up and she would be stepping down from the position as Staff Council chair, Fernandes, who is in her third year on the council, and Bertrand, who is in her second year, knew their next move. The two quickly volunteered to lead the representative body.
“Andrea and I pretty much immediately started having a conversation about, ‘Do you want to do this?’” says Bertrand. “We have a friendship where we felt we would work well together.”
By working together to lead Staff Council, Bertrand and Fernandes also felt that they would have more bandwidth to tackle some of the larger administrative projects that the Staff Council needed. Once they were voted in, one of their first efforts was to update the council’s ten-year-old charter. They also started updating details on the Staff Council website and arranged for a new photo of members.
Bertrand and Fernandes recognized that the strength of the Staff Council was in its ability to represent the wide variety of campus departments, interests, and experiences. Together with the recruitment committee, they made sure to find volunteer members from across campus. That push seems to have succeeded, they note.
“I think we have a really well-balanced committee this year,” says Fernandes.
“There’s a lot of value in being on staff council,” agrees Bertrand. “It’s a way to integrate yourself in the campus community. You get to know so many people across campus that you wouldn’t ordinarily cross paths with.”
That understanding of the strength of relationships stems, in part from the co-chairs’ work as an executive assistant in the finance department (Bertrand) and the director of events management (Fernandes).
Bertrand notes that her past volunteer roles as the leader of a girl scout troop, as a PTO president and secretary, and as a soccer coach also come in handy when managing a lot of detailed projects and events.
“This is a good way to be in a position to have a way to make effective change,” says Fernandes. “It goes back to that motto that you don’t get to have a voice, or a seat at the table, unless you’re involved.”
As the two co-chairs look to the future of the Staff Council, they say they want to continue raising the awareness that participation matters, that the council is open to everyone (and represents all staff), and that even meetings can be attended by non-members.
“I hope that people feel recognized,” says Bertrand. “I hope they feel that Staff Council is a safe place, a place where you can come for support—and potentially help. A place to come for advocacy.”
Fernandes says she’s already encouraged by moments she’s experienced. Moments such as when she was stopped at her daughter’s school by a fellow staff member to ask about an ongoing issue.
“Now that people see our names out there,” she says, “they feel more empowered to reach out.”
