In higher education, July and August usually brings a lot of changes to the University. July brings a new fiscal year and August brings a new academic year. For Staff Senate, it brings new leadership and initiatives. This years Staff Senate is led by Melissa Day, Assistant Director of the Office of Student Conduct. Melissa is an alumnus of WCU and has also spent her professional career at Western Carolina University helping students navigate their time in Cullowhee. She holds a bachelor’s degree in communication with a double concentration in Broadcasting and Broadcast Sales and a minor in Marketing from WCU. In addition to her bachelor’s degree, Melissa holds two Graduate Degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Her career at WCU has been spread amongst a few different offices, the WCU Bookstore, the Advising Center, the Office of Student Retention and finally in the Office of Student Conduct. In all of these roles, Melissa has dedicated herself to supporting students and creating a better experience during their years in Cullowhee. She has been on Staff Senate for 3 years serving as the Staff Engagement Committee Chair, Chair Elect and now Chair!

Her executive team is made of up 11 individuals across campus that were either voted on by their peers or appointed by the chair.

                                       Chair-Elect– Catherine MacCallum             Staff Assembly Representative– Alex Fields

                                       Past Chair– Zachary Williams                       Staff Engagement Chair– Kaitlin Ritchie

                                       Secretary– Joyce Carpenter                          Governance Chair– Ryan Fisher

                                       Treasurer– Dana Boyer                                 Human Resources Chair– Regina Aton

                                       Parliamentarian– Sidar Sahin                      Scholarship Chair– Emily Giarette

                                                 

Staff Senate is made up of 32 staff representatives from all divisions on campus, dedicated to joining efforts in supporting all staff members on campus. 30 of these members are voting members and two are non-voting members. The two non-voting members are the chair and past chair.

Melissa will give her opening speech at the Annual Fall Open Assembly on Wednesday, August 14th in the Bardo Arts Center alongside Chancellor Kelli Brown, Provost Richard Starnes, and Faculty Senate Chair, Marianna Da Costa.