Western Carolina University\u2019s Staff Senate increased its expectations for community service this year, setting a goal of 450 volunteer hours and a 100 percent participation rate by senators.<\/p>\n
Those goals have been met \u2015 and now surpassed \u2015 with community service contributions close to 700 hours and individual participation by all senators.<\/p>\n
\u201cStaff Senate\u2019s service activities have continuously increased, as has the need for organization and promotion of volunteer opportunities,\u201d said Suzanne Melton, an administrative support specialist in the Office of the Provost and the senate\u2019s community service liaison. \u201cWe believe that consistent community service provides more opportunities for employees to share information about WCU to the community, build rapport and cultivate sustainable partnerships.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last year, Staff Senate established the community service liaison to help organize and promote community service opportunities. Leave-earning WCU employees are allocated 24 hours of paid community service leave each calendar year. As such, Melton works with the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning to identify and connect staff with new and existing community partnerships. Locally, there are many areas of need, from roadside cleanups to staffing food pantries, with needs increasing in the summer when many students and faculty are on break.<\/p>\n
Across campus as a whole, the community service provided by the university\u2019s leave-earning faculty and staff has increased tenfold over the last decade, said Lane Perry, executive director of the Center for Community Engagement and Service Learning. \u201cThis year could easily see some 6,000 hours of volunteer service,\u201d Perry said. \u201cThe pandemic has heightened awareness of our shared reliance on and need for one another. This commitment is representative of who we are, collectively, as the Catamount Community \u2013 we serve, we lead and we give our best for the betterment of others around us. The Staff Senate\u2019s efforts substantiate and reinforce WCU\u2019s mission and our partnership with the region.\u201d<\/p>\n
An elected body that represents permanent, nonfaculty employees and serves in an advisory capacity for university leadership, the Staff Senate works to ensure that staff contributions are recognized.<\/p>\n