The Cal State San Bernardino Staff Council has been launched to facilitate communication and cooperation across the campus on issues of interest and concern to the university staff.

Following in the footsteps of other CSU campuses, the CSUSB Staff Council will focus on staff development, recognition, special events and act as advocates for the staff, while also serving as an advisory body to university President Tomás D. Morales.

The council has been meeting for the last few months and just finished writing the bylaws and electing a new slate of officers: Rob Garcia, chair; Megan Huston, vice chair; Alisha Carnahan, secretary; and LeShay Dorsey, treasurer.

“We’re looking forward to working hard on behalf of staff across campus,” Garcia said. “Our main goal is to be a voice for staff and contribute to campus conversation about matters not covered by the collective bargaining agreement. Employee recognition and development will be top priorities for the new staff council.”

The council will meet twice a month, every other Wednesday and will publish the agendas and meeting minutes for the 2017-18 academic year on the soon-to-be-launched website, Garcia said. The council also has some open seats to be filled and a nomination period will be announced soon.

The council was created under the leadership of Doug Freer, vice president for administration and finance; César Portillo, associate vice president of human resources and chief diversity officer; and Stacy Barnier, director of human resources.

A core group was selected several months ago with interim co-chairs Jennifer Stevenson and Kim Hunsaker, who helped create the bylaws with the support of Carnahan.