David Agosti

Welcome back?!

I started writing this communication from the president at the end of August as a September message and then got busy with return-to-campus. So I started writing it again as an October message and then got busy with convocation, and now here we are with me welcoming people back as we head into November.

One of the things that became crystal clear to me through this process is that APSA staff and the administrative and professional roles we fulfill are far from one-dimensional.

When I worked in municipal government, there were separate departments for parking enforcement, parking meter collections, and parking permit sales. We do all of that here (not to mention sustainable transportation). The same is true for departments across the University.

In the campus “return from COVID-19,” each of you and your departments is fulfilling your pre-COVID responsibilities, developing and implementing new post-COVID systems, policies, and procedures, and adapting to hybrid work environments for yourselves and your staff.

I want to recognize the complicated and multi-layered work all the administrative and professional staff are doing to alleviate our community’s concerns about COVID, continue to transition to this new world, and the work you do in creating an equitable and positive work environment throughout these challenges.

As we head into the end of year and budget preparation, we need to remember to communicate the above to the University as a whole to ensure we have the resources necessary to continue to perform and deliver on our multi-faceted responsibilities.

This might include reviewing your job description and determining if you and your immediate supervisor should look at job re-evaluation. If you’re a manager or have budgetary responsibilities, this could involve looking at future overtime needs for non-managers in your area or determining if your departments’ new responsibilities require additional resourcing. There is also the opportunity to look for further educational or professional development through HR offerings, your professional development funds, or APSA’s own educational offerings.

In August, SFU reported on their budgetary actuals for the last fiscal year. Now is the time to start making the administration aware – formally or informally – of resourcing requests for the upcoming year. APSA will certainly be making these requests of the VPFA and SFU president.

Thanks again for everything all of you have done to bring us back, and a quick reminder that the APSA Annual General Meeting will take place on November 23, 2021, via Zoom, so please register to attend. I look forward to virtually meeting with you all, welcoming your new directors, and updating you on what’s happened over the past year.