President's Address

Good morning All,

Congratulations! We have made it through the first full month of the Fall 2024 semester! We have survived the heat, the traffic, and a hurricane. But at LSU, we don't merely survive. We rise to the challenges, we thrive, and we win. We saw our staff, faculty, and students come together to provide support for one another and ensure we all made it through a wild first month! Thank you for your dedication and spirit which made these first few weeks more winning than surviving.

I had the pleasure of joining many of you out on the Parade Ground for Fall Fest last week, as we celebrated purple and gold for the afternoon. The fun and excitement was pulsing throughout the crowd while the Tiger Band performed, the AgCenter brought its ice cream and petting zoo, and countless clubs and organizations shared all they have to offer to our campus community. This is one of my favorite days on campus. Thank you to all who came out and celebrated with us!

Speaking of celebrating, Staff Senate has some fun things to celebrate this month. First, we are hosting a pumpkin decorating contest! The rules are easy. Participate individually or with your unit. You can decorate, paint, or carve your pumpkins however you choose. The theme is "Teams that Win." Staff Senate judges will venture around campus on October 30 to judge the pumpkins, and the winner will be announced on Halloween day via social media. We also ask that you share your creations on social media, beginning October 29 and using the hashtags #GeauxGourd #LSUstaffsenate and #WBTTW to participate in the People's Choice award! You can find rules and the entry form on our website. Be creative. Have fun. And may the best gourds win.

Another event I always look forward to is our New Staff Reception. This year, we will be hosting the past 18 months of new employees on October 17 at The Club on campus. We will have food, door prizes, and lots of fun. If you are new to LSU, be on the lookout for that invite this week. Don't worry if you are not new. You still have a chance to see your Staff Senate this month at the HRM Benefits Fair. We will be out there with games and swag, so come say hi between learning about all the other benefits LSU and HRM have for us! That will be happening on October 23 in the Student Union Cotillion Ballroom.

I will leave you with a final bit of news and a big ask. Staff Senate is beginning to develop our next strategic plan to replace the one ending in Spring 2025. Our Long Range Review and Planning Committee, chaired by your President-Elect Quinneka MacDonald and Member-At-Large Dr. Tammy Millican, will be reaching out to many of you in the coming weeks to gain your insight on what you would like us to focus on for you in the future. We welcome your ideas and input on how we can work together to continue building this winning culture for all staff on campus. I ask you to please share those ideas with me, Quinneka, Tammy, or any other senator. If you would like to see the current strategic plan and get an idea of what may be included in the next one, please check out our website.

Finally, we still want to celebrate you! As I shared in my last address, we have developed a submission form for you to submit your wins, and we will share them in our newsletter in the future. You are welcome to submit anything you’d like—graduations, awards, marriages, babies, adoptions, etc. My only ask is that if you submit on behalf of someone else, please ask their permission first. We need to respect those who wish to keep their wins private. To submit, please click here.

I look forward to seeing you all around campus!

 

Cheers and Geaux Tigers,

Olivia

Staff Senate President
oliviaphelps@lsu.edu