Goal 2: Improve organizational continuity and support to increase effectiveness and capability
Vision
CUCSA is composed of staff who volunteer their energies for a limited two-year term to serve in its council. This rotating, representative structure is one of CUCSA’s greatest strengths. However, for two reasons, it is not naturally conducive to supporting ambitious goals that require concerted effort over a long period of time. First, the time and attention that CUCSA delegates can pay to CUCSA business is limited by the competing demands of their primary jobs in the UC system. Second, an inherently transient membership limits the institutional memory and follow through of the council. To retain the benefits of a rotating council while also achieving long-term aims, it behooves the organization to procedurally compensate for these weaknesses by maximizing the utilization of its volunteers’ time and the continuity of its initiatives.
Objectives
- Improve continuity and follow-through to build on past efforts and improve accountability
- Improve delegate onboarding and rotation to make the delegates more effective while they’re here
- Maximize percentage of delegate time spent on high-value, issue-oriented work
Measures
- First-year delegate experience survey
- Markers and tracking artifacts coming out of an annual review session
- Allocation of funds and/or dedicated staff time towards operational needs
- Production and distribution of a responsibilities one-pager for potential delegates
- Number of hours spent by delegates on logistical issues
- Performance review / evaluation to encourage / asses leadership accountability
- Systemwide CUCSA satisfaction survey
- Identify existing data that can be a marker for CUCSA’s influence over an issue
Suggested Strategies
- Conduct an annual review and planning assessment in the summer that includes the delegation to discuss progress on the last year’s goals and objectives and current opportunities and challenges.
- Provide First Year delegate onboarding training that includes expectation setting for normal CUCSA activities and time commitment
- Clarify the role of Second Year delegates as mentors to their corresponding First Year delegate
- Provide support alternatives to First Year delegates with absentee or disengaged Second Year delegates
- Establish clearer expectations related to delegate rotation, and as appropriate policies that include adequate flexibility
- Establish a means of monitoring delegate work loads and burn out risk
- Propose establishment of a dedicated FTE at UCOP to provide administrative support for CUCSA and Staff Advisors to the Regents
- Create specific roles for following up on CUCSA recommendations and progress via measurement
- Provide DEI training for incoming first years
- Provide clearly set expectations and benchmarks for workgroup leads to make progress more clear
