By Katy Spalding

A two-week nomination period will begin April 27 for the position of Staff Representative to the UK Board of Trustees.

Former Staff Trustee Russ Williams died in early April, leaving UK’s staff with no current representation. Williams became the first and only staff representative on the Board of Trustees in 1998.

In a special election, the person selected will only serve the final year of Williams’ term — rather than a normal three-year term.“It’s got to be a challenge to be the first new person to live up to the expectations that we had of Russ because he was the only staff trustee,” said Holly Jones Clark, office coordinator for the Staff Senate. “I don’t think that we should make our expectations unrealistic because it takes time to learn how the university works.”

Kim Roark-Trumble, chair of the Staff Senate’s Staff Trustee Advisory Committee, said the trustee position is essentially the highest authority at UK, aside from the state General Assembly in Frankfort. It entails taking up university issues of governance, including all promotions, hiring of faculty, budgetary issues and changes to the curriculum.

“One of the biggest perks that I found working with Russ is that you have to be involved in every aspect of the university life,” Roark-Trumble said. “Staff members vary from the person who cuts grass to the president, so you have all educational levels and everything in between in terms of job representation. You learn about the university from the ground up and how it really operates.”

Any full-time staff member is qualified to run regardless of their department, title or position. However, once elected, the trustee cannot have a family member employed at the university.

The time commitment is significant not only during work hours, but after work hours for professional and social events.

“It is not a job for self-glorification, this is a job for hard work,” said Ann Livingstone, chair of the Staff Senate’s Election Committee. “Your department must understand time constraints you have. You will have to attend certain meetings and it will be time consuming.”

An orientation for any potential candidates will be held April 30 from 5 to 7 p.m. in the W.T. Young Library Auditorium.

Interested candidates must fill out a self-nomination form, write a statement of no more than 250 words on how they can be an effective staff representative and complete a petition form with 25 signatures from other full-time staff.

An open forum will be held May 14 during the regular Staff Senate meeting at 1:30 p.m. in the Center Theatre at the Student Center. During this time, candidates will have the opportunity to address staff and respond to questions.