You know the UC Davis Staff Assembly. It's the group that creates the good times and good feelings: theannual barbecue, the baseball and golf tournaments, Citations for Excellence and, of course, anopportunity to dunk a favorite administer. But behind all of that fun and morale building is an organization that has been a campus leader for 30years, allowing the more than 12,000 staff members to have a voice in how the campus is run. Inaddition, the Davis assembly belongs to a council of nine campus staff assemblies at the University ofCalifornia that advise the Office of the President on employee issues. Chancellor Larry Vanderhoef points out that staff members are not by the letter of the law part of the"shared governance" granted by the UC Regents when they split campus responsibilities between thefaculty and the administration. However, because UC Davis has a strong tradition of consultation, thestaff, through the vehicle of Staff Assembly, is "extraordinarily involved in the operations of thiscampus," he says. "That said, the truth is there would, in fact, be no governance at all without staff support for UCDavis' administrators and facult," he said. "I have said many times that in my experience the singleunusual and unique characteristic of UC Davis is the quality of its staff. A strong feeling ofuniversity ownership is part and parcel of that quality." Even 30 years ago, the potential for staff to play a leading role in the campus was apparent, saysDennis Shimek, associate vice chancellor for human resources and risk management. He is one of a fewstill here who can remember how the organization germinated from a mass campus meeting on the Quad in1968. Chancellor Emil Mrak used the Quad gathering, called Project Involvement, to reinforce a cultureof student-faculty-staff participation and cross-fertilization. "Many ideas and initiatives were identified. On a certain day in 1968, a number of persons went to theQuad and had posters. For the staff, the poster read 'Staff Issues/Interests.' A number of staff peoplegathered. This was the first kernel that led to a larger group and finally to the concept of a 'totalstaff assembly,'" Shimek remembers. "Staff Assembly started out as very much a part of what Davis is allabout. Everybody was encouraged to come together." Squeezing into a lecture hall to hear chancellor According to campus historian Ann Scheuring, the first general meeting of the Staff Assembly was heldOct. 22, 1969, with more than 300 of the 4,200 nonacademic employees squeezing into the chemistrylecture hall to hear the new chancellor, Jim Meyer, discuss the role of staff in meeting theuniversity's mission. Later, in 1980, Meyer initiated the Staff Recognition Week in appreciation ofstaff contributions. The week grew into almost a month of activities, known as Thank Goodness for Staff,with a number of staff-organized programs, including an arts-and-crafts show, a casino night,ever-multipling sports tournaments, a fun walk, and Bovine Bingo to raise money for staff scholarships.This year the barbecue served more than 2,500 people. In addition, the group has devoted its energy tothe fall Benefits and Wellness Fair and inspirational speakers at the fall and spring general meetings.It also was an original sponsor for the holiday basket program. At UC Davis Medical Center, parallel staff celebrations have occurred over the years, including the June Thank Goodness for Staff luncheon, which served 2,200 staff members this year, accompanied by the annualvintage car show coordinated by Larry Johnson, and the softball tournament. Because the organization is neither a labor union nor a bargaining association, Staff Assembly has hada difficult line to walk in its goal to serve as staff's voice. The organization has always beeninterested in quality of work-life issues, according to Ted Hillyer, a senior development engineer inapplied science, a former chair and continuing historian for the systemwide Council of UC StaffAssemblies. Able to get the administration's attention "The university is a big institution, and there is a lot of inertia," said Hillyer, a 25-year employee.But, he has seen grassroots work by the Staff Assembly, coordinated with the Academic Senate andAcademic Federation, get attention from the UC administration. Issues such as university child care,domestic partner benefits and long-term health care have all been put on the table at the Office of thePresident-and, in the case of benefits for domestic partners, get results. Now the UC staff council islobbying hard to get a staff regent on the UC Board of Regents to accompany the faculty, the student andthe alumni regents as non-voting members. In the past decade, Staff Assembly has weathered a number of challenges, according to last year's andthis year's chair, Carol Miller, a senior analyst in the Office for Diversity and Affirmative Action/Equal Employment Opportunity. One of the biggest has been the increasing unionization since the mid-'80s. Under the state law, peoplein unions are to be exclusively represented by those collective-bargaining agencies. And, in fact,between 1993 and 1998, employee unionization increased from 41 percent to 49 percent at the Universityof California. In response, Staff Assembly changed its rules to follow the state law. Staff members inunions can no longer be on assembly committees that deal with issues of workload, wages and salary,including the executive, staff insurance and retirement, and scientific and professional staffcommittees. But, non-union staff members can and do fill those positions. On the other hand, unionmembers are heavily recruited for a number of other committees that deal with quality-of-life issues:the Communication Committee, Diversity Awareness Committee and the Thank Goodness for Staff Committee. "We don't 'represent' anybody but at the same time we have worked to never exclude anybody," Millerexplains. Renewed interest in participation In the early '90s, another concern emerged-running the organization-as participation dropped amidcomplaints about the increasing staff workload. But, better university budgets and improved employeemorale has led to a renewed interest in participation since then. What keeps Staff Assembly going is acurious mix of commitment to the campus-and to having fun. Miller points to the enthusiasm that staffdevotes to its annual spring celebration. "Certainly the 20th anniversary of Thanks Goodness for Staff next year was a milestone for StaffAssembly. People really look forward to the annual celebration. This is something staff does for staff.It takes hundreds to plan the event. Some work all year and others three or four months on it." Miller and her board are also working with Guy Madison, who is chairing the UC Davis Health System StaffAssembly this upcoming year, to strengthen its program. Madison says that Staff Assembly may deliver funat the medical center, but it also serves a more serious function for the organization. "Staff Assemblyhas always been there," explains Madison, a patient biller in Patient Financial Services. "We'recatalysts, and with our representatives from each building we are like an ear because we're hearing whatemployees have to say, relaying that to our director." Staff Assembly leaders who have observed staffs at other UC campuses and administrators like Vanderhoefand Shimek say UC Davis is special because staff members and their ideas have been heeded over theyears. Shimek predicts that the Staff Assembly as well as the Academic Federation will be here 30 yearsfrom now, partly because of the unique culture that has grown within the campus community. "Davis isvery different than any that I've seen in the United States," Shimek says. "It's the sense of everybodyhaving a stake in this great enterprise. People believe they can share in this mission."