The Professional Association of Campus Employees (PACE) was organized in 1983 to represent the non-teaching employees of Utah Valley University. PACE is sanctioned by the University President, her administration, and by the Board of Trustees. PACE provides membership to all full-time and part-time staff (excluding student employees, faculty, and executives) of Utah Valley University. The Professional Association of Campus Employees works with an administrative liaison, appointed by the University President, who serves as a non-voting member of the PACE Executive Board.
PACE advocates for and recognizes staff by providing a unified voice to the campus community, social and service opportunities, and support for professional development.
OBJECTIVE: Advocate for staff by representing and advancing their interests and recognizing the value of their contributions.
PACE represents staff employees by expressing their needs and desires to UVU administration. While PACE is not a union, and we don't wield any bargaining power, we are recognized by the administration as authorized representatives to bring forward concerns and questions. We are empowered by the administration to weigh in on decisions that affect staff and the university in general.
PACE's Employee Recognition Committee was formed to ensure that staff receive the recognition they deserve in an organization whose front-line employees are often the faculty. The Wolverine Sightings Awards and the PACE Distinguished Employee awards are two ways PACE provides for staff to be recognized and rewarded for excellent service and quality work.
All PACE members are also members of the Utah Higher Education Staff Association (UHESA). The PACE Executive Board members are delegates and alternates to the UHESA general board, which meets monthly to engage with civic, political, and educational leaders. UHESA serves as an advocate for all staff employees from all Utah System of Higher Education (USHE) institutions.
OBJECTIVE: Unify the diverse groups of staff across campus toward common goals in alignment with the university mission.
With departments serving disparate purposes, with differing goals and objectives, it can be hard for every employee to feel like they have something in common with everyone else. PACE unites these many diverse groups with the goal of finding common perspectives and priorities. We also try to help staff find their place at the university by making the university mission applicable to what we all do.
Staff have told us that nothing helps them feel more unified than serving together. Our goal is to find and advertise opportunities for staff to work together in providing community service.
PACE supports and sponsors events like Summer University and the Staff Fall Forum that provide opportunities for staff from all over campus to join together to get to know each other and learn, serve, and eat together.
OBJECTIVE: Communicate with administration and staff by providing a forum for the exchange of information.
The largest complaint we've heard forever is that nobody communicates. Yet, everyone feels they are communicating as much and as well as possible. Communication is a two-way road, and both parties need to both tell and listen. PACE is working to improve two-way communication by sharing staff perspectives with administration, and administration perspectives with staff.
PACE is working to find new and alternative methods of communication to keep staff engaged and interested. We are working on a communication plan, with guidelines to help us know the best and most effective ways to communicate. Another project of interest is a new PACE Website (this website) that we hope will be more engaging and effective in communicating with PACE members. Feedback is integral to good communication, so we invite your comments.
Since PACE members are part of UHESA, we are also working to improve the communication channels from the statewide organization through the UVU organization, and finally with staff members individually.
OBJECTIVE: Involve staff by encouraging social, service, and professional engagement on campus and in the community.
PACE's Involvement committee has as a primary goal to help PACE members socialize with each other, building unity and common bonds that tie all UVU employees together. Our Service & Scholarship committee works to provide service opportunities for staff to participate in, as well as to administer the service leave benefit that UVU provides for us. Our Staff Education and Development committee works to help staff pay for professional improvement of their lives. Taken all together, these great programs give PACE members a large array of opportunities to get involved.
Summer University is a great chance for staff to get involved and learn about other parts of the university as well as to develop new interests. Our goal is to help find ways to increase staff participation in Summer University and to find ways to improve the program itself. We're also working to find ways to improve other socials, by learning how to gauge participation and satisfaction.
