UCLA Staff Assembly President Brandie Henderson envisions unity, community-building among university employees outside of their departments
Brandie Henderson is the 2011-2012 president of the UCLA Staff Assembly.
By Neil Paik
Sept. 16, 2011 2:38 p.m.
Clarification: The UCLA Staff Assembly is an organization that serves university employees.
Growing up in South Los Angeles, Brandie Henderson commonly heard sounds of gunfire and saw local drug dealings.
The future may have seemed bleak for a child growing up in a rough inner-city neighborhood, but in 1988, Henderson became one of 250 youth to be offered a Merrill Lynch scholarship. The award would cover all expenses for college if she excelled academically and graduated from high school.
Henderson seized the opportunity and went on to earn a degree in sociology from UC Santa Barbara. Upon graduating, she picked up a job with the Academic Senate at UCLA.
A few years later, Henderson is an administrative analyst for five senate committees.
And this summer, she was elected by her peers to serve as the 2011-2012 president of the UCLA Staff Assembly, an organization that serves nearly 24,000 university employees.
“I think personally I’m always up for a challenge and I always get personal satisfaction out of succeeding in the personal goals I’ve set for myself,” Henderson said.
She said she has found a home at UCLA during her six years working with the Senate and wishes to use her staff assembly presidency to spread that feeling among her peers.
Henderson said her goal is to make the campus feel like a community by providing morale-boosting activities that enrich the staff’s experience and make employees feel like they are part of something larger than their own department.
The Staff Assembly consists of 10 elected board members who volunteer to promote the interests and welfare of staff employees by organizing networking events and voicing staff concerns at the university and state-wide levels.
The Assembly’s major events consist of an annual All-Staff Picnic attended by thousands, quarterly breakfasts with Chancellor Block that allow for dialogue between staff and administration and a Casino Night aimed at fundraising and creating networking opportunities.
“The events form a sort of unity,” said Teresa Valenzuela, a regular attendee and volunteer for Staff Assembly activities. “It’s a chance for staff to come together and interact and see each other in a different light.”
Valenzuela, who serves as senior director of health sciences alumni outreach, said she benefited from the efforts of the Assembly firsthand when they awarded her a scholarship to take a UCLA Extension course in journalism ““ a class that served her personal interest and also provided her with writing skills that would help with her job in the health sciences department.
“Just like students have their student government that serves the student body, Staff Assembly serves the staff on campus,” Valenzuela said. “It helps them, promotes networking opportunities and promotes professional development.”
Involvement in Staff Assembly activities is widespread. The Assembly’s outreach efforts reach a listserv of about 5,000, and events are attended by a broad spectrum of staff throughout different departments on campus, Henderson said.
Still, Henderson said outreach efforts need to be increased next year to draw in new members and involve groups that have not yet been engaged, including employees of the UCLA Medical Center.
In addition to organizing on-campus events, the Staff Assembly sends two delegates to the Council of the University of California Staff Assemblies.
Delegates from each UC campus voice the concerns and opinions of their peers regarding policies set forth by the state and by the Office of the President.
Two weeks ago, Henderson presented the opinions of UCLA staff to the Council, where the major topic of concern was proposed changes to the university’s staff layoff policy (PPSM 60).
Gerard Au, Henderson’s predecessor as Staff Assembly president, said Henderson’s experience as an employee of the Academic Senate will serve her well in dealing with such issues in the coming year.
“She’s very aware of all the current issues within UCLA and at the system-wide level as well,” he said. “Having that relationship (with the Senate) will make her an excellent president.”
