President's Address

Well, this is the last time I get to talk with you, and possibly your Junk Folder, like this. Starting next month, there will be a new headshot and a new voice in this space belonging to a new Staff Senate president, Olivia Phelps. I’ll share a spoiler and tell you that she is going to be a tremendous leader and representative for us.

But, that’s enough about her; I’m still your president for another few minutes.  

In my election speech two years ago, I said that the reason I was running for president-elect was to improve the quality of life for our staff on this campus. That was my motivation this past year when it came to advocating for new initiatives that would benefit our staff; completing efforts that were started by my predecessors; helping to find funding to make our appreciation events bigger and better than the year before; attending virtually every meeting I was invited to; etc.

I don’t want that to come across as anything other than what it was for me, which was an honor to be your voice and represent the nearly 4,000 of you on a daily basis. I got to meet people I probably never would have otherwise on campus, speak up for those who can’t speak for themselves, and celebrate your milestones and achievements with you. I got to hear from people about their own issues with mental illness after sharing my bouts of anxiety and depression in a past newsletter. I got to experience the richness that is our staff—people who have been here for six days or, in the case of one remarkable man, 60 years; people with wildly different backgrounds who arrived at this campus either on a whim or because their love for it started at a young age and never left them; and people who have experienced their own personal highs and lows but still show up to work with a brave face.

Because of all of those people, it was important that Staff Senate be successful in its mission and goals this year. And thanks to support from people like President Tate; Provost Haggerty; Vice Provosts Jane Cassidy and Jackie Bach; Dr. Kimberly Lewis; our Staff Senate Executive Committee; all of our Staff Senators; our friends in Auxiliary Services, Facility Services, Parking, and Faculty Senate—especially Inessa Bazayev and Daniel Tirone; and the irreplaceable Melonie Milton, we were successful.

Think about what was accomplished this year for staff—a new parental leave policy; passage of a retirement bill in the legislature that will allow staff to switch from ORP to the defined benefit plan; staff representation on key hiring and advisory committees; and I believe that we’ll get very good news soon on course fees and online tuition.

That’s a damn good year.

Along the way, I leaned on last year’s president, Tammy Millican, for advice, encouragement, affirmation, counseling, etc., and she never said she didn’t have time for me or couldn’t be there for me. If I had any measure of success as president this year, it is in no small part thanks to her.

And then there’s my wife, Christie. She was extremely patient with me this last year to say the least. Listening to me answering emails and phone calls at all hours of the day and night about Staff Senate issues, including in line at Disney World; seeing me anxious to the point of immobility over an important meeting or from fear that something I wanted to accomplish wouldn’t come to fruition; or, being that she’s also a staff member on this campus, having to read my awful one-liners in my president’s address each month; she put up with it all, and I’m so grateful to her and for her.

I also want to thank my deans, Judy Wornat and Karsten Thompson, for giving me the latitude to do both my day job and be away from the office for Staff Senate responsibilities. All of this would have been a non-starter without their understanding.

And lastly, I want to thank my staff—Libby Haydel, Casey Muller, and Eddie Manes—for picking up my slack and keeping the lights on while I was away. I’m sorry, but now you have my full attention, and I will micromanage you thusly.

Thank you to every single one of you reading this. I hope I did okay by you.

Take care of yourselves and each other.

Sincerely,

Joshua Duplechain

Staff Senate President
Director of Communications
LSU College of Engineering
josh@lsu.edu