New Staff Council Leadership Takes Reins for 2021
As its sixth full year of operation winds down, the Georgia Tech Staff Council will welcome eight new faces in 2021. November’s election brought the following staff members onto the Council to serve three-year terms beginning in January:
Administrative and Professional
- Candice Bovian, Human Resources – Program Manager
- Courtney Hill, Institute Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Communications Manager
- William Jimerson, Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts – Director of Human Resources
- Loran Crabtree, Georgia Tech Police Department – Detective
Science and Research
- Alicia Wood-Jones, Environmental Health and Safety – Associate Lab and Chemical Safety Officer
Information Technology
- Kevin Ellis – Enterprise Resource Planning – ERP System Analyst Lead
- Eric Sembrat – College of Engineering – Application Developer Lead
As a result of two additional vacancies in 2020, the following members will serve temporary terms based upon receiving the next highest number of votes from this year’s Election:
- Melody Austin, Human Resources – HR Business Partner (Term: 2021)
- Eric Sembrat – College of Engineering – Application Developer Lead (Term: 2021-22)
Quinae Ford, administrative manager in Facilities, will serve as Council chair, succeeding Byron Fitch. Candice Bovian, program manager in Georgia Tech Human Resources, will succeed Quinae Ford as vice chair; Alicia Wood-Jones, lab and safety officer in EHS, will succeed Alex Gutierrez as secretary; and Kevin Ellis, ERP system lead, will succeed Lizzie Lack as treasurer. The rest of the 2021 Staff Council leadership team includes:
- Jonathan Etress – Parliamentarian
- Courtney Hill – Chair, Communications Committee
- Will Jimerson – Chair, Compensation and Benefits Committee
- Juan Archila – Chair, Campus Physical Environment Committee
- Melody Austin – Chair, Employee Engagement Committee
- Alex Gutierrez – Chair, Health and Well-Being
“As we embark on our seventh year as a Staff Council, it is my honor to welcome our newly elected members,” said Byron Fitch, senior consultant, Strategic Consulting. “We have accomplished so much this year even amid the Covid-19 pandemic, race and social justice concerns, budget cuts, and many other stressors that have affected us both personally and professionally. It is our goal to continue to engage, inform, and advocate on behalf of our staff to support them in every way possible.”
In addition, Staff Council would like to recognize and thank the following members who finished their three-year or temporary terms this year: Carly Bloomingdale, Stacy Braukman, Jassen Ceci, Joscelyn Cooper, Jonathan Hart, and Chris Walker.
To learn more about the Staff Council and ways to get involved, visit staffcouncil.gatech.edu.
