The APC 2023-24 Executive Committee members: Chair Matt Klein (left), Vice Chair Trish Torrez, Secretary Justin Schwendeman-Curtis and Treasurer Dennis Anderson.
Colorado State University’s Administrative Professional Council recently announced new leadership for the 2023-24 year.
During its March meeting, the APC — an elected group of 40 CSU employees who represent and promote the interests of administrative professionals and facilitate communication across campus — announced its Executive Committee members:
- Chair Matt Klein, senior associate athletics director for business operations/chief financial officer, CSU Athletics.
- Vice Chair Trish Torrez, business officer, Admissions.
- Secretary Justin Schwendeman-Curtis, assistant director, Off-Campus Life.
- Treasurer Dennis Anderson, Linux systems administrator, Division of IT.
The new Executive Committee, which starts in July, plans to focus on several themes, including compensation, employee recruitment and retention as well as working to foster a unified voice among AP employees across CSU.
Klein — who has been serving as interim chair following former Chair Sarah Olson’s departure to North Carolina State University — explained that the APC is working to ensure every administrative professional has a voice at CSU. He said that it starts with the area representatives, who are the voice for AP employees across CSU’s colleges and divisions.
“As an area rep, your job is to give a voice to other employees within your area to the council and ultimately university leadership,” said Klein, who has been a part of APC for eight years. “We’ve done a really good job in the last year or two of building those bridges with university leadership. We have a unique opportunity with a new president and many other new leaders to have meaningful conversations.”
The past several monthly APC meetings have included presentations and discussions with key CSU personnel, including then Interim President Rick Miranda, Chief Information Officer Brandon Bernier, who is also vice president for information technology, and Brett Anderson, interim vice president for human resources.
“It all goes back to reinforcing the shared governance model,” Klein said. “Our university leadership believes in shared governance and takes the time to meet with us. It’s important to get them in front of our area reps to break down boundaries.”
The new Executive Committee also wants to build stronger relationships with CSU Faculty Council and the Classified Personnel Council. “We really want to partner with all of the councils on some governance issues and try and find those topics where we can work together,” said Torrez, who has been part of the APC for five years and with CSU for more than 25 years.
Making a difference
There are several APC area representative seats currently open, with terms ranging from one to three years. The new Executive Committee encouraged those interested to visit the APC website at ap.colostate.edu/join-apc.
The APC has made a difference in the campus environment for AP employees. This has included:
“Our university leadership believes in shared governance and takes the time to meet with us. It’s important to get them in front of our area reps to break down boundaries.”
— APC Chair Matt Klein
- Helping to establish a supervisor training program contained in Talent Development.
- Supporting consistency in performance reviews across all units of CSU. Human Resources has a presidential fellow now assigned to this project.
- Playing a key role in the development of CSU’s Commitment to Campus, an initiative that offers a wide range of programs, discounts and special benefits to CSU faculty and staff.
- Working toward employee equality for inclement weather closures by suggesting all employees get the day off, with rare exceptions.
- Advocating for better compensation analysis, and now there’s a current search underway for a compensation specialist.
- Promoting and engaging in 23 separate community service projects, including a winter clothing drive, wildland restoration, Project Homeless Connect and Special Olympics Colorado, among others.
- Annually hosting the APC Recognition to honor employees as AP Stars and Distinguished Administrative Professionals.
Anderson explained that whether it’s snow days or Commitment to Campus, it’s all about representing administrative professionals.
“It’s about making sure that things are better for all and making sure that we represent the different ideas of all of the APs,” Anderson said. “We want to make sure everyone has a voice.”
Attend APC meetings
APC meetings are open to any AP interested in attending, with meetings usually on the second Monday of each month from 9-11 a.m. Meetings are designed to discuss issues of concern to all administrative professionals.
To learn how to attend and get the minutes from previous meetings, visit ap.colostate.edu/meeting-schedule.
