GET INVOLVED WITH STAFF COUNCIL
Not sure how to get involved with Staff Council? April 7 is
our ‘Bring a Colleague to the Staff Council’ meeting. This
is a great way to learn what staff council is all about. As
always, staff are welcome to attend any staff council or
subcommittee meeting. Check the Staff Council Web site
for more information about current members, meeting
times, locations, and minutes from past Council meetings:
www.smith.edu/staffcouncil.
A Call for Nominations 2011
Each year Staff Council elects approximately one-half of
its 25 members for two-year terms. Elections will be held
in late April. Term of office is June 1, 2011 to May 31,
2012. Newly elected members will be invited to the May
2011 Staff Council meeting.
Please consider running or asking a co-worker to run.
New faces and new ideas are key to keeping Staff
Council strong and inclusive.
Up and Coming Events!
 Book and Media Exchange: March 22 (Tuesday)
 NYC Bus Trip: April 16 (Saturday)
 Bring a Colleague to the Staff Council Meeting: April 7 (Thursday)
 Call for Nominations: March 25 to April 11
More information on these topics can be found on our Web page:
www.smith.edu/staffcouncil
Lucky Winners
Staff Council is the primary vehicle for staff to have
a represented voice in community issues at Smith
College. The mission of Staff Council is to give
members of the administrative, administrative support, and service staff a focused and direct involvement in the governance of non-academic affairs and
in the life of the Smith College community. Participating in change is empowering. Constructive
change and communication are what Staff Council
is all about.
As part of this year’s efforts to increase staff diversity opportunities among staff, Staff Council's Diversity Committee offered
FREE tickets to shows at UMass' Fine Arts Center this semester. Congratulations to the 16 lucky ticket winners listed below,
each of whom received two tickets:
 Acoustic Africa, March 2: Chris Stetson, David Osepowicz, Patty Tran, Jennifer Godlesky
 Philadanco Dance, March 10: Gail Thomas, Sarah Belanger, Carol Kelly, Thea Stark
 John Coltrane Tribute, March 26: Marc Nichols, Marlene Znoy, Anthony Aubrey, Nora Dejasu
 Mariachi Los Camperos, April 6: Hrayr Tamzarian, Lauren Lantz-Helm, Sika Berger, Jessica Magyar
Jen Godlesky, a supervising teacher in the Center for Early Childhood Education at Fort Hill said, “'Acoustic Africa' brought
together three wonderful singer-songwriters (and their bands) from Mali and Zimbabwe. The show was energetic and engaging, and the rhythms and instrumentation were infectious! They had the audience singing, clapping, and dancing along. It was
such a great example of the power of music and how it can bring people together. Thanks very much to the Staff Council for
the opportunity to see such a wonderful concert!”
Free-Cycle
The Campus Center has taken "reduce, reuse, and recycle" one step further for all of us by hosting a Free-Cycle event which will
allow offices to trade/share any gently used or new office supplies with other offices on campus. Items such as 3-ring binders,
monthly/daily tab sets, paper clips, file folders, hanging files, and file trays are welcome. The office supplies must be something
that can be hand carried to the Carroll Room. We will have a bulletin board available for posting of larger items (please provide a
picture of the item, a description and a contact person).
The event is on Monday, March 21, from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Carroll Room. Items can be dropped off that
morning from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. All offices will be asked to label their items so that any unclaimed items can be picked up after
2 p.m. that day or donated to local non-profits. An office contact does not have to be present during the event. Items will be arranged on tables with similar office supplies for easy "shopping" and the event is open to any department on campus whether or
not they have donated items. Our goal is to allow offices to recycle office supplies that they no longer use and offer them to an
office where they will be used. To register for the event, please visit www.smith.edu/ose/cc_green.php.
Profile of a Senior Staff Member
'Captain' Herb Nickles
Herb Nickles dons a wide smile as he talks about his 35 ft. cruising boat as well as changes
to Information Technology Services at Smith. The Executive Director of IT, in his 19th year,
announced his official retirement for June 30, 2012, but in the interim still plans to make his
mark. The college, with the help of a consulting firm, recently completed a comprehensive IT
strategic plan, which was initiated and endorsed by the college trustees and President
Christ, which will cultivate a more aggressive approach towards adopting new technologies
on Smith’s campus. “Being on the leading edge”, as Nickles describes it, will position the
college to be a leader rather than a follower in the use of technology.
The plan calls for building the IT infrastructure in two new areas: data warehousing, which
involves reorganization of data in a way that is easier for retrieval of information; and business intelligence which would help departments, like the Office of Institutional Research, use
data to inform college decision-making. Herb plans to release a 15-page summary of the
plan in the coming days.
Lunt Harbor, Frenchboro, Maine.
Captain Nickles grew up in Riverside, California, no stranger to beaches, boating, hiking,
and bicycling, hobbies he continues to enjoy. When he first arrived in Northampton, he
found, it difficult to get adjusted to the weather. President Mary Maples Dunn, concerned
about his health since he never wore a coat and sported only a “tropical” suit, once gave him
a gift of wool socks and mittens. Nickles soon got adjusted to the northeast’s cold but never
lost his love for the sea. He possesses a 100-ton Coast Guard Master’s license, a
certification earned only after logging 360 days at sea and passing comprehensive exams. Married to a Smith alumna who is also an
IT expert, Nickles has worked at other college campuses in California and Louisiana but said he remained at Smith simply because he
liked it here best.
During his tenure with Smith, he, has successfully overseen two other IT plans (1997, 2007) as part of the college’s accreditation
process, the current strategic plan is the first to solely focus on IT. Although Nickles plans to assist in the search for a new IT director,
he has committed to staying in his role as IT guru on a part-time basis when the new person is hired. We can thank him for his leadership in centralizing the college’s administrative information into an integrated database system (Banner), a $2.3 million implementation
of the campus fiber optic data network, the installation of cable TV in all the student residences, and replacing the campus telephone
system. His latest feat is establishing high speed wireless throughout the campus. Most people don’t know that Nickles has taught at
other universities in the past and is the author of eight textbooks on computing topics.
The IT director’s position is an integral part of the senior administration team. Nowadays Nickles spends most of his time on IT issues
and also on formulating policy, compliance with state and federal laws, and legal concerns that might include data breaches or potential litigation. Nickles has felt his share of budget constraints, the most severe of which occurred in 2004. During the economic downturns in the last decade his department lost seven of its 50 positions, but the current strategic plan will increase staffing beyond 2003
levels. Nickles says he is quite familiar with change. The department is continually changing to keep up with technology. He believes
“leadership must endorse change.” He credits most of his success to his team, headed by five directors. About his departure, he comments, “It was the right time to leave to let someone else come in and let it be their plan.” He plans to retire on the Cape.
The Chronicle is funded by the Smith College Staff
Council and is published by and for Smith College staff.
Staff Council encourages submission of photos, announcements, and event listings for publication in this
newsletter and/or online. Staff Council and the editorial
staff reserve the right to edit submitted material for
purposes of clarity or length. All rights reserved.
Please deliver to:
Managing Editor: Liane Hartman
Contributing Editor: Kim Alston kalston@smith.edu ext. 2753
Proofreaders: Piper Foreso, Pat Billingsley
Illustration of Boat House: Chris Gentes
If you would like to join more than 223 of your co-workers who have opted out
of receiving a printed version of this newsletter, and receive future issues of the
Chronicle as a PDF file via e-mail, please check the box below and return this
newsletter via campus mail to “Staff Council.” An electronic version of the
Chronicle is available at www.smith.edu/staffcouncil/chronicle.
Please send future issues to me as a PDF in e-mail.