On, Wednesday January 15, 2020 Wooster Campus Staff Council (WCSC) hosted its 2020 Annual Meeting. The event began with a welcome speech from new Director of the Wooster Campus, Dr. Anne Dorrance, who thanked staff for all they do for the Wooster Campus, and spoke on the need for additional staff appreciation awards.

Following the welcome speech, the 2019 Council Chair, Kayla Arnold, presented a recap of WSC activities in 2019. Some highlights include the 10^th Annual Chili Cook-Off which was attended by almost 130 staff, our summer after-hours event hosted by Minglewood Distillery, and our inaugural Paws and Pumpkins Fall Fest.

Kayla then  provided the CFAES SAC update, which included the presentation of 1 Shirley Brooks Jones Award, 3 Above and Beyond Awards, 2 Professional Development Awards, and 8 Outstanding U awards in 2019. SAC also offered 3 professional development seminars for staff via Zoom, and ice cream treats provided during staff appreciation. Also, you may recall that CFAES SAC handed out branded lunch totes as the staff gift in 2019.

Following the CFAES SAC update, Chrissy Sprouse, 2020 University Staff Advisory Council Chair (USAC), presented information and updates. This council consist of 30 members representing employees across the University. For more information about USAC, please visit their website: usac.osu.edu

This year, WSC hosted, via Zoom, guest speakers Kalkidan Tefera and Laura Keves. Kalkidan and Laura presented a quick overview of Career Roadmap and how it could affect staff.  They also presented a timeline of events taking over the next year.  Finally, they answered staff questions about the Career Roadmap process and its effect on staff positions/titles and pay.

Our next event will be the 11^th Annual Chili Cook-Off; stay tuned for more details!

The Annual Wooster Campus FunFest took place on Wednesday, August 14. Over 220 attended the event at the Secrest Welcome Center, where we had lots of food, games, and prizes! Hartzler’s ice cream truck returned to campus and accepted staff appreciation tokens, while Grill masters from the Facilities department cooked our burgers and hot dogs provided by the Department of Animal Sciences (thanks to you both!) We were able to collect over 3 full boxes of shampoo, soap, toothpaste, and other items for OneEighty, in addition to donating two boxes of buns and four large pans of hamburgers and hotdogs to the Salvation Army.

This year, we also held our first ever hot dog eating contest. Quite frankly, we relished the opportunity to watch these challengers compete. Towards the end, it was clear that nobody would ketchup to the wiener… Congratulations to our first ever champion, Mike Franks, who won by eating 8 hotdogs! Jason Veil came in second, followed by Mike Jeffers, and Dave Lohnes. Thank you all for your competitive spirit and enthusiasm!

Staff Appreciation Week  took place July 22-26, 2019. We hosted our Ice Cream Appreciation event on Wednesday and also had two food trucks come to campus. The event was so well attended that Hartzler’s ran out of ice cream! Once again, thank you to our staff for all that you do.

The 10^th Annual Chili Cook-Off was held on March 8^th and was a great success with 12 chili participants and 130 attendees.  Special thanks to the volunteers who helped the event run so smoothly.  Congratulations to all winners: Kelly Eltzweiler (1^st Place Red). Sara Mays (2^nd Place Red), Jennifer Harrison (1^st Place Other), and Pat Boley (2^nd Place Other).  Also, Elizabeth Hilterbrand won the OSU-themed raffle basket!