2026 - 2027 ERAC Elections

New members will be added each year, serving three year terms, by the following process:

• By campus nomination and popular vote
• The number of available exempt and non-exempt positions will be determined based on the current committee makeup and how many members are cycling off after the current year ends.

2026 VACANT POSITIONS

8 positions are available to be filled and will be elected by popular vote

Exempt Candidates

Nicole DiRado

1. Foster high quality of staff life at work. 
2. Community building among staff. I have over ten years experience as a staff person at LVAIC colleges and universities, and have experience in knowing what staff want and need from their network. 

Marissa Winter

1. If elected, I would contribute to ERAC’s mission by bringing the perspective of someone who collaborates regularly with faculty, staff, and students across the university.  Now that I have been at Lehigh for nearly three years and have settled into my role, I am eager to engage more broadly with campus resources and colleagues. Through ERAC, I hope to both represent staff perspectives and build stronger connections that create mutually beneficial opportunities for our students, staff, and the wider Lehigh community.
2. One staff issue I would like ERAC to focus on is expanding awareness and access to professional development opportunities for staff. Many employees are interested in developing new skills, exploring leadership opportunities, or learning more about different areas of the university, but they may not always know what resources are available. In my role supporting MBA students, I regularly work with career and professional development initiatives, and I understand the value these opportunities bring to individual growth and organizational success. I would bring my experience coordinating programs and connecting people with resources to help identify ways ERAC can support staff learning and development.

Lindsay Gillette

1. If elected, I feel I would contribute to ERAC's mission by actively listening to staff perspectives and fostering open communication and participation between employees and university leadership.  It can be hard sometimes for individuals to speak up or feel like they provide value by sharing feedback/opinions or getting more involved. Each day I work with young alumni looking for a place to provide feedback or make new friends by getting connected to the Lehigh community in a new city...and I realize I don't always take advantage of that for myself and for my peers.  After working here for nearly 10 years, I want to be able to be a resource for my colleagues as I am for the alumni I'm so fortunate to work with.  Having some institutional knowledge I feel would be a great asset in understanding past university processes and working creatively to incorporate new ideas for the future.  I feel particularly drawn to the work and activities the Campus Engagement/Events Committee is responsible for as it relates very well to the work I do in my position within Alumni Relations.
2. One staff issue I would like ERAC to address is transparency around funding, salaries, and departmental budget allocations. Many staff members feel uncertain about how financial decisions are made and what factors influence resource distribution. Providing clearer insight into these processes could help build trust and empower employees with a better understanding of institutional priorities. I feel with greater transparency, it would allow for less skepticism around the "why" and help empower employees grow and expand their roles to make larger impacts within the university community.

Jeffrey Olimpo

1. I am especially passionate about the professional advancement of staff and envision myself contributing to expansion of the ERAC REACH and staff development day initiatives. Specifically, I am interested in furthering programming around staff leadership development (e.g., through an "emerging leaders" cohort-based model). By promoting cross-functional networking, I aim to contribute to ERAC's mission of empowering staff and creating contexts in which they can work collaboratively to address campus-wide goals (e.g., student learning and success).

2. Given the evolving applications of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) in higher education contexts coupled with Lehigh's strategic initiative around "AI Readiness," I find it imperative that the ERAC support additional, scaffolded opportunities for advancement of staff AI fluency, particularly as much of the national conversation around GenAI in collegiate environments seems student- and/or faculty-centered. Importantly, this would not be a method to convince (or dissuade) staff. Rather, it would provide an accessible space for staff to engage around GenAI topics and apply what they have learned to tasks in their own contexts.

   As Director of the Office of Educational Innovation and Assessment, I facilitate the Strategic Methods for AI-Responsive Teaching (SMART) community of practice, which provides a pathway for faculty and instructional staff to develop their AI literacy and, subsequently, create and field-test an AI resource for use in their own work environments. As the community grew and more non-instructional staff joined the conversation, several of these individuals voiced the need for a dedicated staff pathway. I would therefore like to work in collaboration with the Office of Institutional Data and other partners on campus to realize this need and commit to contributing my own expertise and experience in instructional design, program assessment/evaluation, and digital technologies to establishing and optimizing this initiative.

SaiBalaji Kondapalli

1. I would contribute to ERAC's mission by being a strong advocate for creating an open, welcoming environment where staff across the university can come together, build meaningful relationships, and form lasting connections. Having worked at Lehigh, I've seen firsthand how siloed our campus can be, and I believe that when employees feel connected to one another, it naturally enhances the work environment and strengthens the university as a whole.
   I'm passionate about bringing people together and fostering a sense of community among staff. Whether it's through creating new spaces for collaboration, encouraging cross-departmental engagement, or simply ensuring that every employee feels seen and heard, I want to help make Lehigh a place where staff are not just colleagues but a true community. I believe that when people feel supported and connected, they're better equipped to contribute to the university's mission and that starts with making sure everyone has a seat at the table.
2. One issue I'd like to see ERAC address is the siloed nature of our campus, where employees in similar roles across different colleges or departments often don't even know each other exists. This limits opportunities for knowledge sharing, collaboration, and professional growth.
   I'd like to help build informal networks that connect staff in comparable positions across the university. We could start small perhaps with dedicated Slack channels or Google Chat groups organized by role or function and gradually expand into more structured forums for sharing best practices, problem-solving, and peer support. As a Senior Data and Financial Analyst, I understand firsthand how valuable it is to connect with others doing similar work, and my experience with process improvement and cross-departmental collaboration would help me identify where these connections are most needed and measure their impact over time.

Nonexempt Candidates

Morgan Warnet

1. I’m committed to fostering transparency and collaboration, helping bridge communication between staff and leadership while supporting initiatives that strengthen the overall employee experience at Lehigh.
2. One issue I would like to see ERAC focus on is working with Lehigh to create clearer and more accessible pathways for growth and advancement, particularly for coordinator-level staff. Many employees in these roles are eager to develop professionally but may not always see a clear trajectory forward. 

Evan Lempke

1. I am a strong believer that Lehigh University's strength lies in its Exempt and Nonexempt staff members. In my three years as a Nonexempt Administrative Coordinator in the Office of Creative Inquiry, and as a current Master’s of Public Health student in the College of Health, I have directly witnessed the profound impact staff have on the students who come here each semester to learn, grow, and strive to improve the world and their futures. If elected to ERAC, I would leverage the skills from my current role, particularly my skills in planning, event facilitation, ability to build a community of belonging, alongside my dedication to employee and student advocacy. My primary contribution to ERAC's Mission would be to ensure that all staff voices are heard and represented, and further ERAC's work of creating an equitable workplace for all employees at Lehigh. 
2. As a Coordinator, who wears multiple hats, my skills in planning, event facilitation, ability to build a community of belonging, and advocacy, can help create or continue conversations for better Employee Relations. A key issue I would like ERAC to address is the significant inequity in Paid Time Off (PTO) and Sick Time benefits between Exempt and Nonexempt staff at Lehigh University. This disparity directly hinders the ability of Nonexempt staff to achieve a healthy work-life balance and ultimately lowers employee satisfaction.
   Current Discrepancy in Time Off Benefits:
   Vacation/PTO: 1. Nonexempt Staff (Full-time): Accrue 10 days (1-5 years), 15 days (6-10 years), 20 days (11-15 years), and 25 days (15+ years). 2. Exempt Staff (Full-time): Receive 22 days for the first 15 years, and 25 days after 15 years.
   Sick Time: 1. Nonexempt Staff: Eligible for 10 days per year, increasing to 15 days after five years of service. 2. Exempt Staff: Granted 2 weeks per year for the first five years, increasing to 3 weeks per year after completing five years of service.
   Addressing the current disparity in PTO and Sick Time benefits between Exempt and Nonexempt staff at Lehigh University is a critical step, as this inequity directly impacts work-life balance and contributes to decreased employee satisfaction. By examining and revising these policies, we can foster a more equitable and satisfying work environment for all employees. My diverse skill set as a Coordinator—encompassing planning, event facilitation, community building, and advocacy—can help foster productive conversations and improve Employee Relations.

Aidan McKee

1. Yes!
2. I want to tackle how limited staff life seems to be at Lehigh. I think there are more ways staff can get involved together on campus to help build a stronger community. I want to encourage the spread of information about clubs and events open to staff during lunch hours or in the evening after work.

Sheila Dorney

1. Through active participation in monthly meetings, I'm looking forward to collaborating with colleagues across the university. I am eager to gain a deeper understanding of LU operations, allowing me to serve as a better informed advocate for the issues and strategic projects on ERAC’s agenda this academic year.
2. One issue I would like to see explored is: "Growing the coordinator role (professional development and education among peers)."  Because the academic cycle is repetitive, perhaps there is an assumption that the role is static. We should be optimizers of our tasks. Lehigh has a robust professional development program through LTS, LinkedIn, and LVIAC.  I'd be curious to know what the data shows about how many employees are able to complete courses and gain skills/certifications and how they achieved it -- whether it be outside of working hours, over lunch breaks, or allocated time allowed by one's supervisor. Additionally, the role of the coordinator varies, even among the same title. I'd be interested in having working groups to share processes and efficiencies. 

Sara Whitney

1. I would love to hear more from folks around campus and ask questions such as: What makes our employees happy? What are things that are making them unhappy that we can address? Additionally, I would like to understand what makes people decide to commit to Lehigh for a long period of time or leave after a short time. After working at Lehigh for a little over a year, it seems that many people fall into one of these categories. Furthermore, by addressing parts of the issue I will mention in my next answer, we could help foster a stronger community and make processes easier and more understandable, especially for new staff. Although working effectively and having a positive work environment are extremely important to me, I believe this happens when we work as a team and emphasize shared experiences. Listening to others’ experiences, needs, and perspectives is crucial, and I want to ensure we are taking steps to do this.
2. I would love to foster a more collaborative environment amongst staff at Lehigh. Community and partnerships were at the heart of my previous experiences and I feel like it is very easy to get stuck in your own bubble here. I deeply value the idea of partnership and thrive as a communicator, listener and connector. My goal would be to bridge the gap amongst different departments and try to create a more standardized list of resources for staff to use. This includes standardizing language around commonly used forms, processes, awards, etc. as well as gathering resources around processes so we can collaborate and take ideas from one another to improve all of our systems. I would love to gauge interest from staff on what would make them want to become more involved in Lehigh’s community and what steps we can feasibly take to get more cross conversations and have more attendance at events.