The Professional and Scientific Council will hold its monthly meeting this Thursday at noon.

James Meek, special projects manager for Families Extension, is president of the P&S Council. Meek said the P&S Council is one of three classes of employees at Iowa State. The other classes include faculty, such as professors, and staff, including secretaries, maintenance workers and janitors.

“The council is made of staff members, with representatives from different areas of the university, such as academic and research, co-op extension, external affairs, student affairs and IPRT Ames laboratory,” Meek said.

There are about 30 council members, each representing about 250 staff people working in different areas of the university.

An open forum will be held during the first hour of the meeting. Rich Pirog, program coordinator for the Leopold Center, will speak about “Finding Enjoyment in the Workplace.” Pirog will give examples of businesses and colleges that use unique methods for developing enjoyable settings at work.

Pirog researched books, magazines, research journals and personal anecdotes.

“The main part of the presentation is going to be about sharing stories…from around the country,” he said.

Pirog studies enjoyment at the workplace on his own time and leads workshops around Iowa about the importance of humor at work.

“There are interesting things that are happening to bring more enjoyment to workplaces, companies and organizations,” Pirog said.

The second hour of the meeting will be devoted to committees such as benefits, awards, peer review and communication. The monthly meeting of the P&S Council will be Thursday, Oct. 3, at noon in the Gold Room of the Memorial Union.