The CLAS Staff Visioning Workshop took place on September 16th, 2022. Twenty-four staff volunteers and ten CLAS Staff Council Members attended the workshop.

The objective was to provide a venue for staff to share their experience, contributions, and vision for the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, culminating in actionable recommendations to the Dean’s Office on the following topics:

  • Communication within the college
  • Hybrid work arrangements
  • Performance reviews
  • Staff contributions to the strategic plan and DEI

Here is a summary of desired outcomes and recommended actions on those topics.
The full report (6 pages) can be read here.

Communication within the college

Staff should be included and informed about what is happening in the College. To accomplish this:

  • Staff should know where to find info and get answers to their questions, minimizing disinformation and conjecture.
  • Staff should understand options for using their voices, insight, and experience to communicate with CLAS leadership and spark positive change in the College.

Hybrid work arrangements

Staff shared the objective of creating a college culture in which hybrid work is not simply an option, but is valued equally—both culturally and in resource distribution—to fully on-campus work.

There should be unit autonomy when deciding hybrid work arrangements. Rather than choosing from  a preselected array of models (e.g., 2-day remote or fully on-campus), units should be able to create hybrid work arrangements based on individual and collective staff needs, as well as unit and collegiate objectives.

Staff contributions to the strategic plan and DEI

The strategic plan should be a vehicle that facilitates institutional change and enables a culture shift. For the strategic plan to be a tool for each staff member to identify and act upon:

  • Staff’s involvement in the planning process should be expanded
  • The strategic plan should be reviewed and discussed for its applicability and relevance to individual units and roles
  • The relevancy of the strategic plan in staff member’s day-to-day functions should be clear

Performance reviews

Staff want to participate in a performance review process that is proactive, meaningful, actionable, and closely tied to specific job roles. The performance review system should:

  • Establish expectations for performance and identify potential career growth opportunities
  • Recognize the accomplishments and define the professional and educational needs of staff members
  • Serve as one criterion for determining discretionary salary increases for staff members.