Strategic Theme 4: Staff Development and Growth

We will promote a supportive environment where staff contributions are acknowledged and excellence is rewarded. We recognize the importance of staff in our ability to achieve our goals. We will invest in their development and growth and will utilize targeted strategies to enhance building successful careers at KU.

Actions

  1. Create a staff professional development fund in the College for opportunities such as funding to attend workshops and conferences off-campus
  2. Create targeted staff development workshops that address key needs as identified by staff themselves and those they serve
  3. Work with unit heads to support release time for staff to obtain training and other professional development opportunities
  4. More broadly utilize existing resources including Link and Learns, faculty lectures and staff/faculty expertise to incorporate additional professional development offerings
  5. Develop events that bring staff together in areas such as stress reduction and problem solving, with clear indication of support from units for attending these events
  6. Create opportunities for staff to be more connected (and therefore less isolated) including opportunities for interaction with staff from across campus
  7. Access staff ideas and feedback, including annual anonymous feedback survey, town halls and an ad-hoc advisory committee, to advise the College to ensure staff concerns are readily communicated and acted upon
  8. Develop multiple opportunities for staff to communicate with each other, note broader concerns and begin to identify solutions
  9. Develop a staff mentoring program where senior staff provide mentoring to new staff with pairing occurring across units

Actions

  1. Add more staff-specific awards and remove exclusionary requirements (as possible) in other awards to allow staff eligibility
  2. Reboot annual staff recognition event in line with our goals and staff feedback
  3. Identify and address existing policies and procedures that send a message to staff that they are less valued than faculty
  4. Work with university administration and state legislature to support more regular and robust raises with strong arguments that identify the real challenges and risks to our functioning in the continued absence of such changes
  5. Explore strategies used to retain high-performing faculty and consider their use with staff

Accountability metrics

  • Participation of College staff in professional development opportunities
  • Staff satisfaction
    1. With position
    2. With supervision
    3. With professional development opportunities
    4. With College leadership

Strategic Plan