Dear OUE Colleagues,
I want to thank you all for your participation and contributions to last week’s summer OUE town hall. It was a great way for us to honor Vice Provost Potts’ 9 years of leadership and service as he retires and departs for his new role as Provost of MS&T as well as to hear directly from Provost McLaughlin. (As a reminder, please don’t forget to complete the post townhall feedback survey here).
For those who attended in person, it was a pleasure to see many of you. Additionally, our OUE professional development committee is hard at work on some activities for this summer, including our book club (the new selection is Brene Brown’s Rising Strong). I hope you’ll get involved in these opportunities to connect with your fellow OUE colleagues.
As we head into the summer, continue transition on many fronts, and plan for enhanced in-person operations this summer and fall, I want to reinforce many opportunities within OUE and at GT to ask questions, provide feedback (including directly to me), get involved in our DEI work, and request support for yourself and for others. I encourage you to use any and all of these. Apologies in advance for the long list- but I wanted to be as comprehensive as possible.
Finally, thank you for your commitment to OUE’s mission and values, and most importantly to all that you do for our students. I am looking forward to a safe, healthy, and productive summer.
Warmly,
Steven
Summer VPUE “Virtual” Drop-In Office hours:
Starting the week of May 31, I will establish regular weekly virtual “drop-in” office hours. Specific details will be sent out later this week. Anyone and everyone who wishes to join will be welcomed. I will use a Waiting Room feature so that if there are sensitive matters being discussed, those can be wrapped up or planned for continued 1:1 discussion before admitting additional staff to the virtual room. If you haven’t used the OUE Events calendar, you should be able to add it in Outlook as one of the calendars you can view. If you need assistance with this, please contact Cory Hopkins (cory.hopkins@gatech.edu).
Appointments (1:1) with VPUE:
From June – August, I will be blocking off some time each week to allow for 15- or 30-minute 1:1’s with anyone who would like to meet with me. These meetings can be for any reason: to ask questions, just say “hi,” provide feedback to me, raise concerns, update me on your work and accomplishments, talk about career development, etc. All you need to do is email Criss Miller (criss.miller@gatech.edu), and she’ll work to put you on my calendar as soon as possible. If the pre-blocked times are not convenient, she’ll help us find a mutually good time. Most likely, these will also be virtual but in-person meetings may also be possible. I hope many of you will take some time to connect.
OUE Confidential Feedback Form:
This is just a reminder to feel free to use this form to provide feedback and input directly to me. This may also be done anonymously. The link is here: https://gatech.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eQkKNlFSe7NoN8x
OUE Diversity-Equity-Inclusion (DEI) work:
One of the questions asked at the town hall was about OUE’s ongoing DEI efforts, and I am planning to send a separate communication (in coordination with the OUE Equity Collective) to highlight our ongoing progress on several fronts and more plans for this summer. Thank you to everyone who responded to our Equity Audit: we had a ~64% response rate! Results will be shared with all of OUE, which will help inform the next steps with this work. In the meantime, we welcome everyone’s involvement in this collective. Just send any of the members (including me) a note- and we’ll add you to the Teams site. It’s that easy, and all are welcome! Even if you are not able to join the collective, send your ideas, suggestions, and feedback at any time.
Summer/Fall “Return to Work” and OUE’s “Future of Work” Ad-Hoc Committee:
Thank you again to Jamie White-Jones (SLS) and James Barricelli (Career Center) for co-chairing this committee and to all who have stepped up to serve on it. I have asked them to give me their recommended expectations (including guiding principles) by the end of May. As you have recently read, as of last Friday 5/14, we have received new guidance from GT and USG. This work will greatly inform our planning in OUE as we work to meet the new June 30 “return” date. (Please see their recent email for a survey to provide input—and don’t hesitate to reach out to James, Jamie, or anyone on the committee to provide direct input).
GTHR’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP):
Georgia Tech’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP) offers no-cost counseling, work/life balance assistance, and other resources that employees and their family members may utilize: https://health-and-wellbeing.gatech.edu/eap
GTHR Well-Being resources:
This website provides information on many wellness opportunities for employees to thrive: https://hr.gatech.edu/be-well-benefits-education-workshop-series.
Student Issues/Concerns:
As we work to support our continuing and new students, please be sure to note the Dean of Student’s referral site https://referral.studentlife.gatech.edu. This website allows anyone in the GT community to express a concern they have related to a student. There is also a link on that site for students to request assistance.