Council hosts Grady fair

By Eric Rangus erangus@emory.edu

On Tuesday, Oct. 2, the Employee Council is taking one of its most successful projects on the road. Looking to expand the reach of its information fair and understanding that a significant number of Emory employees work off the main Atlanta campus, the council has chosen Grady Hospital as the site of its first fair of the 2001–02 academic year.

Last September, the council held an information fair as part of its 30th anniversary celebration, and many campus organization set up tables in the Dobbs Center to introduce themselves to an Emory community that sometimes was unaware of their existence.

The event was such a hit that the council held another fair in the spring. Now it looks to be a regular part of the council’s programming. The goal is to hold two fairs each year—one each in the fall and spring—one of them in the Dobbs Center and another at a rotating off-campus location.

“This was my dream at the beginning,” said Cheryl Sroka, chair of the council’s communications committee and one of the Grady fair’s organizers. “I’ve worked in [off-campus] places—Grady, the VA [Hospital]—and sometimes you feel like a second-class citizen.” Sroka, an Emory employee for 11 years, is now a coordinator of program development in the School of Medicine.

According to council president-elect Cheryl Bowie, the feeling of community at individual off-site locations can be tough to maintain.

“Knowing who to call can even be a problem,” said Bowie, a research accountant for radiation oncology at Grady. For instance, if an off-site employee needs computer assistance from IT or building maintenance from FM, Bowie said, he or she doesn’t know whether to contact the main campus or try and find someone at their location—or even if that someone exists. “There isn’t a feeling of connection to campus,” Bowie said.

Despite the fact that Emory employs roughly 350 people at Grady, their communication is sometimes so sketchy that two offices can share a floor and not be aware of the other’s existence.

A total of 13 organizations will take part in the fair, which will be held in the Oppenheimer Room of Grady’s Glenn Building from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Each will have representatives on hand to answer questions and distribute information to visitors.