Employee Council reviews HR focus groups

By Eric Rangus erangus@emory.edu

Alice Miller, vice president for Human Resources, addressed the Employee Council during its Sept. 19 meeting at Harland Cinema.

She discussed several items derived from the focus groups conducted by HR earlier this year. The general consensus, Miller said, is that Emory is a good place to work.

For instance, in one of the statistic she quoted, the sample of 84 employees rated Emory an average of 2.9 (on a scale of 1–4) in the category of “job satisfaction.” “Emory satisfaction” rated even better, at 3.1.

Miller added that HR has responded or is currently developing plans to respond to several of the concerns voiced by focus group participants. A revamped web site and the creation of a center for organization development established to augment supervisory, leadership and diversity training were just two of the efforts Miller spoke of.

LeAnna Rensi Casey, associate director of student activities, also addressed the council. She discussed the upcoming Faculty Staff Appreciation Week, scheduled for Oct. 1–5. It will include a showing of the Morgan Freeman film Lean on Me on McDonough Field, Oct. 2, and an open mic night at Dooley’s Den on the Depot, Oct. 3, where faculty and staff are invited to take the stage to perform impov comedy, sing a song, read a poem or just discuss whatever is on their minds.

But perhaps the highlight of the festivities will be the Faculty/Staff Art Show, which will open for viewing on

Oct. 1 in the Dobbs Center gallery and run all month. A formal opening reception will take place Oct. 4, and several of the artists will be in attendance to discuss their work. Casey said she has several entries for the show, and that a panel of faculty, staff and students will serve as jury to determine which pieces will be displayed.

The Employee Council is cosponsoring Faculty/Staff Appreciation Week along with the L.E.A.D Team and the Dobbs Center.

The goal of this week, Casey said, is for students, staff and faculty to participate in events on an equal footing and therefore learn more about each other. “This is a great opportunity for everyone to have this level of interaction,” she said.

In council news, Gail Mooney from the business school was elected secretary-elect, effective immediately. She replace Cheryl Sroka, who took over as secretary when Bill Chatfield had to resign his officer position. Susie Lackey of Yerkes accepted a position as co-chair of the communications committee, a position that had been vacant. Upon accepting her role on the committee, Lackey gave up her seat on the University Senate. That seat remains open.

The membership committee asked council members to review the information in the council’s brochure for accuracy, so that an update version can be distributed at the Grady information fair, Oct. 2.

The communications committee urged members to promote two upcoming, high-profile council events: the aforementioned Grady information fair, and President Bill Chace’s town hall meeting, Sept. 25 at noon in Winship Ballroom.

The special issues committee said many of its concerns had been addressed by Miller during her presentation. The servant leadership committee discussed its monthly brown bag lunches, organized in tandem with the Center for Ethics. The guest speakers have been educational, the committee said, and future brown bags are planned. The next meeting is scheduled for Oct. 17 in Harland Cinema.

If you have a comment or question for Employee Council, e-mail president Bill McBride at wjmcbri@fmd.emory.edu.