Our core Leadership Team has been working on team mission statements for: Research, Administration, Undergraduate Education and Graduate Education. They are focused on the overall effectiveness and efficiency of the department, as well as on ensuring that the jobs we ask people to do are as health-promoting as possible. They, with a group of others in the department, are participating in a program called Leading Change, designed specifically to support our department’s reorganization efforts. This program draws on leadership development research to support them and their staff through the reorganization process.
Last month, we held a faculty and staff listening session, which brought to the forefront many questions about our timeline and how it will affect different positions within the department. We are currently building a detailed project timeline that we will share once it’s ready. People also wanted to know how this project ties in with the campus-wide job title and compensation initiative. While these two efforts are distinct, our goal is that the positions defined in our reorganization initiative are compatible with new university structures.
The GSFLC leaders and I held a town hall meeting for graduate students and postdoctoral researchers. Topics covered at the meeting included safety, the department reorganization, and answers to questions submitted in advance and from the floor. Gas grills must now be used for all department events at which food is cooked outside. There will be another MAQ inventory in September to assess our levels of flammable solvents and gases. I presented information on the reorganization, focusing on the changes that will affect attendees in the graduate program and the administrative services areas. The timeline for these changes is not yet known, and will be shared as noted in the paragraph above. In response to questions, I shared data about diversity in faculty hiring and graduate student admissions and graduation. These data are available on the intranet at the link: Town Hall July 2019.
Judith N. Burstyn
Irving Shain Chair
of Chemistry
jburstyn@wisc.edu
Read the full Badger Chemist News Alert here.