Colleagues:
If you have attended any of the open forums I host regularly or read my periodic campus updates, you know my firm belief that communicating about our work with our colleagues is one of the most important responsibilities each of us has. Whether it’s with colleagues in our immediate office or between divisions and/or schools, the timing and method by which we share information often are critical factors in determining the success of a program or initiative.
To that end, I am writing today to announce the Leadership Council, a monthly meeting for managers and supervisors — both academic and administrative — to stimulate discussion of cross-campus issues and topics with campus leadership and with each other.
One of the primary goals in establishing the Leadership Council is to facilitate the vital role managers and supervisors play in making sure faculty and staff members are provided with information that helps them understand matters that impact their work or simply connects them to what is happening in the broader campus community.
All participants of the Leadership Council will have the opportunity to propose or present specific agenda items or to suggest general topics for discussion. My hope is that managers and supervisors will bring forwardissues that are of interest or concern to their staff. They will also have the responsibility to share information from the meetings with their direct reports and/or colleagues in their area.
When managers and supervisors share information in such a fashion, employees — both academic and administrative — should have a deeper shared sense of direction and goals; a greater understanding of the campus’s strategic priorities and the allocation of budgets and resources necessary to accomplish those priorities; and a greater understanding of how work in onearea of the university affects other areas.
By regularly attending the new Leadership Council meetings, managers and supervisors will also be consulted more openly about decisionsthat affect their work and their ability to help their unit, school or division succeed in its goals and mission. And they’ll have more opportunities to express their views and ideas for growing and improving programs in research, academics, student support, administration and the overall well-being of the campus community.
I hope the newly formed Leadership Council meetings will serve as a means for enhanced engagement between faculty, staff and senior administrators, organized around topics of broad interest and concern to the campus community.
If you are a manager or supervisor, you will receive an invitation to the council’s inaugural meeting by Jan. 30. While I will be directly involved in the initial launch of this group by kicking off the first meeting, this venue is intended primarily for interaction between senior administrators, supervisors and managers. Staff and faculty can continue to engage directlywith me via events such as the monthly Lunch with the Chancellor or the town halls that occur each semester.
Thank you, in advance, for helping to make this forum a success.
Sincerely,
Dorothy Leland
Chancellor
