Conversation About the Future
Staff Conversations Summary

University staff at each campus participated in the President’s Conversation About the Future, discussing their vision for the future.  In the course of these conversations, staff raised a number of common issues relevant to service delivery and the recruitment, development and retention of a quality workforce.

COMPENSATION

• Place priority on bringing salaries to a competitive level with the private sector.
• Make equitable internal alignment of staff salaries an administrative priority.

TRAINING

Support staff training and professional development by:

• Centrally funding training to make courses accessible to all.
  
• Promoting management support for participation in training.
  
• Promoting access to training through release time.
  
• Expanding the tuition-exemption benefit to cover more credits and provide access to UW Extension courses.
  
• Supporting participation in professional organizations, conferences and external training opportunities.

QUALITY OF WORK LIFE

• Develop programs and communication vehicles to promote a sense of campus-wide community (easing impact of multiple physical locations; bridging faculty-staff schism).
• Establish leadership standards for supervisors and managers (both staff and faculty).
• Mandate supervisory training and hold supervisors accountable through performance criteria.
• Develop and actively promote programs and services that support quality of work life including: 
  • increased on-site childcare and subsidies for lower income employees;
  • use of flex time, telecommuting and job sharing;
  • expanded and fully supported employee assistance program;
  • tuition support for dependants.

DIVERSITY

• Establish an active outreach program to expand and retain a diverse workforce.

CAREER DEVELOPMENT / ADVANCEMENT

• Articulate University-wide commitment to developing and promoting staff.
• Provide career counseling support.

RECOGNITION

• Affirm the value of staff contributions through UW and departmental mission statements.
• Promote faculty/staff partnering in strategic planning.

• Include staff in policy development and decision making.

• Expand public recognition of all staff and encourage departmental recognition programs.

ADMINISTRATIVE AND CAMPUS SUPPORT SYSTEMS

• Captalize on technology to increase efficiency and improve and integrate administrative systems
• Expand access to technology and training for staff to support academic / research goals and programs
• Provide central resources to “poorer” departments to support development of technology.
  
• Provide facilities services that meet departmental needs quickly.