Ithaca College

I am pleased to provide an update on the College's Quality of Work Life initiative that is currently underway. This special initiative for staff and administration is directly related to the College's institutional plan and our priority on Quality of Work Life.

As already reported, we launched this multi-faceted initiative on March 15 with a day-long retreat for graduates of the College's LeaderShip program. Approximately 65 employees representative of all College divisions met with our consultants to provide information and feedback. Following the retreat, 35 individuals met with the consultants on April 5-7 for one-on-one confidential interviews. A small number of additional interviews will be held in the coming weeks. In addition, staff members in the Office of Human Resources recently met with one of our consultants for individual and group meetings.

We look forward to the next phase of this process and welcome the input of additional members of the campus community -- staff and administration -- who have not yet had an opportunity to participate. A series of focus groups on April 20-21 will include specific sessions for Staff Council and Administrative Assembly and four open/general sessions. The open focus groups will be held at the following dates and times:

• Wednesday, April 20
  1:00 -2:30 p.m. (location tba)
  11:00 p.m.-12:30 a.m. (Dillingham 6)
  
  
• Thursday, April 21
  Noon-1:30 p.m. (location tba)
  3:00-4:30 p.m. (location tba)

If you would like to participate in one of these sessions, please contact Eileen Jacobs in the Office of the President at 274-3441 to confirm your attendance. We will confirm specific locations for these meetings at that time. Each focus group will have approximately 15-20 participants.

In addition to individual and group interviews and focus groups, we are providing another vehicle for your input/participation. If you have any comments on the progress Ithaca College is making on the Quality of Work Life priority in the institutional plan "to ensure that Ithaca College is seen as a first choice employer," please email qwl@ithaca.edu or mail your comments directly to Suzanne Forsyth, Management Consultant, Suzanne Forsyth Associates, 5306 MacArthur Blvd NW, Washington DC, 20016.

For your information, you can find the full institutional plan and a summary of the accomplishments since its adoption at https://www.ithaca.edu/plan/ithaca_institutional_plan.pdf

As noted in the earlier communiqué, information collected during this initiative will assure the confidentiality of individuals, and will be prepared in summary format. A report, including recommendations, is expected to be provided to the President's Council in late May for analysis and discussion of next steps.

Supervisors are asked to make this information available to employees who do not have email access and to support the participation of all interested employees within their respective areas. Please contact Michael McGreevey, 274-3121, with any questions. Thank you for your continued support of this initiative.

Peggy R. Williams
President