Staff
Goal 1: Fairness
Fairness: Improve integration and fairness between faculty and lecturers and improve climate for staff in isolated roles. Break down overall departmental hierarchy.
Vision of where we want to be in 5 years: Faculty and lecturers have fair access to resources, opportunities, and recognition; staff in isolated roles feel connected and supported. The departmental hierarchy is more horizontal; decision-making processes are transparent, and input from all levels if valued and considered.
- Action 1: Invite lecturers to faculty events.
- Action 2: Conduct fairness audits esp. for 12-month vs. 9-month contract (Assess current disparities pay, resources, and opportunities between faculty/lecturers)
- Action 3: Identify additional events to integrate faculty/staff
Goal 2: Community
Community: Build community for staff among faculty, postdocs, grad students and undergrad students to broaden department participation.
Vision of where we want to be in 5 years: Staff feel valued, build community with others around the department and feel like full department members.
- Action 1: Create a picture directory for department members to put in the atrium (e.g., add to digital signage)
- Action 2: Bring back weekly, informal staff tea
- Action 3: Survey staff about their needs, interest in social events, brainstorm
- Action 4:(a)Schedule PI/postdocs to conduct lab tours for staff – evaluate interest for scheduling additional lab tours. (b)Schedule planetarium visit with Wayne Schlingman for staff.
- Action 5: Invite staff to participate in student groups (e.g., WAGMiP/Scientific Thinkers, OH State Fair)
Goal 3: Professional
Professional: Provide professional development opportunities to support staff.
Vision of where we want to be in 5 years: Consistent availability of and encouragement for staff to actively participate in PD activities which expand their professional skills and promote networking around the Department and University.
- Action 1: Build awareness of effective areas of PD that not only assist staff in their careers but also contribute to department culture and success
- Action 2: Build network of campus professionals in similar operations, to serve as resources for Physics staff
- Action 3: Incorporate Copilot (and other automation tools) where possible, to reduce repetitive tasks
- Action 4: Develop workshops/lunch-and-learn re: topics such as AI, culture/shared values
- Action 5: Solicit faculty for ideas for staff PD that would be beneficial for their skill development.
Goal 4: Streamline
Streamline: Investigate opportunities for reducing institutional roadblocks for staff – automate tasks where possible. Educate other roles around the department to the effects of and need for lead time for completion of tasks.
Vision of where we want to be in 5 years: The Physics community better understands and assists staff roles in the context of the OSU structure and the lead time staff require to complete requested tasks. This area affects the entire physics community and has downstream effects on retention and professional relationships.
- Action 1: HR clarity regarding how staff qualify for different types of benefits
- Action 2: Develop onboarding/offboarding documents that are specific to staff
- Action 3: Develop procedural documentation for larger repetitive requests (i.e. travel, p-card, PTO, visa's, requisitions, PO's, reimbursements)
- Action 4: List of names of people to reach out to for additional more nuanced topics (i.e. group travel, IT/AV support, nuanced HR hiring, i.e. REUs, Polaris/URSA grad payments)
- Action 5: Add detail to the procedural documentation highlighting timelines for specific requests so everyone engages in necessary steps to meet deadlines promptly.