Voices of the Staff program announces network topics;
applications accepted

The six topics that will become the focal points of the Voices of the Staff program for the next year have been announced by Human Resources & Affirmative Action. A volunteer-based group of staff will be devoted to each subject.

The final list of topics is the result of the program's launch event, held Feb. 9, that brought together about 125 staff members from throughout the University to discuss and prioritize the issues they felt were most pressing to a large cross-section of staff. The group considered 21 topics and prioritized those of greatest interest for the first year of the program.

Selection criteria were established by the project to help determine the final set of topics. The criteria included whether the topics chosen were of concern to a great number of staff, would have significant impact on the objectives of the VOICES project, and would help advance the work of the University through dynamic communication between staff and executive leadership. The University's executive officers reviewed the proposed topics against the criteria and supported all of the highest-ranked topics from the launch event.

As a result, the following network groups will be formed: career development; employee recognition and performance management; faculty and staff communication; health and wellness, including work/life balance; parking and transportation; and employee rewards and benefits.

Descriptions of the scope of each of these topics are found on the Voices of the Staff Web site at http://www.voices.umich.edu/whats.html.

U-M staff members with at least one year of service are invited to apply for membership in the network group(s) of greatest interest. Applications will be accepted through March 25.

The groups will be formed by selecting from each network's overall applicant pool to create a microcosm of the staff community in terms of career families, academic and administrative units, and other demographics.

The Voices of the Staff program is a volunteer-based initiative that provides a formal mechanism for staff to help define the campus community issues of greatest interest to the broader staff community, and to offer ideas to top University leadership on those issues.

For more information and a downloadable application for network membership, please visit http://www.voices.umich.edu/.

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