Dear Colleagues,
Beginning on Wednesday, Oct. 18, I will hold open office hours for UConn faculty and staff. I write today to invite you to come by anytime between 9 and 11 a.m.
As you may know, since I arrived at UConn I have set aside time every semester for open office hours for our students. It is a chance for them to share their insights and perspectives with me and I often find the experience to be interesting, valuable, or rewarding.
Most useful for me – and for the university – is when a student has an idea. It might be about a simple but beneficial change we can make, something we can do to add new dimensions to campus life, or a novel solution for a problem.
I invite our faculty and staff to do the same on Oct. 18 on the 2nd floor of Gulley Hall.
Most of all, I welcome your ideas for ways we can continue to enrich our campuses, solve problems, and best serve our students and the state.
Not every idea needs to come with a price tag. As we have all found, there are positive changes we can make and ideas we can implement that come at no cost at all. That is especially useful during difficult budget times.
Office hours are first-come, first-serve. Employees may come individually or as part of a small group of four or fewer (space is such that large groups don’t work).
Staff who are members of collective bargaining units do not need to use accrued time to attend. I would ask that supervisors be flexible regarding employee requests to attend office hours, while of course ensuring that units are appropriately and adequately staffed.
As is the case with our students, office hours are not an opportunity to circumvent university processes or normal reporting lines, settle disputes, or air grievances. We have other existing avenues for that.
If this pilot is successful, I will begin to hold these on a regular basis for our employees, as I do with students.
I hope to see you then.
Sincerely,
Susan Herbst
For more information, contact: University Communications at 860-486-0871