Institutional Involvement

Search Committee for Associate Vice President of Human Resources

From December 2006 through May 2007, two NUSAC members served on an advisory committee for the search of Guy Miller’s replacement as the University’s Associate Vice President of Human Resources. The charge to the advisory committee was to advise Eugene Sunshine, Senior Vice President for Business and Finance, of the candidates we felt should return to the University for an extended interview with other key University personnel. In the course of selecting candidates to interview, members of the advisory committee were asked to review a packet of resumes and to develop questions to ask the candidates. The candidates were given the opportunity to introduce themselves to the committee members and to give us additional information about why they were interested in the position and why they would be a good fit at Northwestern. Each member of the committee was then given the opportunity to ask the candidate questions. At the conclusion of the interview session, the candidate asked the committee members questions about Northwestern (e.g., what it was like to work at NU and how they could be successful at NU). As a representative of NUSAC and of the University staff in general, it was vital that we be able to ascertain the candidate’s experience working with staff councils and the role they play in championing causes important to staff. Key opportunities for NUSAC to strategize with the incoming AVP of HR included: employee recognition and rewards; training and development; compensation; health care policy; paid time off (PTO); promotion and career ladders; and performance evaluation. After the search committee narrowed down the list of applicants for the position to three, the chair of NUSAC and the chair of the GFC (General Faculty Committee) interviewed each of the finalists jointly at the invitation of Mr. Sunshine and provided him with a summary and rank order of each candidate.

Committe on Institutional Cooperation

The 2006 Committee on Institutional Cooperation's (CIC) Academic Professional Staff Councils (APSC) annual conference was held October 15-16, 2006 and was attended by 4 NUSAC members.  The APSC is sponsored by a consortium of Big Ten university staff councils and meets yearly to share information and best practices.  The topics discussed at this year’s meeting were benchmarking, career development ladders for university staff members, performance reviews, rewards and recognition, benefits, and the structure of the CIC.

NUSAC believes that the CIC conference is a great opportunity for sharing information and ideas to help foster better working environments for staff in all participating institutions.  For more information on the CIC, go to: http://www.cic-apsc.wisc.edu/index.htm.

The CIC is a consortium of twelve universities committed to advancing academic excellence by sharing resources and promoting and coordinating collaborative activities.  The CIC’s web site can be found at < http://www.cic.uiuc.edu/>. 

Strategic Direction for 2007-2010 (connect to URL)

The CIC Member Universities include twelve major Teaching and Research Institutions:

Indiana University
Michigan State University
Northwestern University
Ohio State University
Pennsylvania State University
Purdue University
University of Chicago
University of Illinois
University of Iowa
University of Michigan
University of Minnesota
University of Wisconsin-Madison

Forum on Community Values

In October 2005, four NUSAC members attended the Forum on Community Values, which was conducted  “to identify, understand, critique, renew, and celebrate the values we live by at Northwestern.”  The Forum was organized in partial response to recent “hate” crimes on and off campus, as well as student concerns about a perceived lack of “community” at the University and the University’s latest “Highest Order of Excellence” initiative.  The Forum was sponsored by NU’s Student Affairs Division, the Office of the Provost, and Associated Student Government.  The members of NUSAC were invited to represent and express the staff perspective of the University’s values.

The event started with selected speakers, then moved to small group discussions.  The Chair of NUSAC, Rebecca Griffiths, was one of several representatives at the University asked to speak.  Rebecca expressed her concern that many staff members contact NUSAC with issues of feeling undervalued at the University, which reflects overall low staff morale.  She articulated that the University administration needs to begin to address the issue of staff morale if it is to be one of the top universities of its time.  She also commended the University administration for acknowledging staff in its updated “Highest Order of Excellence” report, which says that, “…Because of the vital role academic and institutional staff personnel play in facilitating every aspect of living and learning in a scholarly community, we believe we need to rethink the models of staffing and support now used in the University…”  Rebecca also expressed NUSAC’s interest in being welcomed by the administration and board of trustees as partners in planning the future of Northwestern.  She emphasized that staff members “must be involved in development and implementation of the goals, actions plans and evaluation tools that encompass Part II of the Highest Order of Excellence.”

Participants were then asked to meet in smaller groups and identify core values that should be affirmed while learning and conducting research at Northwestern.  The evening closed with reports from the sub-groups and a question and answer session.

To view the full text of the Council Chair's remarks, please CLICK HERE.

University Reaccreditation

While the University was going through re-accreditation in 2004-2005, NUSAC representatives were invited to participate in the process. On October 11, 2004, five NUSAC members met with three external reviewers, all from other accredited institutions, of Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of School and Colleges. Rebecca Griffiths and Jason Groscholski, Chair and Vice-Chair of NUSAC, along with Darlene Peterson, Secretary, Karen Koehler-Davis, Past Chair, and Nancy McLaughlin, Communications sub-committee member, met with the committee to represent the staff.

The accreditation reviewers were most interested in the overall employee experience here at Northwestern. They were curious to know what NUSAC does, how NUSAC receives input from staff and gathers data, and asked NUSAC to share both the positive and negative feedback it had received from employees. They also asked each NUSAC member how our job compared with those of our friends or family, how well the University's processes and procedures are working, and what some of the Northwestern’s technological initiatives are. In addition, they were curious about where the catalyst for change was at the University. The reviewers wrapped up the session by stating that overall, Northwestern seemed like a great place to work. While we concurred that NU is a good employer overall, there were still a few key issues that needed to be addressed university-wide.