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| Staff Newsletter | October 2021 |
Dear colleagues,
Allow me to start by briefly addressing this week’s exciting news:
I am thrilled by the naming of Northwestern’s next president, Rebecca Blank, an accomplished leader and scholar who will become the first woman to serve in the role. I look forward to working with President-elect Blank to help support her transition to the University as its 17th president. Please join me in congratulating President-elect Blank and welcoming her back to Northwestern.
Meanwhile, let us not forget another important recent development: Northwestern’s first ombudsperson, Sarah Klaper, arrived on campus in August. Many members of the Northwestern community—including the Faculty Senate, Associated Student Government and the Provost’s Advisory Council for Women Faculty—advocated for an ombudsperson to serve as a neutral and independent resource for resolving conflicts and navigating institutional challenges. This office complements the University’s existing resources and supports, and it already has begun serving a critical role for our faculty, staff and students in Evanston, Chicago and Qatar.
If you haven’t yet met Sarah, you will have an opportunity today. The Office of the Ombudsperson will mark National Ombuds Day with an open house from 9 a.m. to noon. The in-person event will be followed by an afternoon Lunch and Learn webinar titled “How to Disagree and Still Maintain Relationships.” I encourage you to familiarize yourself with the Office of the Ombudsperson’s services, and please join me in welcoming Sarah to Northwestern.
Thank you,
Kathleen Hagerty |
Awards and recognition |
Best for student voting
Northwestern has been named one of America’s Best Colleges for Student Voting in Washington Monthly’s annual college rankings. Northwestern has long been a national leader in student voter engagement. Through the NU Votes initiative, administered by the Northwestern’s Center for Civic Engagement, the University has integrated voter services into undergraduate and graduate orientation programs, hosts on-campus voter engagement events, and a maintains a suite of online tools and resources that have helped dramatically increase student voter engagement.
Risk management research
Office of Global Safety and Security Program Coordinator and Global Safety Data Analyst Pat Maloney recently graduated from The City University of New York (CUNY) with a master’s degree in Data Science. One of his research projects may have long-term benefits to the field of international risk management as he works to develop an algorithm that can potentially predict the length of a security incident and therefore help institutions decide whether to have travelers evacuate or shelter-in-place.
Recognizing Mónica Russel y Rodríguez
After 21 years of service to Northwestern as faculty member and administrator, Mónica Russel y Rodríguez stepped down from her role as Assistant Provost for Diversity and Inclusion at the end of September. Russel y Rodríguez spent the past three years in the Office of the Provost. In her previous role as Associate Dean in the Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Russel y Rodríguez created the teaching-track pathway for non-tenure eligible faculty that initiated new titles, offered longer contracts, and established processes of self-governance. There she oversaw an increase in under-represented faculty and teaching post-doctoral fellows. Prior to her time as Associate Dean she spent nine years creating and launching the Latina and Latino Studies Program, where she served as the inaugural director. She is currently a Distinguished Senior Lecturer in the Department of Anthropology and she is a faculty member in the Latinx Studies program. |
All about the staff |
Meet Alex Rot
This week’s featured colleague is Alex Rot, senior director of Faculty Operations. Alex has worked at Northwestern for six and a half years, three of them in his current role.
What do you like about working at Northwestern? I love working with all the wonderful colleagues in the Office of the Provost and across the University. I also love the problem-solving opportunities that my job provides. Finding a way to get a process unstuck—especially through creative thinking, process design and leveraging relationships—is really fulfilling!
What is your proudest accomplishment here? I’m most proud of the relationships and partnerships I’ve developed with the faculty affairs staff in Northwestern’s various schools. They are the essential, often-unsung heroes of Northwestern’s faculty processes and procedures, and I’ve worked hard to place those relationships at the center of my work. We don’t always agree, but we are always able to work together to figure out the best way to get things done.
Can you share a personal fun fact about yourself? I’m a huge board game fanatic, especially modern “Euro-style” strategy games (e.g., Settlers of Catan). I spend much of my spare time playing games, reading about games, thinking about games, watching other people play games, trying to design games ...
Brag about your teammates! We feature one staff member in each newsletter. Nominate someone by emailing the Office of the Provost and telling us, in a sentence or two, how your colleague contributes to Northwestern’s mission and why everyone in the Office of the Provost should get to know them.
New staff arrivals
The Garage
Health Professionals Advising
Office of the Registrar
Office of Undergraduate Research
Wellness grants
Human Resources is sponsoring YourLife Wellness Grants that are intended to help support the well-being of faculty and staff by providing funding for wellness activities, events and/or space. Fall applications will be accepted through Oct. 29. Grants must address at least of one of the eight dimensions of wellness: physical, emotional, social, intellectual, environmental, spiritual, vocational or financial. |
News and notes |
Affordable Instructional Resources report
The Affordable Instructional Resources Initiative (AIR) has released its 2021 annual report, which includes information about advances made through the Open Educational Resources Faculty Grants and updates on other AIR projects. A collaboration between the Office of the Provost, Libraries, Northwestern Information Technology, Northwestern Bookstore and the Faculty Senate, AIR is a network of Northwestern faculty and staff interested in reducing the course material costs in order to create more inclusive and accessible learning environments.
Performance Excellence goals
As we begin a new academic and fiscal year, Office of the Provost staff are asked to submit their annual Performance Excellence goals by Oct. 27. Using the SIMple goal-setting process, this exercise is intended to help supervisors and staff align on their focus for the year head. To learn how to enter a goal and complete other tasks, visit the job aids website.
In case you missed it
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Help us build future newsletters! If your unit is working on a project that is relevant to the entire Office of the Provost, or if you have awards, honors or accomplishments to share, send an email to officeoftheprovost@northwestern.edu. |
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