presented July 30, 2021 by: - Stacey Bradley, senior associate vice president for Student Affairs and Academic Support - Anna Edwards, associate vice president for Student Life - Kirsten Kennedy, associate vice president for University Housing and Sustainability

1. FUTURE OF WORK
Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support

2. FUTURE OF WORK
• National context, our context, plans in motion – Stacey Bradley
• Adaptive examples from Student Life – Anna Edwards
• Role of leaders and supervisors – Kirsten Kennedy
• Q&A - All

3. CONTEXT
Stacey Bradley

4. COVID-19
Re-evaluation of work in
both place and time

7. MULTIPLE
NATIONAL
SURVEYS WITH
SIMILAR RESULTS
“The Great Resignation”
“The Turnover Tsunami”

8. FROM NATIONAL CONTEXT TO LOCAL
CONTEXT

9. A HISTORY OF
SELF-REFLECTION
AND
EMPLOYEE-
FOCUSED
INITIATIVES
Division Work Climate Survey
Division Work Climate Survey
UofSC Community Insights
Survey
2011
2017
2019
Division of Student Affairs and Academic Support

10. 2020 Community Insights Total Responded % Responded
All Employees 5775 2536 44%
Staff 3852 1739 45%
Faculty 1923 797 41%
College/School Respondents 1248
Division Respondents 992
Division of Student Affairs and
Academic Support
733 309 42%
Note: Some respondents chose not to declare their college/division

11. BAROMETER STATEMENTS
Survey Statement
UofSC
% Positive
UofSC
% Negative
DSA&AS
% Positive
25
Overall, my department is a good place
to work
74 8 76
60
All things considered; this is a great
place to work
63 10 71
59
This institution’s culture is special –
something you don’t find just anywhere.
41 28 48
57 This institution is well run. 35 29 40
0-44% 45-54% 55-64% 65-74% 75-100%

12. DSA&AS OPEN-ENDED RESPONSES BY FREQUENCY
WHAT DO YOU APPRECIATE MOST ABOUT WORKING AT THIS INSTITUTION?
Interaction with
students
Work
environment
Genuine and
supportive colleagues
Student
focused,
friendly &
hardworking
culture
Management support
Opportunities for
professional
development

13. DSA&AS OPEN-ENDED RESPONSES BY FREQUENCY
WHAT WOULD MAKE THIS INSTITUTION A BETTER PLACE TO WORK?
Better compensation
More
opportunities
for
advancement
Flexibility and
alternative work
schedules
More open
communications
More diversity in
leadership
Treating staff
equitably, not having
favorites

14. DIVISION FOCUS AREAS
From 2019-2020 UofSC Community Insights Survey

15. NEW
FOCUS
AREAS
IN
ACTION
Communication and
collaboration
Supervisor and
employee
development
Performance
management,
accountability &
feedback
Diversity, equity, and
inclusion
Prioritization of
initiatives; efficiency
& effectiveness
Employee Wellbeing
Create a divisional understanding of our priorities,
where we will commit efforts and resources, and how
we measure success
Process for depts. to guide prioritization
Educate and prepare our employees to improve in
these focus areas and deliver on our strategic plan
Develop in areas of prioritization, wellbeing, difficult
conversations, feedback, etc.
Cultivate a diverse, equitable and inclusive campus
culture
Recommendations from DEIA task force, unconscious bias
training for interviewers, cultural competence, etc.
Participate in organizational efficiency and effectiveness
opportunities
Refine and deploy flexible work practices

16. FLEXIBLE WORK
We have multiple tools in the toolkit
Remote work
Hybrid work
Flexible work schedules: flexible hours, compressed work week, alternate “shifts”
Key is flexibility with accountability
• Positively impact employee recruitment and retention
• Encourage creativity in service delivery
• Improve our skills as supervisors, including delivery of honest and actionable
feedback

17. STUDENT AFFAIRS AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT
TELECOMMUTING TASK FORCE
Partnering with HR to compliment not duplicate institutional resources
• HR developing new policy and FAQs, advising division task force (Melissa Arnold
and Nathan Strong)
Purpose of task force: develop division telecommuting plan
1) Review job classification and roles – identify top 5 competencies for each role
 No remote work, hybrid work, 100% remote work
 Could change if the way work is delivered changes
2) Identify characteristics of successful remote workers – develop evaluation
criteria
 Nathan Strong is providing resources and guidance
 Someone who isn’t ready now may have developed additional competencies or have different
circumstances a year from now

18. STUDENT AFFAIRS AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT
TELECOMMUTING TASK FORCE (CONTINUED)
Purpose of task force: develop division telecommuting plan
3) Identify characteristics of successful workspaces – develop evaluation criteria
 Nathan Strong is providing resources and guidance
4) Develop business case – how does this plan lead to better service delivery or
create cost savings?
This is a fundamental requirement – change in work location can’t lead to degradation of
service to customer; must be a win-win

19. STUDENT AFFAIRS AND ACADEMIC SUPPORT
TELECOMMUTING TASK FORCE (CONTINUED)
Division pilot plan for 2021-2022
Adoption will likely be at discretion of departments
Departmental approaches may incorporate peak service delivery
times and work cycles
Learning from pandemic is transferrable, context is different
Short-term versus long-term orientation
Ensure engagement in teams
Equity in promotion and advancement over time
Remote work cannot be a regular substitute for childcare, eldercare, or sick
leave
Employers across the globe are trying to determine how to do flexible well

20. ADAPTIVE EXAMPLES
Anna Edwards

21. HOW ONE DEPARTMENT IS DOING IT…
• Acknowledge departmental culture
• Careful examination of roles, duties, job expectations and
accountability
• Mission alignment and impact on students (customer)
• Flexible work schedules – seasons and roles
• Innovation - consider new ways to deliver programs, services

22. ROLE OF LEADERS & SUPERVISORS
Kirsten Kennedy

23. FOR MANAGERS
• All hybrid/flexible work schedules must fulfill the department’s
mission
• Must work for both manager and employee
• Job role w/no adjustment to service to customer
• Characteristics of successful remote workers & remote space
• Set accountability measures
• May require re-design of current practices
• Consider how to maintain a sense of team
• Harder to detect mental health and other issues

24. MANAGING REMOTE/HYBRID EMPLOYEES (HARVARD BUSINESS
REVIEW, 2020)
• Barriers to effective hybrid/flexible work
• Lack of face-to-face supervision
• Lack of access to information
• Social isolation
• Distractions at home
• Support strategies
• Establish structured daily check-ins
• Provide several different communication technology options
• Establish “rules of engagement”
• Provide opportunities for remote social interaction
• Offer encouragement and emotional support

25. MAKING IT WORTH BEING IN PERSON
What is your in-person workplace value which represents the organizational culture, benefits, and interactions
employees experience when working on-site? Focus on these things:
1) Connection – engaging with people socially for quick connects, hallway chats, and in-person time with
colleagues and students
2) Collaboration – being in person improves teamwork and efficiency in situations that require highly
interdependent/complex interactions. Being in person also fosters and sustains trust.
3) Creativity – happens both spontaneously and in planned events, but more likely to happen impromptu
conversations in the hallway, at lunch, or coffee breaks.
4) Culture – bringing back people in person means employees can more intimately experience the
environment, touchpoints, messaging, values, and rituals that signal who we are as an organization (think
values we identified in the spring at our directors retreat)

26. QUESTIONS?

27. THANKS!