On June 10, members of the Wake Forest community gathered in the Magnolia Room for the Gatekeepers Recognition Ceremony. The event honored 109 faculty and staff that have completed the first three workshops in the Gatekeepers Workshop Initiative in the 2012-2013.

Created by Shayla Herndon-Edmunds, manager of diversity education for Wake Forest, the Gatekeepers Workshop Initiative enhances participants’ cultural competence through tools and exercises that explore perception, various communication and conflict styles; value differences, stereotype threat, implicit bias, contact theory, among other phenomena that impact the engagement of faculty, staff and students on campus.

Provost Rogan Kersh and other University leaders spoke about the importance of cultural competence in building an inclusive community, while participants and internal trainers were celebrated for their efforts.

To date, more than 1,000 staff, faculty and students have attended the Gatekeepers 1 Workshop, “Enhancing Our Community Through Inclusion.”

Check the Professional Development Center’s website for Gatekeeper’s courses available in 2013-14.

The SAC will hold its final meeting of the school year in Benson 401 from 9-10:30 a.m. on Thursday, May 30. Refreshments will be available, and the first 30 minutes will be an introduction of new members and recognition of outgoing members.

At 9:30 a.m., Provost Rogan Kersh and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Hof Milam will share the preliminary results of the University’s Strategic Resource Initiative (SRI) and take questions about these initiatives.

All faculty and staff are encouraged to attend this presentation, which is the last in a series that was offered about this stage of the SRI. The SRI working group encourages feedback and questions.

• A summary of the presentation and the PowerPoint slides are available on Inside WFU
• A summary of frequently asked questions also is available
• Additional feedback and questions may be sent to SRI@wfu.edu

Griffith

Mills

Two long-time Wake Forest employees — Ross Griffith (’65) and Bob Mills (’71, MBA ’90) — will be honored with receptions in Reynolda Hall.

The reception for Griffith, who was the director of Institutional Research, will be Friday, May 17, from 3:30-5 p.m. in the Green Room of Reynolda Hall.

“All who have the privilege of knowing and working with Ross experience his kindness, professionalism, intellect and passion for Wake Forest,” said Provost Rogan Kersh. “With 46 years of continuous service, he is among the longest-serving full-time staff members in our university’s modern history. His dedication to Wake Forest is genuinely remarkable, and his impact on our community is profound and enduring. I am deeply grateful for Ross’s varied and extraordinary contributions to Wake Forest.”

Read more about Griffith »

The reception for Mills, who was an associate vice president in University Advancement, will be Monday, June 3, from 3-5 p.m. in the Green Room of Reynolda Hall. RSVP to Marsha Wall at wallmc@wfu.edu or 758.5224. Mills worked in Advancement for more than 40 years.

“Few people have influenced University Advancement, alumni relations, and fund raising at Wake Forest as much as Bob Mills,” said Bob Baker, the associate vice president for University Development. “He is leaving an impressive legacy of relationships, successful capital campaigns and transformational gifts. Bob’s commitment to doing things the right way and representing Wake Forest the right way has paid handsome dividends for this institution for decades.”

For both receptions, remarks will be made at 4 p.m., and refreshments will be served.

The following is a message from President Nathan Hatch:

At the start of the fall semester, I established four campus-wide committees to foster inclusive discussion around particular aspects of Wake Forest University. I am grateful to the members of these committees who devoted countless hours in pursuit of a better Wake Forest. Through these committees, dozens of faculty, staff and students contributed to the following results: Continue reading »

The Strategic Resource Initiative (SRI) working group has received valuable feedback and questions since sharing the initial outcomes of the SRI on April 25. We would like to remind you of additional opportunities to discuss the impact of these SRI changes:

Now:  A summary of the presentation and the PowerPoint slides are available on Inside WFU. Additional feedback and questions may be sent to SRI@wfu.edu.

May 6, 4-5 p.m., Pugh Auditorium: Faculty Senate Meeting (open to faculty, staff)
May 30, 9:30-10:30 a.m., Benson 401:  Staff Advisory Council Meeting (open to faculty, staff)

Changes to parking, tuition concession and technology purchases and refresh schedules have generated numerous questions. The following addresses those most frequently asked: Continue reading »

Dear Wake Forest Faculty and Staff,

As the academic year draws to a close, so does year one of the Strategic Resource Initiative (SRI). We are immensely grateful for the efforts of both the SRI Working Group and the Steering Committee to conceive, research, and analyze dozens of potential cost saving and revenue enhancing opportunities. The process has been thoughtful and collaborative, drawing on the expertise and perspective of faculty and staff from across the University. (Indeed, thanks to the many of you who continue to provide specific suggestions for us to consider.) To date, approved SRI initiatives account for $6.1 million in recurring annual operating funds that will help fund student financial aid, faculty and staff compensation, and other University strategic priorities.

CONTINUED DIALOGUE

Earlier today, we discussed outcomes of our SRI work to date with the audience assembled for Campus Connections. Slides from today’s presentation are available as a PDF. Face-to-face exchanges like this morning’s will be vital to understanding—and collectively advancing—the intent and the benefits of changes made under the SRI umbrella. The following are opportunities to learn more about our SRI work:

• May Faculty Senate Meeting: Monday: Monday, May 6th, 4-5pm, Pugh Auditorium
• May Staff Advisory Council Meeting: Thursday, May 30th, 9:30-10:30am, Benson 401 (Open to everyone) Continue reading »

Please join Provost Rogan Kersh and senior vice president for Finance and Administration Hof Milam for Campus Connections, an opportunity for non-faculty staff to learn about, discuss and provide input about issues at Wake Forest. The event will be Thursday, April 25, from 8:45-10 a.m. in Benson 401, and it will feature a light breakfast.

This month’s Campus Connections will feature Kersh and Milam discussing the Strategic Resource Initiative (SRI).

SRI information and a list of committee members »
January update on the SRI »

The following is a message from Provost Rogan Kersh: 

We are pleased to continue a Wake Forest tradition of deliberate innovation by introducing a new program, organized on Wake’s behalf by our colleagues Kline Harrison and Ann Cunningham, to prepare international high school students for success at U.S. colleges and universities. We are calling the program “Wake Forest Advantage” as it is designed to provide benefits both to the students who complete the program and the institutions (including ours) that enroll them. Continue reading »

This message is sent on behalf of Provost Rogan Kersh and Senior Vice President Hof Milam:

We write to update you about one aspect of our ongoing Strategic Resource Initiative (SRI). This group of faculty and staff continues to work hard to identify spending practices and policies that enable us to repurpose funds for the announced SRI efforts: support merit compensation, student financial aid, and strategic initiatives. One item under consideration involves computers that are made available to staff. (Faculty and student computers are evaluated via a parallel process by our IT Executive Committee, or ITEC.)

Historically, all eligible staff have received laptop computers as part of the College’s “student laptop program.” With recent advances in technology, laptops are more reliable than they were just a few years ago. By increasing memory and switching to solid-state drives to boost performance, we expect laptops to serve us well for four years.

Laptops are easy targets for theft and they are neither as reliable nor as powerful as desktop workstations. Staff who do not have a regular need to work away from their desk would be better served by desktop computers.

Indeed, we can purchase higher-performing desktops at considerably lower cost than laptops, providing better equipment for job performance and saving university funds. Comparative analysis shows that such a higher-performing desktop can be expected to last for five years.

Thus we will be extending our rotation period for desktop and laptop computers. The standard will be to provide staff members with a desktop computer. Only staff whose roles require laptops will be provided these instead of desktops. For staff who have only occasional needs for a laptop, departments may choose to purchase or rent loaner laptops for that purpose.

All eligible staff members whose primary laptop is three or more years old will receive a replacement computer. Our Information Systems (IS) team will soon contact department heads with a list of those staff and with details on criteria for qualifying for laptops. IS will forward laptop requests to the appropriate Vice-President or the Provost for approval.

Thank you for your cooperation as we work together through this new process.

At the invitation of the Faculty Senate, Provost Rogan Kersh will be giving his first Address to the Faculty on Tuesday, April 2, at 4 p.m. in Pugh Auditorium in Benson University Center.

Kersh will speak about his early impressions of our University today and the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. The Senate invites all WFU students, staff and faculty to attend.