Agenda

• Human Resources Check-in (Guest: Caitlin Goss, Vice President of Human Resources)
• Communications Check-in (Guest: David Gibson, Vice President for Communications and Marketing)

Human Resources Check-in (Caitlin Goss, Vice President of Human Resources)

• Currently in second month at Middlebury, focusing on trying to get to know people across all of our locations and departments and hear what people love about working here, what they might be hoping to change, and opportunities they might see. 
• Working on building out a framework and approach for HR priorities. Excited to bring some of the ideas that have been shared and think about how we create and build programs that support our employees.
• Question & Discussion Topics
  • Performance evaluation process
    • See a performance process as being important to a holistic approach to the employee experience where we give feedback that is meaningful and impactful. We do not have a concrete plan yet, but hope is that we can move as quickly as possible while remaining highly intentional about what we put into place. This doesn’t necessarily rule out a return to APS, but understand there is conversation about a way to shift the process such that it creates the value that supervisors and employees are looking for. Invite people with specific thoughts to reach out.
  • Increased collaboration with HR, especially on DEI work
    • Worked with Renee Wells to understand the DEI action plan fully and to understand the intersection points with HR – hiring, onboarding, exit interviews, etc. – look forward to the partnership and welcome any input and ideas that the MIIS DEI Task Force has as well.
  • Support for faculty and staff that are not US citizens or not located in the US
    • Want to learn more about the experience and ideas around how we can support folks. Important to create a sense of belonging in the community, and learn where HR can help make sure our employees feel appreciated and engaged. Things like having a robust onboarding plan that centers all stakeholder groups. Please follow up if there are specific examples you are navigating. Goal to be clear on why we make the decisions we make.
  • Impact of workforce planning and looking to the future
    • Acknowledge the complexity of workforce planning and the impact of that process. How we think about what we are trying to do, and the impact and outcomes we are trying to achieve. The exact ‘how’ is very much a work in progress, but have heard the challenges there. The complicated work we all need to be a part of is how we do this work and remain mindful of the financial sustainability goals.
  • Emerging priorities
    • Still early, working to understand and develop priorities. Onboarding is a very clear and tactical priority, I want to make sure we are putting our best foot forward. Another specific piece would be the concept of organizational drag. As we do a lot of our work in HR systems, I want to think about how HR can facilitate cleaning up some of these processes such that people can use them more efficiently. There is not a finalized timeline for PeopleAdmin to move to Oracle, but we will share once we have details.

Communications Check-in: Updates & Questions (Guest: David Gibson, Vice President for Communications and Marketing)

• David Gibson on campus in Monterey the week of November 1st, and is planning to resume visits to campus on a bi-monthly basis to connect with our community in person.
• Communicating the stories of the Institute is a top priority. We have recently hired a firm called Subject Matter, a creative advocacy group, with the goal of inserting Institute expertise into the national and international conversations as they are occurring throughout the year. 
• Our goal is to have our vacant Communications position in Monterey filled on July 1st, 2022. We will provide an opportunity for input on the job description and want to ensure we have a carefully thought through list of responsibilities.
• We are also working to have Muchadei’s position based in Monterey. We think it is hugely important that our marketing and communications positions be located in Monterey in order to be as connected as possible.
• On the enrollment and marketing front we are working with a firm called Eduvantis to look at the markets we are in, how we are marketing ourselves, and what the funnel looks like from application to enrollment and re-enrollment. Everything we are doing in our storytelling needs to make a direct connection to enrollment.