Higher ed leaders worked tirelessly last year to facilitate employee transitions to remote work. Now that many employees are firmly rooted in their remote work routine (and in some cases hesitant or unable to return to campus), what was previously a short-term solution is becoming a permanent option at many institutions, and the next challenge... View Article
As Congress prepares to vote on legislation establishing June 19 as a federal holiday, we are exploring ways institutions can observe this momentous occasion in U.S. history. Juneteenth, the oldest known celebration commemorating the ending of slavery in the United States, has not always been widely recognized. Expanding your campus community’s knowledge of Juneteenth and... View Article
June is Pride Month, and many institutions are hosting LGBTQ+ programming and events to spread the message of inclusion in higher ed. HR pros can further this message and help make LGBTQ+ students, faculty and staff feel seen, heard and valued by learning about the barriers and experiences of these individuals and ways to advocate... View Article
This post was contributed by Bryan Garey, vice president and chief human resources officer at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University. A transformation of the workplace is taking place right before our eyes. From pandemic-driven urgency, workplaces are succeeding in meeting both customer expectations and employee needs through creative approaches that have redefined where, when and... View Article
If 2020 has given us anything — aside from a new appreciation for the word “pivot” — it’s proof that higher ed is just as capable of adaptation as the corporate world. Before these unprecedented times, big names like Google, Facebook and Netflix were more often at the forefront of workforce innovation conversations than were... View Article
The higher ed workforce has been hit hard due to COVID-19-related causes. According to a recent article by The Chronicle of Higher Education, 650,000 higher ed jobs were lost last year. With potential budget reductions on the horizon, this number is sure to climb. While workforce reductions may be necessary for some institutions to stay... View Article
This blog post was contributed by Yves Salomon-Fernández, president of Greenfield Community College in Massachusetts. As a community college president, I found this past year especially hard. As we now know from the data recently released by the National Student Clearinghouse, the community college segment within higher education suffered the worst decline in enrollment. Not... View Article
This blog post was contributed by Cornerstone OnDemand, a CUPA-HR Mary Ann Wersch Premier Partner. Outstanding leadership is the key for any organization to thrive, and higher education is no exception. These days, universities and colleges are juggling more demands and challenges than ever before. On top of the COVID-19 pandemic forcing many to shift... View Article
Between pivoting with the COVID-19 pandemic, confronting racial issues, making strides toward more equitable workplaces, and managing already hectic workloads, higher ed HR has had its hands full this year. Yet in the middle of it all, resilient HR pros continue to find ways to positively impact the higher education landscape. As 2020 comes to... View Article
Higher ed HR pros continue to chip away at their ever-changing and ever-growing to-do lists brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, less pressing matters have been placed on the back burner, among which may include mentorship opportunities. Though mentoring may not be as high on the priority list compared to other tasks,... View Article
In times of uncertainty, employees turn to leaders they trust to guide the path forward. In their CUPA-HR virtual annual conference session, “Grabbing at Smoke, or Building Trust?,” Sheraine Gilliam-Holmes, executive director and chief HR officer at Austin Peay State University, and Donovan Johnson, compensation analyst at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and a 2019-20... View Article
The last several months have been like nothing we have ever experienced, as COVID-19 disrupted and reshaped our lives and our work. These work and life challenges have taken a toll on our mental health and well-being, and it is so important that we acknowledge this and find ways to address these challenges for ourselves,... View Article
CUPA-HR members participating in the 21-Day Racial Equity Habit Building Challenge have reached the halfway point as we head into week three. They’ve read articles, watched videos, engaged in group discussions during town hall meetings about how systemic racism persists on and off campus. As we wrap up the first two weeks of the challenge, here... View Article
The global health pandemic has reshaped where, how and when we do our work. Many employers are beginning to accept that remote work is not just a temporary work arrangement, but a long-term solution for employees whose job function can be completed outside a traditional office setting. These are just a few points for HR... View Article
Have you ever heard someone at your institution say to a person of color, “When I look at you, I don’t see color?” Microaggressions such as this “colorblind” statement may not mean to intentionally demean the recipient, but intentional or not, it denies a person of color’s racial or ethnic experiences. Microaggressions were a common... View Article
Prior to the global health crisis adding more work to higher ed HR’s already-full plate, most teams had pockets of time throughout the week to pause and celebrate accomplishments and plan ahead for the next big project. Now, the increased workload has created a more reactive rather than proactive environment — a way of working... View Article
That professional development conference or in-person skills course you excitedly marked on your calendar at the beginning of the year may not be happening now due to COVID-19, but HR pros can still engage in professional development opportunities on their own time. A great place to start is by building a robust reading list of... View Article
For most institutions, the onset of the COVID-19 crisis required rapid response on countless fronts, including moving a substantial number of employees to full- or part-time work from home. However, as the technical and logistical dust has settled, and the reality of long-term remote work has set in, many teams have wrestled with finding a... View Article
Whether you’re a CHRO or an HR manager, you most likely have staff who report to you. While the typical ways of celebrating Employee Appreciation Day (the first Friday in March), such as bringing in breakfast or throwing a surprise middle-of-the-day office party, aren’t bad, you can show your staff you care about them in... View Article
A perfect storm is brewing. The “Birth Dearth,” wary international students, a decline in state funding, tuition pressures, low unemployment, and changes in major employer hiring standards are all contributing factors to a sharp drop in enrollment anticipated to occur as early as 2025. In fact, many institutions are already wrestling with declining enrollment. So... View Article
Higher ed faculty require years of education but often work beyond typical retirement ages; jobs are stable, and turnover is very low; the pipeline for new hires is fundamentally limited; and competition for positions occurs nationally. As the workforce ages, this may create unique challenges for the management of a faculty workforce. To help higher... View Article
As the year quickly winds down, we hope you’ll take some time to read about some of the great work your HR colleagues are doing at colleges and universities around the country. CUPA-HR’s Higher Ed HR Magazine and Higher Ed Workplace blog highlight new and innovative ways to do HR (from institutions and organizations who have been there,... View Article
This post was contributed by Yves Salomon-Fernández, president of Greenfield Community College and adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. At the CUPA-HR Annual Conference in October, I had the privilege of serving on a panel with two other chief executives — the president of a private liberal arts university and a state... View Article
What is it that I bring to the table? What is it that I would like to bring to the table? How can making my strengths more visible at work make a difference in my career? Each cohort of the University of California (UC) Women’s Initiative grapples with these questions throughout the three-month program. The... View Article
A surge in student activism in recent years has driven institutional dialogue and action on equity and inclusion issues. Many of the common concerns students raise, such as inclusive hiring and enhanced staff and faculty training, require input and leadership from human resources. What should a collaborative relationship between HR and student affairs look like... View Article
With nearly one-third of the U.S. higher education staff workforce age 55 or older, the implications are many for colleges and universities. New research by CUPA-HR on the aging of the higher ed workforce highlights some challenges institutions will likely face in the coming years as staff begin to retire in large numbers. Here’s what... View Article
While the information technology workforce in higher education is currently mostly White and male, a demographic shift could be on the horizon. According to new research from CUPA-HR on the diversity of the higher ed IT workforce, a looming retirement wave in this sector could pave the way for more women and minorities to move... View Article
This blog post was contributed by Sean Woodroffe, senior executive vice president and chief HR officer at TIAA. Today’s employers face a tricky task. How do you manage a workforce that contains members of three or four generations, each with unique expectations and goals for their careers and retirements? Chances are, your workforce has 60-year-olds... View Article
Each month, CUPA-HR General Counsel Ira Shepard provides an overview of some labor and employment law cases and regulatory actions with implications for the higher ed workplace. Here’s the latest from Ira: New Supreme Court Decision Will Make It More Difficult for Employers to Dismiss Title VII Court Cases Where Plaintiff Does Not File a... View Article
“You’re short on ears and long on mouth.” ― John Wayne As HR professionals, we’re experts at listening, right? In my experience (and I’m also pointing my finger at myself), sometimes yes, and sometimes, not so much. Galen Emanuele, one of the keynote speakers at CUPA-HR’s spring conference in Seattle, encouraged us to apply the improv concept... View Article
Editor’s note: You may have missed this article when we published it last March. It’s been updated here with additional resources and related content. For more on using data strategically, drop by the Ask-Us-Anything event the CUPA-HR Data User Group this week, where higher ed HR professionals who are using CUPA-HR data to inform decisions... View Article
Only 5 percent of deans of medicine in the nation’s colleges and universities are minorities. Women make up only a quarter of pharmacy deans, and only three in 10 law school deans are women. Among engineering deans, only about 20 percent are women or minorities. Just-released findings from this year’s Administrators in Higher Education Survey... View Article
Editor’s note: You may have missed this article when we published it last March. It’s been updated here with additional resources and related content. For more on onboarding, drop by the members-only CUPA-HR Connect General Discussion Group this week, where higher ed HR professionals with innovative and successful onboarding practices will be facilitating conversations, answering questions and... View Article
The higher education workforce is aging. Data from CUPA-HR show that the median age of executive leaders (deans, provosts, presidents, vice presidents) is 60. The majority of faculty are between the ages of 55 and 75. The median age of chief HR officers is 55. About half of higher ed staff are at least 50... View Article
Many colleges and universities, particularly master’s and doctoral institutions, have seen an increase in the numbers of part-time and adjunct faculty over the past decade — a trend that has likely been driven in part by the 2008 economic recession and institutions’ responses to financial challenges in its aftermath. New research from CUPA-HR on how... View Article
Market-based pay is a staple of the corporate world to attract and retain the best and brightest talent, and many higher ed institutions are moving in this direction as well. It’s especially valuable when you’re hiring locally or regionally. If you’re wondering how to get started with a market-based compensation strategy, here are a few... View Article
Student affairs has one of the most diverse workforces on college and university campuses today, particularly as it relates to women and African Americans in leadership positions. Student affairs is also exemplary for pay equity compared to the rest of higher education. According to findings from CUPA-HR’s just-released research report Focus on Student Affairs, 2018:... View Article
When it comes to creating a safe, inclusive, equitable campus, culture is the bottom line. But changing the culture and transforming the mindset of an enterprise as large and complex and multifaceted as a higher education institution certainly doesn’t happen overnight — it’s a slow and steady journey. While helping their colleges and universities navigate... View Article
This article was prepared in recognition of National Preparedness Month. However, as our colleagues in North and South Carolina deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Florence, Houston Community College’s story resonates for its lessons on both preparedness and recovery. On August 25, 2017, Hurricane Harvey made landfall on the Texas Gulf Coast. For the next... View Article
This blog post was contributed by Alison Brady, national consulting manager with PageUp. On average, we check our mobile phones 85 times a day. We’ve become a generation of digital junkies with technology transforming most aspects of our lives. But how far has this reached into higher education? And what has it achieved? According to... View Article
Project-based work is a near-constant in higher ed human resources. From compensation studies to benefits overhauls, HRIS implementations, recruitment plans, engagement initiatives and more, HR is the key driver behind many projects that affect the entire campus community. But is project management in your wheelhouse? Could you or your project team use a refresher on... View Article
The “Me Too” movement has prompted a heightened awareness of and national conversation around unequal treatment and inappropriate or criminal sexual conduct in the workplace, and many colleges and universities have strengthened their resolve to eliminate these unacceptable behaviors on their campuses. To create an environment where harassment, incivility, inequality and bias are neither welcome... View Article
“Philosopher Accused of Sexual Misconduct” “Former Sports Doctor Pleads Guilty to Sexual Assault” “Title IX Complaints Filed Against Creative-Writing Professor” “Fifteen Students and Post Docs Issue Statement That Three Professors Created a Hostile Academic Environment in Which Sexual Harassment Is Normalized” “Reports of Sexism in a University Academic Department” “Tenured Professor Sexually Harassed Graduate Student... View Article
It’s hard to believe another year is in the books, and a new one is already underway! As you jump back into your work in this new year, we hope you’ll take some time to read about some of the great work your HR colleagues are doing at colleges and universities around the country. CUPA-HR’s... View Article