The holiday break is a perfect time for leveling up your knowledge, igniting your HR spark, and collecting wisdom to share with your team. These book recommendations have been hand-picked by CUPA-HR colleagues for their insights into topics like change management, inclusion and belonging, and daring leadership. They make great team book club reads, too!... View Article
Surveys can be a powerful tool for improving workplace culture and employee satisfaction, but they can have unintended consequences if no action planning follows. In fact, the lack of tangible — and rapid — action planning often lead to a cycle of employee disengagement and eroded trust, which results in fewer employees taking future surveys,... View Article
At the CUPA-HR Annual Conference and Expo 2024, the three keynote sessions offered insights on how higher ed can articulate its value proposition for employees. How can HR, campus leaders and other culture architects ensure their institutions are places where candidates want to work and where employees want to stay? And how can we bridge... View Article
New CUPA-HR data show some improvement in turnover in the higher ed workforce, but staffing hasn’t fully bounced back to pre-pandemic levels. Managers still face challenges filling positions and maintaining morale, while employees are seeking jobs where their satisfaction and well-being are prioritized. CUPA-HR’s recent webinar offers solutions that may move the needle on employee... View Article
Consider this scenario: An institution hires a new leader who has previously worked in higher ed. Assuming the individual has already acquired the knowledge and skills necessary to get the job done, HR guides them through a brief onboarding and launches them into their new role. Six months later, HR checks in with the leader... View Article
Think about a time you were recognized by a colleague for a job well done. Whether it was a grand gesture or a small act of recognition, chances are the personal shoutout put some pep in your step. Positive recognition in any form is a sure mood booster and helps move campus well-being in the... View Article
In the wake of the Great Resignation and talent recruitment challenges, heavy workloads have led to stress and burnout for some employees. One way higher ed HR pros can help identify sources of stress and mitigate burnout is by considering employees’ work environments. Are invisible pressures placed on employees, causing team members to downplay or... View Article
Onboarding programs consisting of a brief history lesson about the institution and instructions for how to get a parking pass aren’t likely to inspire new hires. Here are three elements of onboarding programs that go beyond the basics to create a deeper understanding of campus culture and a sense of belonging. Orient New Hires to... View Article
This blog post was contributed by Maureen De Armond, Executive Director, Human Resources at Drake University. In higher education, we must plan for many worst-case scenarios, including tornados, fires, active-shooter situations, and, as we now know, pandemics. Among this wide range of difficult scenarios that could present themselves on our campuses at any time, suicide... View Article
For the higher ed HR community to thrive there must be a pipeline of early-career professionals waiting in the wings, and one way CUPA-HR equips early-career pros to grow in their role and take steps toward their career goals is through the Wildfire program. The program, sponsored in part by HigherEdJobs, is a 12-month immersive... View Article
The goal of CUPA-HR’s Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders program is to identify potential volunteer leaders who have shown exemplary leadership and initiative within higher ed HR and exhibit the desire to play an active role in advancing the profession. Invited participants have the unique opportunity to engage in problem-solving work groups and develop deep networks with... View Article
Have leaders at your institution embraced flexible work, viewing it is a way to boost employee engagement, productivity, retention and recruitment efforts? Or are they skeptical that flexible work arrangements can work for the long-term? In a recent CUPA-HR webinar, “Leading Into the Future of Flexible Work,” a panel of higher ed HR professionals discussed... View Article
Over the course of the pandemic, higher ed employers may have struggled with how to approach employees whose work performance has been negatively impacted by issues in their personal lives. A recent CUPA-HR webinar, “Trauma-Informed Leadership for Higher Education,” shared ways employers can open the door for disclosure and develop a leadership style that is... View Article
Whether your institution is mandating, incentivizing or encouraging vaccinations for employees, HR has a critical role to play in how the plan is communicated and how barriers to getting vaccinated are mitigated. Consider overall campus safety and messaging when communicating which groups will and will not be required to be vaccinated this fall. For example,... View Article
Note: See the results of CUPA-HR’s April Snap Poll to find out how institutions are structuring their vaccination policies and the types of incentives they’re offering. Mandating or strongly recommending COVID-19 vaccinations for faculty and staff raises a host of legal and practical considerations for higher ed employers. In a recent CUPA-HR webinar presented in... View Article
In recent weeks, we’ve highlighted key takeaways from CUPA-HR’s town hall meeting, Partners in Justice — We Will Not Be Silent! Leaning into uncomfortable conversations to help lead the charge for diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) and addressing systemic racism and inequality on the individual, team and organizational levels are just two of the “nuggets”... View Article
“Get comfortable with being uncomfortable.” This sobering statement echoed throughout CUPA-HR’s recent town hall meeting, where higher ed HR panelists discussed how to tackle systemic racism on campus and urged higher ed HR pros to challenge leaders and rethink policies and procedures that perpetuate ongoing inequalities and create barriers to inclusivity. Panelists shared these three... View Article
The tragic deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Rayshard Brooks and too many others have prompted a flood of angry voices demanding justice and radical change. Many of us have joined those voices in our communities. As higher ed HR leaders committed to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), we are also uniquely positioned... View Article
COVID-19 has changed nearly every aspect of our daily lives, from how we work and commute, to how we teach our children, shop and connect with our communities. And while the majority of us are looking forward to a swift return to normalcy, we must acknowledge that the world we return to post-pandemic will not... View Article
Teleworking arrangements necessitated by COVID-19 were an entirely new experience for many higher ed employees. While some may have initially struggled to adjust to a virtual workspace, shelter-in-place directives have given workers time to settle into this new way of work — just in time to shake things up again. Now, institutions are thinking about... View Article
CUPA-HR Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Rob Shomaker is back again with Jay Stephens, vice president for human capital services at Kansas State University. Jay explains how Kansas State is moving from crisis mode to focusing on the future and offers advice on planning for a fall return to campus. Related Resources Preparing for... View Article
Artificial Intelligence (AI) will require the entire workforce to learn new skills, whether it’s to keep up to date with an existing role or pursue a new career as a result of automation. AI will not eliminate jobs; it will create them. And HR will be focused not only on the employee’s ability to do... View Article
Many institutions will return to campus this fall with tighter budgets and a leaner workforce. Preparing the internal talent pipeline and keeping employee skill sets agile through upskilling will be critical to navigating these challenging times. The term “upskill” has been turning up with increasing regularity in conversations about continual learning and keeping staff current... View Article
This blog post was contributed by Linda Fisher Thornton, chief executive officer of Leading in Context LLC and adjunct associate professor at the University of Richmond. She spoke about ethical leadership at CUPA-HR’s virtual conference in April. In today’s world, leaders have more information available to them than ever before, but this torrent of information isn’t helping... View Article
In March, many colleges and universities had policies and procedures in place that provided guidance for moving to online instruction and telework arrangements while ensuring that their communities stayed safe and well. However, now, as we pivot toward fall, we’re in uncharted territory. Enrollment and budget shortfalls are likely, and COVID-19 will continue to be... View Article
Higher ed HR is a people-centric profession with no shortage of programs focused on developing those who are just launching their HR careers. But what about HR professionals who have assumed leadership roles at their institutions and are looking for that next opportunity to grow and engage? The goal of the Emerging CUPA-HR Leaders program... View Article
For the higher ed HR community to thrive there must be a pipeline of early-career professionals waiting in the wings, and one way CUPA-HR equips early-career pros to grow in their role and take steps toward their career goals is through the Wildfire program. The program, sponsored in part by HigherEdJobs, is a 12-month immersive... View Article
This blog post was contributed by Stephanie Hoffmann, assistant director of community standards and responsibility at Rollins College. Ensuring that student affairs professionals feel engaged with their institution, know what resources are available on and off campus and know how they can utilize their strengths can help them perform better in their roles and positively... View Article
To fully understand and embrace the changing role of higher ed HR, we must first acknowledge and connect our work to the most pressing challenges of our institutions. At CUPA-HR’s national board of directors meeting in July, we asked the board to identify the most pressing challenges their colleges and universities face. We asked the... View Article
The clean slate of each new year ushers in a wave of resolutions for those who want to improve an area of their professional or personal lives. One common resolution is to give back, which often takes the form of monetary contributions. However, another way to meet this resolution on a professional level is to... View Article