RETURNING to CAMPUS: Decision Making, Accommodations & Recruitment in a COVID-19 World

Midwest HERC Collaborative Spring 2021 Virtual Meeting

RETURNING TO CAMPUS: decision making, accommodations & recruitment in a COVID-19 world

Tuesday April 20th, 2021 9:00 – 12:30 Central / 10:00 – 1:30 Eastern

Meeting Description

Many of our institutions are grappling with ways in which faculty and staff can safely return to campus amidst the vast changes the past year has brought. Recruiting strategies have also had to change to adapt to institutional needs during uncertain times. The Midwest HERC Collaborative’s Spring 2021 Virtual Meeting will help navigate decisions as employees return to campus. Expert panelists will discuss protocols and equitable frameworks for returning to work, ADA accommodations and accessibility in the workplace, and insights about our current and future candidate pool. They will also share guidance and best practices to support you during this challenging and unprecedented time.

This interactive, half-day meeting is designed to maximize learning and engagement for participants from human resources, academic affairs, and diversity and inclusion offices. Participants will be invited to participate in breakout sessions and discussions following each expert panel session. The meeting is currently pending HRCI & SHRM credit.

Session Topics

BACK TO CAMPUS FRAMEWORKS AND DECISIONS

• Creating an Equitable Framework for Campuses Returning to Work Dr. Jabbar Bennett, Michigan State University’s Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer • Decision Making Protocol for Returning Employees to Campus in the Time of COVID-19 Dr. Barbara Roberts, Michigan State University’s Executive Director of the WorkLife Office and Senior Advisor to the Provost

COMPLIANCE AND ACCOMMODATIONS

• An Overview of ADA/Rehabilitation Act Accommodations Amidst COVID-19 Nathan Stucky, Executive Director of Human Resources for Mercy Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa • ADA/Rehabilitation Act Compliance and COVID-19: How Your Campus Can Champion for Accessibility in the Workplace Tom Webb, Director of Disability Services at Wright State University

RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES AND INSIGHTS

• How to Talk to a Job Seeker During COVID-19 Dr. Tracy Costello, Career and Executive Coach • Job Seeker Perspective: HERC’s 2021 Job Seeker Survey Findings Regarding COVID-19 and the Workplace Connie Castellucci, GCM Regional HERC Director

Full abstracts and speaker biographies below.

Session Abstracts

BACK TO CAMPUS FRAMEWORKS AND DECISIONS

Creating an Equitable Framework for Campuses Returning to Work

Speaker: Dr. Jabbar Bennett, Michigan State University’s Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer

As campuses slowly begin to strategize their plans for returning to work, departments are in need of a broader guidance system to help navigate the decision-making process of who returns to work, and how. Best practices of creating equitable guidelines will be discussed. Challenges such as giving guidance that is fair across the entire institution will be thought through as well as ideas on how to provide helpful guidance to a broad scope of employees.

Decision Making Protocol for Returning Employees to Campus in the Time of COVID-19

Speaker: Dr. Barbara Roberts, Michigan State University’s Executive Director of the WorkLife Office and Senior Advisor to the Provost

Learn about Michigan State University’s WorkLife Office decision making protocol on returning to work. Discover how to separate what work must be done on campus and what work might be done remotely, which will help identify who needs to return, how much and why. Consistently applied questions and analysis can help make equitable and accountable decisions. Dr. Roberts will present a decision-making protocol used in other settings and provide input on how to apply this idea to returning to campus in the time of COVID-19.

COMPLIANCE AND ACCOMMODATIONS

An overview of ADA/Rehabilitation Act Accommodations Amidst COVID-19

Speaker: Nathan Stucky, Executive Director of Human Resources for Mercy Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa

Workplaces strive to maintain a compliant workplace that offers employees opportunities for success. Now with COVID-19, workplaces are challenged to ensure their protocols are compliant with new changes in our environment. Learn how to execute a COVID-19 compliant strategy for the workplace that can be used throughout the institution and be useful for employees who are given the task of upkeeping ADA/Rehabilitation Act compliance in their workspace.

ADA/Rehabilitation Act Compliance and COVID-19: How Your Campus Can Champion for Accessibility in the Workplace

Speaker: Tom Webb, Director of Disability Services at Wright State University

As the global response to COVID-19 continues, institutions are navigating ways in which faculty and staff can safely return to campus amidst the vast changes the past year has brought. Conceptualizing how ADA and Rehabilitation Act compliance will look in the workplace will be discussed as it pertains to the new changes seen on campus. Various scenarios on how compliance will look on campus will be discussed in detail.

RECRUITMENT STRATEGIES AND INSIGHTS

How to Talk to a Job Seeker During COVID-19

Speaker: Dr. Tracy Costello, Career and Executive Coach

Recruitment during uncertain times is a difficult balance. Hiring freezes and undecided job seekers are making the efforts of HR even more challenging. Understanding the mindset, priorities, and concerns of our future candidate pool will help us plan and execute successful searches. The session will also explore how institutions can capitalize on this disruption to strengthen their students’ transferrable skills, knowledge of the job search process, and professional networks.

Job Seeker Perspective: HERC’s 2021 Job Seeker Survey Findings Regarding COVID-19 and the Workplace

Speaker: Connie Castellucci, GCM Regional HERC Director

Each year, HERC surveys it’s job seekers on a variety of topics to help its members better understand the mindset of the job seeker. We will share this year’s overview of findings on how candidates are navigating the decision-making process of finding new job opportunities in this challenging year. Virtual recruitment, decision making amidst COVID-19, and other findings will be shared. Speaker Biographies

Dr. Jabbar Bennett serves as Michigan State University’s (MSU) vice president and chief diversity officer where he reports directly to the president and is a member of the executive leadership team. In this role, he partners with other senior leaders, deans, faculty, staff, students and alumni to advance the institution’s diversity, equity and inclusion strategic priorities. Dr. Bennett is also a professor of medicine in the College of Human Medicine at MSU. Prior to joining MSU, Dr. Bennett served as the inaugural associate provost for diversity and inclusion, and chief diversity officer at Northwestern University. Previously, he worked as associate dean of the Graduate School, and associate dean for diversity in the Division of Biology and Medicine at Brown University. In addition, Dr. Bennett held administrative appointments at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley. He has also served on the faculty at Harvard, Brown and Northwestern. Dr. Bennett received a BS in biology and minor in Spanish from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and earned a PhD in biomedical sciences from Meharry Medical College. Dr. Bennett completed postdoctoral research training in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and is an alumnus of the Harvard University Administrative Fellows Program, and Massachusetts Education Policy Fellowship Program.

Dr. Barbara Roberts is Executive Director of the WorkLife Office and Senior Advisor to the Provost at Michigan State University (MSU). Dr. Roberts brings to the WorkLife Office her expertise in how individuals participate successfully in university work environments, facilitating a climate where all individuals are respected and supported in their work and personal lives. Prior to joining MSU, she was the Human Rights Officer at the University of New Brunswick in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada, advising the President on issues of human rights and positive environments in post-secondary education. Dr. Roberts has been a licensed occupational therapist and disability advisor for over 20 years, in employment and educational accommodation, and adult mental health. She has a B.A.Hons. (Queen’s University at Kingston), a Master of Science in Occupational Therapy (Boston University) and a PhD in Education (Queen's University).

Nathan Stucky, MBA is Executive Director of Human Resources for Mercy Hospital in Iowa City, Iowa. Nathan has been with Mercy Iowa City for the past 4 months and prior to Mercy, Nathan was Director of Faculty & Staff Leave & Disability Services at the University of Iowa. Nathan describes himself as a “self-proclaimed HR Jock” and has worked in a number of industries including education, local government, healthcare, and retail. Nathan is an Iowa native who grew up in Atlantic, and split his high school years in Atlantic, Humboldt, and Marshalltown. Nathan received his BA degrees in Business Management/Human Resources and Music from the University of Northern Iowa, and his MBA from the University of Dubuque. Nathan lives in Iowa City with his very soon to be wife Katie, and their three sons Payton, Evan, and Vinny.

Tom Webb, M.A. is the ADA/504 Coordinator and Director of the Office of Disability Services at Wright State University. He previously worked for the University of Delaware, where he served as their ADA/Section 504 Compliance Officer and as the Director of Disability Support Services. He has also held director positions at McDaniel College and Chesapeake College, both in Maryland, and taught classes in undergraduate and graduate programs on disability studies, special education and special education law. Tom served for two years in Washington, D.C., as a Kennedy Disability Policy Fellow, which included working with the 110th Congress on multiple policy issues related to education, labor and disability. His efforts in that role included negotiating and drafting the Americans with Disabilities Act of 2008. In 2009, he was appointed by the governor of Maryland as chair of the Maryland Developmental Disabilities Council. Tom earned his bachelor’s degree in Political Science and master’s degree in Psychology from Washington College in Maryland and is a doctoral candidate in Education: Innovation and Leadership at Wilmington University in Delaware.

Dr. Tracy Costello draws from an array of professional experiences fuel her passion for improving the postdoctoral experience. She is currently a career coach and professional development trainer for PhDs (www.coach4postdocs.com) and the executive coach for STEMPeers’ Gurukool networking and professional development platform. She earned her doctorate in biomathematics & biostatistics and human & molecular genetics, from The University of Texas MD Anderson UTHealth Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in Houston. Her predoctoral and postdoctoral work were funded in part by an R25 Fellowship in Cancer Prevention and focused on development of statistical methodology for application in genetics. During her postdoctoral training at MD Anderson Cancer Center, she additionally served as the chair of her local postdoc association and on the National Postdoctoral Association (NPA) Board of Directors, and subsequently transitioned to staff positions in academia and industry. She returned to MD Anderson in 2012 to expand the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs and was subsequently recruited to Moffitt Cancer Center in 2017 to create a new office. She has provided career development workshops and keynotes for numerous universities, professional societies, and non-profits including the American Heart Association, Society for Neuroscience, STEMPeers, the Texas Medical Center’s Annual Postdoctoral Career Symposium, NYC Tri-Institutional Career Symposium, 30+ universities, and serves as a reviewer on study sections for both NIH and NSF. She volunteers her time as current member and former Chair of the NPA Board of Directors and the Vice President for U.S. Relations on the Board of Directors for STEMPeers.

Connie Castellucci, M.S. is regional director for the Greater Chicago Midwest, serving the Southern Wisconsin, Illinois, and Northern Indiana members of HERC. Prior to joining HERC, she worked directly in higher education at DePaul University, working in office of Institutional Research and Market Analytics under the department of Enrollment Marketing Management. In this role, she supported the mission of the university through marketing analysis of prospective, current, and incoming student populations with a focus on serving its underrepresented communities. Additionally, she earned her MS in Market Analysis through DePaul and has over 14 years of professional experience in market analytics.