“I Believe in NSU” Assembly and Employee Recognition

(Photo caption: The Office of Institutional Advancement was one of the department recognized for their Committment Plan.)

Individual employees with long years of service to the university along with departments were recognized during the “I Believe in NSU” Assembly and Employee Recognition held recently in the Arena at the Don Taft University Center.

The employees who were honored for 35 years of service include:

• Ada Christie, Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences
• Kenneth R. Dose, Fischler School of Education & Human Services
• Paula A. Habib, Shepard Broad Law Center
• Steven J. Wisotsky, Shepard Broad Law Center
• Anne Kaye K. Blattner, University School.

The following groups were recognized:

Unit: Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences

Number in Group: 40 Employees

Title of Plan: Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences: 11 Engagement Initiatives from the Offices of Academic Advising, Academic Services, Information Services and Student Development

“A team of 40 professional and support staff members met on multiple occasions to share ideas, select engagement items, identify areas of strength and opportunity, envision what success would look like, and compile a comprehensive employee engagement plan. Eleven selected items were compiled into a final proposal for implementation to be submitted to the dean for consideration.

This relatively large staff, from diverse offices, has developed stronger professional relationships and a better understanding of the work performed in each office and has committed to a number of short and long term plans to promote engagement, benefit the institution and promote student success.”

Unit: Huizenga School of Business and Entrepreneurship

Number in Group: 20 Employees

Title of Plan: Employee Professional Development and Engagement: Think Tank

The Huizenga Business School’s Office of Enrollment Services’ commitment plan required each employee to attend at least one training/development session during the year (February 2010 – 2011). A 6′ x 4′ “Think Tank” visual aid was posted on a prominent wall in our department so the team could visually measure the progress and commitment to the plan; each staff member was assigned an underwater fish, plant, etc. to color upon completion of their training session. The majority of our department’s employees attended 3-5 development sessions and at the completion of the commitment plan in February 2011, 20 employees will have collectively completed 51 training sessions.

Unit: Office of Institutional Advancement

Number in Group: 27 Employees

Title of Plan: Talk A Latte

The Division of Institutional Advancement embraced Goal Category Q5 (My supervisor, or someone at work, seems to care about me as a person) as the focus of their Plan. Talk A Latte was designed to facilitate our development as a high-performing division and performance as a unified team. Through a survey completed at the start of Talk A Latte, each individual reported how well he/she knows each person. Staff members met in informal one-on-one “get to know you” conversations lasting as long as it takes to drink a latte. At the end of the program, the same survey was completed, and our overall score increased 37%. We achieved our goal to increase connections, trust, and teamwork. Proving to be so successful in terms of building collegiality, understanding, caring, and performance, Talk A Latte will continue as an IA tradition.

Unit: College of Dental Medicine- Prosthodontics

Number in Group: 17 Employees

Title of Plan: Great Impressions: The NSU Prosthodontic Section Update

The essence of our commitment plan is to engage all faculty in the Section of Prosthodontics to discuss and then submit valuable articles and information to our monthly Prosthodontic Section Electronic Newsletter called “Great Impressions!” Faculty are committed to interacting with one another through this process of contributing to the Newsletter on at least a biweekly basis, when we meet at our Section meetings. We are all proud of maintaining our collegial interactions with each other and having a common goal of keeping the students and faculty up to date with the latest information electronically in Prosthodontics and our Section of Prosthodontics, but still maintain our personal contact with each other!

Unit: Graduate School of Computer & Information Sciences- Admissions Office

Number in Group: 6 Employees

Title of Plan: Internal Guidebook for Engaging Applicants

The internal guidebook will be created with the help from our distinguished faculty members to provide accurate detailed information about the individual programs we offer, as well as their differences. It will be designed for our staff to engage applicants in discussions about our programs without the need to transfer calls or forward emails to faculty or program directors. It will also help the staff gain confidence when providing information and guiding them in the right direction. In all, with this guidebook, the staff will be better equipped to engage our applicants in informative and guided discussions about our school’s programs.

Unit: Alvin Sherman Library- Public Library Services (PLS)

Number in Group: 8 Employees

Title of Plan: Library Services for Families of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

The Public Library Services staff at the Alvin Sherman Library provide traditional library programming for the public, including popular children’s story times. Following an Autism Sensitivity workshop with Sue Kabot of MSI, PLS staff committed to actively engage families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder by offering specialized service for this patron group.

PLS began by offering materials, information and referral displays, and now provides information on ASD community resources to all of the Broward County Library Regional Youth Services departments.

With training and support from colleagues at Baudhuin, MSI and C.A.R.D, in October 2010, the PLS Youth Services team launched All-Star Story time, an monthly interactive story time for preschoolers diagnosed with autism and their families– a program that allows children and parents to experience a traditional library story time in a safe, welcoming space—modified for their needs.