New Staff Engagement Plan in the School of Arts & Sciences

A new A&S Staff Engagement Plan intended to better include the role of staff in the School’s operations and intellectual community, rolls out and will be implemented fully in the upcoming 2019-2020 academic year.

“Our staff are vital to the life of A&S,” said Patrice Rankine, dean of the School of Arts & Sciences. “The engagement plan provides a formalized channel for communication that did not previously exist while also allowing for deeper social support and professional networking.” 

The engagement plan establishes standing meetings and ongoing opportunities for A&S staff to communicate with faculty, university committees, and the A&S Dean’s Office. Community is an important feature of A&S’s strategic plan, “Conceptualizing Arts & Sciences at 30,” or Concept 30. 

Nancy Propst, administrative coordinator in geography and the environment and interdisciplinary studies programs, jointly led the task force that drafted the plan, which was developed at the same time as the development of Faculty Bylaws in A&S. “With the engagement plan, all A&S staff have a channel to be active participants in matters that impact our work and in planning opportunities for the school and university. I served on the planning group for the A&S strategic plan, and staff engagement was an important consideration in all of our conversations.”

The staff and the dean’s office are meeting this spring to discuss implementation of the plan, which will go into effect in the fall. The staff engagement plan is available at asadmin.richmond.edu.