By Katie Linder
The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences is trying out a staff orientation event for new employees.
The gathering, organized by CLAS HR, was held in the Voxman Music Building in May. The event brought together employees who had been hired in the last year and offered opportunities to learn about the college and how to get involved outside of their academic units.
Dean Sara Sanders opened the event by explaining just how important staff and their work are.
“Our staff makes sure everything happens like clockwork,” she explained. “For staff, for faculty, and for our research infrastructure – your work is critical for everything that needs to get done to run a place like this.”
The orientation introduced newer employees to the concept of the college and explained that the CLAS community is much wider than any one department or unit, offering advice on how to engage through shared governance, like CLAS Staff Council, an overview of HR resources including training, workshops, and DEI, as well as ways to get involved with CLAS and university-wide events.
In the college, this includes annual efforts like:
- June: Staff recognition event
- August: CLAS Welcome Party and OnIowa!
- October: Homecoming Parade
- December: Commencement
- March: One Day for Iowa
- May: Commencement
CLAS is made up of nearly 15,000 undergraduate students, 38 departments, 69 undergraduate majors, and about 40 buildings. The event concluded with a visit by the Hawkeye Marching Band to showcase that breadth– and to have a little fun, too.
“We hope this event really drives home that our staff members are part of a larger community in the college and that we are here to support them no matter where they live in our organization,” Senior Director of CLAS HR Julie Rothbardt added.
While the first orientation event was a pilot, CLAS HR is exploring hosting orientation events a few times per year to welcome and educate new employees.
