UIUC Library Staff Development and Training

Present:  Beth Woodard, Susie Duncan, Joe Zumalt, Zoe Revell, Tom Teper, Diana Walter, Michael Norman, John Weible, Sue Searing

Absent:  Cindy Kelly, Lisa Hinchliffe

1. The committee reviewed training that has been recently scheduled, including conflict management and ergonomics

2. The committee discussed the recent request to have the person who presented the Lincoln Trails session on Blogging come.  Everyone was in agreement that we need to investigate further, and if economical, invite her to come to give a session here this fall.

3. Supervisor training was discussed at length.

a. Tom Teper suggested that the Faculty/Staff Assistance overview program is a good one for supervisors to attend since it reviews resources available on campus when you’re working with an employee who is having difficulties.
b. The possibility of having a session on hiring the right people of the job, the use of probationary period, and rules and regulations such as the Family Medical Leave Act, the appropriate use of vacation and sick leave, how long people can work, etc. for those who supervise Civil Service would be useful.  It was suggested that Sharon Hershbarger and Lisa German would be good people to work with Cindy Kelly on this (with Michael Norman as an alternate.)
c. Supervising student workers was another topic area of interest.  A “quick guide” or frequently asked questions list could be a starting point.  Cindy Kelly and Kim Hutcherson (for payroll questions) could be given a list of questions people typically  have as a starting point.
d. Having a series of discussion topics, with starters, was also suggested.  The Abeline Paradox, a video which looks at perceived group consensus was discussed.  Ways of getting people to attend were discussed, with one suggestion being that we show it at a faculty meeting.
e. Having ARL/OMS come and give presentations was also suggested.  They did workshops years ago with the DISC personality profile.  There was some discussion that the sessions a few years ago on meeting management, etc., that George Soute did were good, but did not have local follow-up.
f. Another suggestion was to have someone come give the Myers/Briggs profile and discuss.
g. Another idea was to have a “book club” discussion.  Janis Johnston’s article on “Managing Your Supervisor” was one suggestion.
h. A Video-series with popcorn would be another approach.  Tom has a whole series of Preservation films and has been considering a Preservation Film Fest.  Perhaps a series of small discussion groups might work.  Paul Healey’s work with his administration class was also suggested as a possibility—he uses case studies as discussion starters.  Role playing was also suggested, with the idea of staring a theatre group for this purpose.
i. T4B Selection—After discussing the types of classes, it was decided that we will send out a call for 2 people to attend the Boot Camp in November, and one person to attend the Coaching session in the spring.  Beth will send out a call.

The next meeting will be Tuesday, October 5 from 1 to 2:30 in the Slavic Conference Room.

Beth Woodard