Friday Focus: Growth, recognition, development

April 14, 2023

— By Julie Queen, vice chancellor for administrative services

If you were like me on April 5, you participated in the UAF Staff Recognition and Development Day, hosted by the Staff Council, with contributions from many across our campuses to make it such a success. And what a success it was! Not only did we have the Chancellor’s Cornerstone awards notably congratulating four very worthy recipients, but we also had the chance to applaud those celebrating 1, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25 and 30 years of service. Three cheers (or maybe four!) to Felicia Burud (Alumni Relations), Tracy Coon (HAARP), Lisa Yancey (CRCD), and Casey Stagno (Facilities Services) for sustained outstanding contributions toward accomplishing and enhancing the UAF mission and strategic plan. That is a long-winded way of saying - thank you for being so awesome!

As part of the day put on annually by a large and dedicated team of SRDD volunteers, many staff headed to a packed Wood Center Ballroom for lunch (you had me at tacos). People waited patiently in line hoping the churros would still be warm by the time they got to the front, and it was a nice way to spend time together, getting to know new friends and seeing familiar faces. My special thanks to Chartwells and the catering team for keeping the dishes coming - no one left hungry. Shoutout to Ashley Munro and the Financial Aid team for the delightful table conversation, exuberant door prize celebrations, and connections made I won’t soon forget.

From there, off to “Building my Leadership House” with Jonathan King and some professional coaching about knowing who you are as a leader in order to best build and support a team. Recognizing what makes up your strong foundation is the first part, prioritizing everything else around key building blocks helps other things fall into place and sets the tone for your team. It is always inspiring to see how quickly we relate to each other as part of learning together, finding similarities as we share values and acknowledging differences that make the team better as part of contributing individual strengths. Thank you to Jonathan for your time, expertise, and fresh perspective which always makes me think about how to be the best version of myself in my role at UAF - working together to achieve great things!

Although I wasn’t able to attend each event, there were so many wonderful sessions with peer to peer instruction, fun trivia and bowling options, and ways to engage. If you chose to be a part of SRDD planning this year, please accept my virtual pat on the back for a job well done. If you chose to join in the fun, here is a long-distance high-five for opting to connect, be present, socialize, and learn (in-person or via Zoom) as part of making UAF such a vibrant university.

Growth is one of my core values as a leader, along with Connection (among others), so if you might like to continue building your leadership skills and creating networks with a cohort like you, I am delighted to sponsor another series of UAF professional development courses in partnership with The HumanLink. We had such great feedback with the recent Emerging Leaders session, this more in-depth offering provides four tracks in a new Leading at Level program: Leading Others, Leading Leaders, Senior Leaders, and Subject Matter Expert or Technical Leaders. Tracks will provide innovative and tailored programs to suit your leadership needs and are open to UAF staff and faculty. In order to start in mid-May, the application closes April 21. Please submit your interest soon as space is limited.

Friday Focus is written by a different member of UAF’s leadership team every week.