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Dear Infrastructure and Sustainability team,

One of the most important goals in our Infrastructure and Sustainability Strategic Plan is developing a healthy organizational culture, and one of the key objectives for achieving such a culture is providing ample opportunity for professional development. The desire for professional development is a theme reinforced repeatedly in employee feedback, whether it’s via Staff Council, last fall’s employee engagement survey or other channels.

With that in mind, I want to take this opportunity to highlight a few of the initiatives our I&S Human Resources team has brought to fruition recently with regard to professional development.

The I&S Exchange Program brought together 84 participants from five campuses -- CU º£½ÇÉçÇø, CU Anschutz Medical Campus, the University of Colorado Colorado Springs, Colorado School of Mines and Regis University. Participants from Custodial, the Distribution Center, Outdoor Services, Parking, Trades Services, Transportation Services, Utility Services, and Planning, Design and Construction gathered to exchange ideas and best practices regarding issues facing all our campuses. The participating schools plan to rotate this program two or three times per year at the different campuses.

We also recently completed a High-Performance Coaching program for all Facilities Operations and Services supervisors, giving them added tools to enhance their leadership. The program was so well received we are looking at expanding it across I&S.

Our I&S Mentor Program (ISMP), meanwhile, continues to gain momentum, kicking off earlier this fall with an all-time high of 105 participants from all corners of our organization. The ISMP is even gaining traction across the university, with participants this year from CUPD, Student Affairs, Theater and Dance, SEEC, Campus HR, the Office of Data Analytics, Wolf Law, and Housing and Dining Services.

More opportunities for both personal and professional growth are on the horizon. Facilities Operations has announced two new apprenticeship positions open to frontline staff (more information below in this newsletter). The CU System-wide Diversity and Inclusion Summit is being hosted on our campus Nov. 13 and 14, and offers dozens of sessions you can attend. And more information is to come on the I&S Individual Development Program (IDP) being piloted by our human resources team.

Both I&S and the campus as a whole are striving to provide innovative personal and professional development opportunities for our employees. I highly encourage you to participate, and urge supervisors to work with your teams to create opportunities for attendance for both yourself and your staff. Our folks are our most precious resource, and these programs can help us all feel more engaged in our individual roles and careers, as well as within our work units.Ìý

Sincerely,
David Kang, vice chancellor for infrastructure and sustainability
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