MSU WorkLife Podcast

Guest host Carly Kabel from the MSU College of Arts and Letters discusses the Higher Education Recruitment Consortium with Ian Reynolds, Executive Director, and Maranda Holtsclaw, Michigan Regional Director.

The WorkLife Office team has the privilege of Melissa Staub from the College of Arts and Letters coaching us on StrengthsFinder. Melissa sits down with John Girdwood for the first "virtual" edition of the WorkLife Podcast.

Join the WorkLife team including Jaimie Hutchison, Barbara Roberts, Maranda Holtsclaw, Tiana Carter, John Girdwood, and your colleagues across the university as we connect with each other to offer support and guidance about WorkLife issues during this unique time. Open to all staff, faculty, and post-docs. Topics include family care, working from home, remaining connected, staying healthy, and supporting you!

Erica Venton, Marketing Manager for the Office of the Provost Communications Team, sits down with John Girdwood. Erica shares some of the new practices she has inserted into her worklife to help her improve her experience.

There is suddenly more discussion than ever about implementing remote work strategies, as we seek to reduce our in-person contact for a while, yet not fall out of touch or cease operations. The WorkLife Office has a great deal of experience addressing alternative work arrangements, including telecommuting, flexible scheduling, work-from-home or teleworking, and multiple means of participating on or off-site. There are many and varied reasons for working remotely, all the time or sometimes - accommodation of disability, childcare or eldercare needs, commuting constraints/savings, work that spans locations and time zones, winter weather - We already do this in many circumstances; we have the knowledge and ability to adapt to evolving needs for flexibility and remote work.

Stratton Lee, Phillip Seaborn, and Kevin L. Brooks sit down with Jaimie Hutchison to talk about their roles as IDEA Coordinators at MSU. The MSU Institutional Diversity, Excellence, and Action (IDEA) Coordinators Committee began in the 1990s as a collaborative network of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) officers and advocates from multiple colleges and units. The purpose of the committee is to support and influence college and unit goals related to DEI and serve as a resource for those looking to engage in and advance DEI work at MSU.

Bullying behavior is painful. Dr. Mahmoudi and Dr. Roberts sit down with Dr. Girdwood in the WorkLife Office to talk about academic incivility. Topics include: bullying up, mobbing, and creating training materials as an intervention to educate Spartans about incivility. Power imbalances and hierarchies can create environments where bullying occurs. Listen to this episode that shines a light on academic bullying.

Jaimie Hutchison (WorkLife Office) sits down with Lisa Desprez (IPF) and Christine Leese (Office of the Executive Vice President for Administration) to discuss the Women's Advisory Committee for Support Staff (WACSS), commonly referred to by its acronym which is pronounced "wax."

From love at 1st sight to closing the deal! Your Educators: Courtney Minor (Loan Originator), Elvin Caldwell (Realtor), and Matthew Thornton (Insurer). This 1-hour session is split into three 20-minute segments with education on home selection, securing a loan, and insuring your purchase. Join us for a phenomenal session with these informed professionals!

Laura, Joy, Sandra, and Livia are "la gente" (the people; Spanish) who talk about their experiences in this "cidade pequena" (small city; Portugese). Although we weren't "luying" (camping; Chinese), we did sit next to a warm fire to get to know each other and learn from one another.