Staff Mentoring Subcommittee

Staff Mentoring Subcommittee

Senate ad hoc Committee for the Promotion of Gender Equity

Minutes from September 26, 2007

Location: College of Business Administration-2100 Sennott Square

Attendees: Irene Frieze Ann Ostroski

Barb Juliussen Kathy Pratt Patti Mathay (Subcommittee Chair) William Saunders

Kate McConnell

Members Unable to Attend: Sherry Miller Brown

John Greeno

Monika Losagio

Babs Mowery

Gwen Watkins

Guest: Mary Beth Mengel, Staff Association Council Secretary

Summary of Progress

Patti started the meeting by providing a summary of the August 1, 2007 meeting and the progress of the group’s project. The mentoring program, which will be co-jointly sponsored with the Staff Association Council at their spring assembly, will have a panel discussion. Those to be on the panel will give a brief presentation of their career path at the University, followed by a question and answer session. Additional features at the assembly will be a Pitt trivia contest, a presentation of the various academic programs available at Pitt that can enhance one’s career, and a market place which would feature various job clusters. The panel members confirmed thus far are Patti Mathay and Sherri Miller-Brown (both Committee members), and Linwood Harris, associate director of admissions. All are long-term employees of the University and have received at least one degree while working at Pitt.

Patti said that from a meeting that was held with the SAC officers, it was unclear as to the amount of work and support that they (SAC) would provide for the event. Only one of the officers attended the scheduled meeting with Patti regarding the mentoring program. Initially Patti anticipated that SAC would be doing ½ the work needed for this function. She stated that their amount of commitment needed to be clarified for the event to be a success. Ann said that she would follow up with the SAC officers.

The assembly is tentatively set for April 9, 2008, with an alternative date of April 16th. Mary Beth Mengel of SAC stated that she is still waiting for a confirmation from the University regarding venues. Confirmations for events held in 2008 will not be given until mid-October 2007. The event will be two hours long, held over the lunch hour. Possible times suggested were from noon until 2:00 p.m. or 11:30 a.m. until 1:30 p.m.

The idea of a staff mentoring blog was again brought forth. The issues involved were the maintenance and more importantly the legalities. Even a private blog, not associated with the University, might have the potential for legal issues if it is presumed to be institutionally supported. John Greeno is to review and provide advice.

Organizing the Assembly

A discussion followed regarding what still needed to be done for the assembly and what were the best ways for organization.

Some of the ideas that emerged were:

o  A survey should be done regarding mentoring. The positives and negatives of both an online survey and a paper survey to be handed out at the assembly were reviewed. It was agreed that whichever form was decided upon, it should be brief. A paper survey with detachable portion that attendees can submit for a prize drawing was suggested as an incentive to complete the survey. Gwen /Mary Beth Mengel to solicit vendors for drawing prize. Kate volunteered to draft both an online and paper survey for the next meeting.

o  Kate suggested that flyers advertising the assembly list both the Staff Association Council and University Senate as to provide more clout. Supervisors might be more apt to provide release time.

o  The number of market place tables and the categories of job classifications/groupings were discussed. It was agreed to keep the groupings to approximately ten. Kathy is to solicit the help of the HR recruiters to find out which categories of positions frequently have openings. Positions that are primarily associated with the School of Medicine/Schools of the Health Sciences were discussed. Many of these positions are related to soft monies such as project managers, grant administrators, health professionals, and other research staff. Ann stated that the SOM/SoHS employ a significant portion of University staff. Further discussion noted that the information technology career path should also be represented. Patti is to get ideas from the Alumni Association whose events organize their tables by industry.

o  The Committee still needs volunteers to organize and staff the event. (All) William said that his staff would assist with groupings/tables representing the SoHS.

o  The expertise of the career advisors would add to the effectiveness of the assembly. Barb is to solicit volunteer advisors for the event from Career Services.

o  Posters and/or handouts regarding the academic programs that are available to staff should be compiled for the event. (Sherry/Barb/All)

o  It was noted that in most employment fields at Pitt, there are opportunities at both the central and school levels. (Example- departmental systems analysts vs. CSSD analyst)

o  It was stressed that the event is not to be viewed as a job fair, but reflect the theme of networking/mentoring and career development.

o  William suggested that this assembly might benefit the custodial staff. The issue of union release time was discussed.

o  Plans for the event should be finalized by December 2007-January 2008.

Adjournment

At the completion of the assembly, a debriefing meeting should be held with the Committee and SAC. Information gathered can be used for a proposal to the University/HR regarding institutionally supported staff mentoring programs. The next meeting is tentatively scheduled for October 24, 2007 at 11:00 a.m. The location is to be announced.

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