Apr 22, 2008 8:00 AM

Sound Bites

How can staff and faculty be encouraged to become more involved with the life of the campus?

Dennis Lyday, assistant to the assistant vice chancellor, Office of Student and Campus Life

The more we feel that we're part of the team, that it's "our university," the more we enjoy the work we do and the more likely we are to get involved. There are two main areas which I believe can have an impact on this. One involves individual recognition — in both formal ways, such as "on-the-spot" awards or other special awards, and perhaps even more importantly, the informal ways, like pats on the back, recognition of a situation handled well and remembering to say "thank you" for good work. Another involves the structure of our jobs. I remember hearing a professor observe in a class about organizations, "There are a lot of dull, dead-end tasks that have to be done in any operation; but why we think we need to put them all together to create dull, dead-end jobs is totally beyond me." Anything we can do to look at jobs in terms of the intrinsic value they have for the individual as well as the functional value they have for the university would be to the benefit of both.

Mike Franks, director of instructional technology, Social Sciences Computing

Start campus tours for staff. Existing student tours could be opened up to staff members to show them the campus from the new student/parent point of view. Or special lunchtime staff tours could be created with stops at willing departments for quick five-minute summaries of what they do. Also include some behind-the-scenes things, like a view of the campus tunnels, backstage at Royce, the police station, etc. I'm sure there would be plenty of staff volunteers — I'd volunteer — to help build a bunch of these lunchtime tours and to host quick visits. Probably you'd even get enough for tours in different parts of campus each week.

Mojgan Eshraghi, application development, IT group, Transportation Services Department

I think educating the staff about different departments and how each contributes to the overall mission of the university is a very important first step. In addition, creating volunteer opportunities could involve individuals based on their unique talents. Finally, mentoring programs are a great way of promoting involvement. Through interactive modeling, relationship-building and coaching, individuals can achieve their higher potentials while deepening their sense of belonging. These kinds of interactions add a deeper dimension to the connection of each individual with the institution, encouraging them to work and share experiences with other highly motivated individuals. As a result, they get more excited about what they do and will be proud of their involvement with the institution.

Gobind Tanaka, market researcher, UCLA Extension

Participate in Staff Assembly. I do so because I enjoy meeting and getting together with colleagues. We are always happy to see each other. I also want to hear the latest and greatest about the various programs at UCLA, whether scientific research or athletic programs. I learn something from everyone I listen to. Some of it is personally satisfying, some is useful on the job, but networking and hearing news help me in both my personal and professional life. I'm further involved by belonging to the recreation center and attending statistics seminars at the Visualization Portal. I also take my daughter to gymnastics meets and I attend football-related events when I can.

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