By MARTY LEVINE
Department chairs and staff leaders at the Dietrich School of Arts & Sciences have been creating new events to draw their personnel to campus, and those in charge of this new program think it is building a better sense of belonging after the long separation caused by the pandemic.
On the staff side, Jessica Hatherill, executive director for administration said, the mix of those working on campus, at home or on varying hybrid schedules has left employees wanting more feeling of teamwork, “and to learn a little bit about each other beyond what they might see on a Zoom or Teams screen. We have to be more intentional about how we create opportunities for staff to work together.”
Departments have provided lunches, held trainings, discussed how to implement webinars and had doughnuts for new employees, among other events so far, she said. Grants for staff events (at $25 per staff employee in a department) are available under Dietrich’s new Community Team Building fund.
On the faculty side, Natasha Tokowicz, associate dean for equity, faculty development and community engagement, said, “We heard from a lot of folks that they felt like there was this lack of community. ... We were concerned about this and trying to find ways to help our units build back belonging.”
Department chairs can still apply for grants of $200 to $2,500 (depending on the size of the department) for faculty and faculty/student programs that must be spent by the end of the fiscal year. Some of the initial event ideas Tokowicz circulated included:
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Journal clubs run by students who select and present papers
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Outside speakers, with receptions
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Off-site mini-retreats or picnics
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Field trips to department-related sites
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Book clubs
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Weekly in-person, brown-bag lunches
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Lunch-and-talk series
She said that the psychology department has already held a game night for faculty, staff and students, while East Asian languages and literatures has begun a monthly East Asian book club for faculty and student discussions. In chemistry, they’ve gotten together over refreshments to talk about the mentoring of teaching assistants and recognizing outstanding performance in that area.
“They built it around getting people to come to talk about really critical issues,” Tokowicz said, “and they had a lot of fun.”
The anthropology department has even held an anthropology-in-the-field competition, which received grant funding to select, enlarge, frame and hang the best field photos in the department. The economics department has celebrated research, with faculty and students presenting posters about their work, followed by a reception.
The staff side got a head start last academic year, Hatherill said, with the Dietrich School and College of General Studies teaming for a voluntary, all-staff meeting and happy hour immediately after the chancellor’s picnic.
“We did as much as we could to encourage folks to come to campus that day,” she said. Last December, they held another all-staff meeting at Frick Fine Arts Building, which included a cookie bake-off judged by the dean and others, and an ugly sweater contest, as well as a University Art Gallery tour.
“I recognize that not everybody is going to want to participate in everything we offer,” Hatherill said, “but there are staff who are saying they want more opportunities to connect.” After all, she noted, staff working here prior to the pandemic already had connections, whereas newer staff may need more help to build informal networks.
For faculty and students, Tokowicz said, “I do think that there are some folks who are not as social. But I still think they also want more of these opportunities there to learn about other people’s work. It’s something we’ve lost a lot of.”
There are some departments where the workforce is so diverse that some people may not have felt connected to the department’s central functions, even before the pandemic — say, those who work in individual research laboratories and “don’t necessarily see themselves as Dietrich School staff,” Tokowicz said. “They see themselves as staff in a particular lab. They’re not exactly sure how or why to engage (with others). Those are the ones we really want to capture.”
So the new effort to build community, Hatherill said, “is a work in progress. We’re in 20 different buildings across campus — how do you bring everybody together? We’d like to continue. We’ve learned from this year. It’s an ongoing process but it’s something we’re all committed to as a leadership team.”
Marty Levine is a staff writer for the University Times. Reach him at martyl@pitt.edu or 412-758-4859.
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