[Orgvpdue] Follow up items from DUE Retreat

[Louie F Rodriguez]

Dear DUE Colleagues,

We are writing to follow up on several action items to be implemented immediately as a result of our Fall 2024 retreat.  The feedback clearly indicated that DUE staff want to be heard, see timely follow-up on recommendations implemented, and seek opportunities to enhance their experiences across the Division. Based on these recommendations, we hope the steps outlined below will help us move forward in this direction.


  1.  The DUE supports academic year-long remote work agreements.
        *   As noted during the retreat, some members of our staff may be under the impression that some DUE units have quarter-to-quarter remote work agreements, while others have yearlong (fall-winter-spring) agreements. To be clear, the DUE supports year-long remote work agreements.



  1.  All future Donut and DUE lunches will incorporate a topic to make our time together more beneficial, based on your feedback from the retreat.
        *   Our first pilot will be at the DUE lunch on Wednesday, 11/6 at noon.  More details to follow.



  1.  Training on data management and data dashboards will be offered in partnership with Institutional Research.
        *   DUE is partnering with IR who has already agreed to host a fall, winter, and spring workshop on the use of data dashboards.  Scott Heil from IR will join us at our DUE lunch on 11/6, per #2 above.



  1.  HR in FAST is following up on the Wellness Wednesday idea shared at the retreat.
        *   More to follow soon.  This is inspired by DUE staff recommendations at the retreat.



  1.  HR in FAST is identifying professional development opportunities for DUE staff.
        *   As many of you know, the campus has a variety of offerings, and HR is working to narrow these down to what might be most relevant to the interest for DUE staff, based on recommendations from the retreat.



  1.  The DUE will be forming two staff committees that aim to strengthen staff engagement in DUE programming.

        *   DUE Professional Development Committee and the second a DUE Wellness Committee.  Each committee will include 4 staff members.
        *   If you would like to join one of the committees, please complete the forthcoming survey that will be sent later this week.  You will be able to self-nominate or nominate a DUE colleague. Committee commitments run 12 months, from November to October each year.



  1.  We have heard your concerns about the timing of the DUE Annual Staff Retreat.
        *   There were concerns about the retreat time being just before the start of the Fall quarter.  We acknowledge that there will never be a perfect time for a retreat given the dynamic nature of any academic year.  We also recognize that many of your subunits hold retreats shortly before the fall as well.  With all of this in mind, we have heard your concerns and will aim to schedule the next retreat outside the traditional September timeframe, likely in Winter (2026?).  More details to follow.

Thanks for your valuable feedback.  We look forward to the upcoming academic year and our continued collaboration to enhance student success at UCR.

Best,

Louie Rodriguez, VPDUE
Bob Ream, AD, Student Success
Wallace Cleaves, AD, UWP
Begoña Echeverria, AD, University Honors
Gladis Herrera-Berkowitz, Director, CUREL
Richard Edwards, Executive Director, XCITE
Liz Tatum, Interim CFAO, FAST
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