In a shift from clustering more than a dozen staff appreciation activities during spring only, this year UCSF will begin showing its gratitude to employees with fewer, but improved events throughout the year.
Staff appreciation events begin next week on Tuesday and Wednesday, May 9 and 10, on the Parnassus campus. On May 9, the campus community is invited to hear award-winning ukulele player Jake Shimabukuro, who will perform a free concert at noon in Cole Hall in the Medical Sciences Building. Known for lightning-fast fingers and revolutionary playing techniques, Shimabukuro, 28, is a master of the ukulele. While he has respect for traditional Hawaiian ukulele music, Shimabukuro shows his audiences that the instrument is capable of much more.
On May 10, Chancellor Mike Bishop, MD, and campus leaders will greet staff from 9 to 10:30 a.m. in the Moffitt Cafeteria in UCSF Medical Center. Employees are invited to enjoy a light continental breakfast, and can enter a raffle for great prizes. These prizes include movie tickets, campus vendor gift certificates, a massage gift certificate and a pair of tickets to see the San Francisco Giants.
Other staff appreciation events that are being planned include celebrations in July at Laurel Heights, September at Mission Bay, January 2007 in Mission Center Building, February at Mount Zion and April at San Francisco General Hospital Medical Center. The events are sponsored by the chancellor and campus leadership, and are produced by Campus Life Services' Arts & Events and the Work-Life Resource Center.
The changes in staff appreciation activities for 2006-2007 were recommended by the Staff Appreciation Planning Committee and volunteers, and were approved by the Chancellor's Council on Staff Worklife.
The changes are due in part to the significant increase in school and department staff appreciation events, some of which occur during the same timeframe as the campuswide staff appreciation events. Some staff believed the events were a duplication of efforts; planners also believed that UCSF hosted too many events with insufficient resources. With fewer events, the quality can be improved.
The staff appreciation committee has decided to plan and produce events at locations only where there are a large number of staff and when the chancellor is available to attend. As was made clear by previous staff surveys, staff members want to be recognized and acknowledged, which appears to be happening as never before.
"What staff members really appreciate is the chancellor and campus leadership coming to their site and spending time with them," says Jennifer Mannix, Arts & Events manager. "They enjoy chatting with campus leaders and sometimes even offering them some advice."
For more information, please see Campus Life Services' Arts & Events calendar
here or call 415/476-6932.
Source: Lisa Cisneros
