Council Corner - November 1, 2021

Dear Colleagues,

As I’ve traveled in circles with you, I’ve heard over and over that many of you are struggling to find well-being in the aftermath of a debilitating and enduring Pandemic. You are not alone and I’m sorry it is still so hard. The complications are numerous—a relentless workload, a reduced workforce, the challenges of caring for your families, and general exhaustion as a result.

While I wish I could wave a magic wand to bring about immediate relief to our collective hardship, it would be disingenuous to pretend there are easy answers. So let me begin with the most honest thing I can offer. I’ve heard you, I care, and you have my commitment to look for ways to strengthen our well-being.

As part of our first two listening sessions, you’ve provided several university policy suggestions that I have already been able to share with the President’s Council. I can share with you that your feedback was well-received and is being given consideration. Later this week, you will be invited to participate in a confidential Student Affairs survey to inform our next steps for improving employee well-being.

Also, I need to ask for your help—could you work to discern things in your departments and units that we’re doing that aren’t contributing to our most important priorities? I’m proud that we’re an innovative organization (which means we’re always doing new things), yet I also suspect we’re not effectively rooting out work that should sunset.

As we look to the future, we hope to build a strategic plan around the thematic headings below. If our process, projects, or experiences don’t help us meaningfully make movement toward these things, I hope you’ll challenge them in a thoughtful discussion with your team.

• A culture of employee well-being and flourishing.
• A culture of student success and well-being.
• A culture of inclusion and belonging.
• A culture of administrative excellence and effectiveness.
• A culture of data-informed decision-making.
• A culture of teamwork, collaboration, and innovation.
• A culture where students Experience VT.

I want to conclude with a heartfelt and gigantic thank you. From my seat in Student Affairs, I get to see the many heroic efforts you’ve made, often in deeply sacrificial ways. Virginia Tech’s successes these past two years can be directly traced to the large and small moves you made again and again. I wish I could adequately communicate my gratitude to each of you in person, and for this limitation, I am thankful for your grace.

With hope,

Frank Shushok Jr.

Vice President for Student Affairs