WEBVTT

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Hi, my name is Suzy Nelson, and
I'm the Vice President and Dean

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of Student Life at MIT.

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And in this video,
I'm going to talk

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about how my colleagues in
the Division of Student Life

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and I have engaged
staff to help us address

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climate issues in our division.

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We looked at our 2016 staff
quality of life survey

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and we learned a lot about
our strengths and areas

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for improvement.

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For strengths, around
75% or more of our staff

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reported satisfaction
with their job,

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confidence in their
ability to do their job,

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and having support
from their supervisor.

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But on the other
hand, fewer staff--

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around 60%-- said they were
satisfied with communication,

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and clear direction from
the leadership, and sense

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of collaboration
in our division,

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and opportunities for
professional development.

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They also felt that
the workplace was not

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as fair, equitable,
and free from bias.

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And about one-third
of our staff said

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that they often felt overwhelmed
by their work responsibilities.

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So to enlist staff in helping
us address these problems,

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we created a staff engagement
advisory board, which

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is affectionately
known as SEABoard.

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SEABoard is advisory to
me and the other managers

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in the division, and
the overarching goal

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is to help make the Division
of Student Life the best place

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to work in MIT.

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There's a Social Events
and Well-being Committee,

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there's a Professional
Development Committee,

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and there's also a Diversity
and Inclusion Committee.

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So some of our
signature staff develop

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events include the annual
professional development

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conference, a guide for
overseeing an inclusive search

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process, several social
gatherings and well-being

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initiatives, and a DSL read
series where we were at a book

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together and then we invite the
author to campus for a talk.

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To assess our progress,
annually we've

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developed a shorter survey
that includes some of the items

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from the staff quality
of life survey,

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and the good news
is that we've really

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improved in several areas.

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In 2019, about 80% of our
staff versus 60% in 2016

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agreed that there was clear
direction from leadership,

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effective collaboration,
and increased collaboration

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with others.

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And around 70% of staff in
2019 compared with 60% in 2016

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said that there were
more opportunities

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for professional development,
and the workplace

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was fair, equitable,
and free from bias.

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So people power has
made all the difference

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in the Division of Student
Life, and the people

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who are involved in
SEABoard are a combination

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of managers and staff.

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Managers have made
this work a priority,

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and they've given staff
the time and the space

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and the encouragement
to take part in it.

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And the staff are
very enthusiastic,

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and we've seen a real
wellspring of creativity,

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and it's had a far-reaching and
positive impact on our staff

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climate.

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We're learning together now,
we value each other's ideas,

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and we're collaborating
more in teams.

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And what's most important,
we're making our division

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a better place to be and
MIT a better place to work.

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