The CVM Staff Council is excited to highlight the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Human Resources Department in the May 2018 edition of CVM eNews. The mission of Human Resources is to collectively support an environment of inclusive excellence in scholarship – learning, discovery, and engagement – where students, staff, faculty, and retirees of Cornell learn, work, and live as a community. With a vision that the best staff and faculty in the world choose Cornell.

The CVM Staff Council had the opportunity to sit down with the HR team and learn more about the support they provide.

Staff Council: In non-technical language, what does HR do?

Human Resources: We are committed to fostering a workplace that allows all of our employees to be their best, most authentic self. Which means we’re here to support our staff and faculty during every stage of their life, and at every step of their employment with Cornell.

The structure of Human Resources at Cornell is that of a community that includes members from both the centralized Division of the Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, and the Human Resources departments located within the colleges and units – in the College of Veterinary Medicine, that’s us!

This dual organizational structure allows us within the CVM Office of Human Resources, first and foremost, to live and exemplify the philosophy, vision, and core values of the College of Veterinary Medicine and Cornell University, and to provide exemplary customer service to everyone that walks through our doors!

Simultaneously, though, it provides our HR community with a vast breadth of information about our workforce, which enables us to share knowledge and expertise to make decisions and implement initiatives that are in the best interest of our large, varied, Cornell population.

For example, we’re currently working as an HR Community to:

• Enhance the employee experience during onboarding and orientation
• Build a culture of belonging that supports our diverse workforce and champions inclusion for all members of our community 
• Support employees in all aspects of their wellbeing
• Promote opportunities for employees and retirees to engage with peers
• Improve high-impact policies by simplifying and clarifying content
• Expand Workday offerings to make certain processes easier for our employees

Staff Council: When should an employee contact CVM OHR?

Human Resources: We’re a great resource during your life events: a marriage, birth or adoption, separation, challenging medical issues, and for questions regarding leaves such as NY Paid Family Leave, disability, workers’ comp, academic medical leave, etc. We can also answer staff, students, and supervisors’ questions related to payroll, such as how to enter or approve time in our new Workday Time Tracking system, how to ensure you’re adhering to state and federal regulations, or how to resolve issues with paychecks.

We play a very active role in addressing diversity and inclusion issues within the college by partnering with Dean Warnick to hold monthly dialogue sessions, bringing in speakers and encouraging the CVM community to embrace our differences and come together to share our stories. Additionally, we support and partner with colleagues in the Department of Inclusion and Workforce Diversity on strategic campus-wide initiatives.

We serve as facilitators and advocates for staff recognition opportunities, providing informal and formal awards and recognition for extraordinary high-impact efforts, project-based accomplishments, and career milestones. We also support ongoing educational opportunities for our employees’ professional and personal development.

We also support the recruitment and retention of our highly-qualified and diverse staff! This includes identifying and mining qualified candidates; analyzing data to provide recommendations for additional outreach; monitoring and reporting yield of recruitment efforts; participating in career fairs; utilizing social media for online recruitment and marketing; conducting informational interviews; and partnering with the University’s central HR Division and other college-level recruiters for referrals and outreach collaborations.

And finally, last but not least, we serve as an advisor and counselor to administrators, directors, chairs, supervisors, and other staff on broad university academic and non-academic HR policies and procedures, UAW Contracts, employment laws, as well as employee concerns and conflict resolution interventions. All while ensuring compliance and consistency in our fast-paced, 24/7 CVM environment, which includes supporting the complexities of the enterprise units, including the Cornell University Hospital for Animals and the Animal Health Diagnostic Center.

Staff Council: Can you tell us more about your relationship to central HR?

Human Resources: The College of Veterinary Medicine HR team collaborates with central HR – and many other central University offices – to develop and update Cornell policies, practices, and procedures, and to ensure Cornell remains competitive with peer institutions. These relationships are paramount by adding deeper value to our daily work while allowing us to always keep our unique community needs in mind. This in turn helps us to provide better customer service to the staff and faculty in CVM! Offices that we partner with include: University Counsel, HR Analytics, Medical Leaves Administration, Title IX Office, Organizational Development and Talent Management, and Workforce Recruitment and Retention among many others.

Staff Council: What is the structure of your unit, how many team members do you have, and what is the role of each member?

Human Resources: We are a team of nine, which includes our Director, three HR Generalists, four HR Assistants, and one Administrative Assistant.

Mary Beth Jordan (mej4) is the CVM HR Director.

Lauren Eilers-Lloyd (lae65) provides Administrative Support and event management to CVM HR and oversees student employment for the college.

Adam Chavez (aoc25) supports both RMSS (Resource Management and Support Services) and the Baker Institution. Adam also assists with conflict resolution and performance management topics that arise across the college.

Wendy Huff (wbh2) supports the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, and assists with operations-related tasks (implementation of systems, data extraction and analysis, etc.).

Toral Patel (tdp38) is the primary recruiter for the college, and is heavily involved with diversity and inclusion efforts across the college.

Donna Patykula (daf8) supports the Cornell University Hospital for Animals (CUHA) and is responsible for managing payroll for the college.

Karen Wilcox (krw1) supports the Departments of Population Medicine & Diagnostic Sciences and the Animal Health Diagnostic Center.

Alida Smith (ams755) supports the Departments of Biomedical Sciences and Molecular Medicine.

Jessica Divell (jh144) supports Clinical Sciences and Administration (Office of the Dean, Alumni Affairs & Development, Marketing & Communications, Research & Graduate Education, Student & Academic Services, MPH & International Programs, and Educational Support Services, including Continuing Education).

Our offices are located on the third floor of Schurman Hall across from the Accounting Service Center (S3 016).

Staff Council: What is the most rewarding part of your job?

Human Resources: It’s difficult to pinpoint just one aspect as each member of the team is unique and each of our roles are different. We can say with certainty, though, that all of us have a high-level of job satisfaction. We enjoy what we do, and we love our faculty, staff, and amazing students in the College of Veterinary Medicine! The main component of human resource work is helping people. Each one of us in CVM/OHR enjoys helping the people in this community and do all that we can to influence a positive employment experience at CVM and Cornell.

Staff Council:  Thank you, CVM Human Resources, for being our CVM Staff Council’s May Spotlight!  To learn more about Human Resources at Cornell University, please visit their website: https://hr.cornell.edu/

Next month, the Spotlight will be on the Community Practice (CPS).  Do you have ideas or suggestions for an upcoming Spotlight?  Email us at cvmstaffcouncil@cornell.edu!