Executive Vice President John Affleck-Graves
This spring, staff across the University gathered for the biannual Town Hall meetings, but this time staff met in twelve smaller units across campus to hear customized presentations catered to their divisions and to have greater opportunity to participate in discussion. Executive Vice President John Affleck-Graves led the sessions and many division leaders joined him to present to their respective divisions. “The smaller Town Halls gave Notre Dame staff an opportunity to ask more questions and for each division to discuss their unique ND Voice results compared to the overall scores of the University,” said Affleck-Graves.
Campus parking remains an important consideration for many staff. The Parking Committee, composed of 27 faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students from across the University, analyzed key aspects of parking, and presented their recommendations on January 19. Their full report is available on the ndsp.nd.edu website under parking and traffic.
Affleck-Graves supported the committee’s recommendation that the University consider adding additional shuttle stops and invest in a mobile app that could track the location of the shuttle bus to provide riders real-time shuttle information. Transportation Services is collaborating with the Office of Information Technology to pursue the development of the app. The committee also recommended that the University consider the construction of a paid parking garage in the vicinity of Legends, create a new, temporary surface parking lot on the northeast side of campus, and consider adding additional, 90-minute parking spaces, and with Affleck-Graves’ support, Parking Services has implemented that recommendation. Based on the committee’s recommendations, Campus Services and Campus Safety are exploring the feasibility of a bike-sharing program, and soon the committee will make their final recommendations on reserved parking based on feedback from faculty and staff.
This is a time of unprecedented, strategic growth at Notre Dame. Including all current and recent campus construction, the University is adding a total of 1.4 million square feet. Jenkins Hall and Nanovic Hall will be completed this summer with a combined total of approximately 170,000 square feet. On the north side of campus, there are approximately 650 geothermal wells being constructed under the Ricci Athletic Fields, which will decrease our carbon footprint by eight percent. On the south edge of campus, the 60,000-square-foot Walsh Family Hall of Architecture will open in fall 2018, and south of campus on Angela Boulevard the 40,000-square-foot, three-level Quinn Hall of Innovation and Change will open in the 2017-2018 academic year.The hospitality areas of Duncan Student Center, Corbett Family Hall, and O’Neill Hall will also be completed for the 2017-2018 academic year and will include space for special events and meetings.
The sales and reservations team in the Office of Event Management will begin accepting reservations on March 1, 2017 for events occurring after October 1, 2017. The office already manages reservations for Morris Inn and McKenna Hall. Read more about VenueND on page two, and visit venue.nd.edu. Phase II of Eddy Street Commons, located just south of the current Eddy Street Commons, will include a larger, new home for the Robinson Community Learning Center, a proposed neighborhood market, space for retail on the street level, and graduate student apartments on the three floors above it.
During each Town Hall, divisions reviewed their ND Voice results. Across the University, staff rated strategic clarity, image, and engagement as the highest categories. The scores for respect and fairness, diversity, and development and training saw the most improvement since the biannual survey began in 2006 when those areas were identified as having room for improvement. “What the data shows us is that as a community, when we choose an area on which to focus, we make a difference. Units worked very hard on crafting individual plans, so it’s very gratifying to see progress. However, we should not be complacent because we still have work to do,” said Affleck-Graves. Staff members who were unable to attend their division’s Town Hall are invited to view the session online in early March at evp.nd.edu/town-hall.
Originally published by at news.nd.edu on March 01, 2017.