From Melody's Desk

Happy March – tis the month of spring. I love the longer days, the smell of a spring rain, and the bright sunny yellow of daffodils… and March Madness!

I hope that everyone has the Staff Appreciation Pancake Breakfast on your calendar: Tuesday, March 8th. Breakfast will be served from 7 to 9 am, but if you want me to serve your pancakes, come by between 8:30 and 9:00. In addition to pancakes, I will be serving sausage, scrambled eggs, and fruit (including gluten-free options). One hour of parking validation at Central Grounds Garage will be provided, but carpool if you can.

Thank you so much for participating in the small group sessions in early February. I know that everyone is curious to see how their group’s patterns and aspirations compared to other sessions. Check out the summarized patterns and aspirations.

Last Friday, 41 team members gathered for the Dream-Design-Destiny Summit. The day was jam packed with activities as we worked, laughed, dreamed, and collaborated on this ongoing, iterative strategic planning process. We used the patterns and aspirations gathered during the Discovery Phase II to collect the key ideas for our mission, vision, and core values. During the dream phase of the day, we crafted dream statements. And by “craft”, I mean the team got their hands dirty with play dough, glue, markers, glitter, pipe cleaners, construction paper, and discarded magazines:

In the afternoon, small groups broke out to design initial projects that will help us achieve our vision. Projects included ideas such as accessible and accurate data, rewards and recognition, and job shadowing. 

What’s next? On Wednesday, March 16th, Pat Hogan will join the entire team in the Newcomb Hall Ballroom as we unveil the UVAFinance mission, vision, core values, and initial projects. You will have an opportunity to volunteer on the project teams, celebrate our success, and begin the journey to our ideal organization. 

The February 26th Dream-Design-Destiny participants included:  Mark Anderson, Greg Ball, Andrew Bedotto, Isaiah Behnke, Mike Beverage, Dave Boling, Chris Brazelton, Paula Campbell, ToShun Campbell, Paula Chapman, Eric Denby, Judy DiVita, Meredith Dixon, Sarah Doran, Linda Estepp, Aaron Flynn, Nita Graves, Kelly Hochstetler, Kobby Hoffman, Charles Kidd, Steve Kimata, Shenika Knox, Judy Mallory, Christine Maxwell, Malika Ouenza, Jessica Rafter, Alice Reuther, Lorie Strother, Xavier Wiltbank, and Sabrina Whitcomb

Stakeholders:  Ashley Feero (HR), Chris DiVita (ITS), Angela Sherman (SOM), and Sue Herod (SCPS)

A special thanks to our facilitators:  Alaric Hammell, Danielle Hancock, Ana Lynch, Erika Priddy, Dan Saint, Lynne Schwar, and Disha Venkatesan.