ALUMNI, HOMEPAGE NEWS
This month we are excited to announce a virtual fundraising event to benefit the Jayhawk Career and Student Alumni Networks, as well as KU Campus Cupboard. We hope you will join us to support these important initiatives, registration is free.
Building on recent issues of the Water Cooler, this month we also bring you updates and announcements about upcoming professional development and networking opportunities including webinars focused on building positivity in the work place and developing a challenge mindset.
Managers and human resource professionals will find useful resources for protecting employee health, melding organizational leadership with human resources and promoting collaboration in the workforce.
We feature a great job opportunity with the Lawrence Public Library, a story about a Jayhawk working on the frontlines to combat COVID-19 and a webinar that explains how storytelling can be a powerful tool for building inclusive environments.
Rock Chalk.
Howard Graham, g’08, PhD’19
Director of the Jayhawk Career Network
News
How to build workplaces that protect employee health
John Macomber, senior lecturer at Harvard Business School and a veteran of the real estate industry, was studying ways to make workplaces safer for employees long before the Covid-19 crisis hit.
Listen to a conversation with Macomber on how to make offices safe to return to after Covid – and beyond.
How organizational leadership fits with human resources
Organizational leadership is often paired with human resources. Some see the two as different sides of the same coin while others view it as two separate disciplines. While each plays a specific role, they do overlap in certain areas.
Organizational leadership focuses on the overarching company strategy while human resources manage the human capital strategy. Organizational leaders help marry employee goals with organizational goals.
3 ways alone time can make you a more creative and collaborative team player
Collaboration is the fuel for some of civilization’s greatest achievements. Teamwork makes the dream work, as they say, and people can do truly amazing things when combining their talents.
But generating creative ideas sometimes works better as a solo pursuit. Taking some time away from your collaborators—even just for a couple of hours—can be empowering for you, your work, and your entire team.
5 of the best tips for navigating the pandemic at work from chief HR officers
Heads of human resources have a lot to talk about these days. There’s a raging public health crisis to deal with, which has forced many companies to transition to at least a partly remote workforce.
There’s also a racial reckoning underway, which has brought issues of racial violence and inequities into the forefront, pushing organizations to grapple with uncomfortable topics—and, at least in some cases, take the steps needed to get to greater parity within their own ranks.
Compassionate Conversations
Compassion, patience mark alumna’s approach to Navajo high court
When Tina Tsinigine was sworn in as associate justice of the Supreme Court of the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona, it marked the first time the tribe’s three-member high court has comprised three women.
Tsinigine, g’03, “didn’t really think about that” when she sought the appointment, but it seems to her entirely appropriate that the final say on legal matters for the largest American Indian territory in the United States should rest with women.
The challenges of fieldwork for LGBTQ+ geoscientists
A new survey from KU Geology reveals the unique issues that traveling for research poses for LGBTQ+ scientists.
There is increasing awareness of the hazards of sexual harassment and assault in the field-based sciences and a growing understanding that fieldwork is not always accessible for geoscientists with varying physical abilities or young families. However, there has not been a deliberate focus on challenges faced by the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community in the geosciences with respect to fieldwork.
Campus Connections
See the difference of the KU MBA
Choose the top-ranked online MBA that builds your fluency in innovative business strategies and global leadership. As a student in the country’s #31 Best Online MBA Program1, you’ll customize your coursework based on your interests, creating the foundation for the career path you choose. Our AACSB-accredited online curriculum flexes around your full-time commitments, so we’ll work with you while you keep working. With your degree, you’ll join a global network of over 25,000 KU School of Business alumni ready to help advance your career.
1. Retrieved on August 24, 2020 from usnews.com/education/online-education/university-of-kansas-155317
Provided by our connections at the University of Kansas School of Business
Hawks to Watch: Heba Mostafa, molecular virologist
KU community members across the globe have joined forces to curb the spread of COVID-19 and provide relief to communities in need, showing the world what’s possible when Jayhawks rise to major challenges.
One of these Jayhawks, Heba Mostafa, who earned a doctorate in microbiology in 2014, made national and international headlines this spring for her efforts to develop quick, reliable testing for the virus — innovative work that put the research and technical skills she sharpened at KU to the test in the most consequential ways imaginable.
Literacy efforts gain added urgency amid pandemic closings
When he joined Read Charlotte in 2015 as the North Carolina nonprofit’s first executive director, Munro Richardson set a goal of doubling by 2025 the percentage of metro-area children who meet state reading standards by third grade.
Halfway into that decade-long effort, Richardson, c’93, has learned how tough the task is, even without the added stresses of early school closings necessitated by the global pandemic. Surprisingly, those recent developments have left him more confident than ever.
Making it Personal: The Power of Storytelling for Building Inclusive Environments
Storytelling can help us accomplish both perspective taking and goal setting. We’re all more than just one dimension or one story.
In this recorded webinar Maria Morukian explores the value of storytelling for diversity, equity, and inclusion learning and identifies the kinds of stories one can use to foster empathy and understanding.
Featured Job
Diversity Coordinator
The Lawrence Public Library is hiring! The library seeks to hire an enthusiastic and experienced Diversity Coordinator whose vision and commitment to this work will help the library achieve its stated goal of advancing equity at the library as well as in our community.
Featured Jayhawk Business
Lawrence Country Club
Jayhawk: Katie Gates
Location: Lawrence, KS
Lawrence Country Club is a proud partner of the KU Alumni Association. A private, member-owned club that provides exceptional family-oriented recreational and social activities and services.
Support the Lawrence Country Club and more KU businesses on the Jayhawk Business Directory.
Events
Greater KC Virtual Happy Hour
Join the Kansas City Jayhawk Alumni Network for a virtual happy hour!
5 p.m. CT
Thursday, Oct. 15
Developing a Challenge Mindset to Reshape Your Skills, Your Work, and Your Identity
Greg Roth will weave together a rich tapestry of stories and wisdom from those who were willing to experiment and push themselves through challenges. He’ll show you how a “challenge mindset” can transform your thinking, your outlook, your approach, your effort, and ultimately your identity.
11 a.m. CDT
Tuesday, Oct. 20
Success is Knocking!
As we discuss self-doubt turning into self-esteem, we are not advocating just thinking positive thoughts. Positivity is a part of building a successful career, but right thoughts must turn into right actions.
11 a.m. CDT
Thursday, Nov. 12
Jayhawks Flock Together
Please join us for a virtual fundraising event benefitting the Jayhawk Career Network and Student Alumni Network, as well as KU Campus Cupboard. Registration is free!
7 p.m. CT
Thursday, Nov. 19
