Faculty Senate discussed shortened staff applications and the use of COVID-19 kits on campus at their Tuesday meeting.
Staff recruitment
Brandi Terwilliger, director of human resources, presented recruitment enhancement updates. Terwilliger said the updates were created by a review generated by an internal committee. The committee observed staff from across the campus.
“We’ve created a significantly shortened staff application,” Terwilliger said. “To create a better candidate experience, we wanted to make that change so that a candidate could upload their documentation being requested and not have to fill out everything that was already on the resume.”
Terwilliger said an additional initiative taken to increase staff enhancement is updating job openings and resources on the webpage. She said the application process and streamlining job updates would’ve been incorporated prior to COVID-19.
Other highlights from Terwilliger on enhancements for staff recruitment include new benefits in 2022 regarding staff Preferred Provider Organization plans.
Campus testing
Lawrence said COVID-19 testing resources have been utilized by students with over 100 kits used. One student is presently quarantining.
“The demand has been pretty low,” University of Idaho Provost and Vice President Torrey Lawrence said.
UI is still holding off any action after the federal vaccine mandate was announced. Lawrence said discussions regarding the issue are happening with the Idaho Governor’s office, attorney general office, ISBE and other government agencies.
Idaho State Board of Education survey
The Idaho State Board of Education sent a survey to Idaho universities for students to complete, including UI. It asks students to provide their perspective on the college experience and says the purpose of the survey is to “help the State Board of Education engage with policymakers, support institutional leaders and better govern the education system in our state.”
Lawrence said this is in preparation for the spring legislative session.
“This is not a University of Idaho survey; this is a state board of education survey,” Lawrence said. “So, we can certainly encourage students to participate if a student asks, I think we should tell them it’s a legitimate survey.”
Sierra Pesnell can be reached at [email protected]