Welcome to the start of a new academic year! As many of us know too well, the pace of campus life accelerates dramatically as the calendar turns to September. This fall will be more crowded with HR challenges than usual – or is this really the new ‘normal’? We can anticipate implementation of the new TREMS applicant tracking system, compliance with new FLSA rules, eBenefits, ACA, and other acronyms of the HR alphabet soup. But we are in a stronger position as an HR community to address these challenges because of some outstanding collaborations that have been ongoing throughout the year.
The HR-CoP Team is an important resource to such efforts, offering consultation, course design, and staff support as we implement these important changes. In addition, we are pleased to launch a new program welcoming new HR professionals later this month, hosting an effort that is the result of many people’s energies catalyzed through the HR Design/Academic CoP group chaired by Julie Karpelenia and Carol Hillmer. We are also pleased to continue to envision our HR Competencies program, which includes an important conversation with HR Reps on September 9. And we are working with colleagues across OHR and campus to enrich our course offerings in HRS/JEMS-related technical areas. All of this will culminate in our first HR@UW–Madison Conference on December 5 at Union South. It ought to be an exciting fall…