By Carla Kologie, Chair, ERAC
Here in the College of Education, I count myself among the many Lehigh employees who have the privilege of working with many talented, creative, generous people. On any given day, it has been my fortune to be on the receiving end of workplace kindness or assistance. The best part is that these are not rare occurrences but daily interactions.
For example, when I came to Lehigh after years of working from home, I had a lot of questions. A LOT. If it weren’t for Donna Toothman, I would have had no idea which end was up. She patiently answered all of my questions – even the sort of dumb ones: “What do you mean you have to put money in the meters on lower campus?” “What exactly am I looking at on this page in Banner?” Truth be told, she is still answering my questions, though I try to conceal the dumb ones a little better.
One day not that long ago, I was having a heck of a time trying to determine how to find a list of students. Donna Johnson stopped what she was doing to show me how to run a report that saved me time, energy and the replacement cost of the computer I was tempted to throw out the window.
And, then there’s the College of Education’s own resident ray of sunshine, Share Warden, who never seems to have a bad day and, in fact, makes everyone else’s day just a little bit better with her cheery disposition and thoughtfulness. If her good nature could be bottled and distributed, I’d make a fortune.
As a member of ERAC, I have the opportunity to work with great people who genuinely care about each other as we do what we can to keep staff interests in the forefront of campus-wide discussions. To no one’s surprise, it sometimes can get a little stressful. Bob Bruneio, ERAC’s vice chair, possesses an uncanny ability to sense when just a quick check-in phone call can help release the mounting pressure before it erupts in ways that could be embarrassing for me.
At one ERAC event, the projection system was not in place, and so like any good leader, my reaction was to panic. But, Angela Scott’s reaction was to calmly contact Carol Hill and Tyrone Russell to get what we needed in place. Thanks to all of these staff members, things went on without a hitch.
My point in sharing these examples, which are just a tiny fraction of the collection from which I could pull, is to highlight ERAC’s Give a High Five feature on our new website.
Give a High Five is one way ERAC members encourage you to thank your colleagues across campus for the everyday efforts that contribute to an overall creative, energetic, innovative, caring campus climate.
By completing the easy online form, you can acknowledge fellow staff members’ roles in making Lehigh a great place to work. More information is on the website. We’re committed to building staff morale one staff member at a time. And this is one way you can help.
ERAC Elections
We hope you had a chance to vote for new ERAC members before the April 10 deadline. This year, 12 exempt and five nonexempt staff members sought your support in the election.
Winners will be announced at the annual Lehigh Appreciation Dinner on May 5.
ERAC meets monthly and spends time at each meeting discussing the suggestions, questions and concerns brought to our attention. Please use the website to reach out, and we will follow up because for ERAC, Staff Matters.
Upcoming Events
May 13: ERAC meeting
June 10: ERAC meeting
June 20: Iron Pigs, 6:35 p.m. game
Knowledge @ Noon series: Admissions: Beyond Lehigh’s Benefits
More information to come.
For more information, contact Glenn Strause, ERAC events chair, at ghs2@lehigh.edu.