Drawing on the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, the keynote speaker at Administrative Professionals Day encouraged Georgetown staff to be the change they want to see in the world – and at the university.
Kathleen Maas Weigert, executive director of the
Center for Social Justice, Research, Teaching and Service, spoke April 23 at the university’s third annual breakfast celebrating the work of administrative professionals. Administrative professionals – executive assistants, coordinators, specialists and others on campus responsible for office-related support – number about 500 at Georgetown.
Maas Weigert said Gandhi’s principles for change, including simplicity and service, could be received well in personal and professional contexts. Creating change is easiest when we develop networks, she said.
“None of us would be where we are without the support of so many,” she said. “If we want to see change in the world … we need to find or create networks of support, people who draw out the best in us as we do in them.”
Maas Weigert then encouraged staff members to talk about the changes they’d like to see at Georgetown, and how to best accomplish them. As each table in Copley Formal Lounge brainstormed for 15 minutes, attendees offered critiques and ideas to improve the workplace.
One participant raised the point that administrative professionals can be isolated from each other in different offices and locations around the university. Some suggested quarterly meetings or monthly lunches to foster a greater sense of community. This would also allow for more networking opportunities and an exchange of ideas, attendees said.
Some staff expressed interest in having a mentoring program that pairs new staff members with Georgetown veterans. Mentors need not be in the same department, one employee said, but they could just provide a guiding hand.
“It was nicely put together,”
Mary Hawkins, information specialist in the
Office of Advancement, said of the idea exchange. “You were able to get a sense of what everyone was feeling. Sometimes departments don’t know what each other are doing.”
Maas Weigert pledged to compile the full list of ideas and share it with senior leaders, including
Mary Anne Mahin, vice president and chief human resources officer, who encouraged staff members to contact her with additional ideas. Hearing from administrative professionals is especially helpful, she said, because they work at every level of the university.
“Some of these issues aren’t new to us, and there was some overlap in terms of what people would like to see,” Mahin said after the breakfast. “It’s so helpful when people offer their ideas of what would make the university a better place.”
Similar issues are being addressed. Staff members previously have asked for more senior leaders to listen to their suggestions. Mahin said that effort has intensified with administrators such as
Spiros Dimolitsas, senior vice president, attending the breakfast event; Dr.
Howard Federoff, head of the Medical Center, holding frequent town hall meetings; and university President
John J. DeGioia attending a recent staff banquet and holding town hall meetings.
The breakfast event acted as time for the university to show appreciation to its administrative professionals. Dimolitsas likened Georgetown to a system of interdependent cogs. Administrative professionals tie the entire university machinery together, he said.
Charles DeSantis, associate vice president and chief benefits officer, referred to the administrative professionals as the backbone of the university and said that none of the changes discussed will be possible if staff members do not care for themselves.
In a plug for
GUWellness, which aims to boost the mind, body and soul of Georgetown faculty and staff, DeSantis
said one’s overall wellness directly impacts what can be accomplished, both in professional and personal environments.
“You support so many people in being the change you want to see, but it also begins with you and how you care for yourself,” he said. “By caring for yourselves, you care for others.”
