The Task Force

The Task Force on Workplace Culture was an 18-member task force co-chaired by the Vice President for Human Resources, Amanda Bailey, and Senior Diversity Officer, Andrea Taylor. The purpose of the task force was to identify and assess activities, events, and programs supporting the University’s culture. In addition, members reviewed survey results, peer benchmark data, and other documents to generate recommendations that impacted the University’s work culture indicators. To view this committee’s former members, click here.

The Mission & Objectives

The task force’s goal was to assess existing practices and staff perceptions of diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging in the work environment and recommend systemic improvements to address gaps in perceptions. The task force relied on the assessments, feedback, and recommendations from other constituent groups and its members to learn best practices for staff engagement and development. Input from constituents reflected the diverse community at the University, such as diversity by race, age, gender preference, generation, disability, and sexual orientation.

Former Subcommittees

Subcommittees were established to discuss and address the Task Force’s priorities outlined below.  

DE&I Work

This group examined DE&I programs and activities at the University to understand where these programs and activities occurred, their purpose, and how they supported the University’s DEI strategic plan goals. The group gained insight into how DE&I work is implemented successfully at BU and who the change-makers are across the University. 

Flexible Work

This group surveyed staff on remote work and recommended other forms of flexible work arrangements, particularly to meet the needs of employees who cannot work remotely. This group reviewed other flexible work models from peer institutions and analyzed how BU could implement certain elements. 

Leader Development

This group identified supervisors’ skills and competencies to effectively manage their teams in hybrid work environments across BU. This group also identified leadership competencies based on best practices.

2022 Flexible Staff Survey Results

In July 2022, the Flexible Work Subcommittee distributed a survey to all BU staff members regarding the University’s remote work policy. The survey goals were to identify how staff perceive current remote work options, understand why remote work is important to them, hear from staff ineligible for remote work, and identify other work options that could be extended to them. Survey participation was high, with 50% of eligible staff members sharing their opinion and experiences.

Members of the Flexible Work Subcommittee spent months meticulously reading thousands of open-ended comments and analyzing the data to report key trends and themes. While the process was intense, as full-time staff members themselves, subcommittee members felt personally connected to the subject matter and committed to creating a report of results that were thorough and reliable for the BU community.

The survey results guided the TFWC’s recommendations to senior leadership regarding improvements to the current remote work policies submitted in December 2022. The recommendations included the following:

  • Increase remote work options 
  • Formalize guidelines for flexible work & seasonal flexible work 
  • Institutionalize a staff advisory council

      The subcommittee also presented the results to several leadership groups on campus. After much consideration, President Robert A. Brown announced that remote work is here to stay, and BU needs to implement university-wide guidelines for flexible work, flexible seasonal work, and establish a BU Staff Advisory Council (BU-SAC). The BU-SAC will foster direct and regular communication between staff and University leadership to identify and address issues that affect our workplace culture and identify areas of improvement.  

      Please click here to view the survey results.  

      2022 Annual Report

      This report offers insights and recommendations based on the TFWC’s priorities. The 2022 annual report can be accessed here.  For questions related to this report, please contact Amanda Bailey, Vice President of Human Resources, at hrvp@bu.edu or call the Office of the Vice President in Human Resources at 617-353-4480.

      Resources

      From the DE&I Subcommittee

      From the Flexible Work Subcommittee

       From the Leader Development Subcommittee

        *Online registration is required to access content

        Contact Us

        If you have questions, concerns, or information you’d like to share, please email Amanda Bailey, Vice President for Human Resources, at hrvp@bu.edu or call her at 617-353-4480.