One year later: A thank you to employees

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It has now been one year since nearly 90% of University employees transitioned to remote work. We did so with little warning, no timeline and minimal planning.

We settled into makeshift workplaces – kitchens, garages and bedrooms. For many of us, including me, children joined us. While pets wandered and wondered, we battled others in our households for space and bandwidth. Our boundaries were tested in many ways.

But the challenges did not end there. The financial threat to the University led to a hiring slowdown and the Furlough and Furlough-Based Salary programs. For many of you, job responsibilities required you to continue to work at a campus location – and doing so meant following strict safety and testing protocols. A few weeks stretched to months, and now to four full seasons.

One year later, I want to tell you how enormously proud we should be.

But not just because we worked harder or sacrificed pay. In May 2020, my colleague Josephine Corder, director of Life & Work Connections, wrote an article titled "What it means to Bear Down" that resonated with me. In it, she appealed for us to not sacrifice ourselves trying to make everything run as it did before. Rather, she encouraged us to "keep our tanks full" and make time for self-care.

It is on this challenge that I believe we should reflect.

When I say that we should be proud, I'm talking about the compassion we showed ourselves and others. This compassion was revealed in ways big and small, and this compassion continues. It is the short walk you decide to take after hours of looking at your computer screen. It is the patience you demonstrate on Zoom when your colleagues continue to talk while muted, or fumble as they try to share their screen. It is the flexibility you offered colleagues who are parents and caregivers navigating work and their limited child care or adult care options. And this compassion includes the pivots and redefinitions of priorities you made within your teams.

We may have lost our hallway conversations and afternoon coffee walks, but when I hear from the different members of our community, I am inspired by how we have identified new ways to stay connected and support one another.

I believe the COVID-19 pandemic has revealed what we already did well and continues to show us ways we can be better and thrive.

The truth is that the past year was about much more than simply working remotely. It was about redefining the relationships we have with one another. For example, I have heard from several people who are pleased that they actually met and interacted virtually with more colleagues from campus this past year than they ever would have otherwise. The digital environment has facilitated many opportunities that I hope will continue long into the future.

It is also important for me to note that our compassion extends beyond relationships with work colleagues. I was reminded of that this past Friday when I had the opportunity to volunteer at the University's vaccine POD. I saw countless University employees working and volunteering alongside health professionals and community members in a unified effort to help our city and state.

Thank you all for your compassion, but also for your adaptability and determination. The University of Arizona has repeatedly been in the news for its leadership in COVID-19 testing and vaccine distribution. Those efforts are world-class and should be trumpeted. And it is all members of our community, including our staff and faculty, who make these efforts possible, living our values and serving the mission of our institution.

So, once again, thank you for your resilience over the past 365-plus days and counting. Bear Down, be well and be safe.

Helena Rodrigues is vice president and chief human resources officer.