With 19,000 employees, UR faces a struggle similar to any working business or organization how to connect and deliver information to its workers. UR has already taken great strides in the delivery of information to students. Initiatives such as the Weekly Buzz have become a vital way to deliver information to undergraduates. Currently, however, such initiatives are not spread across thousands employed by the University. Many employees do not have university e-mail addresses, a service that is standard for undergraduate and graduate students.
One method to connect this population would be to provide e-mails to all University staff, even those that may not work at a computer as part of their daily jobs. Such e-mails would work just as student e-mails do giving UR an outlet for communicating important and time sensitive information to a large group of people at once.
However, this would be just one step in helping to effectively communicate with all employees. Even with blanket e-mails some workers may not regularly check them, and UR should look into even faster methods of connecting with employees. A system with a contact database similar to AlertUR could be implemented for employees, which would allow UR to notify employees in a method of its choosing of important information like updated employee benefits and security alerts.
By connecting their employees electronically, the University will no longer have to solely rely on spreading important information through word of mouth or printed publications. Such a communication method would further bring employees together, and work to foster a smaller university atmosphere, even among the nearly 20,000 employees that UR is responsible for contacting.
