Human Resources Newsletter
September is Nat'l Suicide Prevention and Hispanic & Latino Heritage Month
Register for a Mental Health First Aid Workshop
Fall Professional Development Reminders
Virtual Policy Info Session
Friday, October 3rd 2:30 - 3:30pm, via Zoom
As we shared at the September forums and Faculty Meeting, there are three new policies that impact how we engage in our work as a community. We are inviting participation in a policy information session, which will focus on new policies related to dogs in the workplace and driving Vassar vehicles, as well as revisions to the leave of absence job protection policy.
Supervisor Sprint
Monday, November 10th 9-12pm, CC MPR
Tuesday, November 11th 9-12pm, CC MPR
Wednesday, November 12th 9-12pm, CC MPR
Thursday, November 13th 9-12pm, Old Laundry Building 314
Friday, November 14th 9-12pm, Old Laundry Building 314
The supervisor sprint is a professional development opportunity for anyone who supervises employees at Vassar, including student employees. Join us for a series of interactive workshops across five days to develop skills setting expectations, making operational decisions, navigating conflict, providing feedback and coaching.
We encourage individuals who register commit to attending as much of the training in full as possible in order to have the ability to engage with each topic and get to know other sprint participants. However, we understand that may not be feasible for all employees, and just ask you notify us in your registration if you will need to miss any portion.
Listening With Purpose
Tuesday, October 21st 10-11am, College Center MPR (CC223)
We’ve all had moments where we left a conversation feeling like wires got crossed — maybe something wasn’t clear, or the takeaway didn’t match what the other person expected. Small miscommunications like these can snowball into bigger frustrations or conflicts. In this training, we'll explore simple tools for being more present, catching what others really mean (not just what they say), and making sure we’re on the same page. These skills help reduce conflict, strengthen collaboration across differences, and make day-to-day interactions smoother. Open to all employees.
A Change in Self-Paced Training
As of July 31, 2025, Vassar officially retired its institutional subscription to the LinkedIn Learning platform. This decision followed over a year of careful consideration, including monitoring usage and gathering insights directly from active users.
Our analysis showed a consistent decline in campus-wide engagement. This, combined with rising costs, led us to conclude that focusing on alternative learning solutions would better serve the Vassar community.
We recognize the importance of skill development and continuing education. In anticipation of this transition, CIS, in collaboration with Human Resources, has proactively explored various options to ensure continued support for self-paced learning. Human Resources is also continuing to evolve its employee talent development program while exploring content delivery options.
Although Vassar no longer offers a college-wide subscription, numerous high-quality, free, or pay-per-use online learning platforms are available. We encourage you to explore resources like:
- Online Course Aggregators: Class Central helps you search and compare courses from many providers.
- Specialized Learning Platforms: Coursera and Udemy offer extensive catalogs with options for individual purchases or subscriptions.
- Vendor-Provided Training: Companies such as Microsoft, Google, and Adobe often offer free training for their proprietary tools.
For more information, please visit this knowledge-base article about self-paced training. We appreciate your understanding and are committed to supporting your ongoing learning and growth. In addition to self-paced training, Human Resources offers other talent development resources and workshops.
Benefits Fair on October 7th 2025
Benefits Fair October 7th
Join us for the 2025 Employee Benefits Fair October 7th!
The fair is from 10am - 4pm in the Villard and Multi Purpose Rooms
We will have a flu shot clinic again this year
Schedule your appointment ahead of time via the links below:
Morning Appointments - https://calendar.app.google/Sgo9hFpTwixBCm959
Afternoon Appointments - https://calendar.app.google/UPQw4j2L4jwgWcxK7
Health Service Employee Engagement Events
