FROM THE DESK OF DAVID JONES
While it may seem odd, at least on the surface, that there are two Directors of Employee & Management Services, it really does make sense given the division of organizational responsibility allocated between Linda Faris (my counterpart) and me. Like Linda, who authored this column last month, I am responsible for supporting 13 human resources managers who provide advice, counsel, and expertise on the range of human resources activity. The difference … Linda is responsible for the academic side of the house, and I serve the business affairs/administrative/service units at Stanford. Together with Keith Smith (Labor Relations Manager), and Patti Bowling (Administrative Assistant), we are also responsible for providing expertise on all labor relations matters including collective bargaining and contract administration.
Notwithstanding the tidy division of labor – Linda and I, and our teams, work very closely to coordinate a consistent approach in connection with the delivery of HR services, including the application of HR policies. Together we also serve as the “ties that bind” Central Human Resources (CHR) with human resources in the schools and departments. Towards that end, we will be working feverishly over the course of the next several months to strengthen the HR community at Stanford. This work will include a critical look and evaluation of the respective authorities and accountabilities currently allocated between CHR, and the schools and departments, as well as an assessment of competencies, capabilities, and resources necessary in order for HR to increase the value it brings to the University. I conclude this month’s column on Day 45 of my sojourn at Stanford. As each day has passed, I’ve become increasingly inspired by the extraordinary, and incredibly bright people that I have encountered. I’ve also become increasingly aware of the many challenges that face the HR community – strengthening our ties, building our capability, deepening our understanding and appreciation for diversity, among other things. The great news is…..I have no doubt that we’re up for any challenge.
TIPS & TRICKSPeopleSoft deadlines and signing up for benefitsBenefits data feeds to the benefits administration system occur on Monday and Thursday each week. Employees included in those feeds are then able sign up for benefits the day after the feed. To ensure your new employees make the Monday and Thursday feed, they must be entered in PeopleSoft the day before.
Important: Although you may enter new employee information into PeopleSoft up to two pay periods in advance, the information will not go to the benefits administration system until their actual first day of employment. Sean Bywaters - Important Announcement on Sexual HarassmentMandated Training for All Faculty and Staff Supervisors The live training sessions will be conducted by Life Theatre Services, an Emmy Award-winning theatrical training company. Life Theatre presents interactive dramatizations that encourage complex, three-dimensional responses to university scenes. The online program is provided by Lawroom, a premiere online training company. Both training options have been designed to provide relevancy to the university setting. You should already have received an email from the Provost and an invitation to register from Lawroom. Under California’s broad legal definition of “supervisor,” all faculty members qualify as supervisors due to their roles overseeing students, TAs, RAs, post docs, staff or other faculty. Therefore, all faculty are required to complete this state mandated sexual harassment training by December 1, 2007. Susyn Almond
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Teofila Kloak
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Teofila Kloak has a long and successful history with Stanford. In addition to having worked as an HR Manager, first for the Vice Provost for Student Affairs and now for the Graduate School of Business, Teofila is an alumnus of this great University. She majored in Sociology/Organizational Behavior (how perfect!) and although I won’t divulge her graduation year, suffice it to say her 20th reunion will take place within the next few years…
Teofila was born in Watsonville and grew up in San Juan Bautista and Hollister. She is a member of the first generation to go to college in her family. When she met a cousin from Cuba several years ago, he told her that he and her other cousins in Cuba knew of her college experience and were inspired by her. Her inspiration kept their hopes up when there seemed little to be hopeful about in their lives. He has since received his Ph.D. in math from UC Irvine and is working in finance in Southern California. Teofila would love to go to Cuba someday with her father, who came to the United States when he was 19 years old and has never been back.
After college, Teofila worked for AT&T in Sunnyvale as a “personnel specialist.” Teofila met her husband, Andy, in San Jose, but he is from Chicago and wanted to move back there. So after a year in “personnel,” she transferred to a customer service position based in Chicago. Remember those banks of telephones that used to exist in hotel lobbies and airports? Well, it was her job to negotiate contracts for these locations, trouble-shoot service problems and work with the local telephone companies. She was able to travel all over the Midwest – and appears to have enjoyed this activity –even the infamous Fargo, North Dakota.
Eventually, however, the position was relocated to New Jersey, so she looked for another job and found one at the University of Chicago, where she spent three and a half years, first as a recruiter and then as an HR Generalist.
While in Chicago, Teofila was star struck and reports the following encounters. She told me, “Once I ran into Oprah when she was leaving her condo building, and I high-fived Michael Jordan after a baseball game he played in. I saw John F. Kennedy, Jr. in an Italian restaurant late at night having dinner with Darrell Hannah, saw Harry Connick, Jr. in a restaurant, and met Richard Roeper, the movie critic. I also saw David Schwimmer of Friends fame walking in my neighborhood.”
At that time, she was also very involved with the Stanford Club and eventually served as chapter President. She invited Phil Zimbardo to speak to alumni, cold-called Napa wineries with a Stanford connection and managed to pull off a hugely successful winemaker dinner at a lovely Chicago restaurant. She also arranged special events at the Chicago Art Institute (such as a private showing of the Monet exhibit) so alumni could network.
She loves to travel and seems to take living dangerously in stride. She is proud of her ability to be calm under pressure, as demonstrated not only by her HR work, but by a couple of interesting travel stories. When in Cinque Terre (Italian Riveria) hiking between hill towns, she and Andy went off the path and found themselves clinging to the hillside with a 200 foot drop to the ocean below. Andy was getting nervous, but Teofila kept her cool and they made it to safety. Another time, they were in Yellowstone and went off the trail into a swampy/hilly area. After wandering far and wide and noticing the sun was beginning to set, they started to head back. Unfortunately, they didn’t know where they were. Teofila says she has a good sense of direction and was able to get them back to the car.
Teofila and Andy live in Newark with their two lovely little girls, Mariana (4) and Cassandra (1). In spite of being star struck, loving to travel, being an event planner extraordinaire and never seemingly to be able to stay on the path (is that the same as “thinking out of the box”?), Teofila is also quite a homebody. She loves to cook and try new recipes (currently she’s working on Italian perfection), and in addition is trying to master Cuban fare under the tutelage of her father, a fantastic cook. In fact, she says she could spend hours wandering the aisles of high end specialty grocery stores just looking at the goodies.
She also enjoys jewelry making – right now she has a turquoise necklace in the works – and sewing (she’s presently working on a fabric room screen with a safari print). These have actually been in the works for a year and now that she is very busy with two young children and work, she wonders how she’ll ever get back to all of these projects!
Teofila loves to read and is especially fond of cultural fiction that helps her understand the experiences of different cultural groups in America. Her favorite authors are Julia Alvarez, Christina Garcia, and Amy Tan.
With all her interests, activities, and responsibilities, it’s a good thing Teofila has perfected the art of staying “calm under pressure!”
Sharys Wheeler
HRM, School of Education
Please join us for the September Birthday Celebration. All HR staff is invited to join in the celebration with cake and a chance to network with colleagues.
655 Serra, Magnolia Conference Room
October 25
3:30 – 4:30
Welcome to …
- Edward Austria, transferred from Office of Development to Benefit Specialist within the Retirement area of Stanford Benefits
- Daria Kitch, HRA, Graduate School of Business
- Barbara Miller, promoted from Benefits Specialist to Benefits Analyst within the Retirement area of Stanford Benefits
Is your name missing? Let us know when you joined the HR staff, your title and department.
To find current Human Resources positions available throughout the organization, click here.
