Franklin President Samuel Martín-Barbero has been invited to be a panelist at the Future Talent Summit in Higher Education in Stockholm, Sweden, on June 14-15, 2023. This year, the Summit is hosted by Minerva Project, the Higher Ed. Consulting unit of Minerva University. This event is exciting because it marks an occasion for exploring strategies for a better work-life balance in university life.
President Martín-Barbero will elaborate on efforts that the Franklin community has been making to increase productivity, wellness, and satisfaction for faculty, staff, and students. For example, on an administrative level, there have been recent discussions among FUS leaders regarding how to best time work-related communication. Sending emails, texts, or phone messages after office hours or on weekends is one point of contingency. According to a 2018 article in The Chronicle of Higher Education, employees’ quality of life dramatically improved when supervisors changed their habits to include communications within the workday period. Dean of Student Life and Engagement, Deborah Knaust, explains that one proactive way that Franklin is supporting a healthy transformation of working life in the spirit of the Summit is to implement flexible or “flex” time working for full-time staff in the Office of Student Life. A four-day work week is also being implemented in the summer of 2023. These are steps taken to envision how the workday might look in a post-pandemic world. Access to fitness facilities in the New C Building (the McNeely Center for Ideas and Imagination) is also being considered for both university employees and students to maximize wellness and good mental health throughout the upcoming academic year.
It is a unique opportunity for Franklin to participate in the Future Talent Summit in Higher Education, “the world’s most influential gathering of policymakers, educational leadership, and senior HR executives.” President Martín-Barbero will undoubtedly make a lasting impact among his cohorts at the Summit. Partnering with forward-thinking universities with varied structures is an excellent step toward making Franklin University Switzerland an enjoyable, effective workplace on all levels, including academics, administration, and logistics.