From the Desk of Willie Brown V5N3

Thank you to HDAE Staff for Making a Difference!

On the five year anniversary of the catastrophic January 9 Debris Flow in Montecito, another record-setting storm system battered Santa Barbara County and resulted in closures of highways 101 and 154 by late Monday afternoon. As a result, all of the local hotels were filled within hours of the evacuation orders and road closures, and several of our staff that commute to campus were stranded without a place to stay the night.

Fortunately, Administrative Services leadership quickly made the decision to provide emergency shelter accommodations with rooms that were not booked at The Club & Guest House and West Cottages. Simon Herrera-Gomez and the staff at The Club & Guest House, as well as Brad Gray and the Residential Operations emergency maintenance technicians, worked into the night to make sure nearly 50 UCSB staff members had a place to safely sleep — including delivering linens, blankets, pillows, towels, soap, and body wash to those staying at the West Cottages during some of the worst deluges of the storm. 

This was a stellar representation of our WE CARE values, and it is very humbling to see our dedicated staff spring into action to treat their colleagues with such dignity during these uncertain emergency events. Thank you for your outstanding work and positivity, and for helping your co-workers in need!

I would also like to reiterate my sincere appreciation to everyone who participated in the HDAE 2022 Employee Engagement Survey. Your thoughtful and honest responses go a long way in helping us identify areas where we can improve as an organization. In the coming weeks the HDAE management team will be creating an action plan based on the survey results that many of you provided. Although we know that change and improvement do not happen overnight, our hope is there will be changes in the near future that will improve your work experience. If you think of additional feedback or ideas, please feel free to contact me. Be well and stay safe HDAE Team!