August 17, 2006
Kornberg named HR vice president
Mindy Kornberg, currently assistant vice president of human resources at Duke University, has been appointed the UW’s next vice president of human resources, Executive Vice President Weldon Ihrig announced. She starts her new job Sept. 18.
“Mindy’s understanding of universities and medical centers, along with her proven track record in providing greater opportunities for staff development and recognition, brings a wealth of knowledge to our University,” says Ihrig. “We are fortunate to have attracted Mindy so that she can advance the Leadership, Community and Values Initiative. Her vision and creativity will be a real asset to the UW.”
Kornberg, who is an attorney, has been at Duke since 1998. From 1990 to 1997 she was associate general counsel of Alyeska Pipeline Service Company in Anchorage, Alaska. But she has had a long involvement with labor relations, even as a practicing attorney.
“People are our greatest capital,” she says. “That makes the work culture and environment critically important. I’ve seen how the workplace can become unpleasant and where the only way to raise issues appears to be by becoming a whistleblower. It’s obviously much better if we can talk with one another. So that’s how I began getting involved with human resources and looking in detail at work culture.
“What drew me to the UW was the commitment of the University leadership to make an excellent institution become even stronger. President Emmert and Provost Wise understand well the value of making investments in human capital. I think the Leadership, Community and Values Initiative has the potential of improving the work environment broadly, across all three campuses.”
At Duke, which Kornberg described as a highly decentralized environment that in some ways resembles the UW, she was a leader in several initiatives that sought to bring substantial change in the workplace culture. She was a member of the Women’s Initiative Committee, which has sought to bring full equality of opportunity. In addressing the issues raised by the initiative, Duke expects to improve the campus environment for all individuals and not just for women. For more information, see http://www.duke.edu/womens_initiative/index.html.
“For example, both child care and elder care have emerged as important issues,” she says. “Both spouses are often working, so child care becomes a critical need and often a source of frustration for working couples. But it can be very expensive for institutions to build their own facilities to deal with these issues. I’ve found the optimal solution is to leverage the university’s resources into creating more opportunities in the surrounding community. Regardless of how we do it, we need to help people achieve balance in their lives. That’s one way of recognizing the diverse individuals who work at universities. They need to feel valued, which means their needs outside of work have to be taken into account.”
Kornberg also helped to expand professional development opportunities at Duke. “We know that people want more professional development, and as educational institutions we need to find ways of expanding opportunity. We also need to help individuals define what professional development means for them. Too many people find themselves in what they regard as dead-end jobs.”
When Kornberg came to Duke, the only awards for staff were for perfect attendance. Under her leadership, the university instituted a variety of prestigious awards for achievements by staff and also created “toolkits” for units to develop their own award programs.
Kornberg recognizes that trying to achieve standards of management and supervision in a decentralized environment poses great challenges. One thing that drew her to the UW was the recognition that top leadership is taking these issues seriously. “I think the LCVI initiative is wonderful,” she says. “Change only occurs when it is endorsed by institutional leaders.”
Kornberg, who described herself as a “change agent,” sees her role as serving the University in carrying out its mission better through improved human resource policies and practices. “I’m not coming in with my own agenda,” she says. “I intend to meet as many people as I can, and then do my part in carrying forward the UW’s agenda.”
