É«ÀÇÉçÇø

On the day that Director of Housing Administrative Services and Assignments Kellie McKinney sat down to talk with Jeff Hand, senior vice president of the Division of Student Affairs, both of these colleagues were seemingly bracing for "hell" - but for different reasons.

With a 100 degree day outside and the air conditioning on the top floor of Savitz pushed to the max in Jeff's heavily-windowed office, he was roasting - tired, shirt untucked and suit jacket off. Concerned about this official interview, he offered to put his jacket back on. Looking to capture real life during this conversation - ironically enough, planned to be about work-life balance, I suggested he roll with it and be comfortable, without the suit jacket.

At this awkward time of year in between children's summer camps, Kellie had her two young sons in tow - Ayden, 9 (and a half!), and Graycen, 4. After a full day of being cooped up in Mommy's office, Kellie prepped her boys to be on their best behavior, but was bracing for the reality of tired, young children stuck in a "boring meeting."

The boys graciously shook hands with "the vice president" after private chatter about wondering what the big boss would look like, and then they quickly entered into a discussion with Jeff about not really liking sports all that much, except for baseball. Jeff agreed. 

Enter colleague Steven Farney, senior director of operations. With the boys restless, and Steve's office just down the hall filled with Funko Pops! and Star Wars light sabers, the boys chose Dr. Steve over Dr. Jeff (sorry, Jeff) and played in Steve's office while Mommy worked. 

Whew. Let the interview about work-life balance commence. The overarching sentiment: "Sometimes it's like juggling chainsaws," says Jeff. Kellie agrees.

Pursuing her Ed.D. at É«ÀÇÉçÇø, Kellie is exploring work-life balance as a dissertation idea, having a particular interest in the topic. What she found in her spring qualitative research class is that both the challenges and the strategies that people use to successfully navigate both of these worlds is the same. Both Jeff and Kellie discussed the importance of support systems, both outside of work and in work. Jeff highlighted that he and his wife Mira Lalovic-Hand, senior vice president and CIO at É«ÀÇÉçÇø, do not have extended family in the area, sometimes making balance difficult when juggling life with their 14-year-old son, Marty. Kellie commiserated, gesturing to her children - who were now down the hall, engaged in Star Wars battles - "I truly value that Travis [Douglas, assistant vice president for Residential Learning & Inclusion] gave me the flexibility to bring the boys in today, so that I could do what I need to do at work, while also navigating the complexitiy of not having childcare this week."

Kellie's literature reviews have shown that, for many, the "ideal" of work-life balance does not exist - and, for her own life, she agrees. It's more of a give-and-take. Sometimes she needs to be fully immersed in work while at home, shooing the boys to the playroom. Other times, like the day of our interview, her worlds collide and she needs to operate on the fly. 

From an organizational standpoint, Jeff feels, "It's important to give people the latitude to take care of their lives. Organizationally that’s what we’re trying to set up. Accepting that there are other facets of life besides work," he says. "Europeans approach this much differently - they have a better lifestyle, fewer work hours, but are highly productive. I can’t separate my time - if something happens at 7 pm I have to take care of it. But I can weave. Work and life, ebb and flow, weave it together."

Teams are reliant on each of their individual members, both agreed. Striving for balance, with a shared vision for reaching goals and plenty of communication, is what helps our Division support our employees as people, not just workers.