Interim structure and leadership for Human Resource operations - Sept. 19, 2024

Please see the message below to all employees from President James Smith:

As many of you know, Brett Last, the University’s Associate Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer (CHRO), recently left EMU to lead the human resource operations at a public university in Texas. With Brett’s departure, we have evaluated the University’s human resource operations, which include: compensation and benefits administration; recruitment and hiring processes; labor contract negotiation and administration; academic appointment, tenure, and promotion; and other important services for our 1,500+ regular and part-time employees. Our goal during this evaluation was to identify ways to enhance the quality and efficiency of the human resource services that the University provides to employees.

We are pleased to announce a pilot program that will merge the University Human Resources (UHR) Office, which had been led by Mr. Last, with the Academic Human Resources (AHR) Office, which is currently led by Kathy Stacey. This merged unit will consist of the employees of UHR and AHR, and will oversee all human resource operations for the University.

Interim CHRO

Kathy Stacey will lead the merged Human Resources Office on an interim basis. Her interim title will be Associate Vice President & Chief Human Resources Officer.

Kathy will report directly to Rhonda Longworth, the University’s Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic & Student Affairs, but Kathy will also have “dotted-line” reporting responsibility to me.

We are excited about this pilot program. Kathy is a seasoned University leader with decades of experience as a professor, department head, interim dean and, most recently, the leader of AHR. Her focus in her new merged role for the University will include improving the services delivered to the University’s employees, developing more user-friendly processes, and continuing to develop and administer compensation and benefit plans that are competitive based on the marketplaces in which EMU competes for talent.

Next Steps

We expect to assess the impact and outcomes of this pilot program in 9-12 months, at which time our options may include continuing the pilot program, permanently merging the University’s central and academic human resource operations into a single unit, or returning to the current system in which AHR and UHR are separate entities with separate leaders.

Please join me in congratulating Kathy and supporting her as she assumes this important role.

James Smith, Ph.D.
President, Eastern Michigan University