Happy New Year & welcome to FY23 – A note from Lauren Giaimo

July is an important, special, and busy month!

The month starts off with a bang (literally!) for the Fourth of July, and this year we had the bonus of an additional temporary holiday that turned it into a four-day weekend. Also, with the school year officially over (both at Yale and in our local school systems), the campus starts to slow down, and staff start to take PTO and spend time with friends, family, and loved ones – rest brings out your best!   

For professional development, it is a VERY busy month!  It marks the end of one fiscal year and the beginning of a new one, which means it is time for annual performance reviews and goal setting. It is a time to both reflect on everything you have accomplished in the prior year – both what and how – while also thinking about what goals and priorities you will have for the upcoming year. In Finance, we use the Compass Cascade to start the discussion around goals and point all of us in the right direction. This important process ensures that all staff can discuss what and how they have and can continue to contribute to the success of Finance by aligning their goals, as much as possible, with the overarching goals provided by Steve Murphy. By the time this goes to press, everyone should have participated in both the annual review and Compass Cascade process and be ready to tackle a new fiscal year!  As an SLT, we have embarked upon the process of prioritizing, scoping, and resourcing our priorities for FY23, of which, as you can imagine, there are many. While we have not finished the work it is the current focus of our SLT meetings (we have already spent over 5 hours on the topic!). Having said that, I am confident that I can share the two top priorities for Finance that will never change:

#1 – Commitment to a Positive Work Environment

#2 – Maintain Day-to-Day Services & Operational Continuity

Everyone in Finance contributes to these two top priorities, and for that we are thankful every day.

Again, Happy New Year! I hope to see everyone at the Summer Bash Tuesday, August 2 in the back lot of Science Park!

Lauren