(ceremonious bright music)

- [Michele] Hello and
thank you for tuning in

to Connections & Directions,

our University of Michigan's Civil

and Environmental Engineering podcast.

My name is Michele Santillan

and I am the CEE Marketing
communications specialist

and host of this series.

During our podcast, we
are featuring members

of our CEE community

and how their work reflects our mission

of engineers in service to society.

We will be highlighting
our strategic directions

and our commitment to
diversity, equity and inclusion.

CEE's five strategic directions

are human habitat experience,

shaping resource flows, adaptation,

automation and smart
infrastructure finance.

Today we are talking with Pat Brainard,

the CEE unit administrator,

and she will be discussing her role

in helping CEE achieve its mission

of engineers in service
to society, welcome, Pat.

- [Pat] Thank you for having me.

- [Michele] As unit administrator,

how do you view yourself

as participating in our
CEE strategic directions?

- [Pat] Well, I have the
good fortune of participating

in both the creation of
the strategic directions

as well as the implementation committees.

So with any strategic plan,

one of our goals is to ensure

that all members of our community

can see themselves fitting into it.

For us, that includes the
entire U of M CEE community

which means faculty, staff,

students, alumni, et cetera.

From the staff perspective,

we support the faculty and students

who are conducting research
within these five areas

or teaching them in our classrooms

or advising our students,
organizations and teams.

We view our role as collaborating,

creating and innovating

alongside our talented
faculty and students.

And we support our global impact

of our strategic directions

with our commitment to
teamwork, cooperation,

and mutual success toward common goals.

These are all part of our
staff mission statement.

From my personal perspective,

I communicate and promote our directions.

We use them as a guide when
conducting faculty searches

or when meeting with
the college leadership

regarding strategic planning
or financial requests.

- [Michele] And you mentioned
how the strategic directions

are in support of our global mission.

How does our mission of
engineers in service to society

resonate with you?

- [Pat] To me, this is really similar

to the leadership style referred
to as servant leadership.

In a nutshell,

that concept means putting
others ahead of oneself.

So that might be reflected
in the greater good of a team

over a manager,

the organization's success

more so than any particular department,

or putting ethics above financial gain.

Within U of M Civil and
Environmental Engineering,

I see this as applying many

of the servant leadership components

to the way that we conduct our research,

how and what we teach our students,

and how we interact with each other

within our own community.

For example, our researchers may partner

with municipalities to address a concern.

If we approach the situation by assuming

that we understand all of the problems,

have all of the answers,

we are not gonna be very successful,

and we certainly aren't
exemplifying good leadership.

We need to build trust, listen carefully,

ask questions to seek understanding,

and determine possible solutions together.

In service to society

also means treating people
equally, respectfully,

with dignity and integrity.

- [Michele] And as you ended on that note

with respect and integrity,

how do you see DEI incorporated
in CEE's initiatives,

not necessarily specific to a
single class or research area?

- [Pat] Sure, to be honest,

there are so many aspects of DEI

that it would really be difficult

to name all of the ways
that we incorporate them.

We value diversity of opinion,

background and experiences

which each individual
brings to the department.

We intentionally build relationships,

especially within the staff team,

to embrace our differences

and learn about and from each other.

We have several staff
with hidden disabilities,

so we understand that disabilities
do not mean inability.

We host and attend DEI training.

We have a certificate available

for staff, faculty and students

to attain as we participate
in more DEI activities,

discussions and reflections.

We plan events with inclusion in mind

as well as making our marketing materials,

website and recruiting
information accessible.

We have a DEI roadmap, a
very active DEI committee,

and a DEI program manager

committed to working on a
broad range of DEI initiatives.

We align with the College of Engineering

and the overall university,
of course, with our DEI.

Our Pelham Scholars program

provides an industry mentoring program

for master's students
from diverse backgrounds

and allows those students to, in turn,

mentor undergraduates as well.

We request DEI statements from applicants

to help ensure DEI is valued

by those wishing to join our department.

And what we don't do is we don't assume

that DEI is a standalone topic.

We make sure that we wanna
weave it into our daily work,

like you're doing with these podcasts.

- [Michele] Can you provide
some additional examples

of DEI that you'd like to highlight?

- [Pat] Sure, for one example,

when we're posting for
a new staff position,

we use software designed to
make the language more inclusive

with the intent of
getting a well-qualified,

more diverse applicant pool.

We involve several people
in the interview process

including faculty and the team members

with whom the new hire's going to work.

The interviewers are all
provided a list of the required

and desired qualifications,

so that we can rate
applicants against them

in a consistent fashion.

And I also share information compiled

regarding potential
biases in interviewing.

So that we know to avoid those.

And when we're ready to
make an offer to a candidate

from our pool,

I extend the highest possible salary

that the college HR team will permit

based on the applicant's
education skills and experience.

And I do this because I
know that some people,

typically women, are not
comfortable negotiating salaries.

So extending the top
figure mitigates this issue

along with the longer term effects

such as merit increases being smaller.

And another example that I have

is more related to curriculum.

We've kicked off a project
to compile stories that show

both good and not so good examples

of historical civil and
environmental engineering

practices affecting communities.

The stories come from
peer-reviewed journals

or popular resources such as newspapers

with a twofold goal.

We plan on creating case
studies to use in our curriculum

with facilitated discussions

about ways we can learn from the case.

But we also plan to share those stories

within our broader Big Ten
Plus network of universities

in support of the greater
benefit to have more CEE faculty

and students across the
nation learn from our efforts.

- [Michele] What would you
say to prospective students

who are considering applying
to our CEE department?

- [Pat] Well, I would say that civil

and environmental engineering

combines the oldest and
newest degree programs

in engineering into an
exceedingly broad group

of highly impactful areas of study.

There are numerous
sub-disciplines within CEE

such as air and water
quality, transportation,

construction, just to name a few.

CEE also intersects with
many other disciplines

such as robotics, business,

finance and public policy

which means that you can create a path

that will fit your career
interests and goals.

And much of the work is
not at a typical desk job

constrained to an office or cubicle.

In addition, our class
sizes are relatively small

and you have the opportunity
to work more closely

with some of the instructors.

If you're seeking part-time employment,

there are temp positions available

as graders or instructional
and some of the faculty

seek students to assist
with their research.

And student organizations such
as the Concrete Canoe Team,

Steel Bridge Team,

or the Chi Epsilon Honor
Society are very active

and provide opportunities

to meet and have fun with other students.

So that means that, all in all,

the life of a CEE student
can be well-balanced

between education, work
and social activities.

- [Michele] What attributes would you say

make our department distinct

from other universities' CEE departments?

- [Pat] Well, for one thing,

our programs are consistently
among the top ranked.

And by our programs,

I mean all of our undergrad
and graduate degree programs.

Our faculty, students and staff all engage

in creativity, innovation
and daring where possible

and that makes it more exciting.

We're also part of a larger
comprehensive university

where we can easily partner
with other top ranked leaders

at our business school, law school,

school of public policy, and
of course, our health system.

And that's not to mention the
other engineering disciplines

right here at this college.

This provides resources that
are more readily available

than what other universities might have.

Our location is another unique feature.

Ann Arbor is consistently
ranked as a great place

to both live and work.

There's many cultural and
sporting activities within town

or close by in Detroit,

which is less than an hour away,

or Chicago which is only
a four-hour train ride.

And also, I think that our DEI commitment

is probably much better than
what most other programs are.

- [Michele] And what are
your goals for CEE in 2023?

- [Pat] Well, I've been much more involved

with the marketing
aspects of the department

and would like to see more of our strategy

implemented in 2023.

We wanna demonstrate and promote the fact

that we are a destination department

where faculty, staff and students

desire to work and learn
with cutting-edge research,

small class sizes,

excellent facilities
and a positive culture.

This will also enhance our
reputation beyond recruiting

such as with professional organizations

industry in academia.

Another goal concerns
our staff and faculty

who've joined in the last
year or during the pandemic.

With so many newer colleagues,

I'd like to go beyond basic onboarding

and really build strong relationships

within each team and between our teams.

I'd like to increase the
high quality connections

that we have with each other

because it's much more
energizing to work with people

who are empathetic, can
see in others' perspective,

are respectful in their interactions,

and can be playful yet fully
engaged with the work at hand.

- [Michele] And is there
a particular project

you've worked on over
the years or projects

that you feel particularly proud about?

- [Pat] I would say that I am proud

of a couple of things that come to mind.

One is our boarding with the staff.

We have been pretty detailed

and have a process that's
evolved over the years

that involves the whole department

and really has a welcoming
sense for any new hire.

So they have the opportunity to meet

with other staff in different
roles, get to know them,

learn about what other people do.

We have a lot of resources we give

that they can refer back to

so they don't have to memorize everything

in their first week here.

We ensure that they have
a lot of interactions

and repeat some of the same information,

so that they can learn it, you know,

hear it a couple of times

and it becomes more of memorable to them.

And it also means that
we're building relationships

right from the get-go.

And I think that's really important.

I've emphasized that a lot,

our positive culture and
our relationship building

and the fact that we
are a very strong team.

So when you're meeting

with all new people in your first week,

you're bound to connect with
one or two more so than others.

And that's somebody you're
gonna later go to and say,

"I know you don't do this particular area

but I don't remember who
does and can you help me?"

And that's gonna help that person,

both the new person as well as the mentor,

because it's rewarding
and showing gratitude

and utilizing the skillset that's there.

So I'm pretty proud of that
particular program that we have.

It's very strong in our department

and I've also been able to share that

with other unit administrators

and other departments to help
them grow their programs.

So that's been one I would say
I'm probably pretty proud of.

- [Michele] And is there anything else

you would like to add?

- [Pat] Well, we've talked
about our strategic directions,

mission, DEI initiatives,

what makes us unique and
a couple of our goals,

so I'd just like to add how
proud I am to work at Michigan,

and in particular, CEE.

I can be creative, have fun,

I'm always learning in my role,

and these align well
with my personal values.

I have the chance to mentor others

in their leadership journeys.

And I've built many strong relationships

with the colleagues here.

So thank you very much for
giving me this opportunity.

- [Michele] Thank you
for joining us today.

Thank you for listening to
our podcast conversation.

For more information
about CEE at Michigan,

please visit our website

at cee.umich.edu.

You can also reach our
YouTube channel and Facebook,

Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn
pages from our website.