Facilitators of UMSN: Jade Lange
At the University of Michigan School of Nursing we believe that success is a collective endeavor. We celebrate the unique talent and drive that propels our students and faculty to achieve as scholars as we recognize the skilled network of staff who support them along the way.
"Facilitators of UMSN" is a series that will spotlight some of the 118 staff members at UMSN who use their expertise to help members of the UMSN community work toward their goals as scholars, educators, and nurses. We hope you learn more about these talented and dedicated people through this series.
UMSN Facilitator: Jade Lange
HR Generalist Intermediate
Hometown: Brisbane, Australia
Joined UMSN in September 2012
What made you interested in pursuing a Human Resources (HR) career?
I did my undergrad in behavioral science and thought maybe I would be a counselor or psychologist because I wanted to help people. When I learned more about HR, I realized it was a way to help people with their employment issues and I really liked that.
People tend to think of HR as primarily for on and off-boarding employees. What would you like people to know about the full scope of responsibilities your team facilitates?
Right, people think it’s just paperwork, but we have a lot of variety. Besides an employee’s life cycle, there are data requests and tracking, surveys and reporting, payroll, merit/equities/salary reports, development of policies and procedures, promotion and tenure, and answering ad hoc questions from faculty and staff. We also work a lot in the “gray” area. There are a lot of policies and procedures and federal laws you have to stay on top of to make sure you’re communicating the most up to date information. We are always here to help and provide customer service.
What’s a project you’ve worked on that you are proud of?
I was part of establishing the Michigan Medicine/UMSN RN Pilot Program which uses nurses from the health system to teach undergrad students. It was a lot to set up. We had to meet with the health system executive team, university HR and payroll. The nurses are paid hourly at the health system, and the USMN faculty are paid monthly so it’s a different model. We’ve had the program for three years now, and there’s ongoing work because I have to make sure we’re following Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) guidelines, and of course, every month we have to make sure their paychecks are correct!
How does Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) play a role in your work?
As an HR professional, it is important to be an advocate for everyone. During the recruitment process, I provide guidance to hiring supervisors to ensure they have a diverse pool of candidates. The HR office also assists UMSN Chief Inclusion Officer Rushika Patel with coordinating DEI workshops to expand DEI related knowledge and skill sets for faculty and staff.
What’s something that you think faculty and staff should know about HR at UMSN?
People forget about the sn-hr@umich.edu email. That’s always the best one to use, instead of an individual person in case someone is out, because that means you’ll definitely get a response. We also have a lot of resources on Canvas that people forget about. You can find a lot of information on policies including faculty sick and vacation, merit eligibility for faculty and staff policy and guidelines, interview appraisal form, staff work hours, staff absence request form, holiday and season day reporting, and M-Inform COI/COC.
Tell us something fun that people here don’t know about you.
I just learned to ski and that was a big achievement for me. I’m usually one to try anything but that scared me. Now I love it.
