Staff Advisory Council (SAC) Chair Barb Juknialis has added another accomplishment to her list: She is one of 10 individuals across Northeast Ohio recently named a “Hero Behind the Scenes” in the inaugural year of the recognition program. As part of the honor, Juknialis, the administrative director in the Department of Bioethics in the School of Medicine, is featured in an insert in this month’s Cleveland magazine.
“Barb’s commitment to her colleagues across the university is nothing short of extraordinary,” said Vice President for Human Resources Carolyn Gregory, whose office nominated Juknialis for the award. “I am delighted that her contributions are being celebrated for all of Greater Cleveland to see.”
Juknialis first connected with this campus in 1964, when she started her undergraduate studies at the Flora Stone Mather College for Women. After studying English and Russian and graduating in 1968, she went on to earn a master’s degree in Russian in 1970. She has worked in University Circle ever since, first at Case Western Reserve, then at University Hospitals, and finally, in 2001, returning back to her alma mater to join bioethics. Soon after she returned, Juknialis began attending meetings of SAC’s Fringe Benefits Committee, and has served as an elected representative ever since.
As chair, Juknialis has worked tirelessly to engage more staff in the council’s efforts, and to encourage increased communication among staff and between staff and university administration. She has been among the leading advocates for a staff climate survey to complement regular surveys of faculty, and also for increased training and opportunities for advancement within the university. In August, Juknialis worked with the Office of Human Resources to develop the first-ever campus-wide staff survey; the initiative drew 1,175 responses—nearly 200 more than the total of staff and faculty who participated in a university-wide benefits survey three years earlier.
“This high level of participation added enormous credibility to the trends reflected within the answers,” Gregory said of the 47 percent response rate. “As a result, we were able to gain administrative support for upcoming initiatives far more quickly. Barb deserves our gratitude for everything she did to make this survey such a success.”
The Mayfield-based Values-in-Action Foundation launched the “Heroes Behind the Scenes” program as a way to supplement efforts that recognize “best places to work” in communities and regions. It is those individuals committed not only to their organizations, but also the colleagues within it, that help make such entities so appealing to employers. In other words, they are the people who say more and do more to ensure that the workplace is as productive and positive as possible.
The nine other winners hail from other nonprofits such as Ronald McDonald House and the Catholic Diocese, companies including Lubrizol and Consolidated Solutions, and government agencies such as the U.S. Coast Guard and the Bailiff Department of Cleveland Municipal Court.