September 9, 2025
Enrollment for the Clemson MBA Executive Board Learning Series is now open! The Clemson MBA Executive Board Learning Series is a professional development series designed to offer focused, accessible education on topics shaping the future of business. Each session will be offered in-person and virtually and will be held every Monday from 4 pm to 6 pm, beginning on October 6th and running through October 27th.
September 4, 2025
Take a break from your routine and join us for a half-day retreat designed to help you strengthen your personal well-being and cultivate happiness—two essential components of a fulfilling life.
The retreat begins with a two-hour interactive classroom session where you’ll explore the 8 Dimensions of Well-Being: emotional, physical, social, intellectual, spiritual, environmental, occupational, and financial. Through engaging discussions and practical strategies, you’ll learn how to enhance wellness in personal, group, and professional settings.
Additionally, participants can choose two from a variety of group activities that promote relaxation, connection, and joy to follow the classroom session. Here are a few examples:
Go to our website to see the entire list. These activities are designed to help you reconnect—with yourself, your team, and the natural world around you.
In addition, we invite you to discover the Wellness Zone—a separate, reservable space available to students, staff, and faculty. This restorative, holistic virtual fitness area features an interactive touch screen TV with on-demand content including:
The Wellness Zone can be reserved in 30-minute increments and is perfect for anyone looking to recharge, refocus, or simply take a mindful break during the day.
If you’d like a more structured experience, you can join us every week on Mondays (4:30-5:30pm) and Tuesdays (2pm-3pm)for a brief 30-minute to 1 hour Guided Meditation, Mindfulness, or Yoga class.
*** Whether you’re attending the retreat or exploring the Wellness Zone on your own time, both experiences are designed to support your journey toward greater well-being and happiness. Get more information or reserve a spot at https://www.clemson.edu/studentaffairs/get-involved/cr/fitness/well-being.html
August 14, 2025
The next Staff Senate Blood Drive is scheduled for Wednesday, August 27, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Those interested in donating must schedule an appointment. The Blood Drive will be located at 101 Calhoun Drive on main campus. Donors who give blood can receive a $40 gift card.
August 12, 2025
Apply now for 2026 CU Grow Cohort
CU Grow, Clemson’s professional development program for staff, is now accepting applications for its 2026 cohort! The year-long program offers full-time employees a unique opportunity to deepen leadership capabilities, strengthen workplace relationships and gain valuable career insights — all while building Clemson’s commitment to excellence and service.
Participants are selected in late Fall and begin the program in January. The year-long curriculum includes workshops, skills development, and experiential learning, intended to create opportunities for transformational growth.
Interest Sessions
The Office of Human Resources will offer several virtual interest sessions throughout the summer and early fall to answer common questions about CU Grow. Interested individuals may register for a session through Tiger Training. Attendance is not required for acceptance into the program.
Application Details
CU Grow is open to all full-time staff members with at least three years of Clemson service and performance ratings of “successful” or higher.
Applicants must complete the staff application form and request their supervisor complete the supervisor approval form. An optional letter of recommendation from a colleague or supervisor may also be submitted. The deadline to apply is September 30.
Application details and more information about the program are available on the CU Grow website.
Learn More about SC Deferred Compensation with Empower
Empower, the provider of South Carolina’s Deferred Compensation program, is offering monthly webinars to guide state employees through understanding and enrolling in Deferred Compensation plans.
These programs allow employees to set aside money, either pre- or post-tax, to fund retirement accounts like 401(k) or 457(b) plans.
The hour-long session is open to all benefits-eligible employees and will include an overview of plan options, enrollment steps and a live Q&A session, giving attendees the chance to explore their options and ask questions.
The next webinar is Monday, August 25, from 9 – 10 a.m. via Microsoft Teams. Registration is required, and spaces are limited for each session. Interested employees should register in this calendar entry.
Navigating Your Retirement Fall Schedule announced
The Office of Human Resources is hosting three “Navigating Your Retirement” sessions this fall, designed to support faculty and staff preparing to retire within the next three to 12 months.
These hands-on group sessions walk participants through the steps of the retirement process, outlining employee responsibilities and University protocols. Sessions will be held virtually from 3 – 4:30 p.m. on the following dates.
Interested participants should register through Tiger Training.
August 12, 2025
Are you interested in learning more about Clemson’s MBA Options and the ETAP benefits available to you as a Clemson employee? Please join our Admissions Team during the on-campus events on September 4th to learn more about the programs that we offer! Can’t make it? No problem! Email us at mbaprogram@clemson.edu to schedule a virtual meeting.
Register for the group info session here!
Register for an individual appointment here!
August 11, 2025
Clemson staff, get ready to stretch your schedules and your muscles!
This fall, Campus Recreation is giving you more time to hit the gym, climb the wall, or unwind with a yoga class. With expanded hours beginning August 19th across key facilities like Fike Recreation Center and Snow Complex, staying active just got a whole lot easier. Whether you’re an early riser or a late-night lifter, there’s now more room in your day to prioritize wellness.
| FIKE | SNOW | ANDYS | |
| Monday | 5:30 a.m. – midnight | 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. | noon – 8 p.m. |
| Tuesday | 5:30 a.m. – midnight | 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. | noon – 8 p.m. |
| Wednesday | 5:30 a.m. – midnight | 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. | noon – 8 p.m. |
| Thursday | 5:30 a.m. – midnight | 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. | noon – 8 p.m. |
| Friday | 5:30 a.m. – 10 p.m. | 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. | 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. |
| Saturday | 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. | 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. | 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. |
| Sunday | noon – 10 p.m. | 8 a.m. – 8 p.m. | 10 a.m. – 8 p.m. |
Labor Day weekend and Fall Break schedules will differ, and Andy’s hours are good from August 19th until September 30th. They’ll be updated monthly throughout the semester. Keep an eye on our website, where we’ll post the latest information!
August 11, 2025
Are you and your colleagues on the same page? Are you thinking about your work in the same way? Do you see your objectives and your challenges similarly? Being on the same page is what researchers call shared cognitions, which impact the way your team interacts, communicates, and accomplishes tasks.
People are different and come from different perspectives. This is what makes working in groups so enriching and at times—so difficult! But the idea of shared cognitions is more basic than the personality and style differences that might exist on your team. While different team members might approach a problem differently, shared cognitions are about how we are defining the problem and what we ultimately think our team is responsible for.
In the book Teams that Work, Tannenbaum & Salas (2021) identify 8 shared cognitions that are important for team effectiveness. They are listed in the table below.
| Questions To Ask | Type of Shared Cognitions |
| Where to? | Vision, purpose, goals |
| What’s important? | Priorities |
| Who should? | Roles and responsibilities |
| How to? | Tasks, norms, interdependencies, expectations |
| Why to? | Rationale and connection to larger organization |
| Who knows? | Expertise on the team |
| What if? | Contingencies and succession planning |
| What’s up? | Situational awareness, team cues |
Does your team know the answers to these questions? Would you all answer these the same way?
I once worked with a team that was experiencing some conflict. As we set out on a dialogue session, I realized that some of the team thought their biggest problem was how the team interacted internally, and some of the team thought their external partners were causing their problems. This difference in problem definition caused reactions, plans, and perspectives that that team members could not understand. Instead of just working on why each person behaved a certain way, we needed to go back to how everyone was thinking and get on the same page about that. What problems were happening internally, and how did the team plan to address those? What problems were happening externally, and how did the team plan to address those? Shared cognitions are the foundation upon which interdependence, collaboration, and team success rest.
Here are some strategies for assessing and converging the cognitions that exist on your team:
Is your team on the same page? How can you get there?
Box #1:
What is the Ombuds Office?
The Ombuds Office is a confidential, independent, neutral, and informal space for staff to process concerns, get information, and develop options for how to move forward in a difficult situation. I can provide education, conflict coaching, mediation, and facilitation as well as referrals to other resources across Clemson. If you are unsure how to move forward in any way, I can help you work through it.
Tessa Byer
Phone: 864-656-5353
Email: tbyer@clemson.edu
Address: 135 Old Greenville Hwy, Ste. 203 (Next to Esso!)
*Save the date for upcoming training offered by the Ombuds:*
Introduction to Mediation
September 19, 2025, from 9 a.m. – noon
Virtually only; sign up here:
Don’t Tough It Out: Difficult Situations at Work
October 1, 2025, from 9 a.m. – noon
Location: University Facilities Center; sign up here
Cultivating Resilience
November 3, 2025, from 9-11 a.m.
Location: University Facilities Center; sign up here:
Emotional Intelligence at Work
November 14, 2025, from 9 – 11 a.m.
Virtual; sign up here
June 13, 2025
Interested in learning more about Clemson’s MBA options and the benefits available to you as a Clemson employee from the tuition assistance program? Join the admissions team during our upcoming Virtual Information Session Tuesday, July 9 at noon. Those unable to make the session may register for a zoom call.
Registration for the information session is currently available.
June 11, 2025
The South Carolina Deferred Compensation Program is offering a new way for employees to explore and take advantage of their retirement savings options.
Beginning in June, Empower, the state’s Deferred Compensation provider, will host a monthly webinar to guide state employees through plan highlights and enrollment details.
Deferred Compensation allows employees to set aside an amount of their choosing, either pre- or post-tax, to fund retirement accounts like 401(k) or 457(b) plans.
The sessions are open to all benefits-eligible employees and will cover the basics of both the 401(k) and 457(b) retirement plans available through the Deferred Compensation Program. The hour-long session will have a 30–45-minute presentation followed by a Q&A, giving attendees the chance to explore their options and ask questions.
Other key points of the session will include:
The first session will take place on Monday, June 23 at 9:00 a.m. via Microsoft Teams.
Registration is required, and spaces are limited for each session. Interested employees should register using this registration link.
More dates will be announced at a later date.
June 10, 2025
In February, I wrote about the Job-Demands-Resources (JDR) model of work stress. As a reminder, the JDR model says that our collective job demands create stress and strain, which can eventually lead to physical and mental health problems and negative outcomes for our organization. At the same time, our collective job resources inspire motivation, which can lead to positive organizational outcomes, such as productivity, profitability, and employee engagement (see model below).
Job demands could include a difficult co-worker, long work hours, or a tense relationship with your supervisor, while job resources could include a wellness program, adequate annual leave or a trusted relationship with your supervisor.
For some of these demands and resources, we have no control or way to change them. None of us can control Clemson’s state mandated annual leave policy no matter how much we might want to. I mentioned in February that job crafting is something in your control you can do to enhance your job resources.
On the other hand, there is something in your control you can do to make your job demands even more challenging: self-undermining. Self-undermining at work includes not showing up, coming to work late, and having a bad attitude. Let’s say you have a difficult relationship with your supervisor. Then you show up late and fail to turn in some assignments on time. As difficult as it is to have a supervisor who you feel doesn’t like or support you, it’s not going to get any better when you begin to slack off. Now in addition to the tough relationship, you are creating performance issues for yourself—an added job demand that makes your stress at work increase.
One of the reasons we begin these cycles of self-undermining behavior is because we feel stuck when our job demands increase. Instead of figuring out some solutions for the challenging relationship with your supervisor, you might find it simpler to become complacent. But simple now does not mean easier on you overall. Your self-undermining behavior will ultimately come back on you—not on the other person.
When I work with employees who feel that they are the recipient of an unfair evaluation or disciplinary action, I always separate their next steps into two categories. The first category is the performance one. If a supervisor is giving direct feedback on what you need to start or stop doing, it’s in your best interest to start or stop doing those things. If you ignore the specific feedback, your supervisor might decide to take further disciplinary action. A verbal reprimand that feels unfair can quickly become a suspension that impacts your pay and your reputation in the office.
The second category is the justice one. If you feel that an action is unjust or unfair, there are steps to take. For some situations, there are official appeals processes; for others, writing a rebuttal or making your voice heard in a meeting might be your only recourse. The key is that these two categories need to happen at the same time. If you ignore the performance concerns while you fight for justice, you are undermining yourself by creating a bigger mess to clean up. You can fight for justice while also ensuring that you are responding to a supervisor’s performance concerns.
In order to break the cycle of self-undermining, we need to identify what our job demands are, and brainstorm some ways to address, mitigate, or remove them. If you are struggling with a relationship at work, maybe you need some mediation or some help sharing your concerns with the other person. If you are struggling with motivation or getting your job done on time, maybe you need some help with time management and finding purpose in your work. If you are unable to advocate for a pay increase, maybe your supervisor will approve a more flexible weekly schedule. When our job demands rise, we can always combat the process by job crafting and working to increase our job resources in equal measure.
Things are hard right now at home, in the classroom, at work, and around the world. Don’t make things even harder on yourself by undermining your own success and stability.
Bakker, A.B. and Demerouti, E. (2007), “The Job Demands‐Resources model: state of the art”, Journal of Managerial Psychology, Vol. 22 No. 3, pp. 309-328. https://doi.org/10.1108/02683940710733115
Box #1:
What is the Ombuds Office?
The Ombuds Office is a confidential, independent, neutral, and informal space for staff to process concerns, get information, and develop options for how to move forward in a difficult situation. I can provide education, conflict coaching, mediation, and facilitation as well as referrals to other resources across Clemson. If you are unsure how to move forward in any way, I can help you work through it.
Tessa Byer
Phone: 864-656-5353
Email: tbyer@clemson.edu
Address: 135 Old Greenville Hwy, Ste. 203 (Next to Esso!)
*Save the date for upcoming training offered by the Ombuds:*
Introduction to Mediation
September 19, 2025, from 9 a.m. – noon
Virtually only; sign up here:
Don’t Tough It Out: Difficult Situations at Work
October 1, 2025, from 9 a.m. – noon
Location: University Facilities Center; sign up here
Cultivating Resilience
November 3, 2025, from 9-11 a.m.
Location: University Facilities Center; sign up here:
Emotional Intelligence at Work
November 14, 2025, from 9 – 11 a.m.
Virtual; sign up here
