Congratulations to Stephanie Ritchie Breach on becoming our new Faculty Employee Relations Specialist, beginning May 1.
The Faculty Employee Relations Specialist position is funded through Human Resource Services but will work in the Office of the Provost, reporting to the Vice Provost for Academic Leadership and Faculty Affairs. In this position, Stephanie will continue to work closely with the Vice Provost and provide a broad range of faculty relations support to individual faculty members as well as leaders within Academic Affairs. More specifically, she will provide consultation services for faculty and academic leaders, conflict resolution, complaint investigation, policy interpretation, advice and counsel on faculty issues as they relate to compliance with regulations and laws, and workshops and trainings on a range of topics related to faculty affairs, in addition to coordinating with the faculty ombuds office when appropriate and working with the Vice Provost and the Director of University Policy on academic affairs policies. Stephanie will continue to be involved with our leadership programming and will help build resources and processes that faculty and academic leaders have needed for a long time.
Prior to joining Boise State, Stephanie was a faculty member at the College of Western Idaho for many years, and she has over 20 years of college teaching experience as an adjunct faculty member, a professor, a leader of an academic department, and as a Faculty Senate President. In addition, before starting her academic career, she worked for 12 years in the juvenile justice field as a probation office and court director. She has training in civil mediation through the University of Idaho Law School, a certificate from the University of Utah in Leading with Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion, project management training, and has completed several trainings with Academic Impressions related to Faculty Affairs. As Stephanie noted in her materials, she brings an equity lens to everything she does, has a broad understanding of generational differences and how they manifest in the workplace, and she sees culture and psychological safety as keys to a successful organization. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Public Policy and Administration here at Boise State.