How You Can Participate in Voices

Welcome and thank you for your interest in Voices of the Staff! 

The 2024 application for Voices of the Staff closed on March 31.

Applicants will be notified of their status in early May. Applications for the 20th Voices of the Staff program year open in early 2025.

Please, review this page to learn more about Voices, including how team topics were chosen, examples of past team efforts, a video to share with your supervisor, and your potential time commitment. Please note, that all staff at the Ann Arbor campus and Michigan Medicine in good standing and with more than 1 year of service are encouraged to apply! Staff members from the Dearborn and Flint campuses are appointed. 

How Voices Team Topics are Selected

Every three to four years, Voices of the Staff conducts a staff survey and town hall. The goal is to learn what topics are of greatest interest to our staff members. In November 2021, a survey was emailed to all staff members and yielded 2,000 responses. The responses defined discussion topics for a January 2022 Town Hall (see a summary here), which in turn resulted in the current Voices Network Team topics.  

Voices in Review 

To get a sense of what the program is like, review a recent Voices of the Staff annual report in Adobe Express (or view a more accessible webpage version). The digital report provides a sense of Voices' history, the makeup of the program, videos from current members, and supportive statements from leaders.  

Voices Makes a Positive Impact for You and Your Supervisor

When discussing your participation with your supervisor, consider sharing this video to show how Voices is a good thing for everyone!

Time Commitment

Every Voices member is expected to make a 2-year commitment consisting of:

  • A 6-hour annual kickoff meeting each June (tentatively scheduled for June 20).
  • Monthly team meetings of 90 minutes to two hours.
  • Additional time as needed to work on team projects (time commitment varies based on projects and team members' availability).

Two or three members from each of the network teams may additionally choose to serve on the Voices Core Team. Core Team members are expected to commit to:

  • Two-hour meetings, 1-3 times per year.
  • Available as needed: The Core Team will meet as needed when convened by the President, Executive Officers, and Associate Vice President for Human Resources.