Oak Ridge Today

Millwood promoted to vice president of ORAU Human Resources

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Meghan Millwood

Meghan Millwood

 

ORAU has named Meghan F. Millwood the vice president of its Human Resources department.

Millwood’s background includes 18 years of human resources experience, with the past 14 of those in ORAU Human Resources, a press release said. Most recently, she served as director of Compensation and Benefits. Prior to holding this position, she was operations manager of Human Resources. She also served in positions in ORAU Human Resources in the Talent Management department and Employee Relations and Diversity department.

“Meghan brings comprehensive human resources leadership and experience to her vice president’s role at ORAU,” said ORAU President and Chief Executive Officer Andy Page. “She was selected from a national field of more than 160 applicants. I am extremely proud that we had an internal candidate who represented all the best qualities we were looking for in our next VP for HR.” [Read more…]

Kent named HR director for DOE Oak Ridge

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Melanie Kent

Melanie Kent

Melanie M. Kent was recently named director of the Human Resources Division at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Oak Ridge Office.

In her new position, Kent has the responsibility for providing leadership and direction for the development and implementation of comprehensive Human Capital Management strategies, a press release said.

Kent has more than 30 years of experience in federal human resources providing the full range of services to multiple DOE program organizations, including Science, Environmental Management, Nuclear Energy, Energy Efficiency, and Fossil Energy.

Kent began her federal career in 1979 in the human resources arena. She served as the chief of the Federal Human Resources Branch in the DOE ORO from May 2001 to April 2015. [Read more…]

MTAS seeks more info on ORPD review, could charge city $50 per hour

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The University of Tennessee agency asked to review the Oak Ridge Police Department has questions about the expanded scope of the inquiry—it could now include all current employees and some former employees—and the Municipal Technical Advisory Service at UT could charge the city $50 per hour for its work on the project.

MTAS had initially proposed a free limited review of turnover, morale, and administrative policies in the Oak Ridge Police Department. That review, which would have interviewed a random sample or cross-section of ORPD employees, was approved by the Oak Ridge City Council during a March 27 special meeting.

But the City Council asked to start over after the initial list of employees to be interviewed was sent to the police chief, city manager, and all Police Department employees, raising concerns about the confidentiality and impartiality of the review.

During an April 21 special meeting, City Council agreed 5-2 to start over by asking MTAS to interview all employees and try to interview former employees who have left since Oak Ridge Police Chief Jim Akagi started on July 1, 2011. But that meant the city’s contract with MTAS, which had already started the initial review, had to be renegotiated. [Read more…]

AC human resources director resigns to take new job

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Cathy Best

Cathy Best

After almost a decade on the job, Cathy Best, Anderson County human resources and risk management director, is resigning to take a similar position in the private sector.

Best announced her resignation to the Human Resources Advisory Committee, Chair Rodney Archer, and County Mayor Terry Frank in a Monday letter. Her resignation is effective November 21.

Best said it was a difficult decision because working for Anderson County government for the past 9.5 years has been a positive experience and one for which she is grateful. [Read more…]

ORNL cancels accent class after negative reaction

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Information from WYSH Radio

After an overwhelmingly negative reaction from employees, Oak Ridge National Laboratory has decided to drop a class that teaches how to minimize a southern accent. Officials said that some employees had requested the class, and the laboratory’s human resources department decided to open it up to all 4,000 employees.

To advertise the class, HR sent an email that implied there was something wrong with southern accents. Officials have since admitted that the email came across completely wrong and apologized for the miscommunication.

ORNL offers these accent classes frequently because English is a second language for many of its employees.

Roane Chamber has human resources legal seminar on May 13

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Submitted

The Roane Chamber of Commerce is providing a special half-day seminar, “Stay out of court: Human Resource Legal Matters Update,” on Tuesday, May 13, from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Roane State Community College.

This is the third year the chamber has teamed with the attorneys at the Wimberly-Lawson law firm to provide this critical human resource learning opportunity for Roane County area businesses.

The seminar will include lunch and provide 4.0 Human Resource Certification Institute (HRCI) credits to qualified attendees towards PHR, SPHR, and GPHR recertification. The seminar will also earn Continuing Education Units (CEU) from Roane State Community College. CEUs are important to many individuals to keep their membership or certification current within their profession. Additionally, for someone wanting to earn a degree or certificate, a review of their CEU’s can be evaluated by Roane State Community College to determine if the CEU’s meet the criteria for Prior Learning Assessment (PLA). [Read more…]

Roane Chamber human resources seminar on Tuesday

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The Roane Chamber of Commerce is providing a special seminar, “Stay out of court: Human Resource Legal Matters Update” on Tuesday May 14, from 10 a.m. to 2:45 pm at Roane State Community College. [Read more…]

ORAU promotes Miller to talent management director

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LaShanda Miller

LaShanda Miller

Oak Ridge Associated Universities has announced the promotion of LaShanda Miller to director of talent management.

In her new role, Miller will manage and provide leadership for the talent management department, programs, and staff, as well as develop and implement workforce restructuring strategies, plans, programs, and policies.

Prior to her promotion, Miller served as manager of development and performance at ORAU.

[Read more…]