Ithaca College has selected Hayley Harris, a human resources professional with nearly two decades of experience leading strategic HR initiatives, as its new vice president for human and organizational development and planning. Harris has served since 2017 as the human resources director for Cornell University’s Research Division, a large, complex division comprising over 25 research centers and administrative units. She will begin her new position at IC on May 6, 2019.
Since joining Cornell in 2008, Harris has served in progressively responsible strategic human resources roles, partnering with deans, vice presidents and vice provosts to advance the university’s mission by providing comprehensive HR leadership for their units in the areas of talent management, succession planning, recruitment and retention, compensation and classification, employee relations, and organizational development.
“I am impressed with Hayley’s current work at Cornell University, and with her success in mobilizing diverse communities and realizing complex priorities in times of change,” said Ithaca College President Shirley M. Collado. “I’m excited to welcome her to the IC community and look forward to her leadership, particularly with her expertise in implementing strategic plans as we prepare to launch our own this fall. Hayley’s career has been marked by a strong commitment to inclusion and equity, as well as a robust awareness of best practices which ensure that departments under her care realize their full potential. The energy and expertise she will bring to our campus is absolutely critical to our continuing efforts to position Ithaca College as an innovative, responsive and nimble workplace.”
“I am thrilled and honored to join the Ithaca College community, especially at a time when the campus is engaged in a strategic, transformative planning process,” said Harris. “I look forward to working with academic and administrative leaders, managers and staff to ensure that their daily work experience is a welcoming, inclusive and engaging one, and that employees are supported in achieving their long-term professional goals. The fact that Ithaca College is located in an area that I already love and that allows me to maintain the personal and professional connections I’ve developed here makes this an opportunity for which I am truly grateful.”
Among other accomplishments in her positions at Cornell, Harris served in a leadership role for training, communications and end-user support to implement Workday as Cornell’s new human resources information system; was the HR lead for establishing the Navigate initiative, with the goal of helping faculty and staff navigate the operational complexities of international research, instruction and engagement; and served as the HR lead for the 2014 Cornell presidential search, reporting directly to the Board of Trustees at that time.
“It has been my pleasure to work with Hayley over these last 10 years,” said Mary George Opperman, vice president and chief human resources officer for Cornell University and a member of the Ithaca College Board of Trustees. “She is a remarkable HR professional and a terrific person, and Ithaca College is so fortunate that she will be bringing her many talents, her dedication, and her incredible work ethic to its campus. We will really miss her at Cornell, but I am looking forward to continuing to work with Hayley as a colleague and peer.”