Wellness tip: pet away your stress

Feeling a little overwhelmed? Spend a few minutes with a furry friend! Tomorrow, ASR will pilot an event coinciding with the nationally sponsored initiative "Take Your Dog to Work Day." The event is similar to Boynton Health Services's Pet Away Worry & Stress (PAWS) program. Stop by 120 Fraser Hall tomorrow morning to visit with Fozzy Bear and Gabie (Mom is Kristy Davis). The trio will move to 200 Fraser during the afternoon. Lint rollers, dog treats, and poop bags will be on hand!

Amanda Grimm will also be bringing her dog, Klaus, for a visit. Klaus is part of Boynton's PAWS program and will be in the 133 Fraser space.


Fozzy Bear and Gabie are excited to see you!

Where was everybody?

You may have noticed several ASR colleagues missing from their usual spots earlier this week. They were some of the more than 120 people that met in-person Monday afternoon and Tuesday morning to work on the ESUP Student system upgrade project. The group included representatives from all campuses and all areas of the Student project: academic advisement, admissions, campus community, financial aid, student finance, and student records. They heard from President Eric Kaler, Bob McMaster, and other ESUP leaders before seeing some of the student experience in the upgraded system and having some time to work as teams face-to-face. If you know somebody who was at the meeting, ask them what they learned!

Veterans Services survey results

University Veterans Services recently sent a satisfaction survey to all students using federal GI BIll benefits during the spring semester. The results of the survey indicated the following:

- 98% satisfaction rate with customer service and the benefits processing time
- 100% satisfaction rate from students who attended New Student Veterans Orientation
- 100% satisfaction rate from students who attended Student Veterans Appreciation Day
- 81% of respondents used the online Veterans Benefits Request form, and 99% reported they had a good experience with the new form

CTS earns AMX Innovation Award

ASR's Classroom Technical Services (CTS) recently earned an AMX Innovation Award for its collaboration practices in higher education. The award category required submissions to address how technology was used to foster collaboration through a distributed video application, video conferencing, or other specialized audio-visual installation. You can view the full list of finalists on the AMX Innovation Awards website.

Participate in ASR's first annual fundraiser

In an effort to continue to make a positive difference in students' lives, ASR will host its first annual silent auction this summer. The event will take place as part of the ASR picnic and BBQ in August and will raise money for an existing student scholarship. This is an opportunity to showcase your hidden talents and discover those of your colleagues!

Think about what you love to do--painting, drawing, sewing, writing, crafting--and plan to share your talents for a good cause. For example, here are some beautiful stained glass windows that ASR's Sue Johnson has made.



You can also donate something you think others would enjoy, such as a spa basket, candles, DVDs, baked goods, or a house or garden plant. More information about the event will be published in future issues of News & News.

One Stop hires additional student workers

One Stop Student Services recently hired 13 student workers who will be located at the STSS and St. Paul locations. The students will begin work on July 7 and participate in a three-week training period. The new Customer Relations Representatives will answer phone calls about the One Stop website, due dates, and other general topics. One Stop Counselors will remain in their current roles and focus on more complex issues related to specific student accounts, financial aid and records. If you have any questions about these changes, please contact Nate Peterson.

Watch before you walk

Just a reminder to be careful when crossing the street on and around campus. Be sure to cross at crosswalks and when the "Walk" sign is flashing. It's been reported that several people have received citations from the police for jaywalking. (Thanks to Tina Falkner for sharing this tip!)

Disposing of your mobile device

Not sure how to dispose of your mobile device? The June edition of "OUCH!" explains how to do so safely. Even though we live in an age of intense information sharing, you may not realize just how much personal and sensitive information you have on your cell phone. Not disposing of it properly could allow someone to access that information.

Implies vs. infers

Imply vs. infer... the two words are often misused, but fortunately, the trick for remembering which one to use isn't difficult. A speaker implies while a listener infers. For example, "During his presentation, John seemed to imply that I did not know much about weather patterns. I inferred that he wasn't aware I've taken several courses in meteorology."

Open house for ASR conference rooms

Williamson Hall conference rooms received an upgrade in April, which included several technology enhancements. To learn how to use the new webcams, touch display, and HDMI connections, OCM's Jeremy Todd will host an overview of the new systems for Williamson 160B, 162, and 164. He will repeat an overview every 15 minutes during the dates and times below in Williamson Hall 160B:

Friday, 6/6, 1:30-2:30 p.m.
Monday, 6/9, 9:30-10:30 a.m.
Wednesday, 6/11, 2-3 p.m.
Thursday, 6/12, 11-12 p.m.

If you aren't able to attend a session but would like to learn more about the classroom technology, contact Jeremy Todd to schedule an alternative time for an overview.

All Student meeting June 16 & 17

Be sure to mark your calendar for an in person All Student meeting Monday, June 16 and Tuesday, June 17. Representatives from all campuses in the areas of academic advisement, admissions, financial aid, student finance, and student records will hear from University and ESUP leadership and have the chance to work together face-to-face. Output from that meeting will be available afterward.

New faces in Fraser

Some new folks have moved into Fraser Hall to work on Delegated Access, which is the new identity management approach allowing a student to delegate access to a parent and/or guest. Two PeopleSoft developers, Lee Douglas and Mike McAnulty, have joined the ESUP team and will be located in Fraser B25. This will allow them to be near the student business analysts. In addition, Mike Reeves from OIT will spend the next 1-2 weeks in Fraser consulting on the identity management approach.

Additionally, University Relations staff will be moving to Fraser 345 the week of June 23. They will work there throughout the summer while their space in Morrill Hall space is being remodeled.

Live Like a Student campaign earns awards

One Stop's financial literacy campaign, Live Like a Student (LLAS), recently won two awards at the annual University of Minnesota Communicators Forum awards ceremony on May 28. The awards were for the LLAS digital signage campaign, as well as their Welcome Week presentation. Kudos to the LLAS committee!

Feedback on ASR

In the last issue of News & Notes, we asked you to share your thoughts in the ASR suggestion box on the intranet. Here's some feedback we've received so far about the Friday email hiatus:

A couple of tips for consideration in regard to the Friday email hiatus:
-If your only response is "Thank you" don't hit the send button. I know it feels like you're being polite, but it just adds noise.

-Don't 'reply to all' unless everyone needs to hear what you have to say. If it's a back-and-forth or follow-up to one person on the email, don't clutter the inbox of everybody else.

New myU Portal sneak peek

The purpose of the new myU portal is to help staff, faculty, and students be successful in getting their business done at the U. Check out the new myU sneak peek and learn how the University community will use some of its features.

Wellness tip: snacking the healthy way

It's inevitable. Two o'clock rolls around, and you're hungry. The remains of your lunch are long gone, and you're tempted to visit the vending machine for chips or a candy bar. Instead of opting for junk food, try bringing an assortment of tasty, yet healthy, snacks to work. Nuts, fresh fruit, sweet peppers, granola bars, cottage cheese, and hard boiled eggs are all great options. If you're really craving something sweet, try Angie's Boomchickapop Sweet & Salty Kettle Corn. It's tasty and only 70 calories per cup.

ASR Quick Wins: update on Friday email hiatus

It's been two weeks since ASR's Friday email hiatus, and here's an update from ASR directors Tina Falkner and Jeremy Todd and University Registrar Sue Van Voorhis:

Tina's experience: "Not hitting send on Friday is much more difficult than it should be. I would find myself just about to forward an email or draft one up and then I would look at the post-it note on my monitor and remember... 'Oh, yeah, it's Friday, I should just call.'"

Jeremy's experience: "I found one Friday I had five different draft emails just sitting in the drafts folder. Only after I called and walked down to see if the person was there and they weren't did I send the message."

Sue's experience: "I respond to student inquiries via email, as I often don't have their phone number, but I have found that I am calling staff more, even when it's not a Friday."

How has the Friday email hiatus gone for you? Share your thoughts by leaving a note in the ASR suggestion box.

Our experiment will continue throughout the summer, so keep up the good work on taking a break from email on Fridays!

Google Apps for beginners

Interested in learning more about Google Apps but not quite sure where to start? Check out the Google Apps documentation and support site. You can explore the different apps or learn by each individual one. You can also view a short video about using Google Apps for business purposes.