Appraise vs. Apprise

Sometimes similar sounding words get used interchangeably, even when they have different meanings. For example, appraise and apprise have different meanings despite their similar sound.  Appraise means to estimate the monetary value of something (appraise the value of a house, for example) or to estimate the importance of something (such as to appraise the writing of Shakespeare). Apprise, on the other hand, means to give notice to or inform (for instance, to be apprised of a friend's travel plans).

Bike to work

The University has many resources to consult for biking to work. Biking to work can improve fitness and help you earn wellness points; you can earn 75 wellness points in the Bicycle Commuter Program. Bicyclists who ride to work three or more days per week are also eligible for Metro Transit's Guaranteed Ride Home Program. Registered participants can request reimbursements up to four times per year or $100 in value, whichever comes first, for eligible trips with valid documentation.

UCard

As the building access pilot program has been rolled out, several building UCard sensors have been replaced with proximity sensors rather than a card swipe device. If you have small orange letters and numbers on the back of your UCard, it will work with proximity sensors. To obtain an updated card, visit a UCard office. If you need your access adjusted as an ASR staff member, contact the access coordinator for your building.

Phishing scams

Phishing (pronounced "fishing") is a type of scam that can lead to identity theft by stealing your personal data or information such as credit card numbers, account IDs and passwords, and other account data. It can also pose a risk to the University by providing access to University systems or data. Most often, phishing scams use email that entice people to provide their personal information on fraudulent web sites. There are also telephone scams and other email scams that work with Google calendar. If you receive email that appears to be a phishing scam, you can check the University’s phishing blog. If you receive a phishing email that is not listed on the blog, forward the message to phishing@umn.edu.

Microsoft Office for Students

Beginning August 22, registered University students can download Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus at no charge (the regular price is typically about $80 for college students). The software package includes Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, and OneNote. To learn more, and download the software if you are a student, visit http://z.umn.edu/msoffice.

Portal Project Team Conducts Usability Evaluation on New MyU

The MyU portal project team recently conducted usability on the new MyU with 24 total evaluators; 12 staff members and 12 students (about half undergraduates and half graduate students). The new MyU’s combination of self-service access and information was seen as a positive improvement by students. The majority of students were able to successfully complete all the assigned tasks, and the names of the self-service tabs also resonated well. The most frequently chosen phrases to describe the portal were: “Clean,” “Easy to Use,” “Straightforward,” “Informative,” and “Understandable.” There were some usability issues discovered, which the team has analyzed and prioritized for fixing. The portal team will return to the usability lab in October to evaluate MyU with faculty and advisers.

Office of Classroom Management Releasing Reserved Seats

Collegiate staff have been asked to release reserved group seats by Friday, August 29th. Seats that have not been released by the deadline will be released by OCM, which allows students to enroll who do not meet the reserved seat capacity restrictions. Guidelines for the Management of Reserved Group Seats are available to help department schedulers determine the appropriate release date.

ASR employee mini-survey #4

This week's poll asks whether communication in your department is effective, then gives you the chance to weigh in on the sort of music you would like to hear at the October 29 ASR staff event. Please tell us what you think.

The previous poll question asked whether you would attend a “brown bag” session for ASR staff about ESUP and what topics you would like covered. 40% of respondents said they were likely to attend a brown bag session and another 6% said they were undecided. Many respondents indicated they already feel very well informed, but several topics were suggested including the student experience in the portal, an overview of the training plan, overviews of what's changing, and information about time and absence management for staff and managers. Watch for more information to come about brown bag sessions for ASR staff.

ASR raises over $800 for student scholarship

Thank you to everyone who donated items, time, and money to the ASR Auction. Together, we raised over $800 to go towards an existing student scholarship. Winners will be announced by end of day today (Thursday). Again, thank you for a great auction!

University email signature standard

In an effort to establish consistency in the way we all share contact information with our audiences, an email signature standard has been developed by University Relations. Please note that this standard is based on email signature best practices and does not allow for the addition of graphics or images.

To use, select the version that best applies to your situation. To use the template:

• Copy the selected version


• Open your email settings and go to the "signature" section


• Paste your selected email version into the "signature" section


• Customize your information


• Click "Save changes" at bottom of screen

OPTIONS:

1 unit

Jane Doe
Multimedia Designer | Government Relations | govrelations.umn.edu
University of Minnesota | umn.edu
janedoe@umn.edu | 612-624-9098 | c. 612-555-5555

- -

+ 2 units

John Doe
Senior Public Relations Consultant | Information Technology | oit.umn.edu
Director of Student Communications | Office for Student Affairs | www.osa.umn.edu
University of Minnesota | umn.edu
johndoe@umn.edu | 612-624-3302

- -

+ address

John Doe
Senior Public Relations Consultant | Information Technology | oit.umn.edu
2218 University Ave, Suite 305
University of Minnesota | umn.edu
johndoe@umn.edu | 612-624-3302

- -

+ address + office hours

John Doe
Senior Public Relations Consultant | Information Technology | oit.umn.edu
2218 University Ave, Suite 305 | Office hours: MWF 3-6pm, Tu 2-4pm
University of Minnesota | umn.edu
johndoe@umn.edu | 612-624-3302

- -

+ 2 units + 2 addresses + office hours

John Doe
Senior Public Relations Consultant | Information Technology | oit.umn.edu
2218 University Ave, Suite 305 | Office hours: MWF 3-6pm, Tu 2-4pm
Director of Student Communications | Office for Student Affairs | www.osa.umn.edu
100 Church Street, Rm 4 | Office hours: MWF 3-6pm, Tu 2-4pm
University of Minnesota | umn.edu
johndoe@umn.edu | 612-624-3302

Welcome Week

The start of the school year is just around the corner - but first, Welcome Week! The Class of 2018 will participate in on- and off-campus activities August 27-September 1. The Live Like a Student (LLAS) team will lead a game show providing tips and tricks to help students be savvy with their money during their time at the University. If you are interested in attending one of the game show sessions, please contact Nate Peterson at pete2787@umn.edu.

Wellness tip: Earn your Wellness Program points

We want to make you aware of the August 31 deadline to earn your Wellness Program points to secure a $300 or $400 reduction of your 2015 medical program rates.

UPlan members with single coverage or dependent children coverage need to earn the full 300 points to save $300 on their 2015 yearly insurance premium while members claiming a spouse or family coverage need to earn the full 400 points to save $400 on their 2015 premiums. Check your current Wellness Points balance by accessing your personal profile on the StayWell Online portal.

Work tip: Easy meeting warm-ups

It's always good to start a meeting on the right foot by getting everyone comfortable and engaged in the beginning. Give one of these quick and easy meeting warm-ups a try.

• Opinion: Write the words "agree," "disagree," "strongly agree" and "strongly disagree" on large pieces of paper. Place each poster in an obvious spot somewhere in the room, preferably on a wall. Then make a statement such as "we all like spinach" and have everybody move to the part of the room that matches their opinion. Try creating opinions that relate to the theme of the meeting.

• 
  Critical Questions: In a small group, ask everyone to identify two questions they hope to have answered during the presentation or session; in a large group, select volunteers to ask the questions or identify objectives.

• 
  True or False: Have participants say three things about themselves - two true and one false. Other participants guess what the lie is. The correct guesser goes next.

If you are interested in more tools, tips, and advice for planning and executing effective meetings, join the Project and Work Facilitation Unit for the next project management round table on Thursday, August 21 at 3:30 p.m. Contact Kristy Davis (kldavis@umn.edu) or Christa Nicols (nicol072@umn.edu) if you are interested.

ASR fun calendar

ASR has created a google calendar for social or fun events that ASR staff may be interested in. To view the calendar, search for ASRfun. Adding events to the calendar works much like adding a conference room - make an appointment on your own calendar and invite ASRfun@umn.edu as a guest. If you see an event on the calendar that you would like to join, contact the meeting host.

Please be considerate of your fellow ASR members and remember to cancel or update events if needed. Also, events should be for learning or social events; not for fundraising or solicitations.

Any questions? Email ASRfun@umn.edu. Thanks!

Reminder: withdraw deadline

Students may now withdraw from classes without collegiate approval prior to November 10, the first day of the tenth week of class. Previously, students could withdraw without collegiate approval prior to the eighth week of class. Deadlines for cancelling or adding classes are available on the One Stop website.

Saints Tickets

Because the June employee event at the St. Paul Saints was cancelled due to weather, ASR has tickets available. ASR employees who are interested in attending a St. Paul Saints game this season may contact Debbie. Tickets are available to employees on a first-come first-served basis.

Veterans changes

As of August 1, graduate and professional student veterans will now receive in-state tuition. This is a Legislative change that went through over the summer and is true for all system campuses. To receive the waiver, students must provide proof of service to University Veterans Services.

Additionally as of August 1, tuition refunds for students with dependent children will be granted for those that are impacted by their spouse's military deployment and required to withdraw from courses. Students with dependents should contact their campus veteran services office for guidance regarding enrollment and tuition refunds when impacted by a spouse's military deployment.

Google Hangouts upgrades

The University upgraded its version of Google Hangouts on July 30, making it more similar to the public version. Existing University Gmail accounts have the option to keep the older version of Google+ Hangouts or opt in to the new one. To opt in via the Gmail interface, just click your profile photo at the top of your chat list and click "try the new Hangouts."

One change is that chat "off the record" is now the default. Chatting "off the record" means that the text from your chat will not be saved to a folder. If you want a record of your chat to be saved to your "chats" folder, you can manually select to go "on the record." All parties engaged in an on-the-record chat session will see a notification of that status in the chat window.

Also, with the new version chat status no longer available. Instead, you will be able to share your "mood" using emoticons. To learn more about the new Google+ Hangouts, visit Google's informational web page.

ServiceNow licenses at the University

OIT has been working with ServiceNow over the past six months to renew the University's contract. Like many vendors, ServiceNow wants to increase costs to the University per license. The University is working to save money by right-sizing its license usage.

As part of this process, changes are anticipated to Tier 3 escalation and to license management. The ServiceNow FAQ contains answers to common questions, including a reinforcement that IT@UMN remains committed to a shared IT Service Management (ITSM) tool. On August 20, ServiceNow will poll ServiceNow license usage and set the licensing floor.

ASR Mini-Poll #3

This issue's poll is about a potential brown bag session for ASR staff. Please give us your feedback at https://umn.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_6XQXm0ZhtEDiLo9.

Most respondents to last week's survey feel that their supervisor is helpful. Forty percent of respondents strongly agree and thirty four percent of respondents agree that their supervisors help with things like problem-solving, time management, and achieving work-life balance. Fifteen percent of respondents were neutral, while ten percent disagreed and two percent strongly disagreed. Sixty four ASR employees answered last week's survey question.