The Project and Change Management group will be hosting a Wellbeing and Engagement Showcase on June 30th. The event will consist of a series of facilitated small group discussions that will allow participants to become familiar with some efforts and to collectively notice common themes and opportunities for cooperative partnerships and personal action around the closely aligned topics of wellbeing and engagement.
Thursday, June 18, 2015
Changes coming to FIX instance of PeopleSoft
The FIX instance of PeopleSoft is. more or less, an exact copy of the PeopleSoft production instance. Recently, a finance process was executed in FIX that resulted in the delivery of non-real email messages to real addresses. Given that event, and out of an abundance of caution, the Office of Information Technology will mask/replace email addresses in all FIX systems effective with the instance’s next refresh.
Imaging unit becomes part of OTR
The ASR Imaging unit is responsible for doing imaging, records conversion, duplicate ID reconciliation, mailroom management, and much, much more. This unit formerly reported to ASR Continuity and Compliance, but will now become part of OTR.
St. Paul OTR staff moving to Fraser Hall during fall 2015
OTR is moving into the 220 Fraser Hall space sometime during the fall 2015 term. Some staff will remain in Williamson Hall and the Saint Paul One Stop staff will still be in Saint Paul. This transition will give OTR staff more opportunities to work with colleagues across ASR in-person, and more integration of services that are currently divided between campuses.
Tate renovation project, ASR’s new neighbors
As part of the Tate renovation project, classrooms and lab space are being redistributed across the UMN Twin Cities campus. Because of those changes, ASR is welcoming new neighbors to the Williamson Hall building -- a lab is moving into the area formerly occupied by ESUP staff across the hall from the 160 space.
You can find more information, as well as recent updates on the Tate renovation here »
ASR approves new student pay rates
The ASR directors approved new student employee pay rates effective June 15, 2015. The ASR minimum hourly starting rate is $10.00 for regular and $11.00 for student employees in lead positions. ASR student employment pay rates will be increased by $1.00 annually for each year the student works in ASR. This change will enable ASR to be more competitive in hiring students and help motivate students employees to continue to work within ASR throughout their college years.
Merit-based increases have taken effect
Merit increases for eligible staff were effective on June 15, 2015 and will be reflected in staff’s July 8th paychecks. Please contact Marit Gladem, glade022@umn.edu, if you have questions.
20 bills signed into law will impact UMN
During the 2015 legislative session only 80 bills were presented to the governor, the fewest laws enacted in a regular session since Minnesota’s statehood. The governor signed into law 20 bills that may impact the University. The Chapter 69 Omnibus higher education bill included many performance goals relevant to ASR efforts, including:
- Increase four-year, five-year, and six-year undergraduate graduation rates for students of color systemwide
- Increase by at least two percent the total number of undergraduate STEM degrees conferred systemwide
- Increase by at least one percent the four-year undergraduate graduation rate
ESUP project officially ends June 19
As the project ends, the University and staff will be in a state of transition. People will be moving back to their University ‘homes,’ consultants to their next adventures and others to completely new positions at the University.
This transition includes William Dana and the ESUP staff who recently moved out of Williamson Hall, and our remaining SCI Student project consultants leaving. These conslutants worked with a different ESUP functional areas throughout the Upgrade project, some of them starting as long ago as January 2013.
What does it mean when 'the auditors are here'?
Every year the external auditors from Deloitte Financial Consultants review the University of Minnesota’s federal and state financial aid programs for compliance. This is also known as the A-133 audit. The auditors take a random sample of records and run them through the regulations to confirm the Office of Student Finance programs are working correctly.
The process starts by verifying students who qualify for admission, reviewing enrollment, tapping into ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) data, and ensuring students receive the appropriate federal and state financial aid for which they are eligible (including those who withdraw). Any records that fail and for which the University does not have an acceptable explanation may result in a 'finding'. Findings have a major impact and may jeopardize future availability of financial aid for the institution as well as mar the University’s reputation.
The auditors start their preliminary work on campus for two weeks in May, continue working through records during the summer months and return to campus at the end of September/early October to complete their testing. In conjunction with the A-133 audit, the auditors are also reviewing data for the entire University from a financial statement aspect. The Office of Student Finance plays role in that portion of audit, especially in the areas of tuition & fee revenue and loan receivables. A variety of OSF staff are involved with auditor data requests throughout the process.
The process starts by verifying students who qualify for admission, reviewing enrollment, tapping into ISIR (Institutional Student Information Record) data, and ensuring students receive the appropriate federal and state financial aid for which they are eligible (including those who withdraw). Any records that fail and for which the University does not have an acceptable explanation may result in a 'finding'. Findings have a major impact and may jeopardize future availability of financial aid for the institution as well as mar the University’s reputation.
The auditors start their preliminary work on campus for two weeks in May, continue working through records during the summer months and return to campus at the end of September/early October to complete their testing. In conjunction with the A-133 audit, the auditors are also reviewing data for the entire University from a financial statement aspect. The Office of Student Finance plays role in that portion of audit, especially in the areas of tuition & fee revenue and loan receivables. A variety of OSF staff are involved with auditor data requests throughout the process.
Thursday, June 4, 2015
By the numbers: Grade entry for spring term
During this year’s spring term, 87.6% of grades were submitted by the due date, May 21, on the Twin Cities campus. That’s an increase from the 85.1% during the previous spring term. For Twin Cities undergraduate regular session courses, 91.2% of grades were entered by the deadline and 97.1% were entered by two days after the deadline. This is virtually identical to the statistics from the previous spring term.
As expected, the training team saw an increase in tickets the week of the grading deadline. When grades were due for fall term, the training team received 119 inquiries during the week of the deadline. For this spring term, with the changes in grade entry due to the Upgrade, the training team received 394 tickets the week of the grade entry deadline.
Update: Administrative Degree Clearance procedure
ASR staff are currently working toward revising the Administrative Degree Clearance procedure by working with colleges across the U of M. The procedure gives colleges the guidelines they need to clear degrees for students who have met all degree requirements (whether enrolled or not enrolled).
Additionally, ASR staff are creating an "FAQ" to cover the new additions to the procedure, the petition process, and other valuable information. It’s important to note that the Administrative Degree Clearance procedure is a working document. Please contact Rachel McKessock with any questions.
Office of Student Finance seeking RFP committee member from ASR
Are you curious about how Requests for Proposals (RFPs) are done? Interested in the nuances of the University's electronic payment process and how the Office of Student Finance (OSF) handles payments? Interested in how we work with Purchasing on RFPs? Then we have an opportunity for you!
OSF will be issuing an RFP this summer for an electronic (online) payment vendor. We have reserved a spot on the RFP committee for an additional ASR staff member. Are you interested?
Being part of the RFP committee will mean that you will assist with establishing the questions/criteria for companies to respond to in their bid (there will be others who are part of the committee who are very familiar with the work, so you won't be doing this alone), evaluating the proposals once they are submitted, contacting references, possibly sitting in on demonstrations of the products and making recommendations for the final vendor. It's a lot of work but it is also a great way to learn more about the work we do in ASR, learn more about your ASR colleagues, and be involved in decision making.
Please let Tom Schmidt (t-schm@umn.edu) know if you are interested.
OSF will be issuing an RFP this summer for an electronic (online) payment vendor. We have reserved a spot on the RFP committee for an additional ASR staff member. Are you interested?
Being part of the RFP committee will mean that you will assist with establishing the questions/criteria for companies to respond to in their bid (there will be others who are part of the committee who are very familiar with the work, so you won't be doing this alone), evaluating the proposals once they are submitted, contacting references, possibly sitting in on demonstrations of the products and making recommendations for the final vendor. It's a lot of work but it is also a great way to learn more about the work we do in ASR, learn more about your ASR colleagues, and be involved in decision making.
Please let Tom Schmidt (t-schm@umn.edu) know if you are interested.
Successful spring staff event
The ASR Spring Staff Event: Appreciation, Synergy, Rejoice was a huge success. Please join us in thanking the Development Team for their part in putting together another great professional development event: Christopher Allen, Grant Clavelle, Laura Goldsmith, Andrew Hill, Rachel McKessock, Reagan Mock-Nelson, Nate Rosckes, and Marcio Thompson. Thank you all!
ASR Spring Cleaning on June 12
The annual ASR Cleaning afternoon will take place on June 12 from noon to 4:30 p.m. during which time it is completely acceptable to spend the time organizing and cleaning your work space. It is not acceptable to leave early for the day unless you have received prior approval.
- Hampers will be available for paper recycling (NOT confidential) and office supplies or equipment in good working condition that are reusable (NO TRASH).
- Any confidential documents should be handled as you normally do. If there is more than your current containers can hold, box up the overflow and securely seal and clearly label "CONFIDENTIAL RECYCLING ONLY".
- Make sure to contact your unit supply person for additional cleaning supplies.
Fourth Day Four Square
Every Thursday at high noon ASR Staff meet in the parking lot behind Williamson Hall for a four square showdown. The competition is friendly and fun. If you need a refresher on the rules of the game, watch this great video prepared by the Four Square organizers.
Problem Solving? Plan. Do. Check. Act.
Originally developed by Toyota, the A3 problem solving template is a process improvement tool that helps communicate a problem-solving story in a single sheet of paper.
The tool was recently showcased at Process Improvement Expo hosted by PCMC. You can view the presentation slides, developed by LaToya Bell of Facilities Management, at pcmc.umn.edu.
The tool was recently showcased at Process Improvement Expo hosted by PCMC. You can view the presentation slides, developed by LaToya Bell of Facilities Management, at pcmc.umn.edu.
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