ASR business units busy as bees with start of term activities buzzing

Please be patient with fellow ASR staff and our partners as we head into one of the busiest times of year using a new system for the first time. It's exciting, but there will be bumps.

You can help! Does something in the system looks like it's not working correctly? Are you wondering if it's a bug? Or maybe you don't quite understand why something is working the way it is?

Please submit a ticket to one of our teams set up to provide assistance. Questions and issues related to:

• Financial Aid should be submitted to fahelp@umn.edu
• Student Financials should be submitted to sfhelp@umn.edu
• Student records and training-related questions or issues should be submitted to srhelp@umn.edu
• Communications assistance, please reach out to asrcomm@umn.edu

Submitting tickets to our 'help' areas instead of to individuals that work in those areas, helps ASR track and ensure that your issue will be addressed, and allows us to look for trends that can help our teams understand emerging issues.

ASR Directors Retreat recap

On Friday, August 21, 2015 the ASR directors trekked out to the MN Landscape Arboretum to discuss the future of ASR. This is the first time these six individuals have reserved a full day away from the office to discuss long term strategy, office work alignment and learn more about the inner workings of each unit. We hope our efforts over the coming months will result in an aligned and strong ASR, poised to meet the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead.

The ASR Directors started the day talking about the relevance of the ASR mission and what “Making a Positive Difference in Students’ Lives” really means for the work that we all do. It does not mean that we are to make the student happy at all costs or that the student is always right; sometimes telling the student no and teaching them there are consequences to their actions is making a positive difference (despite the fact that the student may not see it that way in the heat of the moment).

Each of the directors talked about the key strengths and present challenges for their areas. Not surprisingly, there was significant overlap in these two areas for the ASR units. Building off of the articulated challenges and strengths, the directors engaged in a risk analysis to identify potential mitigation strategies. An affinity exercise was used to ‘lump’ like ideas together to create themes for our continued alignment and capacity-building work.

The directors will continue to meet and discuss ways to align ASR based on our priorities and manage risks. Keep tuned as more information will be shared.

Education Advisory Board, Student Success Collaborative updates

ASR is helping coordinate the planning and implementation of the EAB platform at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities campus. The project will launch with a pilot program to help the University analyze whether or not the data provided will benefit us and integrate well with APLUS. Currently a project plan is being developed and EAB staff will visit UMNTC in the coming weeks to continue the discussion around next steps.

Thank you to everyone who contributed to the ASR Picnic

Last year ASR raised an impressive $811 for students in need, this year we did even better raising $1,001 for our scholarship fund!

A huge and grateful thank you to Mara, Debbie and Regina for their exceptional coordination efforts that helped make the picnic and fundraiser a success. And, thanks to all the ASR staff who donated items and to those who helped with the scholarship fund. We have a lot of talent and big hearts in ASR, and during events like this it really shines through.


Reminder: Please check the winning ticket spreadsheet and contact Mara Schneider to schedule a time to pick up your prize.

Merit pay for 2015-16

For this fiscal year, salary increases were tied to performance appraisals by awarding a flat rate raise based on the overall performance appraisal score. Supervisors have been gathering feedback on this process to evaluate the best way to implement merit pay next summer. Ideas for salary increases include continuing with the flat rate, using a percentage increase, and blending flat rates with small percentage increases. As this project continues, we will share updates with supervisors and all ASR staff.

Acceptable Use of Information Technology Resources policy was recently updated

• Vendors need to follow the University Information Security policy. A vendor management standard will be made available to the University Community for comment.
• The procedures in the Internal Access to & Sharing University Information and the Public Access to University Information policies now include information on how data analysts share University information with audiences internal or external to the University.

Read more about the policy.

Pleasant Street Construction updates

• The paved roadway from University to Arlington will be opened on Monday, August 31 for northbound and southbound traffic as well as bikers.
• Everything, including sidewalks, will be opened north of Pillsbury Drive on Monday, August 31 and site fence will be removed in this area.
• The west side of the sidewalk south of Pillsbury Drive is scheduled to be opened on Friday, September 4.
• The east side of sidewalk south of Pillsbury Drive will continue to have work completed and is scheduled to open on September 17.

Work Tip: Updated Google and PowerPoint Presentations

The ASR Communications team has compiled all updated Google and PowerPoint presentation slide templates in one convenient location for staff use. Please use these wonderfully designed templates for your upcoming presentations! View the templates »

Completion Scholarships

Bob McMaster has been working with the University of Minnesota Foundation to utilize some unrestricted scholarship funds (meaning, that these scholarship funds do not have predetermined purposes) to assist Twin Cities students in completing their degrees. Identifying the students who will be granted these scholarships will be a true collaborative effort within ASR, as the Student Degree Progress team, One Stop and the Office of Student Finance will all be involved. At the moment $67,500 is available to award annually. The scholarships are for Twin Cities undergraduate students who are on track to graduate, but need financial support to finish their remaining requirements. This is very exciting news and we can hardly wait to award our first scholarship.

ASR takes their “show on the road” with recent campus visits

On Friday, August 7 and Monday, August 10, ASR’s Director Sue Van Voorhis and System Campus Relations Coordinator Eleanor Pijut went on the road to visit the Duluth and Rochester Campuses. The day-long visits included discussions on the One Stop website redesign project, updates on the OSF Director position, and much more. Overall, the meetings were highly successful with system campus staff complimenting and expressing appreciation for the support provided by Twin Cities ASR staff. As for next steps? The visits led to nearly 50 items of follow-up, and ASR staff are already busy working on those requests.

Changes to SAP policy

Beginning fall semester, all students receiving financial aid (federal, state or University aid) will be required to meet satisfactory academic progress (SAP) standards to continue receiving financial assistance. Previously, students who only received University scholarships were not included in the financial aid SAP review.

Managers getting together to plan for a strong ASR

With the Upgrade behind us, it’s time to look ahead to coming challenges. The ASR Managers are planning a session on August 21st to assure that ASR is aligned and ready to be a strong partner for students, staff and faculty.

We are engaging: E2 follow-up underway

Last year’s engagement survey showed ASR staff are interested in development opportunities, and that is a focus for our overall efforts. Additionally, on August 19th ASR Managers will review each unit’s plans and priorities to check progress and coordinate efforts.  The entire university will be surveyed again in late October. To provide continuity, each unit has a facilitator tasked with helping to develop and implement ongoing engagement priorities: ASR IT - Christa Nichols, Continuity and Compliance - Matt Tveter, OCM - David Crane, OSF - Mara Schneider, OTR - Tonisha White, One Stop - Betsy Everts. Eleanor Pijut and John Vollum are coordinating ASR’s overall efforts.

Merit pay for 2015-16

For this fiscal year, salary increases were tied to performance appraisals by awarding a flat rate raise based on the overall performance appraisal score. Supervisors have been gathering feedback on this process to evaluate the best way to implement merit pay next summer. Ideas for salary increases include continuing with the flat rate, using a percentage increase, and blending flat rates with small percentage increases. As this project continues, we will share updates with supervisors and all ASR staff.

One Stop’s financial services getting news coverage

One Stop Student Services has been in the news recently for their efforts related to the financial knowledge and well-being of UMN students, including counseling surrounding how to live on a budget, minimize debt, and curb expenses on rent, food and textbooks. Read more at the Star Tribune and MN Daily below:

• Star Tribune: “University of Minnesota to offer free financial counseling”
• MN Daily: “One Stop adds personal finance options”

Reporting Errors and Incidents - do not submit tickets

As a reminder, all ASR staff have access to submit and report their own errors and incidents by clicking on the “Report Errors & Incidents” quick link listed in the ASR Intranet’s sidebar. Please do not send tickets in to FAHelp, SFHelp, or other units asking that they report an error or incident for you. Submitting them directly is the best practice to report and accurately track system problems. If you have questions about submitting an error or incident, please speak with your supervisor.

Visit the ASR Intranet to "Report Errors & Incidents". 

How-To Guides for students learning the new system

For ASR staff who work with students, a reminder that the How-to Guides posted on the One Stop website are a great resource for guiding students and staff about processes in the new system.

See what topics are covered at the One Stop website.

Scheduled UMN data storage maintenance

On Aug. 16, 2015 from 6 a.m. to noon, UMN IT will perform maintenance in order to increase the capacity of part of the central storage service, which is currently near 70% of its limit. During this maintenance, the University’s networked data-storage system (also known as General Data storage, Active Directory Shared Drives, eNAS, Files and bulk storage) will be completely unavailable to users.

Learn more about who will be affected.

Wifi Upgrades at UMNTC

University of Minnesota wireless engineers intend to upgrade the software that runs the WiFi network on the Twin Cities campus over the next few weeks which will require two 10-minute service interruptions within the maintenance window. The schedule for upgrades:

• St. Paul and the Fairgrounds on Thursday, Aug. 13 between 9 p.m. and midnight
• Morris, Rochester, and most of the Twin Cities East and West Banks on Thursday, Aug. 20 between 9 p.m. and midnight
• Sports facilities (any facility with InfoTech as its routing core) on Sunday, Aug. 23 - between 7 a.m. and 10 a.m.

If you have any questions please feel free to contact the WiFi engineering team at wifi@umn.edu

Lyris retirement on September 1

The Lyris mass email tool will be retired on September 1. The ASR Communications team is currently in the process of transitioning to the new system, Salesforce Marketing Cloud. It’s an exciting transition that will give the Communications team greater flexibility and efficiency for completing email messages, and access to more metrics. If you work with the Communications team regularly, you may notice some minor adjustments during this period. The team appreciates your patience as they continue to learn and adjust to this new tool.

Reminder to earn Wellness Points before September

In order to save either $400 or $600 on your 2016 UPlan premiums, you must earn your full wellness points by August 31, 2015. As noted by the Wellness Program there’s still time to earn points with:

• A Biometric Screening - 150 points 
• Non-tobacco User Pledge - 25 points 
• Flu Shot Pledge - 25 points 
• Self-reported Wellness Activity - 50 points 

 You can check your wellness points balance in your StayWell Online profile.