Note from Sue

Thank you to everyone who helped plan and bring together the staff appreciation event last week. I think it was a great success, and it’s always nice to bring ASR units together at one time in one place. No easy feat!

Because of the holiday schedule, there will not be a monthly video in December, but I’ll resume them again in January. Thanks, again, to everyone for the great work in 2016. I'm looking forward to what we can do in 2017. Safe travels over the holiday break and stay warm!

ASR strategic area update: Organizational Effectiveness

In this issue, we are featuring the Organizational Effectiveness priority. Several projects are part of this priority currently:

• IDP and Performance Appraisal projects: A staff survey following our fall IDP sessions suggested improvements to the IDP form and process. Those updates are being done and we are now turning our attention to providing resources that will assist both employee and supervisor in making their IDP conversations more successful.
• E2 team: ASR Directors just completed a review of engagement plans and actions for each of their units. They are coordinating training activities across units and OCM has spearheaded a group for supervisors of students. Until now these supervisors have not had a forum for sharing and discussing their work.
• Diversity & inclusion: ASR has started a group to evaluate our processes and structures within ASR, and ensure that we have the best work environment possible. The group just formed last month and is beginning to determine the areas of focus, but will likely look at recruiting and hiring practices, as well as raising awareness on issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion.
• ASR leadership development: Seven ASR employees have completed the Leadership and Talent Development program, “Leading on all Levels” over the past year. Several more are slated to begin this spring. Also, the project management curriculum is up and running with courses being offered monthly. It is designed to create a deeper pool of people who can either lead or participate productively in ASR’s many projects.
• Succession planning: succession can really span the entire career process from hiring and onboarding, to development through transition to other positions, other organizations, or retirement. ASR has begun to work on improving our ability to hire and transition more smoothly. This will include getting our job descriptions better organized, working on the kinds of knowledge, skills and abilities we are asking for, and making hiring more efficient for hiring managers.
• Development team: the development team is reviewing feedback from the most recent event and is beginning to plan the May staff development event.

Fraser 120's new "fireplace"

Shared by Linda Miza and Grant Clavelle. Painted by Max.

Staff appreciation event primer (for new and old staff)

This year’s winter staff appreciation event will be held at the Library Bar from 2:00-4:00 p.m. on Thursday, December 15.  For new (and old) staff, here’s a quick primer about the event:

• Door prizes: Staff will receive a door prize ticket when they pick up their name tag. Door prizes are given out throughout the event.
• Food: This year’s menu will be similar to last year’s with meatballs, mini-sub sandwiches, a fruit and veggie tray, chips and dip, and an assortment of dessert bars.
• Drink: Water, soda and coffee are provided. Cash bar available for cocktails or beer.
• Student workers: Are definitely invited! Please spread the word.

Staff are encouraged to attend the event unless a scheduled vacation interferes or prior arrangements have been made with their supervisors. Contact your supervisor with specific questions.

Leave of Absence changes

The new Leave of Absence (LOA) form is now only available in the MyU Advising Toolkit and includes an advising guidelines document to reference for the process. Information about the Leave of Absence process is available for students on the One Stop website. Other key changes:

• PeopleSoft will automatically track, from the six available options, the reason code when entering the LOA. The information will be carried over to APLUS and the leavers reports.
• In the near future, APLUS will have updated LOA tags. “Considering LOA” will be the only one that advisors need to enter as the other ones will be automatically pulled in from PeopleSoft.

ASR Engagement Team Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities review underway

The ASR Staff Engagement Team is currently reviewing Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities (KSA). Team members began by reviewing job descriptions for KSA’s  and are now setting up and conducting interviews with various staff members to gather firsthand information. In the next month, once interviews are completed, the results will be analyzed and used to refresh KSA’s to reflect capabilities that ASR needs to be successful.

The Development Team needs your help!

The Development Team is seeking ideas and proposals for breakout sessions for our ASR spring event planned for May 2017. At last year's event, we had breakout sessions that ranged from fun and casual, to informative and engaging. We're hoping to recreate the same varied scope in our breakout sessions this year. Ideas are already rolling around on our table, but we want to hear from you, too. What knowledge, passion, or talents do you have that you would like to share with your colleagues? Take some time to think about it, and send your proposals to us. We'll be reviewing them on an ongoing basis and reach out if we think it's a good fit for the event.

New OTR director starts on Monday, November 28

Adrienne Bricker, the new OTR director, will start on Monday, November 28. Her office is in 259 Fraser Hall (Mara Schneider's old office, kitty-corner to Tina Faulkner).

From Sue's announcement of the hire: Adrienne currently is Deputy Registrar at Hunter College, City University of New York. She brings a variety of project management experience, and has implemented student degree progress initiatives, worked with faculty on re-engineering general education requirements, and has an understanding of PeopleSoft. Her background in both financial aid and academic records will allow her to immediately contribute and lead initiatives in externally and within Academic Support Resources (ASR).

Institute for Student Services Professionals (ISSP)

Andy Fields, Fue Chee Yang, Betsy Everts, and Julie Selander attended the annual ISSP conference at the University of Knoxville, Tennessee. Betsy and Andy presented along with Jerrad Harrison from Miami University in a session titled "Investing in Student Staff to Expand the One Stop Service Model." The University of Tennessee provided an in-depth tour of their One Stop Express Student Services operation.

Upcoming Project Management classes

One more Project Management class is left this semester:  Project Management 301: Evidence Based Portfolio Management will be held Thursday, December 8th 10:00 -11:30 a.m.  Register Here.

Beginning in January all Project Management classes will be offered quarterly, as follows:

Month 1 (January, April, July, October):

PM 101: Introduction to Project Management Fundamentals

PM 102: ASR Business Needs Life Cycle

Month 2 (February, May, August, November)

PM 201: Supporting Effective Project Teams

PM 202: Developing & Managing a Project Plan

Month 3 (March, June, September, December)

PM 301: Evidence Based Portfolio Management

Go to the ASR Projects - PM Short Courses Page for more information & registration links.

Remember that PM 101 is required for all ASR Employees.

Keep an eye out for information on new in-person course offerings and online workshop options on a variety of topics.  If you have any questions, suggestions for topics to cover, or need project consultation, email the Project & Work Facilitation Team at pwf-team@umn.edu.

Community Fund Drive

Thank you to everyone who participated in this year’s Community Fund Drive. From October 14 to 31, ASR staff raised $527.40 (including some 8,910 pennies and 17 coins from other countries) that will be used to support student success through ASR’s Completion Funds efforts. Want to know who won the "contest"? No spoilers here, to find out which pet raised the most money, visit ASR’s Community Fund Drive page.

ASR well represented at the 2016 UMACRAO conference

The Upper Midwest Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (UMACRAO) conference was held from November 2-4 in Alexandria, MN. As part of the conference proceedings, Amber Cellotti was voted 2016-17 UMACRAO President-Elect. ASR staff were well represented and recognized throughout the conference, as both presenters and those with active roles in UMACRAO, including: Tina Falkner (OSF), Stacey Tidball (C&C), Rachel McKessock (SDP), Allie Cummelin (SDP), Amber Cellotti (OTR), and Erik Sparby (OTR).

Session presenters:

• Tina Falkner presented “Financial Literacy: Helping Our Students Help Themselves”
• Tina Falkner and Stacey Tidball presented “FERPA: Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask”
• Rachel McKessock and Allie Cummelin presented “Collaborating Across Units for Student Degree Progress & Retention”

ASR staff with active roles and who received recognition:

• Amber Cellotti served as Chair of the Program Committee
• Erik Sparby served as Historian
• Amber Cellotti won the Exemplary New Member award and was elected as President-Elect for 2016-17 and will serve as the 2017-18 President of UMACRAO

Staff who are interested in learning more about UMACRAO or who would like to get involved or present at a future conference can reach out to Amber at knap0071@umn.edu.

Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories Facility tours in Fraser Hall

CPPM will be hosting an informational meeting for the upcoming Undergraduate Teaching Laboratories Facility pre-design project on November 10, 2016, from 1:15 - 2:15 p.m. in Fraser 102.

Following the meeting, attendees will take a quick guided tour through the building and around the exterior, focusing primarily on the classrooms, original reading room on the second floor, and corridors to minimize any disruption to the building occupants.

Socialize during upcoming ASR appetizer event

Mark your calendars! All ASR staff are encouraged to bring in their favorite appetizer or snack to share in their building’s lunchrooms. Socialize with other staff, try new foods and gather delicious recipes or ideas.

When: 12:00 p.m. on November 16
Where: Bruininks, Fraser, and Williamson staff break rooms

Open Enrollment now through November 30

Open Enrollment continues through November 30 with online enrollment through MyU. Those satisfied with their current coverage do not need to re-enroll. However, to have a flexible spending account (FSA) account for 2017, you must reenroll. This year you can add up to $25,000 of additional employee life; add or increase long-term disability; add to existing short-term disability; add child life insurance; and select different medical or dental plans. Changes are effective Jan. 1. Employee Health and Benefits Fairs will take place on the UMC, UMD, UMM, and UMTC campuses November 1-16.

Brush up on your Oracle SQL skills with ASR learning session

Brush up on your Oracle SQL skills by joining Cindy Salyers for an SQL learning session on Friday, December 9th from 10-11:30 in Fraser Hall, B20. Cindy delivered two sessions to members of ASR-IT at the end of October and received a very positive response.  As a result, we’d like to offer a session to others in ASR who’d like to enhance their skills. If you are interested, please email Kristy Davis.

Individual Development Plan (IDP) Survey Results and Next Steps

Thank you to the 132 staff members that responded to our IDP survey.

Here’s what you said:

• 93% of respondents had a conversation with their supervisor about their development
• Asked to indicate how helpful the conversation was….
• 64% said some to lots of help
• 20% were neutral
• 10% said very little to no help
• Asked about the helpfulness of the IDP form and resources for development planning….
• 58% said some to lots of help
• 20% were neutral
• 22% said very little to no help

Respondents took the time to write some helpful comments as well.

Results were summarized and recommendations for changes and enhancements to the IDP form were presented to the Directors.

Here are things we are doing to improve the IDP process:

• Adding a PDR hyperlink to the form
• Creating instructions for maintaining IDP documentation from year to year
• Writing clarifying language about the purpose and value of the IDP
• Publishing examples of development opportunities that people are pursuing

Many thanks to the IDP Design Team and sponsors for their work over the past year and a half.
Team Members
Didi Nyguen
Ian Whitney
Matt Tveter
Jeremy Todd
John Vollum

Team Sponsors
Grant Clavelle
Stacey Tidball

ASR Staff Appreciation event on December 15

The ASR Staff Appreciation event will be held at the Library Bar on December 15, 2016, from 2:00 - 4:00 p.m. A calendar hold has been placed on everyone’s calendar during that time.

Community fund drive

Thank you for the more than 100 ASR staff that enjoyed Milk & Cookies in Bruininks, Fraser and Williamson Halls while raising money for the Completion Funds Scholarship. You voted for your favorite pet, or sabotaged another, and in the process donated more than 6000 pennies and raised $327. Visit the website to see point and fund totals for each pet. There is still time to cast your pennies for your favorite pet, or your dollars to sabotage the others! Collection jars will be out in the buildings until Monday, October 31.

New One Stop website launches for U of M students

A redesigned One Stop website launched at the end of the day Thursday, October 20. The new design emphasizes mobile delivery, aligns with MyU, and will ensure that students can find relevant, timely information using their preferred device.

The website will continue to evolve with various refinements and content updates as needed. We want your feedback. There is a form available on the One Stop homepage. If you submit feedback, please include your name, select "other" as your primary affiliation and indicate that you are from ASR. Please also direct non-ASR staff and students to submit feedback through this form.

10th annual Student Veterans Appreciation Day

Come one, come all to the 10th annual Student Veterans Appreciation Event on Tuesday, November 15, 2016, from 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. in the Great Hall at Coffman Memorial Union. Say “thank you” to student veterans, grab a slice of pizza, and participate in some carnival games. The event is free and open to the public; no RSVP is required.

Degree Progress tab on MyU

On October 23, the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities and Rochester campuses launched a new tool in MyU to help undergraduate students better track their degree progress and plan for timely graduation. Thus far, approximately 1,800 students have interacted with the new tool.

On November 1, 2016, the Student Degree Progress and APAS teams will be hosting an event for advisors and staff that demonstrates the tool and it's capabilities, how it personalizes information for student scenarios, and answer questions. If you're interested in attending, find out more and make sure to RSVP.

• When:  11:10 a.m.-12:00 p.m. on November 1 (Add to your calendar)
• Where: 45 Rapson Hall (View campus map)
• What: Demonstration event for advisors

ARFs moving to ServiceNow workflows

The Provisioning & Request team has been working towards converting all of our Access Request Forms (ARFs) that are PDFs into ServiceNow workflows. View the current list of forms that will be or are already updated. If you would like to see an example of a converted form, the "HR PeopleSoft" form in the central part of the page has been completed.

UMN’s Windows 10 update timeline

The University Office of Information Technology is planning to release the most current upgrade for Windows 10 to the University community on November 14, 2016. There is an increased installation time over traditional monthly updates which usually take up to 15 minutes to install. OIT expect that these larger updates to occur every six months going forward. These updates are required to maintain a supported version of Windows 10.

Upcoming Project Management courses

The new ASR Project Management Course, PM 102: Business Cases & Project Initiation, is now open for registration.  The following 2016-2017 sections are available:

• Tuesday, November 15th 9a-10a

• Tuesday, January 17th 1p-2p

• Thursday, April 20th 10a-11a

Register Here

Upcoming professional development events

ASR Project Management Courses - Upcoming Sessions (Ryan Ceresnak)

• PM 201: Supporting Effective Project Teams - 10/28/16 10:30a-12p
• PM 202: Developing & Managing a Project Plan  - 11/14/16 1p-2:30p
• PM 301: Evidence-Based Portfolio Management - 12/8/16 10a-11:30a

PCMC October Panel Discussion: Have You Been Thrown in the Project Deep End?  Techniques, Advice, and Stories for Staying Afloat

The Project & Change Management Collaborators have put together a collaborative panel to connect professionals across the University, create opportunities to share and learn with each other, raise awareness of existing resources, and how to survive the project deep end.

When: Tuesday, October 25th - 1:00p-2:30p
Where: Walter Library 101

New form for mid-year performance appraisals

A new version of the mid-year appraisal is now available for ASR staff. The updated mid-year form was created to be consistent with our new annual performance appraisal form, but provide a condensed format. The form gives supervisors and employees the opportunity to reflect on the previous six months and address development opportunities prior to the annual reviews.

The new form is now available. Self-evaluations are due to supervisors November 14.

ASR staff should download a copy of the Mid-Year Appraisal form. On some versions of Microsoft Word, you will have to click View > Edit Document before being able to enter your responses and in some cases you will need to highlight and replace existing text. Once completed, submit the form to your supervisor Supervisors will complete and upload a final copy of the form to the IDP/PA folder. If a staff folder has not been created, please contact Mara Schneider.

2016 Mid-Year Appraisal form >>

2016 Mid-Year Appraisal form for Mac and older versions of Word >>

Timeline:

• Staff: Self-evaluations due to supervisors by November 14
• Supervisors: Complete written evaluations and meet with employees by December 9

Review the “2016 Mid-Year Performance Appraisal FAQ” for answers and solutions to common questions or concerns.

New student degree progress tool will be made available in MyU

On October 23, the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities and Rochester campuses will launch a new tool in the MyU: Academics > Degree Progress tab to help undergraduate students better understand their degree progress and plan for timely graduation. This tool utilizes data from APAS to calculate a student's progress of completion within their degree program. Students will receive recommendations, based on their individual progress, to help guide them toward four-year degree completion (for fall NHS admits) and timely completion (for other admit types).

An interpretation guide for this new tool will be made available in the Advisor Toolkit. At launch, only students will have access to this tool.

If you have additional questions, please contact the Student Degree Progress team.

New One Stop website brown bag session

ASR staff are invited to bring their lunches to a brown bag session that will tour the new One Stop website.

When: Tuesday, October 18 from 12:00-1:00 p.m.
Where: Fraser B20

PeopleSoft HR will be unavailable October 15 &16

The PeopleSoft HR will be unavailable beginning Saturday, October 15 at 6 p.m. until Sunday, October 16, 12 p.m.

The Human Resources Management System (HRMS) group will be installing an important PeopleSoft update to improve the system, add new features, and fix bugs. Some of the improvements are in recruiting solutions, position and appointment entry, time and absence management, and other areas.  

Specific Impacts and Schedule Changes:

• Saturday, October 15, 6 p.m.: The PeopleSoft HR system will become unavailable. This includes job search capabilities and HR self-service functions.  HR information will not be available on MyU tabs My Time, My Pay, My Benefits, Manager Info and My Info. Also, HRMS queries will not be available in the Reporting Center.
• Sunday, October 16, 12 p.m.: The PeopleSoft HR system will come back online according to the normal maintenance schedule.
• Data warehouse tables and PSSNAP will not be refreshed on Sunday October 16 at 12 a.m. and will resume on Monday October 17 at 12 a.m.

Please plan your work around those hours and hopefully this extended down time will not cause an inconvenience.

For more information on the project, ServiceNow users can reference CHG0039071. During the weekend, updates will be available on the University’s Service Status page.

Milk and cookie breaks for the Community Fund Drive

One, two, three, four, we declare a PENNY WAR - with a twist!

From October 14-31, 2016 ASR will engage in a Penny War to raise money for the Community Fund Drive!

In a penny war, two or more groups compete to win a fundraising competition. This year instead of competing by building or department, ASR's Community Fund Drive Penny War will involve several ASR staff members’ pets that have been featured in News and Notes. ASR staff will have the opportunity to 'vote' for their favorite pet, each penny being a vote. If you're not familiar with how a Penny War works here's the low down: the value of pennies collected count positively toward the point total, while the value of other coins or dollar bills are subtracted from the point total. All funds ASR collects will be given to the U of MN Foundation to be added to the Completion Fund Scholarship.

Our featured pets for the Penny War are: Tonks; Bears; Snickers and Meep; and Newman.

To encourage ASR staff to participate, there will be three different Milk and Cookie breaks throughout the month of October. These breaks are scheduled for: October 14 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. in 160B Williamson Hall; October 18 from 2:30-3:30 p.m. in 312 Bruininks Hall; and October 26 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. in 220-D Fraser. Come for a cookie, meet ASR staff who work in different buildings, and bring your pennies (or other bills to sabotage). Staff are encouraged to attend any and all of the milk and cookie breaks if their schedule allows.

Collection jars with photos of the ASR pets will be available in these buildings: Fraser, Bruininks, and Williamson.

Early FAFSA submission stats

Starting this year, students and families could submit their Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA) starting on October 1 instead of January 1. Most of the OSF staff thought there would just be a trickle of FAFSAs submitted in the first few days of early submission. However, to OSF’s surprise, in the first import of FAFSA data there were 2,464 files for the Twin Cities campus (of which we were able to load 389). As a matter of practice this data is only loaded into PeopleSoft once the student has been admitted to the University. If students are never admitted, their information remains in a suspense file.

Along with having FAFSA data earlier than in years past, staff are busily working on getting all the associated financial aid packaging documents and processes updated to allow for earlier estimated financial aid awards for incoming new freshmen.

Engagement team begins review of ASR’s knowledge, skills and abilities

The Engagement team has begun a review of ASR’s knowledge, skills and abilities (KSAs) related to career families to assure they support our current initiatives and evolving changes in ASR’s work. We’ll start with sampling job descriptions by career family followed by interviews with staff. For more information contact: John Vollum.

Don’t forget to take the ASR Fall Staff Event survey

Thank you for participating in this year's ASR Fall Staff Event and to the Development team for all their planning and effort. If you have not done so already, take a moment to share your feedback. All responses are anonymous. Your input is valuable!

Twin Cities Registrar search

The search committee for the open Office of the Registrar (OTR) director position has recommended three candidates for on-campus interviews.

How we interact with each candidate throughout the interview process is part of recruitment and we need to balance being inviting, friendly, and informative with our need for assessment. The interview day consists of meetings with the search committee, University Registrar, ASR directors, members of the department, and members of the system campuses. Individuals participating in the interviews are asked to provide feedback through a candidate evaluation survey. All feedback will be aggregated and shared with the search committee and forwarded to Associate Vice Provost Sue Van Voorhis for final recommendations.

The search committee hopes to have made a final decision by mid-October and will update ASR staff again as the process comes to a close.

ASR budget update

ASR has been asked to model for both a .68% ($124,500) and a 2% ($366,100) reallocation as our budget cut this year. However, we cannot impact students which is always difficult due to the nature of ASR’s work. The ASR directors are working on their proposal submission which is due October 7, 2016. Note that any of this information could change once the state legislature begins meeting.

Stay tuned for updates as we learn more about the process.

Mid-year reviews coming up

Please remember that mid-year reviews are coming up. This year staff will use an updated mid-year form that better matches our annual form. That form, along with more detailed instructions, will be available in mid-October. The timeline is:

• Mid-October: Supervisors will begin to communicate with staff about their reviews
• By November 14, staff should complete their self-evaluations

• By December 9, supervisors will complete their written evaluations and hold meetings

ASR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee and survey

Earlier this week, ASR’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee send a survey to all ASR staff to assess ASR’s climate of diversity and inclusion. All responses to this survey are anonymous. Aggregated survey results will be shared with ASR staff and used to inform future efforts around diversity, equity and inclusion. Please look for your survey link in a September 27th email and share your thoughts and ideas.

The survey coincides with a week of focused conversations and events about equity and diversity. Greater Than 7 is designed to engage our entire University community in these important topics. Check out the events happening on campus, or find out more about the ASR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee’s work.

Earlier this summer, ASR formed a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee consisting of a cross-functional team of representatives from each of ASR's units. The members of this committee include: Chelsea Weber, Josh Geiger, Katie MacDonald, Rachel McKessock, Roxanne Johnson, Sherief Elabbady, and Julie Selander.

The committee has been developing the charter for their work, and has explored some ideas for future priorities. It became clear to the group that it should first assess and better understand ASR's climate of diversity and inclusion, which will help determine where the committee should focus their efforts.

If you have any questions about this survey or the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion committee, please contact your unit representative or speak to your supervisor.

ASR website update: organizational charts

As part of the ASR website redesign, the ASR-wide organizational charts are being re-created in a new format. The ASR-wide organizational chart that was hosted on the previous version of the ASR website was not accessible when the new ASR website was launched. However, as a few staff members have expressed a need for the ASR-wide org. chart, a link to the previous version of the ASR-wide org. chart has been added to the ASR website. When the new version is ready, the old version will be replaced. You may need to bypass a warning about website security in order to access the ASR-wide org. chart.

The Community Fund Drive is the month of October

The Office of Undergraduate Education is going to have a Penny War with all proceeds supporting the Completion Fund for students. There was unanimous agreement for where the funds should go. Stay tuned for more information about the Penny War.

New this year, the process for counting the people who have participated in donating to the annual community campaign is more streamlined. Each person does NOT have to fill out a form to be counted. Instead, a simple sign-up list for people to write their names and x.500 and/or Employee ID will do. This should lead to a more accurate count and quicker processing time.

SDP SWAT update and nomination parameters

The ASR Student Degree Progress (SDP) SWAT team has been busy awarding completion funds to students completing their degrees.  You can help by nominating a student for funds!  Potential candidates must be Twin Cities undergraduates admitted Fall 2011 or later that have exhausted available financial aid options.  The goal of these funds is to remove financial barriers that prevent (or could prevent) students from registering for classes needed to complete their degree.

If you have any questions, or wish to nominate a student, please email the ASR SDP team at asr-sdp@umn.edu. This email account can be utilized for all student degree progress and retention-related requests for the team, and helps the SDP team ensure coverage and timely responses for your inquiries. Just a reminder, there is no lead for this group as they all report to Sue VanVoorhis.

Recent ECAS fixes and enhancements

On September 25, more fixes and enhancements were made to the Electronic Course Approval System (ECAS). The changes include:

• Updated or removed links on the main ECAS page to outdated resource materials.
• Removing a Topics attribute in ECAS will now remove the attribute in PeopleSoft.
• Deleting or changing a Liberal Education requirement will now delete and/or add the attribute in PeopleSoft.
• Added a Freshman Seminar attribute option.
• Added Learning Abroad attribute option.
• Added a cross-listing option.

• Updated text descriptions for multiple fields.

Graduate Planning and Audit System update

The Graduate Planning and Audit System (GPAS) is a new tool that allows graduate students and their advisors to view student degree progress in real-time and approve planned  coursework. In addition, the GPAS audit is used for degree clearance processed by the Graduate Education Records Team in the Office of the Registrar.

To date, the GPAS team has mapped, coded, and built 770 plans, subplans, and minors. The team continues to support CEHD, who went live with the new system in April 2015, and will soon launch this tool for the following colleges and programs:

• MBA is live as of September 6, 2016
• CSOM will go live on October 3, 2016
• CVM will go live on November 7, 2016

Beginning September 16, the Graduate Education Records Team in the Office of the Registrar will take over exceptions processing for CEHD students. For more information, visit the the GPAS project website.

The University’s six-year capital plan

At the September Board of Regents meeting, the University's six year capital plan was reviewed,including an item that could potentially impact ASR staff if approved -- moving Williamson and Fraser Hall staff to the Bell Museum space in several years.

However, it's many years off and plans can change in the interim. So, while this plan is being considered, don’t start packing yet!

This project would renovate or replace approximately 56,000 square feet in 10 Church Street (former Bell Museum) for Admissions, innovative learning spaces and Academic Support Resources. The new or renovated facility will allow Fraser and Williamson Hall to be vacated. The vacated Fraser Hall is planned for the new Chemistry Teaching Facility.

The University’s overall capital improvement plan is guided by the Capital Strategy Group (CSG). The CSG includes:

• Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost
• Vice President, Health Sciences and Medical School Dean
• Vice President, Research
• Vice President, University Services
• Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
• Special Assistant to the President, Government and Community Relations (exofficio)

This group recommends a capital plan to the President, and the President recommends a plan for review and approval by the Board of Regents.

Class Time Conflict Workflow update

The Class Time Conflict Workflow launched for all campuses on August 15 is being successfully used by students, faculty, and staff. Since the launch date, the form has had 112 requests across all campuses with 110 requests on the Twin Cities campus and one request each at Crookston and Morris. The project team will be meeting again on September 30 to discuss feedback and prioritize work for the second iteration.

MyU/PeopleSoft downtime planned for Sept. 24-25

MyU/PeopleSoft will be unavailable for a short window during an upgrade to the Oracle databases: on Saturday, Sept. 24 at 10pm MyU/PeopleSoft will become unavailable. MyU will back online by Sunday, Sept. 25 at 8am and PeopleSoft will come back online according to the normal maintenance schedule (available by Sunday, Sept. 25 at noon).

Login page updates for PeopleSoft, Moodle, and Google on Oct. 2

The login pages for some University applications will be launching new looks beginning October 2, 2016. There will be no service disruption for this change and no action is required by users. Find out more about this change.

St. Paul One Stop & CFANS Open House

Both offices are extremely excited for this new advising center where students can receive service from both CFANS and One Stop in one location. Stop by to check out this newly renovated space. Remarks will begin around 3:00 p.m. from Michael White (CFANS) and Julie Selander (One Stop Student Services). Light refreshments will be served, along with tours of the space. All are welcome. Please let Nate Peterson in One Stop Student Services know if you have any questions.

These walkstations were made for walking, and that’s just what they do...

Update (Dec. 2017): Please refer to the ASR Intranet for updated Walkstation directions and information.

Looking for a way to stay fit while you work? ASR has three Walkstations available. One Walkstation in 160 Williamson Hall and two in Fraser 200. Each is outfitted with a computer and is available as a resource in Google Calendar:

• (EQ) ASR-160 WmsonH Walkstation
• (EQ) ASR-200 Fraser Walkstation 1
• (EQ) ASR-200 Fraser Walkstation 2

To add a resource to an event and reserve a walkstation:

• On your computer, open Google Calendar
• Create a new event or open an existing one
• On the right side of the page, click Rooms, etc.
• Next to the resource you want, click Add. If you don’t see the resource in the list, use the “Filter room” search box.



Here’s the view if you search for “Walkstation” 

• Click Save. Other people in the organization won’t be able to book the resource at the same time.

You can request a waiver from Marit Gladem via email. Fill out the waiver, sign and submit the original copy to Marit Gladem in 234 Morrill Hall.

Inbox by Gmail

University of Minnesota users now have access to Inbox by Gmail, a Google app focused on improving email productivity and organization. Watch Google’s introductory video, Meet Inbox by Gmail, to see examples of its features. To use Inbox, sign in to your University Gmail account and visit inbox.google.com.

Updated Apple iOS

On Tuesday, Sept. 13, Apple’s new mobile operating system, iOS 10, was made available for download. The new version promises an updated user interface with lots of new functionality. OIT has performed basic functionality tests to ensure this release will work in our environment.

University of Minnesota Twin Cities makes first financial aid disbursements

On Monday, August 29, the Office of Student Finance made their first financial aid disbursements of the fall 2016 term for the majority of the careers on the Twin Cities campus. More than $90 million was disbursed to Twin Cities undergraduate students. The first disbursement of the semester was the biggest, although the financial aid disbursement process will be ongoing throughout the term.

Note: the "count" is the total number of disbursements, and it is possible that individual students may receive multiple disbursements (i.e. a loan and a scholarship).

UGRD
Count 52,737
Amount $90,949,196

DENT
Count 600
Amount $7,713,376

GRAD
Count 4,097
Amount $24,718,010

LAW
Count 1,226
Amount $11,472,142

PHAR
Count 662
Amount $5,760,336

VMED
Count 617
Amount $6,545,529

MED (to date)
Count 1673
Amount $11,520,005

New student degree progress tool for MyU being developed

Later this fall, the University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities and Rochester campuses will launch a new tool within MyU that helps undergraduate students better understand their degree progress and plan for four-year degree completion. This tool utilizes data from APAS to calculate a student’s progress within their degree program. Students will receive recommendations, based on their individual progress and University experience, to help guide them toward four-year degree completion.

Currently, the project team is gathering feedback from meetings with advisors and usability sessions with students. Communication efforts are ongoing for advisors and staff, and outreach to eligible students will begin in October.

If you have additional questions, please contact the ASR Student Degree Progress team.

New ASR site coming on September 12 - some resources moving

The ASR website redesign will change where certain resources used by ASR staff are located. Some resources that have been available on the ASR site will be moved to the ASR intranet site, while others will have a different look or feel. Some changes include:

• The FA Help and Communications request forms will be removed
• If you need to make an FA Help request, send an email to fahelp@umn.edu
• If you need to make a request of the communications team, send an email to asrcomm@umn.edu
• OSF and One Stop policies and procedures will be accessible through the ASR intranet
• Look under the “Quick Links” column on the right or go straight to policy.asr.um.edu
• The ASR organizational chart will be re-designed using a new interface
• The ASR-only directory will be removed
• Staff should search for ASR staff contact information using the search bar in the header of any UMN website.
• Working on a new process for items associated with the ASR Directory, such as storing job descriptions and identifying career families
• Information on career families and ASR Knowledge, Skills and Abilities will be housed on the ASR intranet

These changes are being implemented so ASR can be more strategic about how we manage our websites. Moving forward, the ASR website will mainly be a resource for University staff and faculty, while the ASR Intranet will be where ASR staff find resources meant just for us. Here’s a preview of the new ASR website homepage: