Provide your input on ASR staff development and leadership

If you have not already done so, please take a few moments to complete this short leadership survey. This is your chance to tell ASR directors about your professional development efforts and leadership skills. You'll also be able to provide input on the sorts of professional development and leadership experiences you are interested in.

Individual Development Plan team updates

Our update last week about the current staff who are contributing to these efforts is already out of date and contained one accidental omission. The IDP design team, who is reviewing and revising the current IDP, consists of Jeremy Todd, Jake Murphy, Ian Whitney and Didi Nguyen.

Over the course of the next three weeks, this design team will be working with ASR staff to test a new version of the IDP form and materials. For questions or comments about the IDP process, please contact Stacey Tidball.

From Sue: University of Minnesota’s Twin Cities campus completes accreditation

The Provost’s office has extended its gratitude to ASR for our information and the support provided to complete the Higher Learning Commission’s Comprehensive Quality Review process at the end of 2015.

It is with great pleasure that I can report that the University’s accreditation has been completed. Thank you to all of the individuals throughout ASR that played an important role in this process and helped to ensure the continued success of our University.

Leaver program turns student into “Returner”

ASR’s mission is “To make a positive difference in students’ lives.” A cross-collaborative effort that combined the work of staff from the Office of Admissions (Kay Anderson), the Office of Student Finance (Phuong Tran, Carol McDowell and Deb Wilkin) and One Stop Student Services (Marcia DeGaetano) did just that. Working together, they made a positive difference in the life of a student in a dire financial situation by helping the student with a residency appeal and additional financial aid (scholarships and grants) to pay off their outstanding balance, allowing them to register for spring classes. This student is now back on track to complete their University of Minnesota degree and has thanked our staff multiple times. It’s important to remember that the work we do in ASR can have a big impact outside of our office buildings.

Financial Aid Basics and More

On Thursday, January 7 OSF, One Stop and the Office of Undergraduate Education partnered to present financial aid basics (and more) to academic advising staff on the Twin Cities campus. Nearly 80 academic advisors attended the session and were very interested in learning more about how they can help students with financial aid issues (without becoming financial aid counselors). We spent a large portion of the meeting talking about Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP), Work Study, Cost of Attendance appeals, Special Circumstances appeals and enrollment changes and the subsequent impact on financial aid.

Being a star team player

How can you be a star team player? MindTools.com offers these 10 tips:

• Set an example.
• Use your strengths to help the team.
• Share positive, contagious energy.
• Put the team first.
• Build relationships.
• Trust and be trusted.
• Hold people accountable.
• Be humble.
• Be a good listener.
• Accept criticism.

Check out their blog post for the full descriptions of each, as well as other work tips.

Upcoming learning opportunities

ASR Tech Tuesdays

ASR Tech Tuesdays is a series of fun, informal brown-bag meetings held over the lunch hour. Hosts and special guests share their knowledge related to working smarter and collaborating better by using technology.

Upcoming topics: Web Conferencing Primer (01/26), Editing PDFs (2/02)
Date: Every Tuesday
Time: 12:00 PM (bring your lunch, if you wish)
Location: Locations vary; see z.umn.edu/techtuesdays for details

Visit z.umn.edu/techtuesdays and join the Tech Tuesdays Google Group, view a calendar of future topics, and more. Have an idea for a Tech Tuesday? Want to share your skills with your colleagues? Contact Amanda Miklik or Jeremy Todd.

ISSS Intercultural Workshop Series 

The International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) Intercultural Workshop series combines intercultural competency and skills development workshop and “Culture In-Depth” sessions discussing the unique practices, customs, and values of some of the largest international student populations on our campus.

Incorporating Equity & Diversity in the Search Process 

This workshop describes how to incorporate equity and diversity throughout all stages in the search process, including writing a position description and interview questions, using diverse recruiting sources, understanding your unit’s Affirmative Action goals and workforce statistics, and recordkeeping.

Search Committee update on Office of Student Finance position

The search committee for the Director, Office of Student Finance position, led by Jeremy Todd and including Brenda Herzig (UMD), Tom Schmidt, Dianne Danov, and Catherine Schuster, met on December 18, 2015 to review the applicants. 

After advertising nationally and a significant application period, the pool of candidates returned 18 candidates. However, many candidates did not meet the requirement for 12 years of progressively responsible management experience in a large, complex organization. After careful review, the committee was able to recommend only one of the 18 applicants for consideration, Tina Falkner. 

Because the search committee would be unable to conduct interviews and compare multiple candidates, they have recommended closing the search. Tina will continue to lead the Office of Student Finance as interim director and we are exploring next steps. We will share updates as we learn more.

By the numbers: Grade entry for fall term

During this year’s fall term, 88.4% of grades were submitted by the due date on the Twin Cities campus. That is a slight increase over last fall term’s 87.6%. For Twin Cities undergraduate regular session courses, 92.4% of grades were entered by the deadline and within the week following the deadline that number rose to 98.8%.

The Training Team received 191 contacts related to grading this term. Despite a new grade entry process, this represents a significant decrease in tickets from the 394 received during the week of grade entry immediately following the Upgrade.

ASR-IT to begin work on next technology update

Starting Monday and for the next three months ASR-IT BAs and Web Team will all be working on the next technology update, an upgrade of PeopleTools. Effectively, PeopleTools is the presentation and configuration layer of PeopleSoft (e.g. screen colors, fonts, date/time formats, look and feel, etc.) This upgrade will require testing for all PeopleSoft applications multiple times over the next three months. Stay tuned for future updates.

Recent thefts in Williamson Hall

Remember these tips from UMPD to help ensure the safety of you, your colleagues, and living or work areas:

• Report any suspicious person or activity to police.
• Do not prop open entrances to buildings.
• Lock your living and work areas EVERY time you leave.

For more safety tips, visit the UMPD website.

One Stop extended hours January 11-22

One Stop Student Services will have extended walk-in hours at the Bruininks Hall (East Bank) location the weeks of January 11 and January 18. Monday-Thursday (except Jan. 18) hours are 8 a.m.-5:30 p.m. and Friday hours are 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Regular service hours will resume Monday, January 25.

Winter classroom updates

Winter break provides the Office of Classroom Management an opportunity to access classrooms and complete projects while they are not consistently in use. Technology life-cycle upgrades are underway in Blegen Hall 205, so that it can be used as a swing classroom during spring semester. In all, 30 classrooms will receive upgrades in Blegen as the installations continue through the spring and summer semesters. 

On the St. Paul campus, Magrath 6 & 8 and Biological Sciences (BioSci) 64 are receiving upgrades prior to the start of spring semester. BioSci 64 was one of the original 2007 pilotActive Learning Classrooms and the technology upgrade will convert the instructor and student technology from analog to digital.

Financial Aid disbursements have begun for spring 2016 term

On January 4, students in the School of Dentistry, Medical School, and College of Veterinary Medicine began receiving their financial aid disbursements for the spring 2016 term. Students that signed up for direct deposit received their credit balance on January 6; credit balance checks for students that have not signed up for direct deposit were produced starting January 8. 

Undergraduate, graduate, Pharmacy and Law students will have their aid disbursed on Monday, January 11. Students that signed up for direct deposit will receive their credit balance on January 13; credit balance checks for students that have not signed up for direct deposit will be produced starting January 15. 

In case you’re wondering - a credit balance is the aid (money) left in a student’s account after their tuition and fees have been paid. Most students use this money for living expenses, so are very interested in knowing when they will receive it. 

Remember to complete Sexual Harassment training

The University’s Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action (EOAA) Office emailed staff to announce several new educational opportunities on important topics (please check your emails for the full message). Staff are encouraged to complete the “Speak Up: Understanding and Preventing Sexual Violence” training available through ULearn. EOAA has also developed video versions of three existing educational programs that also address these important topics: Sexual Harassment, Awareness, Prevention and Response;  Responding to Sexual Misconduct and Sexual Assault; and EOAA Supervisors Toolkit.

ASR Tech Tuesdays are here!

Date: Every Tuesday, starting January 12
Time: 12:00 PM (bring your lunch, if you wish)
Location: Locations vary; see z.umn.edu/techtuesdays for details

You asked, we listened - we’re kicking off the first Tech Tuesday event with a highly-requested topic: “Meeting Room Technology”! Join us to learn tips and tricks for using meeting room technology with confidence.

Visit z.umn.edu/techtuesdays and join the Tech Tuesdays Google Group, view a calendar of future topics, and more.

Williamson Hall Open House recap

The Office of the Registrar would like to thank everyone that was able to attend and make their December 17th Open House in Williamson Hall a huge success. The food was delicious, nothing less expected from ASR staff, but the event also provided an opportunity for staff to meet each other, put faces to names, and learn about the work that goes in on Williamson Hall (not just the Academic Records unit). Director of OTR Ingrid Nuttall gave a number of tours throughout the event and noted that touring staff said it was really helpful to understand where the archives of the paper transcript forms were held and why. Stay tuned for information about future Open Houses.

Individual Development Plan update

ASR’s Individual Development Plan is being revised to make it more user friendly and to encourage use by more staff for personal and career planning. An IDP Design Team (Jeremy Todd, Jake Murphy and Fritz Skinner) has redrafted the form, written clearer instructions, and worked to link the plan to an annual cycle of planning and review. The ASR Directors are also recommending that we implement a process to increase the use of IDPs in ASR.

The revised IDP Plan and process will be tested with a sample of users, reviewed with supervisors, and introduced in advance of our spring performance appraisals.

For questions or comments on the IDP process, contact Stacey Tidball.

Is it a hat? A tomato? Learn the Pomodoro technique!

The Pomodoro technique helps users break down larger tasks into smaller tasks to be completed or worked on in pre-established, timed intervals that helps users better focus and concentrate on the task at hand. Learn more »