Reminder about January 2 payday

The first pay date in January will be Thursday, January 2 instead of Wednesday, January 1. This is due to the fact that New Year’s Day is a bank holiday on which pay cannot be delivered. In order for you to receive your pay in the same tax year that it normally would have been paid, the University has moved the pay date to the following business day, Thursday, January 2.

Upcoming schedule for performance appraisals

This year we’re starting performance appraisals a bit early and we wanted to let you know the schedule ahead of time. The form will be due to your supervisor by Friday, February 28. This year’s performance appraisal form will be released mid-January.

Self-evaluations will cover the time period of April 2019 through December 2019. We expect some goals may still be in progress because of the altered time frame. If you have specific questions about the time frame or your goals from last year, talk with your supervisor.

2020 performance appraisal schedule

• Friday, February 28: All employees complete self-evaluation and submit their performance appraisal form to their supervisor
• Friday, March 13: Supervisors review and submit completed forms to unit directors
• Friday, March 27: Directors review all appraisals for their unit
• Friday, April 3: Directors review for consistency across ASR
• April 6 - May 1: Supervisors and employees meet to review appraisals one-on-one

For additional background: each year, ASR employees complete performance appraisals—a self-evaluation of their work over the last year—and submit it to their supervisor. Supervisors and directors review the forms and then supervisors and employees each meet to go over them. If you have questions about performance appraisals, talk to your supervisor.

Suggestion Box: Supervisor performance review

A recent suggestion asked about how to give feedback about their supervisor, similar to the employee performance appraisal. Each director will formalize a process for their unit to receive employee feedback regarding their supervisor’s performance, which will be incorporated into the supervisor’s annual performance appraisals. Also note: staff are encouraged to share feedback anytime throughout the year directly to the unit director or to Human Resources.

December staff events

Staff appreciation event December 19

This year’s annual ASR staff appreciation event will be held at Loring Pasta Bar on Thursday, December 19 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. We’ll have door prizes given throughout the event. If you’d like to contribute prize items, you can bring it along with you to Loring Pasta Bar. Student workers are welcome to attend - email asrcentral@umn.edu to add them.

ASR third annual Ugly Sweater Potluck
Please join us for the third annual Ugly Sweater Potluck on Thursday, December 12 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. in Fraser B-20. If you don't own an ugly sweater, or you work in a sweltering part of one of our buildings and can't imagine wearing a sweater, that is fine too! All are welcome. This is not just for folks in Fraser, so please, stop by if you're able and show off those sweaters!

One Stop office closures

The One Stop St. Paul and West Bank locations will have special hours a few days in December:

• Thursday, December 19: St. Paul and West Bank offices close early at 1:30 pm for the staff appreciation event
• Thursday-Friday, December 26-27: St. Paul and West Bank locations closed

Service will be available as usual at the East Bank location in 333 Bruininks Hall, including Graduate Student Services and Progress and University Veterans Services.

University closures and Safe-U notifications

Two unplanned Twin Cities campus closures in one year? That’s quite a record! To clarify, no ASR staff are deemed “essential” to limited University operations. If you have any questions about the most recent closure on November 27, please connect with your director or email asrcentral@umn.edu.

In case we have more extreme weather events, or there are other campus emergencies, we recommend reviewing your contact information for Safe-U notifications by going to MyU > MyInfo > Safe-U Alerts.

Newsletter paused until January

We will not be sending News and Notes on December 19 or January 2. We will start up again on January 16 and continue with the normal schedule, every other Thursday. If you have something urgent between now and January 16, please contact ASRCentral@umn.edu and they can send an email to all staff.

Managing stress during the holidays

Many of us are in full swing when it comes to the holidays! While this is the season of giving and thanks, for some, there is also stress and worry. The mental health in the workplace working group has pulled together a few resources highlighting this particular topic. We will also be visiting ASR unit meetings during the months of January and February to discuss the role of this group and gather feedback.

Listen to it: The University’s Center for Spirituality and Healing is hosting a free webinar on December 18 from 12:30-1:00pm to discuss strategies to prevent and cope with holiday stress.

Read about it: The Mayo Clinic and Canadian Mental Health Association provide some tips and tricks for stress management and mental wellness during the holidays.

Practice it: Intention and reflection are key components to set the tone for the day and practice gratitude. The Five Minute Journal is a great way to focus energy to the positive. Don’t want to buy a journal? You don’t have to. The main tenets are to set the day with intention and gratitude and at the end of the day to reflect on the positive.

FMLA and mental health

The Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) was enacted in 1993 requiring covered employers to provide employees with job-protected, unpaid leave for qualified medical and family reasons. The Office of Human Resources provides this detailed information about FMLA and associated processes.

What you may not know is that FMLA also covers mental health as a serious health condition. FMLA leave can be taken intermittently or in a single instance. To request FMLA for a mental health condition all that is required is to complete the form: Certification of Health Care Provider for Employee’s Serious Health Condition, which details when/how you need work accommodations. Medical details are not needed and should not be provided per HIPAA.

The primary benefits of receiving FMLA leave are that you get approved and protected time excused from work that can not be held against your work performance, and the University continues to contribute to medical benefits regardless of pay status. If you are experiencing mental health issues that you think may be covered by FMLA, please talk to your supervisor or our HR partner, Mary Stein (stein094@umn.edu).

Save the date for a staff appreciation event

This year’s annual ASR staff appreciation event will be held at Loring Pasta Bar on Thursday, December 19 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. We’ve placed a hold on your calendar. We’ll have door prizes given throughout the event. If you’d like to contribute prize items, you can bring it along with you to the event. Student workers are welcome to attend. We’ll have more details to share later on.

Financial aid verification form for independent students is now online

A cross-functional team in ASR recently launched an online form that students can use to complete the financial aid independent verification process. It was previously a paper process using a PDF form. The new form, built with Jadu XForms Pro, will improve things for students and staff by auto-filling the student’s data, allowing them to upload documentation rather than having to mail it, and making turnaround time faster. The project team is also working on creating a similar form for dependent verification. Students selected for verification receive a direct link to the independent verification form. It is also available on the One Stop website.

Calendar for transfer students - submit events

Folks who work in Transfer Student Experience are updating the calendar they provide to new transfer students. The goal is to help those students quickly learn about things on campus in the first few weeks of the term. Sarah Ihrig is asking staff to submit events and resources via Google Form now that may be useful to transfer students within their first six weeks of the spring semester. This may include:

• Any event or resource helpful to transfer students (does not have to be only for transfer students)
• Drop-in hours
• Open houses
• Events that you already have scheduled or regularly hold
• Events/resources that are college/major-specific

ASR Printer Inventory

We are taking an inventory of all the printers we have in ASR. If you have a printer in your office or cube space, please fill out the printer inventory form. This survey is for the personal printers that you may have at your desk. In addition, if your team or unit has a printer in your workspace that is not part of our contract with Loffler/Ricoh/Toshiba, please have one person from your team submit the survey for that equipment.

Office moves in Williamson Hall

There has been some transition of space assignments in 160 Williamson Hall. Kate Sophia and Matt Tveter are now each located adjacent to the 162 conference room. Kristy Davis (M/W/F) and Jaime Wascalus (T/Th) will be sharing the 160S office (formerly occupied by Matt). Rachel McKessock will now reside in 160T (formerly occupied by Kate).

Thank you

We ended up with a 96% participation rate with the Employee Engagement survey this year, which is awesome! The ASR directors send a huge thank you for completing the survey. They look forward to working with everyone as we review the survey results in the future.

Expense reports in Chrome River

It has been a year since Chrome River officially went live for ASR. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to learn the system and switch to the new process. The expense reports have included a lot of good information, however, here are a couple of reminders about the most frequent issues:

1. Please make sure your business purpose (justification) addresses how the activity being submitted relates to the department’s/University’s mission.
2. The conference lodging checkbox is configured to identify situations where travelers are using a published, pre-negotiated rate provided by the conference organizer. If your lodging does not use a conference rate, please do not check this box.

Spotlight from the Mental Health in the Workplace Group: Seasonal Affective Disorder

The fall season brings changing leaves, pumpkin spice, and turning back the clocks. For some, this shift can also bring Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If you are experiencing symptoms of SAD (e.g., depressed mood, loss of energy, increased sleep, anxiety, irritability, and difficulty concentrating), consider the following:

• check out a SAD light from Magrath Library
• consult your health care provider about vitamin D supplements and exercise
• review these tips from the National Alliance on Mental Illness related to turning back the clock
• talk to your health care provider if you are having trouble managing symptoms

In the coming weeks, we’ll be focusing on stress management. If you have topics that you would like to see covered, please send them to the ASR Suggestion Box with a note that it’s for the Mental Health in the Workplace Group.

How can ASR support mental health?

The Mental Health in the Workplace working group kicked off on October 8. The group’s main focus is to provide resources for staff and to create an environment in ASR that promotes positive mental health. Representatives from ASR units came together to discuss areas where ASR is doing well, what can be improved, and brainstorming ideas to improve the employee experience. Meeting on a bi-weekly basis, this group will be focusing on resources/tools for supervisors and all staff, topics such as stress management, depression, burnout, work/life balance, and recommendations on the work environment. We aim to provide relatable and relevant materials.

In order to do so, we also want to hear from you. What suggestions do you have to make ASR an environment that promotes positive mental health? We are asking staff to submit their ideas/suggestions via the ASR Suggestion Box. We look forward to hearing what you have to say. As a reminder, the ASR Suggestion Box is anonymous.

Sharing your Google calendar - ASR policy and recommendation

ASR’s calendar policy requires that we each share our calendars as “see all event details” for UMN Twin Cities. Unfortunately, the Google domain limit excludes our campus partners from viewing Twin Cities calendars unless shared individually. For staff who work and meet regularly with campus partners, we recommend you set your calendar to enable sharing free/busy status via the public setting (see instructions on how to do this). This will make scheduling easier. If you have any questions, please contact asrcentral@umn.edu.

ASR BOR presentation

At the most recent Board of Regents meeting, Vice Provost & Dean of Undergraduate Education Bob McMaster and Associate Vice Provost Sue Van Voorhis presented on credit transfer between campuses, highlighting improvements we have made for students and some of the struggles students still face when transferring between campuses. The presentation materials are available in the published Docket Materials.

Employee Engagement survey opens October 14

On October 14, you will receive an invitation to complete the Employee Engagement survey. All responses to the survey are anonymous. The survey focuses on measuring commitment/dedication and effective environment. You can read more about the E2 survey from OHR.

When you take the survey, some of the questions will refer to things like your “department” and “college leadership”. Since ASR is not structured like a college, please use the following definitions when filling out the survey:

• “Campus”  = Twin Cities
• “College leadership” = ASR directors including Sue Van Voorhis
• “Department” = Your ASR department (OCM, OTR, C&C, OSF, ASR IT, ASR Central)
• “Manager” = Your direct supervisor (person who does your performance review)

If ASR achieves a 100% survey completion rate, we'd like to provide some kind of reward. Submit your ideas for a reward either to asrcentral@umn.edu or anonymously via the ASR suggestion box.

UMN Community Fund Drive

Each year the University holds a Community Fund Drive to support important efforts that matter to us. There are many ways to give, including donating to charities, nonprofits, and on-campus fundraising events. This year’s goal is for 30% of Twin Cities faculty and staff to participate in the giving campaign and to raise $1.5 million. ASR is participating in the fund drive by hosting Pets, Pastries, and Philanthropy, an event on Thursday, October 24 to raise money for the Twin Cities Student Success Fund. See the many other ways to give.

Pay period updates

Our regular pay period shows paychecks should go out on Wednesday, January 1, 2020. However, that date is a holiday. Instead, the January 1 paycheck will be paid on Thursday, January 2, 2020. (Normally the University pays one day earlier but due to the end of the tax year, they cannot pay on December 31.)

In the fiscal year 2021 (July 2020-June 2021), there will be 27 pay periods instead of the usual 26. For P&A staff, this means that your annual salary will be distributed over 27 pay periods instead of 26 and that biweekly pay will be smaller though salaries will not change. For civil service staff, you will be paid your normal hourly rate for the 27 pay periods. The Office of Human Resources will share more information about this in 2020.

Dig into user-centered design on World Usability Day

Save the date for World Usability Day on Wednesday, November 14. The University has a day full of events planned including two guest keynote speakers—one a content designer and the other an expert in accessibility—and other workshops, panels, and discussions. Anyone who is curious or works in user-centered design is welcome! Keep an eye on the World Usability Day 2019 event page for more info including a forthcoming link to RSVP to the event.

Tips to make your space more welcoming to support mental health

From UMN’s Mental Health Advocacy group, here are some ways to make your space welcoming as you work with students, staff, or coworkers.

• When possible, offer others a choice of where to sit when they join you. (For example, some people feel more comfortable if they can see the door and/or be close to the door.)
• When hosting someone, offer them a beverage, even if water is the only option. Tea is great because holding a warm beverage can help the nervous system relax.
• Have a plant in your office or a photo of nature. It can help people feel more grounded.
• Have a few fidget-type toys within easy reach for the person visiting you. This is a really useful action step. Many U of M departments hand things like this out as swag during outreach events, so you can pick them up for free.

Reporting FERPA breaches

In the past, we have been told to send an email about FERPA breaches to abuse@umn.edu. While that email address still works, the official reporting email is security@umn.edu. As a refresher, please take a few moments to review the procedure on reporting suspected FERPA breaches. If you have any questions, contact Stacey Tidball (tidball@umn.edu).

FERPA breaches can happen in many ways. Here are a few examples:

• Devices that contain student data are lost or stolen
• Sending student information to the wrong recipient
• Leaving documents with private student data in a publicly accessible location
• Through technology errors

Reporting suspected breaches helps the University determine whether a breach occurred, helps us correct errors, and notify impacted students.

Veterans Appreciation Event

The 13th annual Veterans Appreciation event will be held on Wednesday, November 13, 2019 from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. in the Great Hall in Coffman Memorial Union. The event recognizes the sacrifice and service of University veterans, military members, and their families. This event is free and open to the public. It will feature:

• T-shirts for veterans and drawstring bags for guests
• Pizza, beverages, snacks and games for all
• University and community partner information fair
• Massage therapy and Pet Away Worry and Stress (PAWS)

Fraser Hall discussion in Board of Regents meeting

Some of you may have heard from Regents meetings or legislative requests that there is a request for Fraser Hall to be renovated and converted to use by the Chemistry department. We wanted to make sure to let you know that these conversations are only preliminary; no concrete plans exist at this time. We will keep all of you informed if there are any decisions made concerning Fraser Hall.

ASR suggestion box: Williamson Hall update

Regarding the temporary supports in Williamson Hall entryway: the structural support was added after a review of the design of the Pillsbury Hall rehabilitation project. The review noted that the tunnel was not correctly specified to support large vehicle traffic on Pillsbury Drive SE. The temporary support structure was added as a precaution until the design is complete for Pillsbury Hall and the surrounding roadway infrastructure. Williamson Hall building is safe for staff and visitors. The temporary structural support will remain in place this academic year (2019-20). Next summer we expect an active construction project for Pillsbury Hall.

ASR Book Club fall reading

The ASR Book Club continues this fall in early October with our next book, How Full is Your Bucket? Expanded Anniversary Edition, by authors, Tom Rath and Donald O. Clifton (Clifton is the author of Strengths Finder). If you’d like to participate, fill out the ASR Book Club form by Thursday, September 26. The group will likely meet every other week for a handful of meetings over a brown bag lunch hour. We’ll discuss key points in the book as well as our own perspectives on the topic. Melissa Gasper and Eleanor Pijut have volunteered to facilitate. ASR is looking into purchasing the book for those who participate.

In this quick read (less than 100 pages) the book provides strategies grounded in 50 years of research. It offers ways to increase positive interactions in the workplace, professional relationship insights, and engaging stories that inspire lasting changes in our interactions. Additionally, there is an access code included with the book that gives you access to take the Clifton Strengths assessment.

Enter your pet for Pets, Pastries, and Philanthropy

To take part in the annual, University-wide Community Fund Drive, ASR will be hosting an event called Pets, Pastries, and Philanthropy on Thursday, October 24 from 9:00 to 10:30 a.m. in Fraser B20. All proceeds will go towards the TC Student Success Fund. Pets, Pastries, and Philanthropy will feature an ASR pet picture gallery and treats. You’ll be able to purchase votes with cash and vote for your favorite/cutest pets.

To prepare, we need photo submissions of your pets! To participate, send an email to Megan Wollner (woll0122@umn.edu) by Thursday, October 17. Include a photograph and name of your pet. (Note: if your pet won sometime in the past few years, please refrain from re-entering them this year.)

GPAS team has moved

Earlier this week, the GPAS team members (Stacia Madsen, Clare Dingley, and Chris Abts) relocated from Williamson Hall to Fraser Hall. The entire Degree Audit Team, including GPAS and APAS team members, is now located in the 133 Fraser hallway.

FY20 computer update

Moving forward, all new computers for ASR employees will come with Google Drive File Stream. They will also have access to the Ricoh printer in 200 Fraser and the Ricoh printer in Williamson 160 next to the water cooler. Information about Google Drive File Stream is available. It is a handy way to work on your Drive files offline.

Supporting student success: Financial Wellness Workshops

In collaboration with OSF, the One Stop Student Services Financial Wellness committee is hosting a series of 6 workshops for first-year new high school students and first-year new advanced standing students. Students who take part will be entered into a drawing to win one of fourteen $1000 scholarships! Students can also schedule one-on-one financial wellness meetings for an additional entry. We emailed NHS and NAS students today to invite them to the workshops.

The workshops educate students on budgeting, loans and credit, finding scholarships, and will enable them to make informed financial decisions. From our post-workshop survey, we heard that 100% of students said past workshops were helpful and 96% said they learned something new about finances. From fall 2018 scholarship winners:

"Because of this award, I will not have to borrow as much money as I previously thought. It feels a lot better to know that I don't have as much pressure on myself to get and pay back loans than before. I'm very glad that I was lucky enough to win this award, and that the U has great programs like this to help undergrads learn things they don't in a regular classroom."

"This award has made a huge impact on how I am able to pay for college this year it saved me from taking a loan for the fall semester."

Expiring links in mass emails

You may have experienced clicking on a link in a University email only to find that it’s expired and you can’t find what you’re looking for. You may also have noticed that the link is not familiar, or looks something like this: “click.ecommunications2.umn.edu.” Many mass email applications require the business to define an expiration date for URLs. Additionally, in order to track clicks on links, the mass email application changes the URL from the familiar one to a system-generated URL. We know that this can be a frustrating experience. If it’s crucial that you reach a link that’s expired, you may be able to email the sender in the footer of the email to ask for the original source link.

In ASR, we use Salesforce Marketing Cloud to send mass emails. Marketing Cloud requires us to define an expiration date which we have defined as 6 months’ time. If you have feedback about this, feel free to write to the ASR Communications team at ASRComm@umn.edu.

Mandatory first-round interview question for all ASR positions

The HR recruiting system now defaults eligibility to work in the U.S. as "no". A review of applicants has shown that all are missing this question so we need more information at the interview stage.

Going forward, as part of the first round interview for each and every candidate, this question must be included:

• If you were offered this position, would you be able to provide proof of eligibility to work in the U.S. within one week of a job offer?

It is not allowable to ask if they have a work visa, require sponsorship, etc. This question is also listed in the hiring checklist (z.umn.edu/asrhire) with a link to examples of work authorization.

Please email asrcentral@umn.edu if you have any questions or concerns.

Extended hours for Bruininks One Stop office

During the first two weeks of the fall term, One Stop Student Services will have extended in-person hours at the Bruininks Hall location:

September 3-6, 2019
- Tuesday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Friday from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

September 9-13, 2019
- Monday through Thursday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.
- Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

Join ASR working group: Mental Health in the Workplace

Building off of the NAMI presentation at the July all-staff assembly (video, 56 min), Amber Cellotti announced at the August all-staff assembly that she’ll be leading a volunteer working group on mental health in the workplace for ASR. The group will focus on examining the culture in ASR, expanding on current resources, and developing recommendations/best practices. If you would like to be part of the working group, reach out to Amber at knap0071@umn.edu. Thank you to those in the Office of Student Finance, Office of the Registrar, One Stop, and ASR Central who have already volunteered. This group will be kicking off in late September- early October.

Pilot for Stellic graduation planning tool

This fall, the College of Science & Engineering (CSE) on the Twin Cities campus will pilot a graduation planning tool offered by Stellic. All CSE undergraduates, advisors, and directors of undergraduate studies will be able to access the tool. The pilot’s purpose is to better understand gaps in student and advisor needs/wants and to validate the accessibility and usability of Stellic’s tool. Lindsay Bork Nichols will lead the project with additional team members: Jaime Wascalus, Jenni Peterson, Terri Tuzinski, Dan Sagisser, and special assistance by staff in Continuity & Compliance, ASR-IT, OTR, and the MyU Portal team.

Appreciation certificates

Is there someone that you wish you could formally recognize for all the great work that they do? We have created an appreciation certificate you can use to recognize staff members outside ASR for their great work. Instructions on how to request appreciation certificates is available.

Homecoming Parade! Friday, October 4

ASR will march again at this year's Gopher Homecoming Parade and you and your family members are invited to march along! Mark your calendars for this fun family event. The parade starts at 6:30 p.m. Contact Richard Campo (campo035@umn.edu) if you’d like to participate in ASR’s march.

We raised $1,727!

We had a great time last week at the ASR picnic and raffle. Here’s a list of the raffle winners. Our donations totaled $1,727! That’s a 26% increase over what we raised last year for the Student Success Fund. Thank you for your contributions!

Individual Development Planning

During the month of August, create or review your IDP (Individual Development Plan) with your supervisor. Schedule some time to talk about your interests, challenges, and goals for the next six months and update your IDP form.

If you are new to ASR or need a refresher, information about IDPs is available on the ASR Intranet under the Professional Development tab. You can find resources on professional development and a link to the IDP template. For questions, talk with your supervisor.

Supervisors, please also remember that the website asrsupervisors.umn.edu is available. The site focuses on a six-step model for having developmental conversations with your employees.

ASR service project

Starting in mid-August, we will begin collecting donations of non-perishable food items for The SLP Birdfeeder. We’ll have donation boxes in Fraser, Williamson and Bruininks. Although any food is welcome, the ideal foods are ones that require little to no cooking. A list of top ten foods requested is available. The program is also happy to accept new backpacks in addition to food.

The SLP Birdfeeder is a student-run community service project within St. Louis Park High School to fill backpacks with non-perishable food items for high school students (or their families) who are food insecure to ensure that they have food when they are not in school over the weekends. ASR chose to work with the SLP Birdfeeder for two reasons: 1) an ASR staff member has a connection with this program, and 2) we want to support high school students who may be contemplating college, regardless of whether or not they know donations come from UMN.

If you’d like to identify and/or coordinate future service projects ASR can participate in, contact Tina Falkner, rovic001@umn.edu.

A long-awaited degree

Dan Cylkowski had a long road to his University of Minnesota degree. He always wanted to be a carpenter, so he enrolled in vocational school after high school. After two weeks of that, he enlisted and served our country proudly in the US Army in World War II, and like many, attended college on the GI bill at the University of Minnesota.

Dan Cylkowski, US Army, 1940s

Dan Cylkowski, US Army, 1940s

Dan was hoping to be part of the architecture program but needed to start in the General College. By the spring of 1947, he thought he had finished all requirements for an associate of arts degree. He had tickets for his family to attend commencement but there was a fee and he needed to work that day, so he didn’t attend, assuming the University would mail his diploma. He later found out he hadn’t graduated due to a missing requirement: he could not afford to pay for the medical exam that was required at the time.

Mr. Cylkowski continued to work in carpentry. He got married to his wife, now of 68 years, and together they had two sons. Since retirement, he keeps himself busy with yard work and projects around his house. Now, at 94 years old, his granddaughter Alicia (a third-generation Gopher) encouraged him to push for his U of M diploma. She reached out to the College of Liberal Arts to find out whether it was possible to make his dream come true. He still had original documentation to support his case! After some teamwork and research between CLA, CEHD, and OTR, we waived the medical requirement and OTR posted an associate of arts degree to Mr. Cylkowski’s record backdated to 1947.

All the excitement inspired Emily Holt to run over to the bookstore and pick up a diploma cover and U of M baseball cap for the new graduate. All members of OTR signed a card for him (“from his fans in the Office of the Registrar”) and a surprise package was on its way.

Mr. Cylkowski was very excited to receive his package and bring resolution to an earlier chapter in his life.

Dan Cylkowski in 2019 with his diploma and UMN cap

Dan wrote a heartfelt letter of thanks, which is available to read in full below. It is truly rewarding to make a difference in a student's life!

To the staff at the registrar office of the University of Minnesota.

Dear friends;

Imagine my surprise when I saw a box from the University of Minnesota at my front door. I immediately knew this was it. My degree from the U of M. After many years of delaying the process of applying for it, my degree was finally coming to me. I didn’t attend the graduation ceremony in 1947 because I couldn’t afford the requirement of a physical before graduation. Thanks to all the individuals who spend so much time and effort to research the graduation process my prayers were answered. I am tremendously grateful to each and every one of  you and will never forget what you did for a 94 year old World War II veteran. Thanks again and God bless each and every one of you.
 

In addition to receiving my degree I was really thrilled to receive the university cap that was included in the box. Thank you ever so much for your generosity. I love it and will wear it with pride. 

Sincerely,

Dan Cylkowski

Thursday, July 25! ASR picnic and raffle

The ASR picnic and raffle is on Thursday, July 25, 11:30-1:30 p.m. on the Bruininks Plaza. Remember to bring cash for raffle tickets if you’d like to bid for items (or donate to the Student Success Fund). One ticket equals one bid and you can bid on as many items as you like, or all your tickets on one item. Up to you. Tickets are priced as follows:

• Get 1-9 tickets and pay $1.00 each
• Get 15 tickets and pay $10
• Get 35 tickets and pay $20

The raffle will help raise money for the Student Success Fund. You can donate items for the raffle any time between now and the day before the picnic (you have four business days!). Print a donation form to go with your items. Drop your donation and form with one of the following:

• Megan Wollner in Fraser Hall 253
• Julie Selander in Bruininks Hall 225
• Eleanor Pijut in Williamson Hall 160M

Students received 2019-20 aid awards

Staff in the Office of Student Finances have completed the first round of 2019-20 financial aid packages. A total of 17,066 undergraduates and 4,125 graduate and professional students received aid award packages. We sent emails to them in groups of 5,000 on July 15 to let them know they can view their aid in MyU. We will continue to package aid awards as students continue to submit financial aid applications for 2019-20.

Kudos!

Our financial wellness program for students was ranked #15 in the nation by lendedu.com in their list for the top 50 college financial literacy programs. ASR’s Financial Wellness Committee is made up of members from One Stop Student Services and the Office of Student Finance, with financial wellness being an overarching initiative of ASR. The focus of the programming is to provide education and resources to students around academic and personal finances. Way to go!

Thank you cards

Giving someone at work a thank you card is a nice way to take a moment to share your appreciation. We have three varieties of ASR-branded thank you cards that you can use any time. Stamps are also available if you need them. The cards are available in supply areas in our different buildings:

• Fraser: near the Ricoh copier cube in 200, adjacent to the walk stations
• Williamson: in the filing cabinet under the outgoing mail bins
• Bruininks: in Student Account Assistance and One Stop supply areas

Registration is open for fall 2019 OED workshops

The Office for Equity and Diversity (OED) offers free workshops for staff including the opportunity to earn the Equity and Diversity Certificate. The certificate helps participants develop tools for advancing equity and diversity in their personal and professional lives. You can also take individual workshops; they do not need to be completed in any order.

New employee affinity group

A new affinity group on campus called Disabled Employees at the U (DEU) was recently established by the University’s Disability Resource Center. The purpose is to build an inclusive and accessible community led by and for disabled employees. They promote personal, professional, and educational development. Disability includes, but is not limited to, vision impairment, deaf/hard of hearing, mental health conditions, intellectual disabilities, acquired brain injury, autism spectrum, and physical disabilities.

The DEU’s first event will be a meet-and-greet on Wednesday, July 31 from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. at the U’s Farmer’s Market outside McNamara Alumni Center (look for the big balloons). If you can’t make the event but would like to stay informed, email deu@umn.edu so they can add you to their email list. Read the DEU’s mission and values.

Merit compensation

Last week the Board of Regents finalized the budget and approved a 2.25% compensation pool for civil service and P&A staff. If you are civil service or P&A, were hired before January 1, did not have a reclass after January 1, and received a 2 or 3 on your performance appraisal, you received a 2.25% increase. (Bargaining unit increases are determined by contracts.) Merit increases were effective as of June 10, appearing on the July 3 pay date according to the pay period schedule. You can review your compensation history in MyU, navigate to My Pay, and click on “Compensation History” near the bottom.

ChromeRiver and expense reimbursements: an update or two

University administrative policy has changed so that the travel card reconciliation period and expense reimbursement period are aligned; these transactions must be processed within 60 days from the return date of travel. This additional time to reconcile will balance the delays for transactions to appear in ChromeRiver.

The best practice for processing Travel Card transactions is to send receipts into Chrome River as soon as possible. Sending receipts to Chrome River first allows the system to read the receipt (with optical character recognition (OCR)) and merge the receipt with the transactions when they load from the bank, which can take several days. Once the transaction has loaded, it will appear in the ‘credit card’ tab of your eWallet; be sure to wait until this happens before creating your report (to check: click on the 3 bars on the top left of the ChromeRiver home page > eWallet > Credit Card).

ASR Suggestion Box - Professional development over lunch

Opportunities for development such as the Book Club or Tech Tuesday are scheduled from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. not to take over lunch, but because that time is typically widely open on calendars. These events encourage a “lunch and learn” type of atmosphere. However, if you find yourself wanting to participate while still needing a traditional lunch break, work with your supervisor to identify an alternative break time to accommodate both activities.

Kudos!

Custom Solutions team

Early this week, the Custom Solutions team released a new version of the NCAA Certification Tool for Student Athletes and successfully updated Student Degree Progress. This work has been in progress for well over a year. Both were released as soon the TADA project launched the new APAS and both are working great. Congrats to all involved on all your hard work! Special thanks to Mike Brown and Remy Abdullahi for working to make sure the releases went smoothly.

TADA project team

On Monday the TADA project team released the new uAchieve APAS report to students and advisors. This software supports both Transfer Articulation and Degree Audits for all campuses and had not been updated for over a decade! Many thanks to all the TADA team members for their hard work and dedication to our students. The team tracked tons of details, presided over many user experience improvements, and worked with College Source (our vendor) to really modernize our infrastructure around these two important functions. The team managed to do all that good work and have a lot of fun too! Thank you to all in ASR who partnered with us. Phase 1 is complete. Onward to the second year of the project.

Scheduling team

Over the past weekend, Astra Schedule, the University’s academic and event scheduling system, was converted into four unique, campus-specific databases (Crookston, Duluth, Morris, Twin Cities/Rochester). It is the first, and largest, step in stabilizing the databases and improving both system performance and user experience. The expedited project was made possible due to a strong partnership with the vendor and the strength of the Ad Astra technical team here on the Twin Cities campus - Bob Quinney and Liz Johnson. Bob, Liz, and all of the Scheduling team have moved mountains to make this happen. Many thanks to the Scheduling team!

New APAS launches July 1

The first phase of the Transfer Articulation and Degree Audit (TADA) project will be complete when the new version of APAS launches on July 1. APAS (Academic Progress Audit System) is a tool used by undergraduates and their advisors on all five campuses to track degree requirements and progress. The University has used some version of this software for 30 years. The implementation of the most current version during this project is the first major update of the system since 2006.

The changes students and advisors will experience are contained mostly to the look and feel of APAS reports. Those who participated in usability evaluations said it is clean and easy to use.

Advisors who have access to process exceptions to APAS requirements are also excited to have an easier way to make those exceptions. This is the only group required to complete training to maintain their access in the new system and ⅔ of them completed the training in the first two weeks it was available.

The second phase of TADA starts immediately after the conclusion of the first and goes through July 2020. Work during this phase is largely focused on implementing the best practices for audit display developed during the first phase and getting transfer coursework details into PeopleSoft to enable prerequisite and repeat checking during registration.

Raffle and ASR picnic - July 25

This summer ASR is hosting a staff picnic with a raffle to raise money for the Student Success Fund. The items for the raffle are donated by our staff members—all of you! At the raffle, you will have the opportunity to purchase tickets (cash only) and submit tickets to win items.

ASR picnic and raffle

• Date: Thursday, July 25
• Time: 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
• Location: Bruininks Plaza (outside)
• Catering: TBD (please RVSP to the calendar invite so we can plan for catering)

You may donate items for the raffle any time between now and the day before the picnic. Print a donation form to go with your items. (You can make a copy to fill it out online first.) Depending on which building you’re in, you can drop your donations and the form with:

• Megan Wollner in Fraser Hall 253
• Julie Selander in Bruininks Hall 225
• Eleanor Pijut in Williamson Hall 160M

In the past we have auctioned items like wall art, backyard games, gift baskets, IOUs for baked goods, handmade items like knitted mittens, board games, etc. All money collected goes towards the Student Success Fund, directly helping students to graduate.

Jadu forms in the making

The University’s new workflow tool, Jadu, will be available to use enterprise-wide later this summer. ASR is currently transitioning three forms (that were originally created with Transforms) to the Jadu tool. These include Change Estimated Graduation Term, Cost of Attendance Appeal, and Tuition Refund Appeal. We anticipate we’ll have these ready to use in July. Moving forward, we will be creating Jadu forms for the verification process for independent and dependent students, as well as the form used to activate non-degree students.

As a tool, Jadu allows us to create forms that are accessible, easy to use, and mobile-friendly. We are working on creating a workflow style guide to help make prototyping and development easier and to provide consistent user experience in terms of the workflows' content, layout, and related email notifications.

ASR Wellbeing Champions

The ASR Engagement Team recently became aware of the lack of Wellbeing Champions in ASR. For there to be a genuine culture of wellbeing and work-life balance at the University of Minnesota, the Office of Human Resources needs champions at the local level.

What do Wellbeing Champions do? They serve as an inspirational voice in their department to not only promote the U’s Wellbeing Program, but also to encourage leadership to build an authentic culture of wellbeing in the workplace. Responsibilities include:

• Promote the Wellbeing Program and events.
• Bring colleagues’ ideas and comments back to Wellbeing Program administrators and fellow Champions so programs can get even better.
• Provide leadership in your department to encourage a healthy work environment and healthy work practices for fellow colleagues.
• Encourage colleagues to be their healthy best and to better manage work-life demands.
• Serve as a role model for making healthy lifestyle choices.
• Attend two half-day retreats per year (typically scheduled in the fall and spring) and participate in an average of 1-3 hours per month promoting and sharing information.

If you are interested in serving in this role, let your supervisor know and complete the ASR Wellbeing Champion form. The ASR Engagement Team will identify Wellness Champions by the fall.

One Stop closures July 5

On July 5, some One Stop offices will be closed. The following are the details for Friday, July 5:

• St. Paul location - closed
• West Bank location - closed
• East Bank location - open normal hours
• Graduate Student Services and Progress - open normal hours
• University Veterans Services - open normal hours
• One Stop Student Services via phone and email - available normal hours

Staff take part in a diploma stuffing party

Staff take part in a diploma stuffing party, 2019

Is it work? Is it a party? It’s both! Diplomas, diplomas everywhere and envelopes to put them in!

The Office of the Registrar (OTR) has streamlined diploma processes in recent years, but we do still have to mail them. Spring brings the largest batches. Each year, OTR invites staff from the Office of Student Finance (OSF) to join them in checking diplomas for any smudges or other flaws and putting them in envelopes for mailing. Boring? Maybe, but the stacks of diplomas represent the culmination of students’ hard work and determination; sending them out is satisfying. Again this year, the party was a great way to get to know ASR colleagues from another unit, help get diplomas to new alumni quickly, and revel in our students’ accomplishments. Interested in helping next year? Contact Matt Duggan in OTR.

How to share professional development opportunities

ASR is a diverse organization encompassing a broad spectrum of work. Many staff participate in a variety of professional organizations/associations, and from time to time these organizations offer free lectures or webinars. We encourage you to share those opportunities with your colleagues and invite you to include them in News & Notes.

As a rule of thumb, opportunities we share in News & Notes should be free, topically relevant to others in ASR, and of moderate duration—an hour or so. Feel free to send the information to brow3817@umn.edu to include in this newsletter. You should also share the information with your supervisor and team.

If you’d like to participate in a professional development opportunity that costs money or requires an hour or more, complete a Professional Development Request (PDR) that will be reviewed by your supervisor. Completing a PDR will help keep a record of your development activities over time.

MyU: My Finances - new features to launch mid-June

Students will be able to view and sort the financial aid they’ve received at the University, review personalized cost of attendance and Satisfactory Academic Progress figures, and more. The new features have been designed to help students make informed financial decisions.

Students that participated in a recent usability study indicated that the revamped My Finances is intuitive, the new elements are well-integrated, and that they appreciate the new information that’s being presented. Participants were also asked to rate the revamped My Finances section using the System Usability Scale (SUS); the revamped My Finances section received an average rating of 93 (an average SUS score is 68). A frequently asked questions document with screenshots and details about the new features is available and will continue to be updated as needed.

Mid-term alert submissions increased

In spring 2019, a workgroup researched how to increase compliance with University policy that states that instructors must submit mid-term alerts for students in 1000-level classes who are earning a D, F, or N grade. The number of mid-term alert submissions had been low, and the workgroup identified specific issues and made recommendations that might make a positive effect on the number of mid-term alert submissions. One recommendation was to make specific changes to the emails that ASR sends to instructors, which we did for spring 2019. We saw a 10% increase in submissions from spring 2018 to 2019.

The table below illustrates the change over four terms for both 1000-level classes (called out in University policy) and for all undergraduate classes. It is worth noting that about 35% of rosters typically have at least one D, F, or N by the time final grades are assigned. This means that 30.2% of rosters reporting in spring 2019 is likely actually approaching 100% compliance with the policy.

	1000-level classes		All undergrad classes
Term	Reported	Not Reported	Reported	Not Reported
Fall 2017	22.9%	77.1%	8.8%	91.2%
Spring 2018	20.2%	79.8%	6.7%	93.3%
Fall 2018	22.0%	78.0%	8.7%	91.3%
Spring 2019	30.2%	69.8%	11.1%	88.9%

The workgroup made other observations and recommendations which are being brought forward to leadership.

PeopleTools update: MyU and PeopleSoft outage June 1-2, 2019

On Saturday and Sunday, June 1-2, PeopleTools, the PeopleSoft development platform, will be updated. During the update, MyU and PeopleSoft will be unavailable for all campuses.

The following are specific impacts to note:

• MyU (and dependent applications)
• PeopleSoft (and dependent applications)
• ECAS and PCAS
• APAS and GPAS
• Grad Planner
• Perceptive Content

Access to Canvas (canvas.umn.edu) and University email (mail.umn.edu) will not be affected. We encourage you to mark your calendars for the update weekend, so you can plan around the service outage. Visit the IT Service Status page for the latest information on system availability.

After the update, it is recommended to clear your browser’s cookies and cache before logging into the affected systems. Job aids on the new PeopleSoft homepage and navigation options are linked via MyU > Key Links > PeopleSoft.

The update ensures that our PeopleSoft systems retain vendor support. The project team includes representatives from Campus Solutions, Human Resources, Finance, Information Technology, and MyU/Portal across the University. A lot of effort has gone into coordinating, planning, testing, training, and communications for this update due to the new homepage and navigation features. Thank you to the many people in ASR who have been part of this project!

Google is renaming Team Drives to Shared Drives

Google recently announced that the Team Drives feature of Google Drive will be renamed to “Shared Drives.” All features and permissions will stay the same, but references to Team Drives will read as Shared Drives for web and mobile. The new name will take effect for Drive on the web on June 3. OIT’s full roll out timeline is available.

Spring grades submission

Most grades for the Twin Cities’ spring 2019 regular session were due on 5/20/2019.

• 87.9% of graduate grades and 91.6% of undergraduate grades were submitted on time.
• This is an improvement over the spring 2018 where 80% of graduate and 88.7% of undergraduate grades were on time.
• As of Tuesday 5/21, 94.6% of all graduate grades and 97.8% of undergraduate grades have been turned in.

Northern Stars Student Remembrance

At last week’s staff event, Sue talked about the new Certificate of Attendance issued for students who pass away during their time at the Twin Cities campus. In April, the University hosted the Northern Stars Student Remembrance Event (video, 47 minutes) to acknowledge students who have passed and present the certificates to the families.

May is Mental Health Awareness Month!

During May, NAMI Minnesota (National Alliance on Mental Illness) and dozens of other organizations are involved in community education and creating awareness about mental illness. Visit NAMI’s calendar of events and activities. In July, a representative from NAMI Minnesota will present at the ASR All-Staff Assembly on Mental Health in the Workplace. Stay tuned for upcoming details.

Inclusive practices for names and pronouns for academic contexts

One of the breakout sessions at our 2019 spring staff event featured guest speaker, dr. Saby Labor, from the University of Minnesota’s Gender and Sexuality Center for Queer and Trans Life. Saby presented key questions, assumptions, the importance of pronouns, activities, and resources. View the slide deck on Inclusive Practices for Names and Pronouns for Academic Contexts. There are also LGBTQ+ definitions available.

Recap of the ASR Spring 2019 Event

On Thursday, May 16, 2019, the Development Team invited all of ASR to attend the Spring 2019 Development Event. Sue Van Voorhis and Bob McMaster gave their addresses about the vision organizer, accomplishments, updates, and the direction ASR is planning to go in the future. There were plenty of breakout sessions that were hosted by our own ASR members as well as other University of Minnesota members such as dr. Saby Labor, the Raptor Center, and the Zero Waste organization on campus. To view the presentations we received permission to share, go to the ASR Staff Development Event website under the Breakout Sessions page to check them out. Thanks to everyone for a fantastic event!

Annual Compliance Form

All ASR staff members are required to fill out an annual compliance form. Carin Thoms sent out an email with a link asking everyone to complete the form: Protecting Privacy of Staff and Student Records 2019-2020. Please complete it by Friday, May 24.

Please note student workers were not included in the email, but should complete the form. Supervisors can forward this on to the students.

Oracle Java transition

In 2019, Oracle announced they would not be providing updates or patches to Oracle Java for licenses without a subscription. This means that it could cost the University a lot of money to continue using Java. OIT will be removing Java from all ASR computers on May 16 unless they hear that there is a business need to continue using Java. Jaime Wascalus is coordinating that effort for ASR. Please read these quick updates to determine if this transition might impact your work:

• Windows 10 Users of SQL Developer, DARwin Client, and PeopleTools Client: Testing has shown that users do not need Java installed for these tools; therefore, there is no further action you need to take. Java will be removed from your machine automatically and you should see no impact.
• Mac Users of SQL Developer: For those of you who use Oracle SQL Developer and are Mac users, Jaime will submit your devices to OIT as those that should retain Java, since there have been mixed results in using OpenJDK. Currently, she has Mac users from ASR-IT on her list. If there are any Mac + SQL Developer users in other ASR units, please email her (wascalus@umn.edu).
• Other dependencies: If you have other tools that you use that depend on Java, please let Jaime (wascalus@umn.edu) know so we can exclude you from the machines that are having Java removed.

More information can be found on OIT's Oracle Java Transition Project page. Please email Jaime if you have any questions.

ASR wins Community Excellence Award

ASR was awarded the Community Excellence Award which recognizes individuals and groups who go above and beyond as a leader with a strong, demonstrated commitment to building connections with the University of Minnesota’s Gender and Sexuality Center for Queer and Trans Life for the purpose of bridging communities with education. The award was given at last night’s Lavender Celebration. Sue Van Voorhis, Julie Selander, and Matt Tveter accepted the award on behalf of ASR, which was given for the collaborative work to create functionality for all students, staff, and faculty to indicate a gender identity and/or personal pronoun in the MyU portal last year.

PeopleTools 8.56 update

PeopleTools, the PeopleSoft development platform, will be updated June 1-2, 2019. The update includes new homepage and navigation options. All PeopleSoft users will start receiving messages in May with more information on what to expect, including an overview video and detailed guides on the new features. During the update, PeopleSoft and MyU will be unavailable.

June deadline to apply to graduate - graduate and professional students

The June 1 deadline for graduate and professional students to apply to graduate has been extended to Monday, June 3, 2019 due to the planned PeopleSoft outage between June 1-2. Please note that this change only applies to the month of June, and the following deadlines will continue to be on the first of the month. The change has been made on the One Stop website.

Recommendations for how we talk and write about financial aid

The US Department of Education recently posted Recommendations: What Postsecondary Institutions Should Work to Avoid When Issuing Financial Aid Offers. We are already incorporating some of these items in our work here at the U, such as working to avoid referring to financial aid offers as “awards.” Take a moment to review the recommendations. The system finance councils are taking this guidance into account as they work on communications and content.

Two new electronic forms for graduate students

A cross-functional project team transitioned several PDF forms used by graduate students to electronic forms using WorkflowGen. They are the Reviewers’ Report and Final Exam forms, replacing the paper versions of the master’s and doctoral Reviewers’ Report forms and the Final Exam form for master’s (Plan A/B) and doctoral students. New process guides related to the forms are available on the Grad School website under “Examination Procedures.”

As with many electronic forms, there are benefits for students, instructors, and staff. The electronic forms are easier to use and result in faster processing times. For questions about the Reviewers’ Report of Final Exam forms, contact gssp@umn.edu.

Purchasing job aid

The University’s Controller’s office recently shared a purchasing method job aid showing common purchases and the best suppliers to buy from. It lists items in order of efficiency and cost such as airfare, catering, and technology.

NameCoach is up and running

NameCoach, the name pronunciation software ASR purchased, is up and running for commencement ceremonies. There are 17 colleges across the system campuses that are using the tool and have provided positive feedback. Additionally, NameCoach will be available in Canvas systemwide for students and faculty starting May 7.

Making NameCoach available for commencement and in Canvas will conclude the initial phase of this project. Future work includes investigating using the tool in other systems such as APLUS, Salesforce, the University directory, and MyU, to name a few. For questions about this effort, contact Julie Selander (goode021@umn.edu).

Use Zoom for online meetings

The University has switched to Zoom for its online video conferencing. We recommend using Zoom in place of WebEx from now on, although WebEx will be available until September 2. Read about how to use Zoom. OIT has also provided information about how Zoom compares to Google Meet.

New ASR Blockchain Collaborators Google Group

Interested in blockchain? Please join the new ASR Blockchain Collaborators Google Group! Request to join while logged in to your UMN account. This group is open to anyone in ASR who is interested in blockchain technology—from those with deep knowledge to those who are just curious. Through this group, we will:

• Share and talk about articles, webinars, videos, etc., about blockchain to better educate and inform us on where this tech is going
• Investigate how blockchain will impact the specific areas we work in
• Meet with blockchain experts to see how it is currently impacting higher ed and other sectors

We have a series of blockchain lunch meet-ups that will kick off on April 23. If you have any questions, please contact Jaime Wascalus (wascalus@umn.edu) or Adrienne Bricker (abricker@umn.edu).

AACRAO’s 105th Annual Meeting

Between March 31-April 3, 2019 several ASR staff participated at the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers (AACRAO) 105th Annual Meeting in Los Angeles, CA. Stacey Tidball, Julie Selander, Adrienne Bricker, Morgan Pasterski, and Tina Falkner presented on topics ranging from a Government Update to FERPA 2.0 to Tracking Graduate Students on their Degree Progress to Creating a Trans-Inclusive Student Experience to Mentoring.

As always, the University of Minnesota sessions were well attended and full of lots of questions. As the president of AACRAO for the 2018-19 year, Tina was the presiding officer at the Annual Meeting. Breaking with the AACRAO tradition of conducting the opening session in a suit, Tina opted to embrace the city of the Oscars and wore a purple dress festooned with sequins.

Julie Selander and Tina Falkner at AACRAO

Student Health Benefit Plan messaging in MyU

Students who are admitted to a degree program and registered for six or more credits per semester are required to have health insurance (see full eligibility rules). If students do not complete a survey indicating that they already have health insurance, they are automatically enrolled in the student health benefit plan. The student health benefit plan costs $1116 a semester, and students have approximately three weeks after the first day of classes to waive this coverage before they are charged. Many students appeal the charge once they see it on their bill.

This spring, messaging about waiving the student health benefit plan was added to the My Finances tab of MyU. Responses to the student health benefits survey increased by 15%.

 

	Total eligible students	Total completed (waive or enroll)	Total waived	Total enrolled	Total pending (incomplete)	Overall completion percentage
Spring 2018	8214	5300	2746	2554	2914	65%
Spring 2019	7423	5924	3252	2672	1499	80%
Difference	-791	+624	+506	+118	-1415	+15%

Boynton Health will maintain this messaging and continue to present it through the My Finances tab in the future.