- Application Development
- Team will be recruiting soon to replace Brittany’s position as a developer in ASR-IT.
- We’re ¾ of the way through updating 120 Oracle passwords for our systems and applications.
- We’re working on stories for Data Integrations, SDP, Roomsearch, and the One Stop Drupal sites.
- Planning for the second quarter of 2023 is underway.
- DORS
- New software release, Yeti 2023.1, deploys to Test February 28.
- 3 new features were deployed to Test and are being reviewed for approval:
- Configurable Direct Billing Account Field
- Add Conference Number to Conference Pages
- Display Special Request Public Description Field
- Cut over to Cybersource from the prior payment process is scheduled for Production this week.
- Jadu
- Ryan Ceresnak, ASR & OUE Jadu Administrator, and ASR’s Jadu (e-forms and workflows) portfolio will be moving from ASR-IT to reporting through ASR Operations & Strategic Initiatives beginning next week.
- The OSF Housing/Living Arrangement Change request form went live in Jadu on Monday February 20. This was previously a PDF form for students to change their living arrangement status for financial aid purposes.
- The Jadu Dashboard project kicked off last week. Ryan is leading requirements gathering activities for OIT. This new functionality will address a significant gap identified in the Jadu system analysis conducted last year by having a custom user-facing dashboard that allows users to manage their work in the system.
- Student Data & Analytics
- Team will soon be recruiting to replace Alex Rose’s position as an IT Pro 3-Business Intelligence & Data Analysis.
- Proof Of Concept between Kafka and Databricks has been completed, which allows us to more easily bring data from one source to another for analytic purposes.
- SDA will present some of our work at the March ASR All Staff Assembly, including the Retention Priority Analysis and Curricular Analytics.
- Admissions work is continuing in the EDW as we strive to deliver the Admissions Trackbook for all campuses.
- SDA team had two presentations at the UMN Student Success Conference:
- Student Financials, Campus Community, and Shared Data
- HR Image testing in partnership with HRMS BA’s
- Working with HR on legal name changes and preferred name functionality
- Email for Life analysis
- Helping OIT with information on data feeds so they can retire the x.500 from RecWell, bookstores, etc.
- CARES/HEERF and OHE reporting
- Center for Allied Health Programs moving to Pharmacy preparation
- Changes to TFMS export and the search capabilities
- Student Records
- Worked closely with CCAPS and University libraries to resolve access issues for College in the Schools students
- Email for Life Analysis
- Center for Allied Health Programs moving to Pharmacy preparation
- Coursedog support
- Changes to National Student Clearinghouse reporting
- Preparing for Parchment Upgrade
- Preparing for fall 23 enrollment appointment setup
Thursday, February 23, 2023
ASR-IT
Safety forum
A third safety forum will be held on Thursday, March 2, from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. in the Cowles Auditorium and streamed online. University and City of Minneapolis officials will share updates on their efforts to address safety on and around campus and take questions from the community. More information is available at Safety Initiatives at the University.
Chrome River reminders
As conference opportunities increase and travel plans are made, please be mindful of these common errors when filling out your expense reports:
- The business purpose (aka justification) needs to clearly address how attending the conference benefits the department/University. Simply stating conference, professional development, or PERR# does not meet the policy standard. Please see the Justifications/Business Purpose job aid for additional guidance.
- When itemizing your lodging expense, always complete the Allowable Total worksheet/calculation on the Room Charge portion. This field coordinates the verification between expense and per diem limit, which will resolve many of the compliance warning scenarios related to lodging. Please see steps 3c-e of the Lodging Itemization job aid for additional guidance.
- If your travel includes extra personal time either before or after the main conference, always include documented comparisons for airfare (i.e. Conference only vs. Conference plus additional days) from the date airfare was originally purchased so we can document that the department is not taking on additional expenses.
Update from Stacey
I’m writing this on Wednesday evening, and the snow has started for real. I look forward to finding out snow totals in the morning.
In addition to tracking snow predictions, the past week has included many reminders of how connected ASR is to all kinds of work at the University. We provided data from the Offices of the Registrar and Classroom Management to inform reduced operations decision-making. I’ve been in meetings on varied topics ranging from integrations with bookstore systems to exploring staffing arrangements between Rochester and Twin Cities One Stop Student Services.
In addition to tracking snow predictions, the past week has included many reminders of how connected ASR is to all kinds of work at the University. We provided data from the Offices of the Registrar and Classroom Management to inform reduced operations decision-making. I’ve been in meetings on varied topics ranging from integrations with bookstore systems to exploring staffing arrangements between Rochester and Twin Cities One Stop Student Services.
Information we are providing to the Email for Life project is critical to understanding why a student’s relationship with the University continues even when they don’t have enrollment. We are coordinating with Human Resources on processes for legal name changes, and the list goes on. I’m grateful to be in a position to see all of these ways that ASR supports the entire University. Thank you as always for your hard work on behalf of our students and the University.
Sports wagering
As we approach basketball and March Madness season, be aware of the laws on sports wagering and gambling.
In short, all ASR employees are prohibited from sports wagering per the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). This is because ASR plays a role in student athletics, specifically in that we:
The NCAA bylaw prohibits “student-athletes, athletics department staff members, and conference office staff from engaging in sports wagering (Bylaw 10.3). NCAA rules also prohibit non-athletics department staff members who have responsibilities within or over the athletics department, such as chancellors or presidents and faculty athletics representatives from engaging in sports wagering. NCAA national office employees are also prohibited from engaging in sports wagering.” If you have questions or concerns, contact Ingrid Nuttall (ingridn@umn.edu).
In short, all ASR employees are prohibited from sports wagering per the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). This is because ASR plays a role in student athletics, specifically in that we:
- Certify that athletes are academically eligible to play
- Administer financial aid for student athletes
- Participate in faculty governance for oversight of athletics
The NCAA bylaw prohibits “student-athletes, athletics department staff members, and conference office staff from engaging in sports wagering (Bylaw 10.3). NCAA rules also prohibit non-athletics department staff members who have responsibilities within or over the athletics department, such as chancellors or presidents and faculty athletics representatives from engaging in sports wagering. NCAA national office employees are also prohibited from engaging in sports wagering.” If you have questions or concerns, contact Ingrid Nuttall (ingridn@umn.edu).
Coursedog update: Timeline adjustment
The project team is currently completing Quality Assurance (QA) testing for configuration and data integrations into the Coursedog curriculum and catalog products. While our QA testing is almost complete, the team encountered more issues than initially expected. As a result, we’ll need more time to resolve the issues, and the go-live date will need to be adjusted. Coursedog will now go live at the end of August 2023 (originally June 2023).
The team’s primary goal is to ensure that the Coursedog product is of the highest possible quality for University staff at go-live. The additional 8 weeks of time will allow the team to deliver a best-quality product for users participating in User Acceptance Testing in May 2023. This will result in a better product at launch in August. Over the next week, communications regarding this change will be sent to current ECAS & PCAS users and additional stakeholders.
The team’s primary goal is to ensure that the Coursedog product is of the highest possible quality for University staff at go-live. The additional 8 weeks of time will allow the team to deliver a best-quality product for users participating in User Acceptance Testing in May 2023. This will result in a better product at launch in August. Over the next week, communications regarding this change will be sent to current ECAS & PCAS users and additional stakeholders.
Staff recognition
We wanted to recognize everyone in ASR who quickly came together to help support a student and their family in the best way possible. Through thoughtful and swift collaboration, the individuals involved were not only able to ease some of the burden of the student and their family but also support colleagues across the University. Thank you to Mila Ly, Regina Moran, Stacey Tidball, Julie Selander, Nate Peterson, and Karen Magness for working so closely together and offering a great example of how strong collaboration across ASR makes a difference in students' lives.
We also wanted to give a BIG shout out of appreciation and thanks to the following staff who were instrumental in getting our estimated financial aid budgets and packages for 2024 new admits in order for Rochester and Twin Cities: Deb Edwards, Kari Ellering, Nate Rosckes, MEG Calabrese, Larry Bloom, Deb Wilkin, Meghan Czarniecki, Molly Nelson, Lugail Hamel, Lauren Peterson, Karen Magness, and the FA-IT team. This required multiple reviews, conversations, and manual interventions during the month of February. Most importantly, it required teamwork!
We also wanted to give a BIG shout out of appreciation and thanks to the following staff who were instrumental in getting our estimated financial aid budgets and packages for 2024 new admits in order for Rochester and Twin Cities: Deb Edwards, Kari Ellering, Nate Rosckes, MEG Calabrese, Larry Bloom, Deb Wilkin, Meghan Czarniecki, Molly Nelson, Lugail Hamel, Lauren Peterson, Karen Magness, and the FA-IT team. This required multiple reviews, conversations, and manual interventions during the month of February. Most importantly, it required teamwork!
ASR Staff Engagement February 23 Survey
This week’s ASR Staff Engagement Survey examines how we communicate and our preferences. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.
According to the last survey, most respondents feel satisfied with their work-life balance, with 73.6% rating their work-life balance as satisfied or very satisfied. Similarly, 88.2% of respondents were satisfied with their current work schedule. When asked about how many hours you sleep on an average work night, most reported 7 hours of sleep (67.6%), followed by 6 or less hours (20.6%), and 8 hours (8.8%).
When asked about favorite Valentine’s Day treats and candies, chocolate and Reese’s candy were the overwhelming favorites. Candy hearts and wine were also frequent responses. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated.
February 9, 2023 survey results
On a 1 (not satisfied) to 5 (very satisfied) scale, how satisfied are you with your current work-life balance?
According to the last survey, most respondents feel satisfied with their work-life balance, with 73.6% rating their work-life balance as satisfied or very satisfied. Similarly, 88.2% of respondents were satisfied with their current work schedule. When asked about how many hours you sleep on an average work night, most reported 7 hours of sleep (67.6%), followed by 6 or less hours (20.6%), and 8 hours (8.8%).
When asked about favorite Valentine’s Day treats and candies, chocolate and Reese’s candy were the overwhelming favorites. Candy hearts and wine were also frequent responses. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated.
February 9, 2023 survey results
On a 1 (not satisfied) to 5 (very satisfied) scale, how satisfied are you with your current work-life balance?
- 1 (2.9%)
- 2 (11.8%)
- 3 (11.8%)
- 4 (47.1%)
- 5 (26.5%)
- Yes (88.2%)
- No (5.9%)
- I’m not sure (5.9%)
- 6 or less hours (20.6%)
- 7 hours (67.6%)
- 8 hours (8.8%)
- 9 or more hours (2.9%)
- Godiva after Valentine's Day sale chocolate :)
- Reese's peanut butter cups!
- I can't think of any and that's on my husband
- Red wine and dark chocolate
- I unironically love the candy message hearts; though only the green, orange and yellow ones! I also love the chewy cinnamon hearts.
Thursday, February 9, 2023
Update from Stacey
This week, I had the pleasure of traveling to our Crookston campus for meetings with the registrars of each campus, registrar staff, and Crookston’s interim vice chancellor for Academic Affairs. With the pandemic, campus visits had mostly ended, but this was a great opportunity to restart these connections. Seeing folks in person allows for conversations that simply don’t happen via Zoom.
I might appreciate the drive more in the summer, but it was definitely worthwhile, especially with the visit to the greenhouses and stables on their campus. Next week, I’ll be hosting two vice chancellors from our Rochester campus and hope to have the same kind of conversations about how we can best work together.
I might appreciate the drive more in the summer, but it was definitely worthwhile, especially with the visit to the greenhouses and stables on their campus. Next week, I’ll be hosting two vice chancellors from our Rochester campus and hope to have the same kind of conversations about how we can best work together.
PAWS
Please join us in the open hallway area between the two Williamson office suites, 140 and 160, on February 22 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. for a little Pet Away Worry & Stress (PAWS) fun. Boynton Health’s PAWS program provides Animal-Assisted Interactions with registered therapy animals, including dogs, cats, rabbits, and chickens, and a licensed clinical social worker for each session. For more information about PAWS, check out the Boynton Health website.
ASR Operations & Strategic Initiatives
- Conducting the annual Student PeopleSoft access audit.
- Continuing work with OTR to refresh the Student Data Update online courses.
- Collaborating with One Stop Student Services to plan the implementation of the Ivy chatbot tool that will live on the One Stop website.
- Posted the Project & Change Manager position.
- Working with OSF to review, test, and update Financial Aid communications.
- Collaborating with each unit to create an ASR Annual Report by gathering information, writing the report, and designing each document.
- Partnering with the Application Development Team to assist their team and associated ASR product owners with collaborative work planning of both development and UX research needs.
- Coursedog project work:
- Coordinating the project management and change management efforts for the project as a whole.
- Conducting usability testing for both the curriculum & catalog products.=
- Planning for the User Acceptance Testing (UAT) process.
- Reviewing and editing in-app Coursedog help text for end users.
- Reviewing ASR communications to students for inclusion in APLUS advising notes.
- Conducting a comprehensive review of student degree progress data and documentation.
- Collaborating with the Application Development Team to explore sharing student degree progress data with system campuses.
- The team meets in person once a month and sets aside time to address improvement areas identified in the Employee Engagement survey results. Topics include workload, training, and development. Most recently, the team watched videos from a content strategy conference and then discussed how to incorporate the concepts into their work. The talks covered how content can support or impair DEI efforts and how to work effectively with stakeholders in processes.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
Black History Month
This February, we encourage you to check out the various events and educational opportunities happening during Black History Month at the University of Minnesota and beyond.
Do you know other Black History Month events or activities? Share them with the ASR DEI Community of Practice Group (ASR DEI CoP). Not a member? See below.
Join our ASR DEI Community of Practice
This February, we encourage you to check out the various events and educational opportunities happening during Black History Month at the University of Minnesota and beyond.
- Black History Month Events at the U of M
- This resource offers a sampling of events taking place systemwide throughout Black History Month 2023. Some events are more specifically related to Black History Month, and others are events that center Black creators, student groups, and organizations.
- Where It Starts
- This series explores how change has begun through the creativity, vision, and joy of Black community members at the University of Minnesota, including individual video and article profiles that highlight their stories.
- Black History, Black Freedom, Black Love
- Throughout the month of February, the three-part MasterClass, “Black History, Black Freedom, and Black Love” is available to stream for free. From critical race theory to the 1619 Project, Black intellectuals are reshaping conversations on race in America. Now, seven of those preeminent voices share their insight on the reckoning with race in America in three parts: past, present, and future.
Do you know other Black History Month events or activities? Share them with the ASR DEI Community of Practice Group (ASR DEI CoP). Not a member? See below.
Join our ASR DEI Community of Practice
Subscribe to our DEI Google Group to discuss the latest news, connect with the committee, and keep up-to-date with DEI initiatives. More resources and information about the DEI committee can be found on the ASR Intranet.
Staff recognition
We wanted to give a big shout-out to everyone in ASR who worked on getting the 1098-T forms out to students. It's a large, collaborative effort across units to coordinate all of the work that goes into supporting the forms.
We especially wanted to recognize Trung Mac for getting the paper forms out in the mail before the January 31 deadline and for processing all of the extra forms that could not be handled by Printing Services. In SF-IT, we wanted to give a round of applause to Lori Frase and Andy Fields for running the processes and coordinating all of the work to get the forms out. OTR and SAA also work on the forms by correcting data issues that can cause errors in form production.
In SAA, Lydia Self, Melissa Gasper, and Penny Levine all deserve a shout-out for handling bounce back emails and fielding requests and questions on the forms they receive through One Stop, as One Stop also plays a major role in supporting the 1098-T work. One Stop Counselors field questions from students and parents, explain information on the form, and screen requests for students who would like a 1098-T to be created for them. Way to go everyone! This work could not be done without you!
We especially wanted to recognize Trung Mac for getting the paper forms out in the mail before the January 31 deadline and for processing all of the extra forms that could not be handled by Printing Services. In SF-IT, we wanted to give a round of applause to Lori Frase and Andy Fields for running the processes and coordinating all of the work to get the forms out. OTR and SAA also work on the forms by correcting data issues that can cause errors in form production.
In SAA, Lydia Self, Melissa Gasper, and Penny Levine all deserve a shout-out for handling bounce back emails and fielding requests and questions on the forms they receive through One Stop, as One Stop also plays a major role in supporting the 1098-T work. One Stop Counselors field questions from students and parents, explain information on the form, and screen requests for students who would like a 1098-T to be created for them. Way to go everyone! This work could not be done without you!
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