The University of Minnesota has added Juneteenth — the oldest nationally celebrated remembrance of the ending of slavery in the United States — as an observed holiday to each University calendar systemwide moving forward. This year's Juneteenth commemoration is on Monday, June 19, 2023.
As with other observed holidays, the University will move to reduced operations, meaning no classes are held and only essential employees are required to work as directed by their supervisor. Juneteenth observes the realization of the Emancipation Proclamation in Texas on June 19, 1865. It has become a day to come together to both celebrate and commit to justice. Check out the Juneteenth website to learn more about the University's annual Juneteenth Celebration and other Juneteenth events and gatherings.
Thursday, March 23, 2023
Update from Stacey
A lot can happen in two weeks! I had to re-read my update from last issue to avoid repeating myself. Last time, I was just returning from the AAU Registrars' meeting. This time, I'm on the cusp of traveling for AACRAO, where several of us will have the chance to share our knowledge in presentations, volunteer to support the organization, learn from colleagues, and I anticipate I'll spend a fair amount of time with vendors as well.
Since I last wrote, I've started more formal communications regarding our Stellic contract. I informed Stellic that we will not be continuing work with them, and we are currently working on the formal contract changes to reflect that. Now, we are doing an internal investigation to determine our next steps, plus socializing some of the options with advising leaders and system campus vice chancellors.
The search committee for the ASR-IT Director-level position is concluding first round interviews soon. The next step will involve recommending a few candidates for the final interviews. I look forward to the next steps in the process and ultimately selecting a great candidate.
Another theme of the past few weeks has been performance appraisals. I've personally read all of the appraisals in ASR-IT as well as done appraisals with my direct reports. I always appreciate seeing the great work we are doing across all of our units, so thank you!
Since I last wrote, I've started more formal communications regarding our Stellic contract. I informed Stellic that we will not be continuing work with them, and we are currently working on the formal contract changes to reflect that. Now, we are doing an internal investigation to determine our next steps, plus socializing some of the options with advising leaders and system campus vice chancellors.
The search committee for the ASR-IT Director-level position is concluding first round interviews soon. The next step will involve recommending a few candidates for the final interviews. I look forward to the next steps in the process and ultimately selecting a great candidate.
Another theme of the past few weeks has been performance appraisals. I've personally read all of the appraisals in ASR-IT as well as done appraisals with my direct reports. I always appreciate seeing the great work we are doing across all of our units, so thank you!
Office of Classroom Management
Operations-Service and Planning Teams
- Spring has sprung? Time was spent during spring break to prep rooms ahead of a very active summer. This involves removing furniture with OCM ID stickers and making site visits. These visits will determine where instructor and ADA furniture changes will be made on proposed student furniture replacements in Vincent, Ford, Hanson and in select rooms in Folwell, Akerman, Rapson, and Murphy.
- Through the fall and winter, CTS had a busy schedule of departmental technology installations. A lot of the work has been focused around adding Zoom Room appliances to conference and classroom spaces. Some of our work even received press in The Minnesota Daily!
- Additionally, CTS is nearing completion of the technology upgrades in the Regent’s Boardroom and West Committee room. These new installations will improve online meeting formats by utilizing the newer AV over IP distribution as a more streamlined solution.
- Spring 2023 final exams have been scheduled into classrooms, and requests continue to come in past the initial deadline.
- Classroom assignments for summer 2023 are also underway.
- In an effort to ensure operational efficiencies in buildings across campus, OCM consolidated the class schedule into a smaller number of buildings.
- For fall 2023, CCS (Collaborative Class Scheduling) is closed and central classroom scheduling is happening.
- After much data cleanup, the Astra room optimization process ran successfully. There are still approximately 700 classes that require manual scheduling. Many classes are meeting in prime times (Monday-Thursday, 9:05 a.m.-2:30 p.m.), which makes finding appropriate classrooms more challenging. The team is also working through UAT scripts for the newest version of Astra in the hopes of being able to upgrade in the near future.
OS Financial Wellness Committee
The One Stop Financial Wellness Committee is tabling at GradFest in the Great Hall in Coffman Memorial Union, Wednesday March 22 and Thursday, March 23. The committee will be advertising their financial wellness appointments for soon-to-be graduates and informing students that they can still schedule financial wellness appointments up to 6 months after graduation.
Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee
Supporting coworkers during Ramadan
From the Better Allies newsletter, Yusef Zakir, chief DEI officer at Davis Wright Tremaine, explains in “Understanding Ramadan and Supporting Your Muslim Colleagues” that during the holy month of Ramadan (March 22 through April 21, 2023), many Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, are more devoted to prayer, focus on charitable giving and community service, and spend more time with family and other members of their place of worship.
Zakir’s advice for supporting coworkers during this time:
From the Better Allies newsletter, Yusef Zakir, chief DEI officer at Davis Wright Tremaine, explains in “Understanding Ramadan and Supporting Your Muslim Colleagues” that during the holy month of Ramadan (March 22 through April 21, 2023), many Muslims fast from dawn to dusk, are more devoted to prayer, focus on charitable giving and community service, and spend more time with family and other members of their place of worship.
Zakir’s advice for supporting coworkers during this time:
- Acknowledge the month’s significance by wishing them Ramadan Mubarak (have a happy Ramadan) or Ramadan Kareem (have a blessed Ramadan).
- Understand how busy they may be, working their regular hours while fasting and then participating in prayers and festivities in the evening.
- Encourage them to take off Eid-ul-Fitr, which marks the end of the 30 days of Ramadan. Zakir explains, “In terms of comparison, it is as widely observed as Christmas or Hanukkah.” You can also wish them Eid Mubarak (have a happy Eid).
- Ask Muslim coworkers how they observe Ramadan and what practices you should respect during the 30 days.
- Take fasting into account when scheduling business-related luncheons or office parties.
- Understand that some coworkers may need more breaks during the day to meet their prayer obligations.
ASR Staff Engagement March 23 Survey
We’ve had several new folks join ASR recently! So, this week’s ASR Staff Engagement Survey focuses on helpful information for new University staff. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.
According to the last survey, most prefer coffee as their hot drink of choice (43.8%). This was followed by tea (28.1%) and lattes (12.5%). When asked about your favorite places to visit in Minnesota, most people mentioned Duluth, the North Shore, and several Minnesota State Parks (Itasca, Whitewater, and Tettagouche among others). When asked about where you would go if you could travel anywhere for a day, Australia, London, and Italy were the top submissions.
Finally, a whopping 90.6% of respondents think it will snow again in April in the Twin Cities area. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated. Results from the last survey are available on the N&N blog.
March 9, 2023 survey results
What is your preferred hot drink?
According to the last survey, most prefer coffee as their hot drink of choice (43.8%). This was followed by tea (28.1%) and lattes (12.5%). When asked about your favorite places to visit in Minnesota, most people mentioned Duluth, the North Shore, and several Minnesota State Parks (Itasca, Whitewater, and Tettagouche among others). When asked about where you would go if you could travel anywhere for a day, Australia, London, and Italy were the top submissions.
Finally, a whopping 90.6% of respondents think it will snow again in April in the Twin Cities area. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated. Results from the last survey are available on the N&N blog.
March 9, 2023 survey results
What is your preferred hot drink?
- Coffee (43.8%)
- Tea (28.1%)
- Latte (12.5%)
- Hot Chocolate (9.4%)
- Hot Apple Cider (3.1%)
- Cup and Cone!
- Lake Miltona
- My backyard garden. Away from home? Duluth
- Anywhere on the north shore
- MN State Fair
- Deer Lake, just north of Grand Rapids
- Quarry’s St. Cloud
- Brazil, into the rainforest!
- Taj Mahal in India
- Somewhere with hot spring pools
- Italy! Specifically, Florence and/or one of the Cinque Terra towns
- Far too many to name - Start with Bergen, Norway
- London or Edinburgh, Scotland
- Yes. It’s Minnesota (90.6%)
- No. Nope, not happening (9.4%)
Thursday, March 9, 2023
Update from Stacey
At the end of February, I had the opportunity to travel for the annual meeting of the AAU registrars. This group of University Registrars meets to discuss industry trends, major projects, and solutions to common issues in the profession. Many in that group have portfolios beyond a registrar's office so it's a way to connect on a wide range of topics. I find it professionally motivating, and frankly sometimes intimidating, since there are folks in the room that just started in their role, and folks that have led their offices for 20+ years.
I want to share a few common themes we discussed because they impact our office and our institution broadly:
I want to share a few common themes we discussed because they impact our office and our institution broadly:
- Most institutions of this size are experiencing rapid change regarding leadership positions and regular business expectations and processes as a result of the pandemic. We are still developing our post-pandemic "normal."
- Regarding technology, SIS solutions are not modernizing fast enough, and institutions don't have the resources to upgrade or change systems easily. Vendors require SIS data, and we all need to modernize how we store data and manage integrations.
PAWS
Due to the weather last month, our Pet Away Worry & Stress (PAWS) day was rescheduled to March 15 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Please join us in the open hallway area between the two Williamson office suites, 130/140 and 160, to pet away your stress! 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.
ASR Staff Engagement March 9 Survey
In this week’s ASR Staff Engagement Survey, we think warm thoughts as spring break and more snow are upon us. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.
According to the last survey, most prefer to use chat if a colleague needed to reach them (48.6%). This was followed by email (32.4%) and Slack (10.8%). Similarly, 48.6% of respondents say they are aware of their manager’s preferred communication method. When asked about usage of Focus Time on Google Calendar, most respondents use this feature (62.2%), while 27% do not, and 10.8% aren’t sure what the feature is.
We had lots of great recommendations of movies, tv shows, games, and books that folks have enjoyed recently. Responses were varied but there were frequent mentions of below.
February 23, 2023 survey results
In general, if a colleague needed to reach you, what would be your preferred communication method?
According to the last survey, most prefer to use chat if a colleague needed to reach them (48.6%). This was followed by email (32.4%) and Slack (10.8%). Similarly, 48.6% of respondents say they are aware of their manager’s preferred communication method. When asked about usage of Focus Time on Google Calendar, most respondents use this feature (62.2%), while 27% do not, and 10.8% aren’t sure what the feature is.
We had lots of great recommendations of movies, tv shows, games, and books that folks have enjoyed recently. Responses were varied but there were frequent mentions of below.
February 23, 2023 survey results
In general, if a colleague needed to reach you, what would be your preferred communication method?
- Chat (48.6%)
- Email (32.4%)
- Slack (10.8%)
- Help Ticket (2.7%)
- Yes (48.6%)
- No (13.5%)
- I think so, but I’m not 100% sure (37.8%)
- Yes (62.2%)
- No (27%)
- I’m not sure what the feature is (10.8%)
- I'm late to the game, but I've been reading the book The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue and have been loving it! I've also been watching The Last of Us each week on HBO.
- A recent rewatch of The Good Place
- TV- Master Chef and Master Chef Jr. Movie: Black Panther, Wakanda Forever
- Any book by William Kent Kruger (who used to work in OTR!)
- For anyone with kids 4-12 years old, the card game Sleeping Queens has been a great one for our family lately!
- I have been huge into documentaries lately. Learning and entertainment in one.
- The Last of Us! Also the 1997 Val Kilmer classic, The Saint
- Marvel Comics:The Untold Story by Sean Howe
- Inheriting the Revolution - Joyce Appleby
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