Unlimited storage with University Google accounts

University Google accounts now have unlimited storage with Google Drive for Education. Drive for Education provides for unlimited storage and other enhancements to Google Drive, Gmail, and Google+ photos. You may store as many Google Drive files, Gmail messages, and Google+ photos as you need.

Community fund drive - donate now!

The Community Fund Drive continues until October 31 and provides a variety of ways to make a charitable donation. You can make a pledge to the six federation partners or a 501(c)(3) of your choice. The Office of Undergraduate Education has a 20% participation rate thus far, which is lower than last year. In the last week, ASR has increased its participation by 2%. The highlights of the ASR community fund drive activities are here. The penny war continues, with Williamson Hall in the lead (points are apportioned by number of staff per building).

Reminder: Student Veterans Appreciation Event

Come one, come all to the 8th annual Student Veterans Appreciation Event on Thursday, November 6, 2014 from 1-3 p.m. in the Great Hall at Coffman Memorial Union. Say "thank you" to student veterans, grab a slice of pizza, and participate in some carnival games. The event is free and open to the public; no RSVP is required. Can't make it? Stop by our booth to write a thank-you message to our veterans. Dates and locations are available on the One Stop website.

Campus climate work group hosts World Café events

The University's Campus Climate work group is hosting a series of World Café events for University staff, students, and faculty to share individual and collective experiences that have made them feel more or less welcome, included, and respected on campus. A staff World Café will take place November 11, 11:00 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Multipurpose Room 5, Recreation & Wellness Center, East Bank. For more details and to RSVP, visit the Campus Climate website.

Employee engagement survey

The deadline to participate in the Employee Engagement survey is October 31st. Thus far, Office of Undergraduate Education, including ASR, has the highest response rate at the University with 71% of employees responding. The survey takes about 10 minutes to complete and your response is appreciated. For more information, visit the survey website.

Employee Engagement Survey out Monday

The University of Minnesota will soon begin conducting its second annual E2 Employee Engagement Survey. You should have received an email today (Thursday, October 9) from Mary Stein in Bob McMaster's office with the subject line "IMPORTANT: Employee Engagement Survey." That email contains important information about how to define certain terms used in the survey. If you need that email re-sent to you, please send an email to asrcomm@umn.edu.

Benefits-eligible faculty and staff will receive an email on October 13 from the Hay Group, an external vendor that is administering the survey. Take 10 minutes to share your thoughts about your work and your workplace. All answers are confidential. Your answers will help the University fulfill its teaching and research mission.

If you have any issues with the survey link you receive, contact the Hay Group directly to request a new link at UofMNsurvey.US@haygroup.com. Each survey link is customized and can only be used one time.

More information on engagement is available from the Office of Human Resources.

ImageNow upgrade

On November 7-9, Collaboration & Web Content Services will upgrade ImageNow to version 6.7. While changes to the user experience will be minimal, it is necessary to upgrade in order to maintain technical support from the vendor. In addition, based on vendor recommendations, the ImageNow infrastructure will be enhanced to conform more closely with industry standards.

The upgrade activities will require down time for the tool. To minimize disruption to University business, the majority of the work will occur over the weekend of Nov 7-9:

Status updates will be provided during the upgrade via IT Service Status. Additional details about the upgrade will be sent to ImageNow users in the near future.

If you have questions about the upgrade or ImageNow, send a message to imagenow-support@umn.edu.

ESUP Readiness FCoP

The IT@UMN community kicked off an important new Formal Community of Practice (FCoP), the [ESUP Readiness FCoP](http://umn.us7.list-manage1.com/track/click?u=5dd536ff7b9236fb36061b97a&id=ab106f8d2f&e=0226761df0). The community has three affinity groups -- teams with specific tasks that contribute to the FCoP's goal -- including [Change Management](http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fumn.us7.list-manage1.com%2Ftrack%2Fclick%3Fu%3D5dd536ff7b9236fb36061b97a%26id%3D6e270d65e5%26e%3D0226761df0&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNEJK8bBvI7j9xfngd8nIeyzIVqRLQ), [Computer and Device Support](http://umn.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5dd536ff7b9236fb36061b97a&id=5df4177eb1&e=0226761df0), and [Tertiary Systems (IDEAA)](http://umn.us7.list-manage.com/track/click?u=5dd536ff7b9236fb36061b97a&id=096ef786b5&e=0226761df0). If you're interested in being a part of the community, you may wish to attend the second meeting on Thursday, October 2 at 2 p.m. in room 50B of the Humphrey Center.

Microsoft Office for Students

Beginning August 22, registered University students can download Microsoft Office 365 ProPlus at no charge (the regular price is typically about $80 for college students). The software package includes Microsoft Word, Excel, Powerpoint, Publisher, and OneNote. To learn more, and download the software if you are a student, visit http://z.umn.edu/msoffice.

Welcome Week

The start of the school year is just around the corner - but first, Welcome Week! The Class of 2018 will participate in on- and off-campus activities August 27-September 1. The Live Like a Student (LLAS) team will lead a game show providing tips and tricks to help students be savvy with their money during their time at the University. If you are interested in attending one of the game show sessions, please contact Nate Peterson at pete2787@umn.edu.

University Strategic Planning

The University's Strategic Planning Workgroup will be hosting a listening session to share its work so far and solicit feedback. The session will be held on Tuesday, August 12, 11 a.m.-noon, in the McNamara Center/Ski-U-Mah Room.

peerTransfer now live

The University now offers international students a new way to make tuition payments through the use of peerTransfer. The service will allow students to pay the University from bank accounts in their country of origin without having to arrange for a wire transfer or pay bank transfer fees. Students will transfer money from a bank account in their home country to peerTransfer, and peerTransfer will then transfer the money to the University on behalf of the student. Foreign exchange rates offered through peerTransfer are typically better than those offered by banks.

Newly enhanced classroom support hotline

The Office of Classroom Management (OCM) hotline has been enhanced to align with University-wide support services and has expanded the hours of availability for technology services. While the phone number will remain the same (612-625-1086), callers will be prompted to select from a menu of options that allow you to reach the support staff who are best able to meet your needs.

Technology calls will be routed to a team of support professionals who are available 24 hours a day. OCM support staff remain available for all other classroom and scheduling-related calls from 7:30 a.m. - 4 p.m., Monday - Friday.

Interest in Destiny One for non-credit implementation

The University is in contract negotiations with Destiny One as the vendor for non-credit registration. The project team continues to define the scope of work and its funding proposal was approved by the budget team, which is a huge win for the project.

The project team is targeting a late August/early September implementation kick off. Also, there are two new positions posted to support the non-credit implementation efforts. Please share the Business Analyst 2 and the Solution Trainer postings with friends or colleagues who would be a good fit for ASR.

Tour East Bank sculpture art

Mix a bit of culture with exercise on Wednesday, July 30 at 12:00 p.m. during a tour of East Bank's sculpture art. The wellness event will feature a 45-minute walking tour of five interesting pieces of campus art. The tour will be led by Josh Geiger from One Stop Student Services who will provide a narration about the pieces of art, the artists who designed them, and how they fit into the University's culture. Staff are encouraged to join in this educational walk during their lunch hour. The tour will begin at noon on the 3rd floor of STSS near the Helping U desk and conclude at Northrop where you can either enjoy your own brown bag lunch or something from the Northrop Plaza grill.

One Stop wins transportation safety award

One Stop Student Services' "Text D for Danger" video was recently selected by members of the University of Minnesota community as one of the winning submissions in University Services' transportation safety video contest. The One Stop team received a $250 gift card to the University bookstore and their video will featured as part of the SafeU campaign in the future. Great job, One Stop!

Live Like a Student campaign earns awards

One Stop's financial literacy campaign, Live Like a Student (LLAS), recently won two awards at the annual University of Minnesota Communicators Forum awards ceremony on May 28. The awards were for the LLAS digital signage campaign, as well as their Welcome Week presentation. Kudos to the LLAS committee!

Building access security project

The University's Exterior Access Security Project is being completed. Earlier this week, hours for buildings on East Bank west of Church Street were adjusted. The new building hours include:

- Public hours: building is open to the public and doors will remain unlocked
- University hours: doors are locked, but anyone with an active U Card will be able to access the building
- Restricted hours: only people with permission and a programmed card for the building will be able to enter

Staff who have not upgraded their U Card with the smart card capability can do so by visiting the U Card office in Coffman. There is no charge, and it only takes a few minutes. (You can check to see if you already have a smart card by looking for the gold numbers on the back of your card in the upper right-hand corner.) Once you have upgraded your card, be sure to notify your building DAC (Department Access Coordinator) with the proximity number that is located on the back in gold numbers.

Beware of theft on campus

It's that time of year when thefts begin to pick up on campus. A couple incidents were reported on campus earlier this week, including the theft of a laptop and the attempted theft of an iPhone. Please be sure to keep your personal items secure and be aware of your surroundings. (Thanks to Suzanne Bardouche in the Office of Undergraduate Education for this timely reminder.)

New student and parent orientation

New student and parent orientation starts June 10 and runs through August 29. One Stop presents at parent orientation and also the "How to Manage the Cost of College?" presentation to new incoming freshmen. One Stop counselors also offer individual laptop counseling for students and their families in the Great Hall each morning of orientation.