New chartstrings for professional development

The costs associated with attending conferences and other professional development opportunities are being separated from our regular operating budgets onto new professional development chartstrings, so we can better manage the requests. The Reimbursement EFS/Account Code Info spreadsheet, which is part of the ASR Administrative Support Resource Guide, has been updated with the specific chartstring details for each unit, as well as information regarding what should be charged to the new chartstrings. Please check this reference document before your next expense submission. If you have any questions, please contact ASRCentral@umn.edu.

New year, new you - DEI professional development opportunities

It’s a fresh calendar year, and we’ve all recently completed writing our performance appraisals. This means that, for a number of reasons, you might have goal setting, resolutions, and personal or professional growth on your mind. As higher-education professionals, the work of learning and sharpening our skills is never done, and that includes our work in the diversity, equity, and inclusion space.

DEI professional development opportunities at the University and in the broader higher-education community can be simultaneously overwhelming in number and difficult to find. To help, the DEI Committee compiled a short list of upcoming conferences, workshops, and webinars that center on diversity, equity, and inclusion. We hope that the list of opportunities below can be a starting point as you discuss goals and professional development with your supervisor.

This list is by no means complete! If you know of other opportunities, please share them with the DEI Committee by emailing us at asrdei@umn.edu or share directly with ASR DEI Community of Practice Google group.

Conferences and Workshops

• 2024 Phyllis L. Mable Emerging Leaders Institution, The American College Personnel Association (ACPA)–College Student Educators International (registration fee required)
• Conference on Diversity, Equity, and Student Success, The American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) (registration fee required)

University of Minnesota-sponsored

• Equity Certificate Hosted Online (ECHO), Office of Equity and Diversity
• Women’s Leadership Institute, Office of Equity and Diversity: The Women’s Center (2024-25 cohort application date is TBD, registration fee required)
• Online Module: The Confidence Gap, Office of Equity and Diversity: The Women’s Center
• Diversity Data Deep Dive, Office of Equity and Diversity: Diversity Community of Practice (2024 date TBD)

Free Webinars

• Understanding Black First-gen Men, Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education—National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA)
• Insight Into Diversity webinars (past webinar recordings available)
• National Association of Diversity Officers in Higher Education (NADOHE) webinars (past webinar recordings available)

Check out the Office of Equity and Diversity’s Deep Dive Resources for more ideas!

Project Management 201: Making Projects Work

Project Management 201 is an intermediate course intended to develop an understanding of the project management life cycle that incorporates the skills necessary to confidently participate and provide leadership on project teams. The 201 course will take place on June 23 and highlight some of the soft skills necessary to help your project succeed.

Course outline:

• Forming a strong team
• Building relationships with stakeholders
• Change management and communication

Project Management 201 will be led by John Vollum and Santiago Fernandez-Gimenez. The first PM 201 will take place on June 23. Staff assigned to lead or participate on projects, as well as staff looking for development opportunities, are encouraged to participate.

To register, click here and login using your university login and password. Contact pwf-team@umn.edu if you have any questions.

Survey says...

Thank you to all of those who participated in the recent ASR Development and Leadership survey. The responses were presented to the ASR Directors to give them a current view of staff leadership and development activities, and to find opportunities to enhance what ASR provides to staff. The ASR Engagement team will continue to work with ASR staff to look at leadership and development opportunities for ASR. If you are interested in a leadership opportunity, please contact your supervisor.

Development Opportunities	Current Staff Participation	Staff Interested	Difference
Classes, workshops, or conferences	86.8%	92.1%	5.3%
Certification, credential, or degree	37%	82.2%	45.2%
ASR committees	51.6%	67%	15.4%
Campus wide committees	47.8%	65.2%	17.4%
Led a project, implementation, work team	46.7%	52.8%	6.1%
Leadership role in organization or I/F COP	44.6%	55.6%	11%
Gave a presentation or published an article	63%	57.8%	-5.2%
Leadership program at University	10%	71.9%	61.9%
Leadership program non-University	5.6%	64.4%	58.8%

OHR’s Leadership at all Levels initiative

ASR has a couple of participants in OHR's upcoming programs for leadership development: Melissa Gaspar from the Office of Student Finance and Andrew Fields from One Stop in the January to March “Leadership Training for Individual Contributors” cohort. The programs give staff an opportunity to learn about results, vision, engagement, collaboration, and accountability. Please contact your supervisor or unit director if you are interested in participating in one of OHR’s leadership programs.

Nominations open soon for P&A Outstanding Unit Award

Nominations open on February 22 and are due by 5:00 p.m. on March 23. This award recognizes units of the University of Minnesota that are judged to be exemplary in their support of P&A staff and the critical role P&A employees fulfill in supporting the University's mission. Any unit in which a P&A staff holds an appointment is eligible to be nominated, or to apply.

Draft of new Performance Appraisal available

ASR’s Performance Appraisal work group has created a draft of a revised performance appraisal and is currently gathering feedback before seeking official approval of the form. Please note, the current draft is not in finalized form format, but will be once the language is approved. The revisions provide a new rating scale and definitions for each rating; change “timeliness” to “time management;” provide separate text boxes for quantity, quality, and time management; and add competency questions to connect this form to the process for individual development plans (IDPs).

If you have questions or comments, please send them to Stacey Tidball.

Next steps: The form must go through an HR approval process during February and March. The Performance Appraisal work group will keep you updated on that process. Moving forward the IDP process will be integrated into the Performance Appraisal process.