Update from Stacey

I’m dashing off a quick update as I juggle the usual beginning of term things. There is so much preparation leading up to the start of term and your effort is appreciated! For me, it means an uptick in policy questions, FERPA questions, and making sure everyone has the decisions they need for a successful start of the school year. There are several unique things happening this fall as well with people in new positions and vacant positions. I’ll be getting to know new Vice Chancellors in Duluth and Rochester in the coming weeks and share what ASR does to support their campuses. Please remember to help each other out, connect with your colleagues, and share your knowledge. Thank you for everything you do to support our students and the University as a whole!

On a personal note, we are also getting ready for the start of the school year at home. My eldest is packing to move into the residence hall on Monday. Convocation and Pride & Spirit will feel a little different knowing that I have a child (adult?) in the room. Many of you are experiencing similar seasonal changes and I wish you all well, whatever you are juggling at home alongside your professional lives.

Update from Stacey

I had the wonderful opportunity to see most of you in person and give an update face-to-face at the picnic, so I’m keeping this message short. I am grateful for the work you do in ASR, and I was happy to celebrate you with our staff picnic and wellness time!

Update from Stacey

On Monday, the Regents approved the budget, which paves the way for us to begin notifying staff of their salary increases. If you are a civil service or P&A staff member, you can expect an email from me next week.

On another note, I’m really looking forward to our all staff event this summer on Thursday, July 27. I will give an ASR update followed by the DEI committee's update. After that, we have time reserved for teams to gather and eat lunch, which will be provided for all staff. Then there will be wellness time for the remainder of the day. More information will be sent out soon. I hope to see you there!

Update from Stacey

We are finalizing the details for the FY2024 salary and merit increases for P&A and Civil Service staff, pending final approval of the merit pool by the Board of Regents. The ASR Directors agreed that our priorities are to provide salary increases as close to the merit pool amount as we are able, help our staff making lower salaries that have been hardest hit by inflation, and to resolve salary equity issues of greatest concern.

In order to best reflect these priorities, staff making greater than $100,000/year will see slightly smaller increases. Staff making less than $60,000/year, and staff with a compa ratio under .76 after merit will receive an additional $500 added to their salary amounts. Staff who fall into both categories will receive $1,000 total added to their salary amounts.

The chart below provides the merit rates we have set by salary range and performance appraisal score.

Salaries below $100,000
Rating	Rating description	% increase
3	Outstanding	3.75%
2	Successful	3.55%
1	Needs development	2%
Salaries above $100,000 (decreased by 1%)
Rating	Rating description	% increase
3	Outstanding	2.75%
2	Successful	2.55%
1	Needs development	1%

Labor represented staff will receive increases based on their contract.

The overall merit pool is currently pending Board of Regents and Provost approval. A final vote is expected on June 26, 2023. Once the approval is finalized, staff will be sent personalized letters.

I want to thank you all for your hard work over the past year. The University is lucky to have you!

Update from Stacey

The national news has intersected with work more than normal in the last few weeks. First, we are anticipating the release of the Supreme Court decision regarding race-conscious admissions. The decision will likely land in the next couple of weeks, and could change whether we can be aware of race as part of holistic admissions review. If the decision is more far reaching, it could impact financial aid and diversity programs in higher education.

For now, a small group of University professionals, including myself and Nate Peterson, are holding preparatory meetings to discuss how the University will respond to potential scenarios. University Relations is preparing a communications plan, and high-level communications have started with a message to communications directors.

The second issue is the debt ceiling. The House has approved a deal, and the Senate is likely to approve, but in the event a deal is not reached by Monday, there may be impacts to financial aid as well as other areas of the University. Essentially, if the deal is not reached, the federal government will have to stop paying certain obligations until it’s resolved. That could mean we are unable to obtain the funds we can disburse to students until a deal is reached. Again, we are watching the news and preparing, so we’re as ready as possible.

On a more local level, we are working through how to implement the financial aid programs recently passed by the Minnesota state legislature, the North Star Promise Program and the American Indian Scholars Program. See more information in the OSF update below.

Zooming in even further, we are waiting for the official word on the University’s merit pool for ASR, which will be distributed in salary increases for eligible P&A and Civil Service staff. The Board of Regents will review a proposal for a 3.75% merit increase pool at its upcoming June 8-9 meeting, and then likely schedule a special meeting the following week to approve the proposal. We will get a message out to supervisors and then all staff about our overall plan and principles for allocating this money.

Update from Stacey

If you have been looking ahead on your calendars, you may have seen a calendar hold for an ASR event on Thursday, July 27. Like last year, we will be hosting an in-person staff assembly followed by an ASR picnic celebration. I’m looking forward to the event and hope to see you for both the assembly and the picnic. At the assembly, I will give an ASR update, and we will also discuss DEI topics. If there is something you think I should cover in my update, send me an email at tidball@umn.edu. Thanks!

ASR intranet homepage redesign

The ASR Intranet is being redesigned by members of the Operations and Strategic Initiatives team. The first phase of the project is complete, which includes conducting user research and redesigning the hompage. A new homepage design has been finalized and will replace the existing homepage on Monday, May 8, before the end of the workday. All the information on the current homepage will be temporarily moved to a separate page under Employee Resources. Updates will be given as the team continues to work on this project. For a more detailed overview of the work that has been done, see the ASR Intranet homepage redesign presentation that was given at the All-Staff Assembly on Thursday, April 27.

Fraser and Williamson Hall updates

Fraser Hall update

A big thank you to everyone for all of your hard work cleaning out Fraser Hall! We’ve made great progress. A few things to keep in mind as we continue to work on the move:

• Jeremy and Megan will do a walkthrough of Fraser in the next few weeks and label all remaining tech to be moved over to Williamson.
• Continue to clean out shared spaces and coordinate with your teams as needed (ex: shared filing cabinets, break room items, etc).
• Additional ReUse gray hampers were delivered to 200 Fraser. Please continue to put items in there that are no longer needed.
  • Email Megan at asrcentral@umn.edu when the bins are full so she can coordinate with ReUse to get them emptied.
• For those of you who were contacted about purchasing a sit stand desk, please let Megan know by Monday, April 25 if you have changed your mind and no longer wish to purchase one.
  • If you need help finding where the items are located, please contact Megan at asrcentral@umn.edu.

Williamson Hall update

Both suite 160 and the kitchenette in Williamson are also coming along. Check out the progress below!

Suite 160

• Base scope
• Carpet/paint is complete
• Data/power is ready to refeed furniture 5/4
• Phase II (offices 160G - F)
• Carpet/glue demo ongoing
• Painting/patching to start Monday, carpet install to follow

115 Kitchenette

• Demo complete
• Furring wall to be built this week
• Electrical/plumbing rough in to be complete early next week
• Rock/tape/paint next week
• Cabinets/countertop/sink completed week of 5/2

Timeline

• Wednesday, April 27 - Alexanders Movers will be on site to move all of our boxes from the sub basement upstairs to room 20.
• Friday, April 29 - Shred Right is on site to collect all boxes of confidential materials that need to be destroyed.
• Friday, May 6 - Shred Right is on site to collect all boxes of microfiche that need to be destroyed.
• Friday, May 20 - Shred Right comes back a final time to collect their shred bins and gather any last documents that need to be destroyed.
• Monday, May 23 - We’re out of Fraser!

ASR website update

The ASR UX & Content Strategy Team and OIT have migrated the ASR website from Drupal Lite 7 to Drupal Lite 9. There were a few issues with the URLs the day the updated site launched, but these errors have since been fixed.

You may notice some differences with the look and feel because of switching to the Folwell design theme, but the content has stayed the same. The Folwell design is used by many University websites and helps ensure accessibility, consistency, and usability. If you have any comments or issues with the website, please feel free to submit a website feedback form. Thank you!

ASR website update

The UX and Content Strategy team is in the process of migrating the ASR website from Drupal Lite 7 to Drupal Lite 9 due to the current website reaching end of life in summer 2022. OIT has initiated the process, and the new website will be launched before the end of the year. 

The migration will focus on updating the site's technical needs, functionality, and making sure the content is formatted correctly. You will notice some differences with the look and feel of the website because we are switching it over to the Folwell design theme. The content on the website will remain the same. We will provide another update once the new site has launched.

Business Expense policy updated

The University updated the Business Expense policy effective October 11, 2021. This update is considered a major revision to the existing policy, with key changes including:

• Removed the ability for employees to request reimbursement for local mileage or transportation costs, except in the following situations:
• Individuals traveling to a system campus that is not their home campus (Twin Cities is defined as East Bank, West Bank, and St. Paul)
• Individuals traveling to an offsite location because their job duties require them to do so
• When an employee is in travel status (overnight)
• Added language stating parking at an employee’s primary campus location is not an allowable expense
• Created a new appendix for business expenses related to remote work

Network working group update

Last June, the Network working group (co-sponsors Julie Selander and Jaime Wascalus) was charged with identifying how the ASR Operations Group could be more effectively leveraged to define and deliver ASR priorities. Some items they were asked to consider include:

• Investigate and recommend how the ASR Operations Group can serve as the main hub for work prioritization across ASR (IT and non-IT).
• Investigate and recommend how the ASR Operations Group can serve as a network of Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) that help support the operational and strategic activities across ASR.

We are excited to announce that the group provided a comprehensive set of recommendations to ASR Directors in August, almost all of which were approved. Some of the approved recommendations include:

• Recommending that the ASR Operations Group continues to prioritize the project work being done in ASR, which includes revisiting and updating the group's charter and starting annual reviews of the project backlog.
• Recommending that the ASR Operations Group standardize a committee-specific project management life cycle process, which includes evaluating tools for managing a comprehensive ASR project backlog and creating a standardized process of submitting and approving work.
• Recommending an increased focus on the communication of work done by the ASR Operations Group throughout ASR.

Thank you so much to the Network working group for their time and dedication to this initiative: Kristy Davis, Rachel McKessock, Nate Peterson, Nate Rosckes, Jennifer Selander, Christopher Smith, and Stephanie Sutton. We appreciate their insight and ASR will operate more efficiently and effectively because of their work.

With the charge of the Network working group complete, the group has been disbanded, and the ASR Operations Group will now take over the work of implementing the recommendations and leading project prioritization across ASR. Stay tuned for more from the ASR Operations Group. In the future, they will be communicating their important work through various channels, including News & Notes.

Updates on ASR Alignment working groups

Back in June, two ASR working groups kicked off to look at the ASR Operations Projects Committee work and organizational structure between ASR Central, Continuity & Compliance, and Office of the Registrar. These groups have worked diligently over the summer to review the work in ASR, alignment and organizational structure, and areas for opportunities. Recently, both groups presented their work to the ASR Directors, answered questions, and shared insights regarding their process. Over the upcoming weeks, the ASR Directors will review the recommendations put forth by both groups over the upcoming weeks and will share further updates as final decisions are made regarding timeline and implementation.

If you have questions about the work the groups did, please reach out to your unit representative or the ASR Directors. We understand that many of you will be affected by any future implementation plans, and next steps will happen carefully and collaboratively. We will continue to relay information when it is available. A very big thank you to the individuals who represented each unit in these groups for the time and care they put into this challenging task.

Building hours update

As we approach the beginning of Fall semester on campus, our building hours have been updated:

• Bruininks: the North doors (closest to Appleby):
• Public hours are 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• University hours (staff and students with U Card) are 6:00 a.m. - 10 p.m., Monday through Sunday.
• Fraser: the front doors (along Pleasant St. SE):
• Public hours are 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• University hours (staff and students with U Card) are 6:00 a.m. - 10p.m., Monday through Friday.
• Williamson: beginning September 7, the SW doors (looking out on Pillsbury Dr):
• Public hours are 8:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.
• University hours (staff and students with U Card) are 6:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

This is a reminder to be mindful of anyone following behind you into staff areas, as people will now be able to enter our buildings without a U Card.