ASR employee survey results

The results from the second 2013 ASR employee survey are now available. The survey team (Trinity Muller, Anya Norton, Maggie O'Neill, and Matt Tveter) reviewed and analyzed the responses. Recommendations based on those responses were presented to ASR directors in August. The third 2013 survey will be sent out in early October.

Professional skills building

As an ASR employee, you may request to attend professional development activities that help you become more successful in your current position or to advance to the next level in your career. You can view the professional development policy by employment group in the ASR Employee Handbook. ASR employees are also eligible for the Regents Scholarship, which covers 100% of the tuition for a first bachelor's degree and 75% for graduate and professional degrees, if you decide to go back to school. Nice!

Football fun

The ASR Athletic Academic Eligibility/APAS team was invited by the McNamera Academic Counselors (for football) to be the honorary coaches for the Gopher football team in the game against UNLV on August 29 (though they didn't actually get to call any plays). They participated in the pre-game rituals, including the "Victory Walk," pre-game warm-ups, Coach Kill's pre-game pep talk to the players, and running out on the field with the players at the start of the game. How cool is that?

New training newsletter

The ASR Training Update is a monthly newsletter covering training initiatives, general updates, tips and tricks, and other matters that may be of interest to you. The newsletter will be sent the third week of each month. Currently, the newsletter is being sent to key contacts for the Student Records Training and Support Team, but that audience will expand. For more information, click here. To begin receiving the ASR Training Update, contact Kess Knight (knigh161@umn.edu).

Tech priorities

To get the latest scoop on the University's IT news and activities, check out the IT priorities video by Vice President and CIO Scott Studham. He outlines the progress made during the past year, as well as the University's IT priorities going forward.

Honoring MLK's Dream speech

On Aug. 28, the University of Minnesota's Twin Cities campus honored the 50th anniversary of The March on Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech. The historical event was celebrated by chimes sounding across campus. Just before the chimes rang, a brief message was read to the campus community commemorating the speech and King's call to "Let freedom ring." The national and international bell-ringing events were organized by The King Center based in Atlanta.

Me, myself, and I

Can't figure out whether you should use me, myself, or I? Here's a quick trick: when deciding between me or I, ask yourself if the sentence makes sense if you take out the other noun or pronoun. For example, "Sophia and me went out to lunch." If you removed "Sophia" from the sentence, it would read, "Me went out to lunch." That doesn't make sense, right? So, in this case, you would say, "Sophia and I went out to lunch." Here's another example: "The dog licked Alex and I." If you take out Alex, the sentence reads, "The dog licked I." That sure doesn't sound correct! The sentence should be "The dog licked me."

As for myself, this one is easy peasy. Only use myself when you've already referenced yourself in the sentence. It can't be used as a substitute for me. How does this sound? "Jon and myself visited the Mayan ruins." If you remove Jon from the sentence, it would say, "Myself visited the Mayan ruins." That sounds all sorts of funny. It should be "Jon and I visited the Mayan ruins."

A last example: "I think the book was excellent, if I do say so myself." Here, "myself" refers back to I. I've already mentioned myself in the sentence, so "myself" is the correct choice. (Thanks to Melanie Paradise in One Stop for suggesting this grammar tip.)