Time and absence reporting

After the Upgrade, staff will submit absence requests electronically via the new MyU. To learn what the new process will look like, take a short online Submitting Absences course. It contains a 2-minute video as well as links to "Frequently Asked Questions," resources, and job aides. Please refer your student employees to this information as well.

Go Live date expected in first week of February

The Upgrade’s Executive Oversight Committee will make a Go Live decision the first week of February. This new decision deadline gives the committee additional time and flexibility to compile more detailed HR Payroll test data, develop a full go-no-go dashboard, follow standard review processes, and gain a more concrete status view. Find additional Upgrade updates and news »

Graduation-rate efforts celebrated

During the December Board of Regents meeting, Vice Provost Robert McMaster gave his annual update on undergraduate education. He highlighted the campus-wide effort to raise the four-year graduation rate, of which ASR has played an integral role, and noted that the Twin Cities campus exceeded the goal set by the Board of Regents in 2006. More than 60 percent of the students who began their college career here in 2010 graduated in 2014.

Provost Karen Hanson celebrated this accomplishment in a message sent to all Twin Cities faculty and staff. Thank you to all of the ASR staff that participated in and helped achieve this milestone.

New Upgrade go-live date expected in next few weeks

As many of you have heard, the PeopleSoft upgrade launch date has shifted. The launch is now expected to take place this spring. This morning ASR hosted an ESUP All-Student Meeting to discuss the challenges presented by a change and preparations for a spring go-live date. We expect a new go-live date to be decided in the next few weeks.

Additional information:

• Updates about timing will be posted to the Upgrade website
• With the re-design of the University homepage, University Relations has re-designed the website headers and footers. University Relations will implement its new headers/footers on umn.edu soon, but has adjusted the wider release to other University websites to coincide with a new go-live date.
• University student, staff, and faculty visitors to UMN homepage will notice that the One Stop button link is no longer available. The One Stop website is still available at onestop.umn.edu. Read the FAQ on the Our Brand website for more information about why the One Stop button was removed.

M133 Fraser Hall remodeling project complete

The Non-Credit Registration unit moved into their newly remodeled space in M133 Fraser Hall, the week of December 29. Fraser Hall was undergoing repairs for water damage that forced staff to temporarily relocate their work spaces.

Photos of Fraser Hall

Before (highlighting the extent of water damage throughout the space)

 After (highlighting the Non-Credit Registration unit's space)

Thank you to Debbie Henderson for providing and taking the photos.

Setting SMART goals

According to a University of Scranton study on New Year’s resolutions, only eight percent of people actually achieve their goals. So, what can we do to make sure that our goals are achievable? How can we set ourselves up for success? MindTools.com has revealed their Five Golden Rules for Setting Great New Year Career Goals. If you’re interested in finding out how people put this into practice, Kristy Davis, interim associate director in ASR IT, shared some of her own experience with setting SMART goals.

ASR personal perspective:
Kristy Davis, Interim Associate Director, ASR IT

“I set SMART goals all the time. One of my strengths, from a Strengths Finder assessment, was Achiever or a constant need to achieve something. So as an example, I can't go into my weekend without a plan. I set SMART goals for things I need to achieve while still enjoying some downtime. It might look something like this:

Specific: Get four things crossed off of my to do list, i.e. groceries, clean the bathrooms, walk the dog, go to gym, etc.

Measurable: Did I get food and supplies for the week? Did my bathroom get cleaned? Did I get the dogs out at least once when it wasn't snowing, freezing, or raining for exercise? Did I work out at least one day?

Attainable: I look at my commitments for the weekend and figure out the optimal time to achieve everything. Do I have too much on my plate that it won't get done?

For example, I get groceries first thing in the morning when the grocery store is least busy. Then I can come home and take the dogs for a walk because it has warmed up and/or before it gets too hot. If there is something that I know will take several hours I try to limit how many tasks I plan in my day so I don't feel guilty for not achieving all of my goals.

Relevant: These are all important things and if I don't do them over the weekend it adds stress to my already busy work week. So it is important I plan them accordingly.

Time-bound: I don't want to just go, go, go all weekend so I make sure there is time to relax and enjoy myself and allow for spontaneous things to occur.”

Service Now changes taking effect Thursday, January 15

The Office of Information Technology is rolling out functionality changes to ServiceNow. These changes are expected to take effect on Thursday, January 15, 2015. Find out more about the changes.

Additional resources:

• Replies to a resolved Incident will not reopen it, instead opening in a new contact. More info: Video | KB0018642
• Incident states are being redefined and color-coded. More info: Video | KB0018645
• All resolution timers will run regardless of incident state, and pending incident states will not pause the timer. More info: KB0018643