ASR Error and Incident reporting

The ASR directors wanted to remind everyone that they should be using the Error & Incident Reporting form on the ASR intranet as early and as often as necessary. The form gives ASR staff the ability to help other staff by reporting and tracking problems in a consistent manner. This consistency gives ASR an opportunity to communicate with all necessary stakeholders in a timely manner, including those across other ASR units. Errors and incidents can be reported with or without known solutions, and before or after resolutions are implemented. Please note, that for issues with immediate resolutions, there is no need to file an Error & Incident report that would interrupt that process.

You can find the Error & Incident Reporting form on the ASR Intranet. If you have further questions about this process, please contact your manager or supervisor.

Presenting FAFSA basics

On Tuesday, January 26, 2016, Larry Bloom (OSF) and Marcia DeGaetano (One Stop) shared their Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) knowledge and expertise with a room full of new financial aid administrators. Jeremy Todd and Tina Falkner attended the workshop. Larry and Marcia explained some of the lesser-known nuances of the FAFSA and dispelled a few myths, too.

They highlighted the areas where students (and their parents) often complete the form incorrectly by misinterpreting the question and ways that financial aid staff can help in the process. Filing the FAFSA is the first step for a student to be considered for receiving financial aid, and it's critical that errors are minimized. It was wonderful to see our U of M colleagues connecting with financial aid staff from around the state.

Larry Bloom and Marcia DeGaetano teaching new financial aid administrators the FAFSA basics.

Jeremy Todd and Tina Falkner engaged in the training session.

ImageNow upgrade update

The majority of the testing has been completed for the ImageNow upgrade. All of ASR's testing was completed successfully. The Office of Information Technology is testing the client installer so that there is a smooth transition. Due to this additional testing, the date for the upgrade has been moved from February 6-7 to February 20-21, 2016. There will be additional communication sent out to ImageNow users and administrators in the coming weeks regarding the upgrade and installation process. 

Save the date for the next Spring Staff Event

The Spring Development Team event is going to be held on the morning of May 18, 2016(exact times are yet to be determined) in Bruininks Hall. You should have received a Google Calendar event invite to hold the times. Stay tuned for additional details.

New templates for OUE and ASR presentations

An effort is underway to ensure that OUE branding is being carried forward on presentations given to external audiences. As a general rule, ASR staff should only use unit-specific templates for internal presentations. If there is a non-ASR audience (students, staff, faculty, etc.), staff should then be using an option that includes OUE. Please contact the ASR Communications Team if you have questions.

The new templates are available in Google Drive and on the ASR Intranet.

1095-C notices

You may have received the Form 1095-C from the University by now. This form shows if you or someone in your family was offered health coverage through the University in 2015. Keep this form with your other important tax information such as your W-2 and Form 1099. You will need the health insurance information to complete your 2015 Federal income tax return.

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.