Discover Canvas each Thursday this summer

Earlier this month, it was announced that Canvas was selected to be the successor to Moodle. As the University begins the transition process, a Discover Canvas event will be held each Thursday this summer. At this event, members of the Canvas Transition Team will be available in person and online to help faculty and staff explore this new learning environment.

Board of Regents updates

The Board of Regents reviewed President Eric Kaler's recommended fiscal year 2018 budget at its June 8 meeting. After receiving feedback from the University community and public, Regents approved a budget during a special meeting on June 20. 

 

During the June 8 meeting, the board also:

• Approved the FY18 annual capital improvement budget, with projects totaling $275.5 million to begin design or construction in FY18
• Approved a system-wide strategic plan framework
• Reviewed new sexual misconduct policies

 

You can read more about the approved University budget here »

Reminders About Personal Holiday

Employees eligible for a personal holiday can use their FY 2017 accrual until June 30. Personal holidays do not carry over to the new fiscal year.

FY 2018 personal holidays will accrue on July 1. The Absence Management system won't accept an absence request for the FY18 personal holiday until it accrues. As a result, employees who want to use their personal holiday right away in July should discuss that with their supervisor and then submit the request to the system after it has accrued on July 1.

Update on ASR organizational effectiveness

Organizational effectiveness strives to build and maintain ASR’s strength to meet the diverse challenges of our work and the changing realities of higher education. To stay strong we focus on two things: 1. Developing our staff and; 2. Improving the systems and processes that support our work.

Developing staff

Developing staff means looking at the entire employment cycle from faster, more targeted hiring of people with strong skills and abilities, to consistent onboarding, to offering development opportunities, and finally to improving our capabilities to plan for employee advancement and succession.

The Engagement Survey has provided valuable perspectives on employee commitment and dedication and on the effectiveness of ASR’s work environment. The survey is an important bellwether and guide for addressing employee needs and concerns.

ASR is now focusing on expanding leadership development opportunities for all employees, building on a refreshed IDP, revamped Performance Appraisal and retooled supervisor expectations around development. We are also building toolkits and improving systems for hiring, onboarding and succession.

Improving systems and processes

This work supports unit planning,  ASR-wide projects such as job description updates or student supervisors planning, and brings change management support to GPAS, CS 9.2 Upgrade and other projects as needed.

This effort emphasizes building and enhancing sustainable systems and processes that will support a strong ASR.

Ahead for OE

Our pilots of formal leader development offerings such as Leading on All Levels, Communication for Results, the Hogan Assessment and Developmental Conversations, as well as new offerings from Leadership and Talent Development (OHR), will be evaluated to help shape our future leadership development strategies.

We will also continue to improve and simplify processes such as performance appraisal, the IDP, hiring and onboarding.

Our efforts should result in ASR remaining an employer of choice and able to respond to emerging challenges in higher education.

ASR Book Club

Last call to sign up for the second annual ASR Book Club, where we will be reading The Latehomecomer by local author Kao Kalia Yang! Reminder that this year's book club is BYOB (bring your own book!). The deadline to sign up is Monday, June 26.

Meetings will take place in Fraser Hall from 12-1 PM on June 28, July 12, July 19, July 26, and August 2. The meeting on June 28th is a pre-reading discussion, so you have plenty of time to get your book and get started before the first book discussion on July 12. We look forward to some great discussion with colleagues across ASR!  If you have any questions, contact Shawn Hennessy at henne344@umn.edu.

Discover Canvas each Thursday this summer

Earlier this month, it was announced that Canvas was selected to be the successor to Moodle. As the University begins the transition process, a Discover Canvas event will be held each Thursday this summer. At this event, members of the Canvas Transition Team will be available in person and online to help faculty and staff explore this new learning environment.

ASR staff complete Master’s degrees

Congratulations to Sarah Hoegger (Master of Arts in History, University of Nebraska) and Sherief Elabbady (MBA in Strategy & Marketing, University of Minnesota) who both completed Master’s degrees in May 2017. Here’s what our recent grads had to say:

Sarah: I'm proud of all the effort that I put in to accomplish this long-time life goal. My focus is in Medieval England and my thesis title is "Restoring Order: Law and Justice During the Reign of Henry V." I took a research trip to the National Archives in Kew, UK. I literally had to walk back and forth to flip through the pages of some of the pipe rolls (pictured left).

Sherief: Completing it means I can be more well-rounded on the business side to help me be a better technical professional. It’s a pretty versatile degree, so I am also able to apply it to the work I do for the rest of my career. I also will have a lot more free time now. :)