ASR Printer Inventory

We are taking an inventory of all the printers we have in ASR. If you have a printer in your office or cube space, please fill out the printer inventory form. This survey is for the personal printers that you may have at your desk. In addition, if your team or unit has a printer in your workspace that is not part of our contract with Loffler/Ricoh/Toshiba, please have one person from your team submit the survey for that equipment.

Office moves in Williamson Hall

There has been some transition of space assignments in 160 Williamson Hall. Kate Sophia and Matt Tveter are now each located adjacent to the 162 conference room. Kristy Davis (M/W/F) and Jaime Wascalus (T/Th) will be sharing the 160S office (formerly occupied by Matt). Rachel McKessock will now reside in 160T (formerly occupied by Kate).

Thank you

We ended up with a 96% participation rate with the Employee Engagement survey this year, which is awesome! The ASR directors send a huge thank you for completing the survey. They look forward to working with everyone as we review the survey results in the future.

Expense reports in Chrome River

It has been a year since Chrome River officially went live for ASR. Thank you to everyone for taking the time to learn the system and switch to the new process. The expense reports have included a lot of good information, however, here are a couple of reminders about the most frequent issues:

1. Please make sure your business purpose (justification) addresses how the activity being submitted relates to the department’s/University’s mission.
2. The conference lodging checkbox is configured to identify situations where travelers are using a published, pre-negotiated rate provided by the conference organizer. If your lodging does not use a conference rate, please do not check this box.

Spotlight from the Mental Health in the Workplace Group: Seasonal Affective Disorder

The fall season brings changing leaves, pumpkin spice, and turning back the clocks. For some, this shift can also bring Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD). If you are experiencing symptoms of SAD (e.g., depressed mood, loss of energy, increased sleep, anxiety, irritability, and difficulty concentrating), consider the following:

• check out a SAD light from Magrath Library
• consult your health care provider about vitamin D supplements and exercise
• review these tips from the National Alliance on Mental Illness related to turning back the clock
• talk to your health care provider if you are having trouble managing symptoms

In the coming weeks, we’ll be focusing on stress management. If you have topics that you would like to see covered, please send them to the ASR Suggestion Box with a note that it’s for the Mental Health in the Workplace Group.

How can ASR support mental health?

The Mental Health in the Workplace working group kicked off on October 8. The group’s main focus is to provide resources for staff and to create an environment in ASR that promotes positive mental health. Representatives from ASR units came together to discuss areas where ASR is doing well, what can be improved, and brainstorming ideas to improve the employee experience. Meeting on a bi-weekly basis, this group will be focusing on resources/tools for supervisors and all staff, topics such as stress management, depression, burnout, work/life balance, and recommendations on the work environment. We aim to provide relatable and relevant materials.

In order to do so, we also want to hear from you. What suggestions do you have to make ASR an environment that promotes positive mental health? We are asking staff to submit their ideas/suggestions via the ASR Suggestion Box. We look forward to hearing what you have to say. As a reminder, the ASR Suggestion Box is anonymous.

Sharing your Google calendar - ASR policy and recommendation

ASR’s calendar policy requires that we each share our calendars as “see all event details” for UMN Twin Cities. Unfortunately, the Google domain limit excludes our campus partners from viewing Twin Cities calendars unless shared individually. For staff who work and meet regularly with campus partners, we recommend you set your calendar to enable sharing free/busy status via the public setting (see instructions on how to do this). This will make scheduling easier. If you have any questions, please contact asrcentral@umn.edu.