COVID-19 virus impact on stress management and social stigma

With the influx of information about COVID-19, there is a lot of focus on physical health preventative measures (e.g., handwashing, refraining from touching one’s face, etc.), but news about the virus also contributes to stress, anxiety, and social stigma. The Mental Health in the Workplace working group and the ASR Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion committee want to pass along the following resources:

Mental health:

• The Minnesota Department of Health has this quick, two-page article with information about recognizing your stress reactions and psychological first aid (PFA) strategies.
• The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has information dedicated to Mental Health and Coping During COVID-19.

Social stigma:

• The CDC has provided information on stigma and resilience related to COVID-19.
• NPR published “When Xenophobia Spreads Like A Virus” (25-minutes audio).
• Campus Climate provides U of M news, perspectives, and resources to follow.

The CDC website states that “fear and anxiety about a disease can lead to social stigma toward people, places, or things.” People of Asian descent, those who have traveled, and healthcare professionals and emergency responders are some groups who have been experiencing social stigma due to COVID-19.

As part of ASR’s mission, vision, and values, we must uphold our commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion by supporting and respecting our staff and external audiences of various backgrounds and experiences at the University of Minnesota.

You can support yourself and help prevent social stigma by knowing the CDC facts and sharing with others. If you are experiencing bias on campus, please contact the Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action office or the Bias Response and Referral Network (BRRN).

Sports wagering

As we enter basketball and March Madness season, be aware of the rules on sports wagering and gambling.

In short, all ASR employees are prohibited from sports wagering per the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). This is because ASR plays a role in student athletics, specifically in that we:

• Certify that athletes are academically eligible to play
• Administer financial aid for student athletes
• Participate in faculty governance for oversight of athletics

For further clarification, any bracket where there is a bet is considered a wager. This applies whether the bracket is for money or something as simple as an ice cream cone.

The NCAA bylaw prohibits “student-athletes, athletics department staff members, and conference office staff from engaging in sports wagering (Bylaw 10.3). NCAA rules also prohibit non-athletics department staff members who have responsibilities within or over the athletics department, such as chancellors or presidents and faculty athletics representatives from engaging in sports wagering. NCAA national office employees are also prohibited from engaging in sports wagering.”

An article from the Daily Compliance Item may be helpful in understanding this law.

If you have questions or concerns, contact Stacey Tidball (tidball@umn.edu).

Planning for Fraser Hall

The University has made a request to the state legislature that would result in a major construction project to dedicate Fraser Hall to Chemistry labs. We do not expect an official decision until May or June, but ASR has started preliminary conversations with the University on the impacts to staff currently in Fraser, including options for relocation.

If the legislature approves the request, demolition and construction could begin in late spring of 2021. As the legislative process and the planning effort continues, we will keep you updated.

Pay Increases for AFSCME Clerical, Health Care, and Technical Employees

As a result of recent contract negotiations, central OHR will be manually updating PeopleSoft records with step realignments and pay increases to employees represented by AFSCME Clerical, Health Care, and Technical.

The salary plan and grades will be updated this week. The step realignments and pay increases will be updated in employee job data from February 24 to March 4. The new hourly rates will take effect in the 2/17/20–3/1/20 pay period and will be paid on the 3/11/20 pay date.

Effective Dates
Clerical:

• Step realignment: Effective 6/10/2019
• Annual increase: Effective 12/23/2019
• Step increases: Have been programmatically entered monthly (June 2019–March 2020)

Health care:

• Step realignment: Effective 6/10/2019
• Annual increase: Effective 12/23/2019
• Step increases: Will be entered based on employee's progression/anniversary date

Technical:

• Step realignment: Effective 6/10/2019
• Annual increase: Effective 06/10/2019
• Step increases: Effective 10/1/2019

Retro pay will be entered by the departments for the 3/30/2020–4/12/2020 pay period and paid on the 4/22/2020 pay date.

What does user experience in ASR mean to you?

Christina Yoong from the communications team is researching user experience for her capstone project in the MS in Scientific and Technical Communication program. She would greatly appreciate it if you complete her 5-minute survey on user experience in ASR. Your responses will help explore perspectives on UX within ASR and may be used for future strategic planning and initiatives.

How does this research relate to ASR?
This research contributes toward ASR’s 1-year target (2019-2020) to “introduce initiatives to advance automation, usability/user experience, accessibility, and best practices in developing systems and processes” listed under the enhancing systems and processes focus area. In 2019, Jaime Wascalus formed rock groups to explore a variety of topics, including user experience. The capstone project and survey will start to help assess UX knowledge and interests within ASR that may be used for strategic planning and future initiatives.

How will responses be documented? Is it voluntary?
Your survey responses will be collected anonymously, and no identifiable information will be included in any report. At the end of the semester, the research project will be available on the UMN Digital Conservancy. The survey is completely voluntary and each question is optional. The research plan has been approved by Jaime Wascalus, Stacey Tidball, and the University of Minnesota Institutional Review Board (IRB).

What’s next?
As a follow-up to the survey, Christina plans to conduct a few semi-structured interviews. Please email leigh138@umn.edu if you would be willing to meet for an interview or if you have any questions. Thank you!

Access Request Form information

The ASR website has a new subtab page under Training & Support which is dedicated to Access Request Form (ARF) information. A resource on the page, which may interest managers, is a list of PeopleSoft Campus Solutions pages that may be viewed after you have taken Student Data Inquiry training.

This page was added as part of the organizational effectiveness effort to streamline the ARF process. It is intended to complement information provided by the Office of Information Technology. Additional information is expected to be added to the ARF page as work continues.

Staff office location changes

Recently, David Crane relocated to the Classroom Technical Services admin office area (160G). Jessica Franck now resides in his previous location (160-41).

Robert Wilson is moving from Williamson Hall to 200 Fraser Hall.