Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

All-Staff Assembly follow-up

Thank you all again for your thoughtful participation during our DEI Committee presentation on July 27! We enjoyed hearing your responses to the ASR DEI Vision Statements and look forward to sharing opportunities to engage in similar conversations over the coming months.

As a way to connect diversity, equity, and inclusion to the work of all ASR staff, we have asked that you incorporate the DEI Vision Statements into your individual development plans. Here are a few of the resources we shared to get you started:

• ASR Staff Site
• DEI Committee Page (vision statements and other resources coming soon)
• IDP Page
• Office of Equity & Diversity
• 4 I’s Model
• Equity Certificate Hosted Online (ECHO)
• DEI Deep Dive Resources

Finally, the DEI Committee will be meeting on September 18 to discuss our goals for the upcoming year, and we would love to hear from you! Please email us at asrdei@umn.edu with any ideas or recommendations for this planning session.

Join our ASR DEI Community of Practice
Subscribe to our DEI Google Group to discuss the latest news, connect with the committee, and keep up-to-date with DEI initiatives. More resources and information about the DEI committee can be found on the ASR Intranet.

Staff recognition

Congratulations to Cathy Schuster, Student Finance Counselor in the Office of Student Finance, for being named a 2023-2024 Gilman Advisor Ambassador! Focusing on scholarships for international educational opportunities, Cathy has helped countless students achieve their dreams of studying abroad during their careers at the University of Minnesota Twin Cities. Way to go, Cathy, for joining this select group of individuals and representing our University in the study abroad community!

Public building hours and access

On August 1, many campus buildings moved to no public hours, meaning buildings are locked but still accessible via U Card to all faculty, students, and staff during specified hours. So remember to carry your U Card with you whenever you are on campus. You can view these hours for all campus buildings on the Twin Cities Building List.

West Bank One Stop location closing

The One Stop West Bank location will be permanently closing. The last day of service at this location will be on August 18, 2023.

Since returning to in-person services in 2021, the One Stop West Bank location has seen a significant drop in in-person visits from students. To best serve students and manage staff resources, we are consolidating One Stop locations.

One Stop Student Services will continue to provide in-person service at our East Bank (Bruininks Hall) and St. Paul (Coffey Hall) locations. Additionally, students have the option of meeting with a One Stop counselor by Zoom appointment, chat, email, and phone.

There are many past One Stop staff who remain in ASR and have fond memories of the small but mighty West Bank office. Thank you to the many in One Stop and across ASR who have supported the West Bank One Stop office over the years.

Coursedog launches August 21

Coursedog—the integrated course and program approval workflow system replacing ECAS, PCAS, and University catalogs—will launch Monday, August 21! All previous users of ECAS and PCAS will automatically have equivalent access in Coursedog. Post-launch information on requesting access, completing training, and support contact information can be found at z.umn.edu/coursedog-support.

ECAS and PCAS will be available as view-only for several months as a historical reference.

This launch is the culmination of more than a year of work involving curriculum management representatives systemwide. More information about this is on the Coursedog Project webpage. Project manager Sara Cokl also presented on this project and the future of ASR projects at this morning’s ASR Staff Assembly. A recording of that presentation will be available soon in the ASR All-Staff Assemblies Google folder.

If you have questions, please direct them to coursedog@umn.edu.

Continued alignment work

Last year, a cross-functional group of ASR staff members convened to look for alignment opportunities, improvements, and efficiencies in our information technology work. One of the group’s recommendations was to further awareness and alignment of the valuable work of student data analytics and its connection to ASR’s stewardship of student data. This update highlights two key changes that will advance this recommendation.

First, ASR will soon be hiring a manager for the Student Data & Analytics (SDA) team, a replacement for a position previously held by John Vlk who left in October 2022. This position will be posted in the next few days in the hopes of hiring a new manager in September. In addition, the SDA manager and team will report directly to Stacey Tidball once the position has been hired. This change supports their highly collaborative role as they work with strategic leaders in all Twin Cities colleges, University Data and Institutional Reporting, the Office of Undergraduate Education, the Graduate School, all University campuses, and the Office of Information Technology to deliver meaningful insights regarding potential barriers in the student lifecycle.

This change in reporting structure is important, but so are the connections between analysts and data experts in other teams, both in and outside of ASR. The new manager position will be charged with further clarifying those connections and establishing more routine collaboration to enhance the work of student success analytics.

ASR Staff Engagement August 10 Survey

This week’s ASR Staff Engagement survey examines our thoughts and feelings as we near fall semester. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.

We had a wide array of responses when asked what movies you have seen the most. Disney movies were mentioned most frequently, including the Little Mermaid, Lion King, and Beauty and the Beast. When asked what movies remind you most of summer, we again had a wide array of responses with many folks mentioning movies featuring baseball, such as The Sandlot and Field of Dreams.

When asked about favorite movie snacks, popcorn was the overwhelming favorite along with Junior mints. Finally, most plan to see either Barbie or Oppenheimer in theaters (41.7%), while 33.3% are waiting to see one or both digitally. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated. Results from the last survey are available below.

July 27, 2023 survey results

In your estimation, what movie have you seen the most times?

• The Land Before Time
• Wizard of Oz
• Parent Trap (with Lindsey Lohan)
• Clue
• The animated Little Mermaid or the first Pirates of the Caribbean

What movie(s) most remind you of Summer?

• Stand By Me
• Top Gun and Dazed and Confused
• Aquamarine, Jumanji
• Grease
• My Girl

What are your favorite movie snacks?

• Popcorn and Junior Mints
• Popcorn and Raisinets (I obviously have not been to a movie in 20 years)
• Buttered Popcorn & Twizzlers
• Skittles and popcorn!
• Popcorn and nachos

Are you planning to see Barbie and/or Oppenheimer?

• Yes, I’ve already seen one or both! (16.7%)
• Yes, I’m planning to see one of those in theaters (41.7%)
• Yes, but I’m waiting until they are available digitally (33.3%)
• No, I’m not planning to watch either (8.3%)