Update from Stacey

I’ve recently returned from a Big Ten meeting, where a group of Office of the Registrar staff and myself met with our colleagues. We gathered at the hard to get to, but very scenic, Penn State campus. These annual meetings bring us together with peer institutions’ staff, so we can set strategy for Campus Solutions or other student information systems, select vendors (which span from chatbots to degree audit to CRM tools), and share many of the same struggles and achievements.

I find these meetings generally energizing. They are a good opportunity to remember how good we have it. One of our strengths is our organizational structure, which brings together the expertise of our different units. I continue to see other institutions who are resistant to sharing knowledge with their financial aid or One Stop peers, and I am so grateful for what we have. Thank you all for your work and support of the University of Minnesota as a whole!

On another note, I want to encourage each of you to respond to the University’s employee engagement survey, which HR will launch on October 16. The University uses the survey to collect data and measure employee engagement across the system. In the two years since the last survey, several of our units focused on employee engagement work around helping staff know each other better. Particularly in our hybrid work environment, we need to be attentive to developing and maintaining relationships.

The Office of the Registrar uses an employee slide deck with photos and information to help staff understand the individual’s work and personal interests. The Office of Classroom Management focuses on team-building and getting to know each other through potlucks, newsletters, and cross-functional projects. One Stop and Office of the Registrar also collaborate by introducing staff across these units to each other.

These are just a few examples, but are important highlights. What helps you get to know each other? What would you like to see at the ASR level? Think about this as you respond to the survey, or send me an email with a suggestion if you prefer.

ASR Quarterly Planning & Prioritization

ASR Quarterly Planning Periods

To align a bit more closely with the OIT PI calendar, we will use the following planning periods for ASR Quarterly Planning:

• P1 - August, September, October
• P2 - November, December, January
• P3 - February, March, April
• P4 - May, June, July

ASR Prioritized Projects for P2 2024

We received a total of 16 project requests during the new project intake soft-launch. 5 of these projects were prioritized for the upcoming planning period starting in November 2023.

Projects prioritized for the next period:

• UM Reports Deprecation - Remaining Reports Analysis
• Move uAchieve to the Cloud - P2 2024 Analysis
• Scheduling System RFP Analysis
• ASR Work Management Tool Assessment
• Upgrade to Carousel Cloud Analysis

The remaining project requests will be held in the "Project Backlog" for reconsideration in the next Quarterly Planning Period.

All staff may refer to the ASR Project Plan Preview for a high-level view of all ASR projects. Further communication about the next project intake window will be shared with all ASR staff over the next few weeks. Please contact the ASR Operations and Strategic Initiatives Projects Team with any questions at osi-projects@umn.edu.

One Stop Student Services

The 2023-2024 academic year has kicked off with its usual excitement and fervor for students wanting to work with One Stop. We are immensely grateful to the staff who worked tirelessly throughout this time. The One Stop team headed into "Fall Start" almost fully staffed and completely trained. This is the first time in quite a number of years! One Stop is extremely thankful for all the support from our partner offices across ASR. Thank you!

University Veterans Services

• Handling the certification of Veteran Education Benefits for over 600 veteran and military-connected students. 
• Navigating a new certification platform and changes to VA processing procedures.
• Planning our annual Veterans Appreciation Event on November 9, 2023. 
• Attending the Big Ten Academic Alliance Military and Veteran Conference at the University of Iowa. 

Financial Wellness Committee

• Hosting workshops and attending campus events, including a workshop hosted with the Multicultural Center for Academic Excellence during Welcome Week. 
• Managing an increase in requests for 1:1 financial wellness appointments because the pandemic pause on federal loan repayments is ending, and most borrowers are set to resume repayment this month.

Graduate Student Services and Progress

• Meeting with cohorts of newly hired Graduate Program Coordinators to help them learn about important resources for their work, system access, and GPAS basics. 

Chatbot

• Launched the One Stop Student Services chatbot officially on October 2, 2023, which replaces One Stop’s live agent chat with conversational AI technology provided by Ivy.ai. This new service allows One Stop to shift resources to other communication methods where they are better suited to answer student-specific questions.

Student Account Assistance

• Kicked off Third-Party Billing policy changes to better align with the policies and processes of our peers from the Big Ten and AAU. 
• Moved the late payment policy for sponsors from 90 days to 45 days, which will notify students earlier in the process if there are issues with a sponsored payment, and allow them additional time to secure alternative funding if necessary before the term ends.
• Implemented an authorization acceptance policy with a deadline of the last day of the term. This will alleviate issues with repackaging financial aid and issuing refunds and the potential for prior year adjustments to 1098-T forms. 

Billing dates

• Shifted the billing due dates to allow students and families more time to arrange their finances. The turnaround time proves to be quite short in the Fall term for students requesting funds from their college savings plans (i.e., 529 plans), applying for private loans, arranging funds to come from international banks due to holidays, etc. 

Homecoming

• Happy Homecoming! A big thank you to all that supported One Stop and ASR’s participation in the homecoming parade. It’s a cherished tradition! GO GOPHERS!

Chrome River tips & tricks

When submitting an expense report, receipts are required for all non-meal per diem expenses $25+. It is important to attach complete receipts as every supplier formats them differently. Scanned or PDF receipts should not be missing pages, and pictures of receipts should not be cropped because it could exclude transaction information.

Meet the ASR Data Engineering team

Although the ASR Data Engineering team has been up and running for a while, we haven’t taken the time to introduce ourselves, tell people what we’ve been working on, or how to connect with us for work requests. The ASR Data Engineering team finds, gathers, and monitors data from our various data sources for use by ASR staff, applications, and vendors.

Team Members:

• Ian Whitney— dedicated team member
• David Norman— informal team member splitting time with SR-IT

Examples of recent projects:

• For the Classroom Scheduling and Distribution Summary report, we worked with Student Data Analytics to deliver the report data.
• With the launch of Coursedog we wrote a pipeline that extracts new Course, Program, and Proposal data every 10 minutes to support all existing integrations with the now-retired PCAS and ECAS systems.
• For the uAchieve encoding staff, we delivered an automated, weekly report that uses Coursedog data to tell them what needs to be updated in uAchieve.
• For the Application Development team, we created a tool that lets them automatically monitor the health of their databases and creates TDX tickets when a problem needs to be fixed.

Stay Connected
To help folks learn about what we’ve accomplished and what work is planned, we will be emailing a monthly Data Engineering Status Update to directors and stakeholders.

Do you have data that you currently have to retrieve manually? A report that you need to generate by hand? Need to get data from one system to another? Would you like to receive the monthly status updates? Contact us or submit a work request by emailing asr-data-eng@umn.edu.

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee

Free October opportunities you might have missed

A Dream Beyond One’s Self
October 5 - Nov 26, Coffman Memorial Union, Second Floor Gallery

For many first-generation students, attending college not only accomplishes their dream but their families' dreams as well. A Dream Beyond One's Self shows how these students are a testament of strength and perseverance, serving as role models to themselves, their families, and their communities.

Step By Step: An Intro to Stepping Workshop with Step Afrika!
October 9, 6:30 - 7:30pm, Prodeo Academy

This assembly-sized introductory workshop is 60 minutes of highly energetic, percussive unity in motion. Participants can enjoy learning step choreography and discovering how dance brings people together. The program introduces the ties between stepping, college life, and academic achievement while discovering the rhythm, physicality, and history of stepping. All are welcome! Space is limited, and registration is required.

Centering TRUTH Report Recommendations in the University’s Work
October 10, 3:00 - 4:00pm via Zoom

This year's Decolonization Roundtable discussions will focus on recommendations from the TRUTH Project (Towards Recognition and Tribal - University Healing) Report. Our first session will focus on how we can engage in the Community Input process in the search for a University president. How can we use our collective voice to help keep TRUTH recommendations central in the search process?

Additional Events

• UROC Community Day 2023
• October 10, 3:00-7:00 pm, Urban Research and Outreach-Engagement Center
• Midwest Queer & Trans Zine Fest
• October 21, 11:00-4:00 pm, Open Book Building, Minneapolis 
• Wild Girls and the Pursuit of Justice and Joy: A Lecture by Tiya Miles
• October 25, 3:00-4:00 pm, Northrop, Carlson Family Stage

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.

ASR Staff Engagement October 5 Survey

As we embark into October, this week’s ASR Staff Engagement Survey is fall themed. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.

Last survey, we asked about your plans and understanding regarding employee benefits. Most are not planning to explore different benefit options during open enrollment this year (60%). When asked about your understanding of the Minnesota State Retirement System (MSRS), most say they do not have a strong understanding of how it works (76.7%). In addition, most are planning to participate in the Wellbeing program this year (83.3%).

Finally, we asked about your favorite state to visit outside of Minnesota. New York was mentioned the most, followed closely by other states such as Arizona, Colorado, Virginia, and Washington. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated. The results from the last survey are available below.

September 21, 2023 survey results

Are you planning to explore different benefit options during open enrollment in November?

• Yes (23.3%)
• No (60%)
• Not sure (16.7%)

Do you feel that you have a strong understanding of how the Minnesota Retirement System works?

• Yes (23.3%)
• No (76.7%)

Check out General Employees Retirement Plan, which includes a retirement benefit calculator, and MSRS Upcoming Webinars to learn more about MSRS.

Are you planning to participate in the Wellbeing program this year?

• Yes (83.3%)
• No (10%)
• Not sure (6.7%)

What is your favorite state to visit outside of Minnesota?

• New York & Florida
• New York!
• Arizona
• Colorado
• California