ASR Staff Engagement January 23 Survey

This week’s ASR Engagement Survey tests your knowledge with a winter quiz. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.

According to the last survey, most folks are feeling good going into the new semester (46.4% scoring a 4 or 5). When asked about your favorite type of sweatshirt, most say pullover hoodies (48.8%), followed by zip-up hoodies (31.7%), and crewnecks (17.1%).

Finally, we asked what books, movies, tv shows, or games you’ve been enjoying lately. There were lots of great responses, which are all highlighted below. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated.

January 9 survey results

On a scale from 1 (feeling stressed) to 5 (feeling good), how are you feeling going into the Spring semester?

• 1 (4.9%)
• 2 (22%)
• 3 (26.8%)
• 4 (29.3%)
• 5 (17.1%)

What is your favorite type of sweatshirt?

• Pullover hoodie (48.8%)
• Zip-up hoodie (31.7%)
• Crewneck (17.1%)
• Fleece zip-up hoodie (2.4%)

What books, movies, tv shows, or games have you been enjoying lately?

• Books: Slough House (Slow Horses) series by Mick Herron Yellowstone
• Shrinking - Apple TV
• The game Ghost of Tsushima
• Mystery series
• Getting into reading the new Ruth Ware mystery
• New season of All Creature Great and Small on PBS!
• Deal or No Deal Island
• Admiral Nimitz biography
• Shameless
• Books: Lightbringer: Book 6 of Red Rising series by Pierce Brown, Words of Radiance by Brandon Sanderson; Games: lots of card games w/ my 9yo including Kings in the corner, Cribbage, playing D&D with friends and any Legend of Zelda game I have the time for.
• Re-watching Buffy the Vampire Slayer
• Escaping into the hilarity and good times of the Brooklyn 99
• Sims 4
• Game: Marvel Rivals
• TV: Atypical (Netflix), Night Court (reboot on NBC/Peacock)
• Books: "Bipolar Bear and the Terrible, Horrible, No good, Very Bad Health Insurance" by Kathleen Founds, "Everyone in my Family has Killed Someone" (Ernest Cunningham mystery) by Benjamin Stevenson, "Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves" by Nicola Twilley
• TV Show - Arcane
• "Lioness" and "1883"
• Every creative competition show, from baking to glassblowing
• Any book by Beatriz Williams. Currently reading Husbands & Lovers
• Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
  

Update from Stacey

Happy new year and welcome to 2025! I hope folks had some time to rest, reconnect with family and friends, and enjoy some downtime. I had a couple of vacation days in addition to the University holidays to host gatherings and spend extra time with family, especially with my kids. I’m now feeling ready for some more routine and to take a break from holiday eating.

As usual, ASR was not on break. It was a busy time for many folks with grading deadlines, end-of-term processing, certifying student athletes, financial value transparency reporting, classroom projects, and the Complete Drop Process—just to name a few examples. I’m grateful for all of you and the work that we do collectively.

And a small request for you—if you have any feedback about your unit director, please shoot me an email. Your feedback is great for performance appraisal season, but also welcome any time of year. Thanks!

DEI spotlight - Classroom Technical Services

Classroom Technical Services (CTS) is an internal sales organization (ISO) within the Office of Classroom Management (OCM) that provides inclusive and equitable Audio/Video (AV) Technology for all students, faculty, and staff. 

CTS aligns with ASR’s DEI Vision Statements through inclusivity, accountability, people-centered practices, and administrative equity in ways that directly affect our academic spaces. It is important to CTS to continue developing initiatives so that we can maintain the efforts needed to further accessibility within our classrooms. CTS has a few recent DEI initiatives that we are proud to highlight:

• We added professional development time to our FY24 rate plan for our engineers and technicians. This adjustment sets aside dedicated time for staff to attend conferences, participate in seminars, pursue research, and obtain professional certifications. These activities not only support the University’s mission but also enhance development opportunities for our team.
• We also did an equity-focused and comprehensive review of CTS product procurement. CTS participated in an AV vendor selection process with Purchasing Services, leading to the selection of several new UWide AV vendor partners. CTS established an inclusive and open selection process to determine primary suppliers for our anticipated product lines. CTS also collaborated with internal partners, including UMarket and the Office of Supplier Diversity (OSD), to evaluate their supplier value.

Moving forward, CTS will conduct an annual pricing review to allow vendors to submit competitive proposals, ensuring ongoing value and equity in our procurement process–providing better reliability and consistency for our clients. If you would like to learn more about these initiatives, please reach out to ctstech@umn.edu.

ClickUp resources for ASR

Information regarding ASR’s implementation of ClickUp is now available on the ASR Staff Site (sign-in required), including tool governance, support, and resources.

The implementation team has put together user guides to help staff better understand how ASR will use ClickUp. The guides are broken up by roles in ClickUp:

• The ASR ClickUp Member User Guide explains how ASR is using ClickUp. This guide is useful for most staff, but especially for onboarding or new users.
• The ASR ClickUp Super User and Admin Guide is intended for staff with roles or responsibilities in setting up and managing their team spaces in ClickUp. It explains use cases and best practices for ASR’s ClickUp configuration.

Chrome River reminders

Now is a good time to clean-up your Chrome River eWallet. When utilizing the email functionality to forward receipts/documentation to your profile, Chrome River will do its best to match the documentation to a credit card transaction. However, if it doesn’t find a match, it will create a new (often duplicate) out-of-pocket expense it expects to be reconciled. It is a best practice to periodically review your eWallet (sections All, Out-of-Pocket Expenses, Receipt Gallery) to remove any duplicates and/or documents that are no longer needed so you have a clear listing of actual pending transactions.

While in the eWallet, make sure to review the Expense Type (icon in the header) that has been assigned to your transactions to ensure it is appropriate for the expense. It is easiest to review/modify the Expense Type while transactions are still in the eWallet (before adding them to an expense report). A job aid outlining all Expense Types is available in the job aids. Hint: watch out for bundled expenses which require a specific bundle Expense Type to be used.

ASR Staff Engagement January 9 Survey

Happy New Year! This week’s ASR Engagement Survey asks how folks are doing as we go into the spring semester. Thank you for continuing to share your stories and experiences.

According to the last survey, chocolate chip was voted your favorite type of cookie (38.2%), followed by snickerdoodles (14.7%), and oatmeal (11.8%). Most say that they did not make New Year’s resolutions this year (55.9%).

Finally, we asked what you would bring to a potluck. There were lots of great dishes mentioned! A variety of dips and bruschetta were mentioned the most. Thanks all for your continued participation! It is very much appreciated.

December 12 survey results

What is your favorite type of cookie?

• Chocolate chip (38.2%)
• Snickerdoodles (14.7%)
• Oatmeal (11.8%)
• Sugar (8.8%)
• Peanut butter (8.8%)

Are you planning to make New Year's resolutions going into next year?

• Yes (17.6%)
• No (55.9%)
• I’m not sure (26.5%)

If you were asked to bring something to a potluck, what would you bring?

• Salsa di Parmigiano spread and crostini
• Deviled eggs
• Chips and buffalo chicken dip
• Some sort of dessert - something seasonally appropriate. If the potluck was now it would be something cranberry - Cranberry Almond Streusel Bars, Cranberry Orange Pecan Pie Bars, Cinnamon Cranberry bread.
• 7 layer dip
• Fruit salad or veggie tray

Tony's Tech Terms: Data model

A data model in software development is a blueprint for organizing and understanding the information that a system needs to store and use. Imagine a data model as a map that outlines what types of information are important for a specific application, how they are related to each other, and how they can be structured for easy access. For example, our applications commonly have data models that represent terms, classes, and students. This helps us design systems that store and manage data in a clear and consistent way.

By defining a data model, we ensure that our software can handle complex tasks efficiently, such as retrieving student information. It provides a common language for developers, business stakeholders, and users to discuss and align on how data is handled in the system.