One thing at a time

At last spring's all staff event, Rosanne Bane spoke to us about "The Myth of Multitasking." Her message was not that multitasking should be completely avoided, but that focusing on one task and making a conscious effort to "task switch" should be worked into daily routines. This article on "The Magic of Doing One Thing at a Time" reinforces Ms. Bane's message and provides some useful tips for making the most out of your time. (And, if you're a manager, helping your team make the most out of their time.)

The move

Since the Eddy Hall renovation has been delayed, our move to Donhowe will also (likely) be delayed for some time. However, we want to be prepared. Therefore, I have convened a group to determine the space and equipment needs for all ASR staff not located in STSS so when the time to move arrives, we are ready to proceed as quickly as possible.

Light rail construction and its affect on your commute

Spring and summer means construction season. Just so we're all on the same page, you should check out the traffic impacts for this spring, summer, and beyond in this presentation. Make sure you look through the whole PowerPoint; there's a lot of important information, right up to the end.

Academic calendar change?

At the recent state of the University address, President Kaler stated his vision of using summer term more strategically. There are a lot of details yet to be ironed out, but ASR will be involved in this project. Last year, ASR staff provided information to a University Senate committee that was tasked with writing a report about the utility of summer semester.

P&A staff can take personal holiday earlier

Previously, P&A staff were only allowed to take their personal holiday during a few specified weeks in December and January. Beginning July 2012, that will change; P&A staff may take their holiday any time before the end of the fiscal year (June 30, 2013).

Transcripts across the world

Since the February 8, 2012 launch of the new online official transcript ordering system, over 6,000 transcripts have been processed. A quarter of these were sent via electronic PDF and opened on 6 of the 7 continents.

Exadata upgrade complete

The transition to Exadata servers was successfully completed in early March. This effort resulted in faster run times for some jobs and queries.