The People in Your Neighborhood: Danielle Amira

If you had to use three words to describe Danielle Amira, they would be outgoing, positive, and fun.

She is a farm girl at heart. She grew up on a family farm in Gaylord, Minnesota and is incredibly close with her family.

"I have a twin sister and two other sisters," she said. "I spend a lot of time with my family on the farm. We especially love to four wheel and go shopping."

Danielle received her bachelors degree in political science from the U. One of her favorite parts of studying at the U was the study abroad opportunities. Danielle studied abroad in Florence, Italy. She also traveled to Ireland, Scotland, and Paris on a week break while studying abroad.



While studying in Italy, she met her husband, Mahdi. Her husband is originally from Algeria, but he moved to France when he was 18. He eventually moved to Italy to become a chef and lived there for about 10 years before he moved to Minnesota in 2007 to be with Danielle. Soon after, they married.

After college, Danielle began working at the University Press in 2009. She eventually moved to work in the Williamson Hall Cluster office as an Executive Account Specialist. A year ago, she was promoted to Accountant 1.

"The Cluster serves seven departments around the University, ASR being one of them," she said. "I work with McNamara Alumni Center and University Counseling & Consulting Services."

Danielle plans and forecasts the two department's budgets. She has monthly meetings with both of them to determine their needs. Her favorite part of working for the Cluster is the group of people she works with and her easygoing boss.

Outside of work, Danielle enjoys spending time with her family. She and her husband bought their first home in Columbia Heights and are expecting their first child; a boy due on November 6. "I'm a constant worry wart so my mom jokes that I'm going to follow my kids around with a Clorox wipe," she said. "But cleaning is a de-stresser for me."

One final Danielle fun fact: she cannot live without coffee and hair products.

Danielle's Deets
1. Hope Floats is her favorite movie.
2. Her husband says she resembles Monica from Friends because she's a "clean freak."
3. Danielle likes all types of music, but some of her favorites now are influenced by her husband. She likes Arab musician Amr Diab and Italian musician Nek.
4. Danielle is a good swimmer.
5. She would love to be involved in the fashion/design world, either as a designer or an interior designer.
6. Italian is her favorite type of food.
7. She loves to read fashion magazines.
8. She would like to own her own clothing boutique one day.
9. If she had a superpower, it would be to read minds. "It'd help me understand people better."
10. Her favorite movie as a kid was Clueless.

U named Military Friendly School

Following a recent survey of more than 12,000 schools, the University was named a 2014 Military Friendly School for the fourth consecutive year in a row. This puts the U in the top 15% of schools nationwide, according to a survey administered by Victory Media, a veteran-owned business and publisher of G.I. Jobs and the Guide to Military Friendly Schools. The survey weighting, methodology, and resulting schools list was independently certified by Ernst and Young. Way to go, Minnesota!

Upcoming Astra Schedule user groups

A series of Astra Schedule user groups is scheduled for this fall. Session topics will address issues that schedulers experience in their day-to-day use of Astra Schedule. They also serve as an opportunity for users to share ideas with each other and receive help solving specific problems.

No registration is required to attend. Locations and times for each session are as follows:

Thursday, September 26, 9-10:30 a.m., Nolte Center 140
Friday, October 25, 1:30-3 p.m., STSS 512B
Tuesday, November 19, 9-10:30 a.m., Nicholson Hall 110
Tuesday, December 17, 9-10:30 a.m., STSS 512B

Online Student Data Inquiry Training

The Training Team is in the final stages of developing an online Student Data Inquiry (SDI) video that can be used in lieu of in-person training. SDI training is necessary to be granted view access in PeopleSoft. Registration for online training begins Monday, September 30.

The online video and related activities will take approximately 40-60 minutes to complete and will include information regarding FERPA and a short, interactive quiz. Following confirmation of having completed these steps, as well as submitting the Access Request Form, PeopleSoft access will be granted. In-person training will still be available, but it is no longer required.

Williamson Hall display case

If you haven't taken a peek at the Williamson Hall display case recently, check it out. Sarah Hollerich, ASR's graphic designer, updates the theme of the display a few times a year. Right now, the theme is "Four Years in Focus" and offers tips and advice on how to graduate in four years. Past displays have covered topics such as saving money on discretionary spending, study spaces on campus, the Live Like a Student Facebook page, and Graduation Planner.

Veterans roundtable

One Stop's Julie Selander attended a veteran's roundtable with Senator Klobuchar on Aug. 26 at Saint Mary's University Center in Minneapolis. Discussion focused on issues important to student veterans. Channing Riggs, director of Government Relations from the U of M, was in attendance, along with approximately 100 others interested in veterans issues.

Accessing personnel files

As an employee of the University, you have the right to include or update information in your personnel files that may be pertinent to your performance of job duties. You may also review your personnel record upon written request.

An employee is entitled to review his or her personnel record once every six months. A former employee may obtain a copy of his or her personnel file free of charge once a year for as long as the record is maintained. For more information, check out the ASR Employee Handbook.