DON'T BURY YOUR HEAD

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Monday, December 15, 2008

Staff Handbook - Update

During the March 20th Staff Council meeting Kris Racina, UAF New HR Director, attended and stated that she is on board with making a Staff Handbook Directory available on-line for employees to find valuable information. This is in the beginning working stages.

Thanks John Duhamel for your efforts in making this happen.

Members of Staff Council have met with John Duhamel, Interim Director UAF HR. Staff Council is attempting to establish an on-line reference guide for staff. We are hoping that this will make it easier for staff to locate information. This will be an on going task. As information is gather you will be get posted through this site.

UAF Toastmasters Club

Ana Richards, Director of Multicultural Affairs, and Jackie Debevec, Career Services Dept, are in the process of establishing a UAF Toastmasters Club. Toastmasters is a great organization to assist people in learning how to speak and feel comfortable in front of groups of people, how to organize an event, become a leader in the workplace and in your community. There is also the opportunity to become a mentor to those that come in behind you. The initial meeting will be on Tuesday, January 27th, from 5:30 - 6:30 pm in the Wood Center E/F. The meetings will be held every Tuesday. If this is something you are interested in participating in you may either contact your Staff Council representatives or Ana or Jackie directly.

Customer Services & Financial Commitment

Pat Pitney, Vice Chancellor of Administrative Services was a guest speaker at the Staff Council meeting Friday, December 12th. She wanted the council to know that her and her staff are committed to following the Chancellors vision of customer service being the number one priority. Their customer service is mostly focused on staff and faculty as we are the ones that deal with students and the public and believe their customer service mindset will trickle down through us.

Ms. Pitney currently has four goals for the current fiscal year:
  1. Rationalize the budget process internal to UAF and fully understand all aspects
  2. Figure out the funding for Life Sciences and Energy Research
  3. Business Structure
  4. Risk Management

She reminded the council that when UAF commits funds to a project that those funds are pulled from another area of the university.

Governance Budget

The budget will out Monday, December 15th. You will be able to find the briefing papers on the Statewide website for anyone interested.

Staff Appreciation Day:

Staff Council is working to make this more of an event for all. In the past it has been for a couple of hours after a staff council meeting. We are now trying to make this an all day event in which staff, faculty, students and the community are welcome and encouraged to participate. It is currently scheduled for April 23rd. The events are currently in the draft process. However, there are a variety of events that the committee is looking to incorporate into the day. Would you be interested in taking a Yoga class, Sushi making class, Ballroom Dancing or what about Banner 101, Travel training, Blackboard training for you workaholics? Give us feedback on what you would like to see during this event.