Do you know a staff member who provides outstanding service to University of Alaska students as part of their job or as volunteer service? Nominate him/her today for the 2013 Staff Make Students Count Award.

The nomination form is online at www.alaska.edu/governance/staff-alliance/staff-make-students-count/.

Nomination packets, once submitted, are the sole basis for award consideration. Nominations for� employees must be submitted to the governance contact on the nomination form.

The Staff Make Students Count Award, established in the spring of 1999, recognizes university staff who have provided outstanding service to students anywhere in the UA system, including rural campuses and extended sites. Each recipient receives an award plaque, $1,000 and two domestic airline vouchers. All nominees receive a certificate of nomination. The university president will present the awards at the June Board of Regents meeting.

All regular full-time permanent and part-time permanent exempt and non-exempt staff employed by the University of Alaska are eligible to apply. Service to students may include service as part of the job or as volunteer service, either directly or indirectly to current or prospective students. Please complete the nomination form and submit it with a letter of nomination containing an explanation of the service provided to students and three letters of endorsement from those knowledgeable of the contribution made by the applicant/nominee.

Up to four individuals can be awarded; one each for the University of Alaska Fairbanks, the University of Alaska Anchorage, the University of Alaska Southeast, and Statewide Programs and Services, provided there are nominations from each one, and the nominations meet the criteria and deadlines.

Applications for award must include:

• Letter of nomination and rationale for nomination.
• Completed nomination form.
• At least three letters of endorsement from those knowledgeable of the contribution made by the applicant/nominee.
• Letters from students are encouraged.

The deadline for nominations is March 22, 2013. Click here for 2013 nomination packet:
www.alaska.edu/files/governance/2013-SMSC-Packet.pdf

The 2012 Service Award celebration on March 25 was a fun and festive affair. A standing room only crowd gathered in Butrovich 109 and video conferenced with a lively group in the Bragaw Office Building in Anchorage. Ice cream and toppings, yogurt, fruit, veggies and coffee service were available for staff. SAA President Monique Musick was emcee for the event, and President Gamble presented staff with longevity and outstanding recognition awards.

In a twist to the presentation this year, Musick recited some highlights of each year that employee cohorts joined the university starting with the 5-year and reaching back to the 40-year hire anniversary date. The audience enjoyed the university history and pop culture highlights and had a few laughs at the random trivia. An old tradition of a UA department arranging entertainment for the following year's ceremony was revived, and next year Internal Audit will be coordinating entertainment for the event.

In addition to 5-year, 10-year, 15-year, 25-year, 30-year and 40-year service recognition, Gamble presented two employees and a department with Outstanding Employeee and Department recognition. The peer-nominated awards are the highlight of the service award event. This year's honorees were Elizabeth Hardie, Andrew Johnston and Desktop Support. Congratulations to them for their outstanding work.

Please click HERE for a gallery of images from the event.

There will be Butrovich building sidewalk renovations this summer. The work is projected to run from May to September, 2013. Currently scheduled for completion in that time frame are the following projects:

• Remove existing sidewalks, curbs and paved areas on the north/ main entry side of the Butrovich building.
• Replace with new curbs, paved roadway and ADA compliant sidewalks and ramps.
• Replace existing lighted bollards with more durable units.

It is anticipated that there will be interruptions to vehicle and pedestrian traffic. Pedestrian traffic in and out of the Butrovich building will be rerouted as required to direct individuals to non-affected parking areas and shuttle bus points. It is anticipated that there will be limited parking areas within the remaining available Butrovich parking lots. Additional Butrovich building parking will be available in the lots to the north, adjacent to the Arctic Health Research Building (Lots 9A and 9B). Design & Construction is in the process of coordinating the planned vehicular traffic (both emergency and non-emergency vehicles) for this project. More updates will be released as they become available.

To download the formal construction notice, click here.�

GET INVOLVED WITH STATEWIDE GOVERNANCE
Do you desire to know more about what is happening at the university? Want an opportunity to review and comment on policy changes before they happen? Do you enjoy planning events that make Statewide a better place to work? Want to assist the community within and outside the workplace? Or maybe you feel a need to speak out about conditions affecting Statewide staff? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions we need you in the Statewide Administration Assembly.

SAA ELECTION SEASON
Now is the time to get involved! Please take a couple minutes to nominate yourself or a coworker for the Statewide Administration Assembly. Send nominations via email to sysaa@email.alaska.edu or drop them into the box provided in the System Governance Office, 105H Butrovich.

Or you can use the simple online nomination form: www.alaska.edu/governance/saa/elections/

We need to fill four voting seats from Fairbanks and one from Anchorage. These are two-year terms. We also need two alternates to serve one-year terms (any location is fine).

Outgoing SAA members eligible for nomination are Monique Musick, Dory Straight, Daniel Hostetler, Linda Hall, Alex Taylor, Debbie Rimer, and Briana Walters.

Members who still have one year of their term to go, and thus are ineligible for nomination this year are Heather Arana, Dana Platta, Jeff Holloway, Ivan Leibbrandt, and Kathleen Miner.

Nominations are scheduled to close Friday, March 8, at 5:00 p.m. Please submit the names of all the Statewide or OIT employees you think would make good representatives for your workplace concerns.

SAA is our staff voice to the UA administration. Active participation is vital. Please consider how your experience can be put to use in the university’s governance system.

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Based upon employee input, the “Wednesday Webinar” schedule is being supplemented with Thursday webinars for FY13.� See the schedule below. �

Employees may register for webinars by clicking the “Registration Links.” Upon registering, employees receive a confirmation email. Registrants also receive a reminder email approximately 24 hours prior to the webinar. ���

Webinar information and registration links are also posted at the following website: http://www.alaska.edu/hrtraining/e-learning/compsych-learning-events/

UA Employees are invited to provide input on preferred topics, days and times for FY2014 webinars by using the following link to a short (eight question) questionnaire:� http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/WebinarsFY2014 ���

SKILLSOFT UPDATES – UA EMPLOYEE E-LEARNING

Cyber Security Awareness

Following Cyber Security Awareness Month in October 2012, we mentioned that there would be updated videos posted online. That material is now available within SkillPort. �

Employees simply log-in to UAOnline and follow the links for “Employee Services,” “Employee E-Learning” and “SkillSoft.” Once in your own account, you can find the modules within the University of Alaska folder.

As a reminder, the modules are meant to increase awareness about ways to reduce cyber threats and stay secure while using computers, both at work and home. Organizations and individuals increasingly use and are dependent on a worldwide network of computers, data and websites. This increased connectivity can result in increased and changing risks to students, employees and the organization. The training materials are two to six minute videos by SANS (SysAdmin, Audit, Network, Security) Institute. �

New modules added by SANS, include training entitled

• Personally Identifiable Information
• Federal Tax
• Gramm Leach Bliley Act (GLBU-EDU)
• Red Flags Rule
• Ethics
• International Traffic in Arms Regulations
• Data Retention ��
• Social Security Numbers
• the Cloud, and
• Senior Management

If you have questions about how to encrypt data, check for viruses, properly erase data and check for up-to-date plug-ins. Employees may contact the helpdesk or Nathan Zierfuss, Chief Information Security Officer at (907) 450-8112 for assistance. �

For those who may not have heard, the IPAD winner during October, 2012 for completing SANS modules was Sarah Garland, Program Director at UAF. Congratulations, Sarah! � �

To all those who completed training and have become more computer security-savvy, you’re all winners for being better informed.

Center for Creative Leadership (CCL)

Some resources in SkillPort published through CCL can provide development support to factors in the 360 degree feedback called “Benchmarks�” University leaders interested in viewing content may locate these resources � in Books 24x7�. �

Visit the Training & Development website http://www.alaska.edu/hrtraining/e-learning/skillsoft/ for more information on Employee E-Learning. If you have questions or need assistance, contact Anne Sakumoto at anne.sakumoto@alaska.edu� (907) 786-1432.