The UA Confidential Hotline will be live on June 30, 2014! Staff will receive a link to the hotline website that includes a web intake form, toll-free phone number and frequently asked questions and it will be linked to the UA Website.

The UA Confidential Hotline will be available for the following types of issues:

Accounting and Financial
Fraud, theft, waste or other financial misconduct

Athletics
NCAA compliance or rules violations issues

Diversity and Equal Opportunity
Bias incidents and EEOC or ADA matters, Title IX

Healthcare
HIPAA, healthcare fraud, insurance issues

Human Resources
Time or benefits abuse, employee misconduct, retaliation

Information Security
Data privacy/integrity, malicious use of technology

Research
Export controls, animal or human research issues, misappropriation of funds

Risk and Safety Matters
Unsafe working conditions, environmental issues or other safety matters

*Examples are a subset of the complete list available to reporters. The complete list of issues will be available on the web intake site. Several issues are repeated across different categories so that the reporting party can locate it through several different methods.

The hotline is NOT for reporting emergencies. Employees and members of the university community must call 911 for emergencies that would result in imminent harm or danger.� MORE....

The university will release employee salary information to KTOO-FM at the request of journalist Heather Bryant.
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Under the Alaska Public Records Act (AS 40.25.110-.220), the State Personnel Act (AS 39.25.080(b) and Regents' Policy (P04.01.062; P06.02.010-.100), certain employee information is public and must be disclosed upon request. This information release will include all employees, including adjuncts and temps. Student employee information will not be released due to protections under federal law.�

The information we will release is limited to:

• Employee name
• Position, department and campus
• Type of service (exempt/non-exempt)
• Status (full-time, part-time, permanent/temp or student employee)
• Bargaining unit, if applicable
• Calendar year gross salary paid to employee
• Calendar year employer contribution (healthcare, retirement, other benefits)
• Total of employee gross/employer contribution

KTOO plans to create a searchable online database for the public to access information about employee compensation, not only at the university, but including other state agencies as well. We will send information based on the most complete calendar year available.� MORE...

ANCHORAGE--The University of Alaska Board of Regents at the June 5 & 6 meeting approved several policy changes to strengthen and better support Prince William Sound Community College.

Separate accreditation, which the Valdez campus has held for 25 years, is no longer optimal due to increasing federal regulations, tighter budgets and a greater need for efficiencies—a large burden on a small staff.

UA President Pat Gamble recommended several policy changes that would place Prince William Sound Community College under the UAA umbrella, similar to UAA’s arrangement with Kenai Peninsula College, Kodiak College and Mat-Su College—all successful and independent community campuses.

One of the meeting highlights was recognition of four employees for their exceptional service to students. Peers across the UA System nominate recipients of the Staff Make Students Count award based on outstanding service to students.

Winners for 2014 are Leah Aronow-Brown, administrative assistant in the English Department at the University of Alaska Fairbanks; Elizabeth Spence, Career Education coordinator at the University of Alaska Southeast; Christine Volk, head trainer for the University of Alaska Anchorage Athletics Department; and Dory Straight, scholarship officer for the UA Foundation.� MORE....

Earlier this year, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights announced it would audit certain colleges around the country as a result of incidents and treatment of gender equality and sexual violence on American campuses. Shortly thereafter, the Office of Civil Rights announced it would conduct additional Title IX compliance reviews to ensure that other campus systems were appropriately handling issues of complaints and reports of sexual harassment, including sexual assault. The UA System was one of those additional universities selected for a compliance review.

The UA System welcomes this review. We take the safety of our employees and students very seriously. We look forward to strengthening awareness, educational campaigns, services, policies and procedures if they are lacking in any way. The OCR has said it will schedule campus visits sometime in September. The UA System will work closely with our universities and community campuses to ensure the details of these site visits are broadly known to ensure that everyone has opportunities to participate.

What is Title IX? Basically, Title IX encompasses a variety of rules and regulations designed to ensure that educational, sports and work-related programs afford equal opportunity and equal protection for both men and women participating in a college experience (including employment).� MORE....

“Title IX for Higher Education” - SkillSoft Course ID: lchr_01_a79_lc_enus

All Statewide employees are asked, at a minimum, to complete the online SkillSoft course “Title IX for Higher Education.”��

The online course takes approximately 30 minutes. Some employees may find that they will finish more quickly and some may need additional time. Please coordinate with your supervisor to complete the course during your work day.�

Accesss, Skillsoft trouble shooting tips and more HERE.

The Board of Regents has officially adopted the Shaping Alaska’s Future initiative as board policy, and a new booklet outlining the effort has been mailed to every UA employee. Academic Affairs and Public Affairs have teamed up to revamp the SAF website at www.shapingalaskasfuture.edu.

From the revamped website you can find a cool new video that helps set the stage for why the university is implementing Shaping, including some of the challenges before us, such as low high-school graduation rates, low college-going rates and fairly low college completion rates compared to our peers.

But as a UA employee, what does all this mean to you? What’s next?� MORE......

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Stay informed! Bookmark the Shaping Alaska's Future Website and return back for updates and new opportunities to engage in the change initiative: http://www.alaska.edu/shapingalaskasfuture/

By Kris Norosz, Julie Decker and Doug Ward

With our massive land endowment and bragging rights as the largest state in the nation, it’s easy to lose sight of an important fact – Alaska is a maritime state.

We have more miles of coastline than all other U.S. coastal states combined. Alaska’s Arctic coast makes the U.S. an Arctic nation. We share international maritime borders with Russia and Canada. Our location in the North Pacific makes Alaska the strategic lynchpin for logistical, security and economic activity between North America, Europe and Asia. And our only designated National Highway System connector is the Alaska Marine Highway System.

The sectors that drive our economy are dependent on direct maritime activity and support. MORE...

The Statewide Office of Human Resources announces the following training and development opportunities for University of Alaska employees: �

SkillSoft - UA Employee E-Learning Demonstrations. �
Time, dates and access information HERE.

Compsych webinars for July and August:

• Friendly Persuasion: How to Get the Things You Want and Need
• Awakening the Passion in Your Life
• Using Reason to Resolve Conflict
• Building Trust
• Cutting Through the Clutter

Webinars are scheduled on the first Wednesday at 11 a.m. and third Thursday at 2 p.m. Click HERE for links and more information.

If you have any questions, please contact Anne Sakumoto anne.sakumoto@alaska.edu�or (907) 786-1432.