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The soft colors of a morning sunrise viewed from the Butrovich building. Photo by Monique Musick

Announcements: January 2017

  • Share your College Savings success story
  • Regents to hear audio public testimony February 21
  • FY17 Wellness Program
  • OrthoAlaska now on contract with Premera
  • Employment scam targeting college students remains prevelent
  • Nominate 2016 Outstanding Employees and Departments
  • SAA Meeting Highlights

Share your College Savings success story

Has a 529 College Savings Plan account made a difference for you, your child/children, or your grandchildren attending or planning to attend college? We'd like to hear your story!

We are frequently asked to share success stories with stakeholders, the media, the legislature and our national college savings associations. Recently, the College Savings Foundation (https://www.collegesavingsfoundation.org) asked us to help find some individuals willing to share their college savings stories.

We've put together a brief survey to collect stories and would appreciate hearing from you. The information collected on this survey may be shared with the media, legislators, and the College Savings Foundation (but we won't share your contact information without your permission). Shere your story here: https://goo.gl/forms/Fx1BOOh6eJdi35Kt2

For more information contact: Lael Oldmixon, lmoldmixon@alaska.edu or Bonnie Carroll, bccarroll@alaska.edu.

Nominate 2016 Outstanding Employees and Departments

As we enter the new year it is time to recognize employees and departments that went above and beyond in their responsibilities last year.

Please take a moment to reflect back on 2016 and using the online form https://goo.gl/forms/ImvOYTnVjAsD5Rgl1 nominate a fellow employee (staff or student) and/or department that you feel is deserving of recognition for their outstanding performance in 2016.

Any current UA Statewide employee can make nominations and can submit more than one nominee for each category. Please note that executives are not eligible for this award and self-nominations are not allowed.

The nomination form will be open through Friday February 3, with an awards ceremony in April. Exact day, time and locations for the event will be provided at a later time.

SAA January Meeting Highlights

The Statewide Administration Assembly held a regular business meeting on Wednesday, January 18. Below are highlights from the meeting.�
January SAA Highlights
  1. SAA is making plans to start their annual Butrovich food drive. The drive will begin on Feb. 1 and end Feb. 28. Donation boxes will be placed at several locations around Butrovich. �
  2. Nominations for Outstanding Employee and Department at SW are now open. Nominations will close on Friday, Feb. 3, with the award presentation held in mid-April. The form is available online at:�https://goo.gl/forms/8yXs60v8O8Xh9DFM2
  3. Members continued to discuss a break room in the Butrovich Building. The break room will likely not be opened until all of the fireproofing issues in the building have been addressed.�
  4. The Staff Alliance will hold a retreat in Anchorage on Jan. 26 & 27. Their agenda includes discussion of compensation, health care, and employee morale. They will meet with several senior adminsitrators, inlcuding VP Rizk and CHRO Hite McGee. The agenda can be viewed online at: www.alaska.edu/governance/
  5. SAA continues to analyze the results of the recent employee morale survey, and plans to share the results with SW employees shortly.�
  6. The SAA Bylaw Committee continues to make revisions to SAA's constitution and bylaws. The committee anticipates sharing the proposed revisions with SAA in early February.
  7. Members also discussed recent ​UA issues, including the annual leave cash-out program, the new performance review process, leadership cost reductions, and the recent votes of no-confidence by the UAA Faculty Senate, which resulted in ​several ​actions. Those ​actions included: ​drafting a resolution of ​endorsement ​for​ adding ​360-degree​ performance evaluations ​to the new PageUp performance appraisal and greater ​supervisor ​accountability ​for annual review​ completion; drafting of a resolution​ in opposition of the New Vision​ for UA proposal by Abel Bult-Ito​; and a resolution in support of the Strategic Pathways process.
SAA will meet next on Wednesday, February 15 in Butrovich 204 in Fairbanks and Bragaw 210 in Anchorage. All staff are welcome and encouraged to attend. You can also reach out to SAA members between meetings to share ideas and concerns. Additional information about SAA meetings is available on their website.

Regents to hear audio public testimony February 21

The University of Alaska Board of Regents will host a two-hour public testimony session by telephone on February 21 from 4-6 pm, in advance of the full board meeting on March 2-3 in Anchorage.

Regardless of where you are in Alaska, you can participate in the Tuesday, Feb. 21 audio public testimony by calling 866-726-0757 between 4 and 6 p.m. to share your perspective on issues facing the university.

The public testimony will air on KUAC-FM HD2 and stream on KUAC2 at www.kuac.org. The direct link to the live streaming is http://kuacii.streamon.fm/. The audio will play on computers, laptops, mobile phones and most other hand-held devices with internet capability.

To learn more, go to www.alaska.edu/bor/ public-testimony.

Agendas for committee and full board meetings will be posted at least one week prior to meetings at: http://www.alaska.edu/bor/ agendas/

FY17 Wellness Program

Deadline April 30!

The FY17 wellness program is rapidly approaching the April 30th deadline! Any employee, spouse, or FIP that is currently on the UA Choice Plan is eligible to participate and earn the FY18 wellness rebate. No enrollment necessary, you simply need to access your Healthyroads account and get started with the following requirements:

  1. Complete a Personal Health Assessment (PHA)
  2. Get a Biometric Screening
  3. Earn 5 points

A link to log-in to your Healthyroads account is provided on the UA benefits/wellness page. Also provided on the same site are several helpful documents that will get you up-to-speed on the wellness program in-general AND learn how to complete everything needed to earn your $600 wellness rebate!

  • FY17 Program Overview
  • FY17 Program Overview Presentation
    • A detailed presentation that reviews all wellness resources, a demo of the Healthyroads site and everything you need to do about the requirements
  • Biometric options based on campus
  • Healthcare provider form
  • And more!

Sara Rodewald, UAs on-site program manager from Healthyroads, will also be holding several program overview sessions over the next few months. Keep an eye on your email with those details, or feel free to contact her directly for anything wellness-related!
Email: sararo@ashn.com
Phone: (907)450-8203

OrthoAlaska now on contract with Premera

Premera recently announced that it has contracted with OrthoAlaska – the largest Orthopedic Surgery group in Anchorage. This group combines both OPA – Orthopedic Physicians Anchorage and AFOC – Anchorage Fracture & Orthopedic. Their contract is effective January 1, 2017.

This means that UA Choice plan members will now receive the in-network level of benefits when using these providers. This means your claims will be covered at 80 percent of the allowed amount, and anything the provider charges over the allowed amount will be written off. You will owe your deductible and 20 percent coinsurance until the out-of-pocket limit is reached. The provider can't balance bill you for amounts over the allowed amount.

Employment scam targeting college students remains prevelent

FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) issued an alert on employment scams targeting college students. Phony job opportunities are advertised via college employment websites or students’ university emails. Unfortunately, students who take the bait suffer financial losses.

Details of the alert are HERE. Always be cautious with quick money making opportunities that seem too good to be true, they usually are.
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