In an effort reduce costs and efficiently use university building space, the UAF Development office will move into the first floor of the Butrovich building next spring. This move will bring Butrovich close to its capacity and will necessarily require some employees to move to different spaces in the building. This move will also help consolidate departments and better utilize the available space.

Supervisors will discuss moves with their employees once the plans are finalized in the next few weeks. All moves within Butrovich will be made before the winter break.

The University of Alaska is conducting a comprehensive reexamination of our travel program with the goals of improving the user experience, saving money through a one-stop shop for travel discounts, increasing process efficiencies and improving our travel reporting capability.

In May, the Huron Consulting Group met with approximately 150 faculty and staff from across the university system to gather input regarding travel process needs, wants and pain points. The valuable feedback that Huron received and an extensive RFP process led to the selection of Concur as the provider for travel and expense (T&E) and booking tools. This T&E tool will replace TEM, while the booking tool will be a new technology for UA. The contract with Concur was finalized in September of 2017. We are in the initial planning stages of this implementation.

Please see the UA travel project website at http://www.alaska.edu/travel/ua-travel-project/for more details. If you would like to receive project updates via email, please click here to subscribe to the travel project listserve.

The University of Alaska Foundation is now accepting nominations for the 2018 Edith R. Bullock Prize for Excellence. The award of $15,000 is presented to an individual who has demonstrated excellence in support of the University of Alaska. Any UA student, faculty, staff or volunteer who has made a significant contribution to the university’s mission is eligible to be nominated.

The University of Alaska Foundation is seeking proposals for the Harold T. Caven Professorship. Proposals are accepted from University of Alaska business and finance faculty. The professorship is a two-year appointment with a maximum award amount of $20,000, intended to allow the recipient to carry out activities and projects that will enhance business and finance fields at the University of Alaska.

Read all about the FY18 wellness program HERE. See below for what is going on this month to join in the fun! If you have any other questions on the program, take a look at the UA benefits/wellness page or please contact UAs On-Site Wellness Program Manager:
Sara Rodewald
(907)450-8203
sararo@ashn.com

• Wellness Program Overview
  • What: Presentation covering the ins and outs of the FY18 wellness program
  • When: Monday, October 9^th from Noon-1pm
  • Where: UAF, Eiel 304
  • Or, participate from wherever you are located by using THIS link to join at the presentation start. Call-in details will be provided upon joining!
• Incentive Feature Presentation: PHA and Biometrics
  • What: Presentation discussing the PHA and Biometric requirement
  • When: Wednesday, October 11^th, from 1-2pm
  • Use THIS link to join the presentation. Call-in details will be provided upon joining!
• Available Challenges
  • Nutrition Wellbeing Challenge
    • Enroll now thru September 30^th
    • Track Activities: 10/01—10/28
    • Worth 1 incentive point for successfully completing
  • Idita-Walk Challenge
    • Enrollment open until December 30^th
    • Challenge Dates: 11/04/17—04/07-18
    • Goal: 1 million steps
    • Worth 1 incentive point for successfully completing. You must have a fitness device/app linked to your Healthyroads account in order to join and participate. Learn about your options HERE.

In the continual effort to maintain safe and secure computing environments, OIT announces the upgrade of the virus and malware protection software Symantec Endpoint Protection starting Monday, 18 September 2017. Having the latest security software is one of the best defenses against viruses, malware, and other online threats.

What is changing? The virus and malware protection software, Symantec Endpoint Protection (SEP), will be upgraded to version 14 MP2.

How will this affect me? You’ll be able to choose when you’d like to run this upgrade through Thursday, 11:59 PM , 21 September - after that the upgrade will run automatically. This upgrade will automatically restart your computer twice, and any unsaved work will be lost. To avoid this, save your work first and then choose the time to upgrade that best fits your schedule. The upgrade will be available to run at your convenience until Thursday at midnight ; at 12:01 AM Friday, 22 September 2017, then the upgrade will run automatically. The upgrade will be complete after the second automatic restart.

Why is this changing? This new version, SEP 14 MP2 is a major version upgrade from the currently deployed version. SEP is the security suite used across the University of Alaska system and includes the following features: antivirus, intrusion prevention, file behavior monitoring, application and device control, memory exploit mitigation, reputation analysis, machine learning, and more.

What actions do I need to take? Windows users will need to make sure to save and close any work before you start the upgrade, or before you leave your workstation Thursday evening. The upgrade for Windows will be available for you to run at your convenience until Friday 22 September 2017, at 12:01 AM . At the scheduled time the upgrade process will automatically occur. Any documents left open and unsaved before the upgrade process is started will be lost when the computer is restarted during the installation process.

The upgrade for mac OS will run at the scheduled time, Friday 22 September 2017, at 12:01 AM . Once the upgrade is completed, you will be prompted to restart your computer at your convenience. Unlike the Windows upgrade, there is not an option to run the upgrade early.

Anyone with a laptop outside the university network during the scheduled upgrade time will have the upgrade run as soon as the laptop returns to the university network.

Interested in the technical details? The technical details for the upgrade are available on the OIT site.

If you have questions or concerns please contact the OIT Service Desk.

The Statewide Administration Assembly held a regular business meeting on Tuesday, September 12. Below are highlights from the meeting.

September SAA Highlights

SAA will meet next on Thursday, October 12, in Butrovich 204 in Fairbanks and Bragaw 210 in Anchorage. All staff are encouraged and welcome to attend. Reach out to�SAA​ representatives to share your ideas and/or concerns. Additional information about SAA meetings is available on its�website.

The University of Alaska Foundation invested in a scholarship management software system from AcademicWorks. Starting with Fall applications for the 2018-2019 academic year, all Foundation scholarships will be awarded through this new scholarship management system.

AcademicWorks will greatly improve the scholarship experience for students. Students will be able to view and apply to available scholarships for which they are specifically eligible, view and accept scholarship offers, submit thank you letters, and view donor profiles.

AcademicWorks will reduce human error and provide time savings for staff. Selection committee members can view applicants eligible for specific scholarships, review and score applications, recommend recipients, and monitor award and thank you letter statuses.

AcademicWorks will have a positive impact on donor relations. Students will be able to view donor profiles specific to their scholarships and submit photos and personalized thank you letters. Donor Relations Officers can then create compelling impact reports to share with scholarship donors.

The amazing array of scholarship opportunity information can now viewed at https://alaska.academicworks.com.

The State of Alaska Division of Retirement and Benefits has drafted new regulations that may affect retirees who retire on or after December 1, 2017.� The proposed regulations address what constitutes a bona fide termination of employment, prohibition of pre-arranged return to work agreements and taxes or penalties that could be applied if it is determined the retiree did not truly terminate employment.

If you are planning to retire with PERS or TRS benefits, please visit the web site below regarding complete separation of employment, and restrictions on returning to work in any capacity after retirement. In short, the intent of the proposed regulations are as follows:

“Now, federal law similarly restricts re-employment into positions which are not covered by the retirement systems, such as temporary, nonpermanent positions or independent contractors if the positions are with the same employer from which the person retired. This policy is being adopted to protect the retirement systems and members by placing restrictions of retiree re-employment with the same employer into non-covered positions.”

Read more HERE

The draft regulations allow for a 30-day comment period. The university is preparing comment to submit within this notice period. After the comment period, the Division of Retirement will either adopt the proposed regulations or adopt modified regulations without further notice, or decide to take no action.

Departments should take advantage of this time to examine succession-planning methods for replacing key workers eligible for retirement before the effective date of the regulations.

Did you know?�According to a�2016 Raytheon survey, 86 percent of young adults think that keeping the Internet safe and secure is a responsibility we all share — up 4 points from 82 percent in 2015.

As digital citizens, we are getting better about consistently protecting ourselves, our devices, and our family and friends. However, the Internet is always “on,” so we must remain vigilant and continue to connect with care in order to protect our mobile devices — including laptops, tablets, smartphones, and wearable technology — as well as our personal information.

• Protect your device.�Add a passcode to your cell phone, tablet, or laptop right now!
• Use strong passwords or passphrases.�Especially for online banking and other important accounts.
• Enable multifactor authentication.�Wherever possible, enable multifactor authentication, which helps secure your accounts by requiring hardware or biometrics in addition to your password.
• Check your social media settings.�Review your social media security and privacy settings frequently. Enable two-step verification whenever possible.
• Educate yourself.�Stay informed about the latest technology trends and security issues such as malware and phishing.
• Get trained.�Contact your institution’s IT, information security, or privacy office for additional resources and training opportunities.

Dowload this infographic for additional information. PDF

As part of the university’s Voluntary Resolution Agreement with the Office for Civil Rights, Title IX training is now mandatory on an annual basis. Please remember that the deadline to complete mandatory Title IX training this year is September 30. If you have not yet completed your online Title IX training, you may do so by logging into UAOnline and navigating to the employee e-Learning page, or by attending one of two in-person training sessions next week.

The in-person training sessions will be offered in Fairbanks and via video-conference in Anchorage:

• Thursday, September 28 from 1:30 – 3:00 PM in Butrovich 109/Bragaw 205
• Friday, September 29 from 8:30 – 10:00 AM in Butrovich 109/Bragaw 205

The in-person training will be conducted by Margo Griffith, UAF Title IX coordinator. If you plan to attend, please sign up at:�https://goo.gl/forms/9Q7HWMPpN6bJSXPD2.

If you have already completed your annual Title IX training online, thank you, and you are welcome to attend to learn more about your duties as a responsible employee. You do not have to complete both the online and in-person training.

For more information, please contact the UAF Office of Diversity and Equal Opportunity at 474-7300.

What's the EAP? It's the Employee Assistance Program, and this year we have a new provider with Deer Oaks.

More information is available on our web site here, and we'll have orientation sessions at the three main campuses next week, with webinars hosted in coming months for all locations.

Deer Oaks Orientation Sessions

• UAF/Fairbanks on Tuesday, October 3
  • Wood Center Room C/D at 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
  • Butrovich Bldg Rm. 204 at 2 p.m.
    �
• UAA/Anchorage on Wednesday, October 4
  Three sessions with extra Q&A time built in
  • ULB 104 from 9 to 9:45 a.m.
  • UC� 143 from 12 to 12:45 p.m.
  • ULB 104 from 2 to 2:45 p.m.
    �
• UAS/Juneau on Thursday, October 5
  Three sessions in the Egan Library, Room 115
  • 9:30 to 10 a.m.
  • 10:30 to 11 a.m.
  • 11:30 to noon

EDir Decommissioning Announcement

EDir is the Enterprise Directory used by the University of Alaska Statewide and the University of Alaska Fairbanks. The University of Alaska Statewide, Office of Information Technology, will decommission EDir by Februrary 1, 2018. The decommissioning project timeline involves having every EDIR-dependent service transferred, reconfigured, redesigned or retired by January 1, 2018.

Request for Action

If you know of an EDir-dependent service, please contact the project manager or project team member with whom you work to support your service. The team member table is provided on the project announcement�website linked below. Ensure that the team member has planned for the impact to your service and is prepared to implement or assist you in implementing changes to your service.

To learn more please visit the project announcement website: �https://www.alaska.edu/oit/edir/