Voice
Board of Regents Chair Gloria O'Neill addresses community members during an evening forum held after the first day of the March meeting. The forums were established to allow university and community members access to the Regents for informal discussions following the first day of each regular board meeting. Photo by Monique Musick

Announcements: March 2018

  • Open Enrollment is coming: April 16 to May 11, 2018
  • New platform for human resources updates
  • Survey of FY19 Statewide Human Resources Process Improvement Projects
  • Wellness program deadline April 30
  • Statewide Staff Campaign April 2018
  • Save the Date! Statewide Staff Recognition Awards April 18
  • Spring Cleaning—Be Green, Not Blue
  • UAF Division of Student Affairs Reorganization
  • SAA March meeting highlights

Open Enrollment is coming: April 16 to May 11, 2018

This year's open enrollment will be four full weeks, with an updated online enrollment process to make it easier and more streamlined than ever. You'll be enrolling through a secure link through UAOnline, with no printing, faxing or delivering paper to HR necessary.

The rates for UA Choice health plans will stay the same for FY19, as will the supplemental life and accidental death and dismemberment insurance. The Health Care FSA limit is increasing to $2,650 and the Dependent Care FSA (for daycare expenses) is staying the same at $5,000, or $2,500 if married filing separately.

Consider the Health Savings Account (HSA) to save up to $3,450 for an individual, or $6,850 this year for family coverage. You do need to be enrolled in the Consumer-Directed Health Plan, or another qualifying plan, and have no other coverage including a spouse's health care FSA. If you qualify for this plan, you can save money over the years for future medical expenses because there's no "use it or lose it" and the money is yours to keep even if you leave the university. This plan has been called a "health care 401(k)" because you can use it for expenses in retirement. Read all about it on our website, http://www.alaska.edu/benefits/health-savings-accounts/.

Wellness program deadline April 30

FY18 Wellness Program Deadline Reminder

The wellness program deadline is 4/30/18! All program requirements must be completed by this date in order to receive the FY19 wellness rebate. Verify that you are all set by logging-in to your Healthyroads account and going to the ‘Incentives’, ‘Plan Summary’ page. 100% on both progress bars means you are all set!

Still need to complete items to reach your 100%?

  • Your Personal Health Assessment (PHA) may be completed by clicking directly on it from your ‘Plan Summary’ page.
  • All biometric options are the on the UA benefits/wellness page—scroll down until you see ‘Biometrics Screening Information’.
  • If you are needing points to reach your 5, take a look at your ‘Plan Summary’ page to view all options and the ‘Wellness Calendar’ to view any upcoming opportunities to earn points from on-site events.

Contact UA's On-Site Wellness Program Manager, Sara Rodewald if you have any questions or need additional clarification on the program and requirements:
Phone: (907)450-8203
Email: sararo@ashn.com

UAF Division of Student Affairs Reorganization

Keith Champagne, vice chancellor for Student Affairs, has announced that Mary Kreta has accepted the position of associate vice chancellor for Enrollment Management. Kreta is currently the director of the Office of Admissions.�In this new role, Kreta will oversee the Office of Admissions, the Office of Financial Aid, the Office of the Registrar and the newly formed Office of Military and Veteran Services. She will also be responsible for leading the development of a strategic enrollment plan for UAF.

Ali Knabe will continue to serve as the associate vice chancellor for Student Affairs and will lead high-impact student development programming to promote student retention through engagement in areas such as living-learning communities, learning laboratories, and Wood Center’s Student Activities, DRAW, and leadership and diversity programs. She will be responsible for Dining Services, Disability Services, DRAW, the Center for Health and Counseling, Residence Life and Wood Center. Finally, Knabe also�will oversee the division’s assessment and internal and external program evaluations, strategies and initiatives, and will develop and implement the Division of Student Affairs Leadership Institute for Student Affairs personnel.

Champagne has identified educating the whole person — intellectually, culturally, morally and spiritually — as the primary mission of the Division of Student Affairs. He says the new structure will allow the division to improve on student recruitment and retention rates by focusing on high-impact programs and services and long-term strategic planning and assessment initiatives.

SAA March meeting highlights

The Statewide Administration Assembly held a regular business meeting on Thursday, March 8. Below are highlights from the meeting.
  1. Sara Rodewald provided an update on the HealthyRoads program.� April 30th is the deadline to complete the requirements of the Wellness Program to get the FY19 rebate.
  2. Changes to the Employee Tuition Waiver program that take effect in Summer 2018 include the elimination of the 6 month waiting period for new employees to use the tuition waiver, and the elimination of Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements.
  3. SAA representatives heard updates from the Staff Alliance meeting. Student salaries that are under the State of Alaska minimum wage will be brought up to the State of Alaska minimum wage. The JHCC voted to keep the health care benefit rates�the same for FY19 . The Staff Alliance Compensation Committee met to decide upon recommendations for FY19 staff compensation.
  4. SAA representatives heard updates from the SAA safety committee.� Exit signs in Butrovich were upgraded to be two sided, and the Butrovich emergency action plan is being reviewed and updated.
  5. SAA representatives continued their discussion regarding the location and intended uses of a Butrovich recreation room.
  6. SAA representatives are planning new Lunch 'n' Learn sessions for Spring.� If you have any ideas for an interesting session, please share it with Eric Johnson (enjohnson@alaska.edu).
  7. Please join SAA on Wednesday, April 18, 2018 from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m. for the SW Employee Recognition ceremony. The ceremony will be held in BOB 205 in Anchorage, and in Butro 109 in Fairbanks.

SAA�will meet next on Thursday, April 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 their�website.

New platform for human resources updates

Statewide Human Resources is striving to make improvements to the HR System, benefits and procedures to better help employees. Here is an update on system wide projects that are currently in process. We are working on the details of these projects and communication will also be sent to those directly impacted prior to the effective date of the change.

To see previous versions of this communication please go to the Statewide Human Resources web page at the following link: http://alaska.edu/hr/whats-new-at-statewide/index.xml.

In the March edition:DOWNLOAD PDF

  • Statewide HR Project Survey for FY19
  • Banner 9 Upgrade
  • Accelerated Collection and Processing of New Hire Paperwork
  • Standardization of FML processing
  • Faculty and Staff Compensation Equity Study
  • UAFT Faculty transitioning to UNAC Collective Bargaining Agreement
  • FY19 Open Enrollment
  • Wellness Rebate Payout Changing
  • Bona Fide Termination Regulations for PERS/TRS Retirees
  • Alcohol and Other Drug Annual Notice Collaboration
  • Leadership Development
  • Required Training
  • Faculty Time Off Cash-In
  • Student Wages Meeting Minimum Wage
  • Employee Tuition Waiver Changes
  • Campus Housing Portal
  • Removal of Transition Steps from Temporary Salary Schedule
  • Changes to Staff Benefit Charges
  • Tax Deductions for Employees in Canada
  • HSA Calendar Limits - 2018
  • ACA Compliance
  • Fiscal Year End Processing (April through July)
  • myUA Support
  • Recruitments of Leadership Positions

Survey of FY19 Statewide Human Resources Process Improvement Projects

In mid-April, the Human Resources Council will be prioritizing process improvement projects for next fical year.� We would like to know which projects you think would make the biggest impact and improvement to you as an employee. Please complete the survey at the following link by 5 p.m. on Friday, April 6, 2018:�http://uaa.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bNKhLVj2NVdhhch.� Feel free to share this link with other employees. We would like to hear from as many people as possible.
Michelle Pope will announce the project priorities for FY19 in a future HR Update which can be found at:�http://alaska.edu/hr/whats-new-at-statewide/index.xml. Thank you for your input.

Imagine the difference you can make

Statewide Staff Campaign April 2018

Imagine the difference you can make, the ripple effect that can come from one small act of generosity.

The month of April is a time to reflect on why you choose to work at the University of Alaska and how making that choice is the first step in making a difference in others' lives. In the coming weeks, you will hear how your fellow UA Employees do just that – make a difference – by making a charitable donation to areas that support their passions. Whether your passion is teacher education, engineering, the arts or athletics, your gift, no matter the size, does make a difference. That is what the employee giving campaign is all about.

Beginning in April, you will have the opportunity to join your fellow University of Alaska employees in supporting your passions. Look for more information to come. But for now, please consider your answer to WHY UA?�

Can’t wait until April? Contact the UA Foundation at 907.450.8030 or 907.786.1111 or foundation@alaska.edu.

Save the Date! Statewide Staff Recognition Awards April 18

Save the date of April 18, 2018, from 2 p.m. to 3 p.m., for the Statewide Employee Recognition ceremony. Employees who completed 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, and 30 years of service during 2017 will be recognized. Also employees who went above and beyond in their jobs and were selected for the 2017 Outstanding Department and Employee Peer awards will be announced.

The ceremony will be held in BOB 205 in Anchorage, and in Butro 109 in Fairbanks.

Spring Cleaning—Be Green, Not Blue

As you upgrade your personal devices to the newest options, do you recycle the old equipment? Being green shouldn't make you blue. Take steps now to remove anxiety later that forgotten sensitive files on your last laptop could become a source of embarrassment or identity theft. Trying to securely delete data at the time you decommission equipment can turn into a multihour chore and a source of stress, but it doesn't need to be that way.

Make sure saved copies of your tax filings, personal photos, and other sensitive files can't be retrieved by the next person with access to your computer's drive by making the drive unreadable to anyone else. Dragging files to the trash or recycle bin doesn't remove data—it just removes the retrieval path to the file and marks that storage space available for other data to occupy sometime in the future. Your pirate treasure is still buried, but the map is missing. "Secure file deletion" functions go a step further to overwrite the data in those locations with random bits immediately.� READ MORE

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