Bon Voyage Melissa!
Such a bittersweet announcement … Melissa Koval is leaving Cal Poly Humboldt to join her husband, Volga, in Eugene. Bittersweet because we are very happy for Melissa and her family that they will all be together – that’s the sweet part; but then there’s the sad part, we will so miss Melissa.
Melissa joined Academic Personnel Services in 2005, now Human Resources-Academic Personnel Services. Her keen intellect, rational thinking, and friendly demeanor have touched just about every unit in the University for these past 12 years. She has worked particularly closely with College staff, department coordinators, department chairs, Deans, and the faculty-at-large. All knew that when they contacted Melissa, they’d get a prompt response that would be marked by clarity and thoroughness. Melissa is the type of colleague who will answer the question that you forgot to ask … and invariably it’s THE important question.
Melissa is a proud Humboldt alum. She earned her BS in Wildlife, sum laude, in 1997. She then went on to graduate school at Michigan State where she earned her MS in Fisheries and Wildlife in 2002. Her juggling prowess caught Volga’s eye one day while she was deeply engaged in the Three Ball Cascade on the Humboldt Quad with other members of the juggling club. Melissa and Volga have been happily married for some 20 years and share the joy of parenting two beautiful daughters – Fiona and Tess.
To say that HR-APS office won’t be the same without Melissa is a huge understatement. Indeed the University-at-large will miss Melissa’s contributions.
So Melissa will be leaving Humboldt for the green (and gold) lands of Oregon (go Ducks!); her final day with HR-APS is Thursday, November 9th. Please join HR-APS on Thursday, November 9, in NHE 113 from 1 to 2:30 to bid Melissa a fond bon voyage. We’ll have light refreshments; we hope that you’ll have some memories to share.
Featured Tech Course
Google Apps: Docs and Sheets
The core productivity apps in the Google Apps suite are the word processing app Docs and the spreadsheet app Sheets. Both are fully featured and include the functionality of desktop equivalents. This course covers creating and disseminating documents using Docs and Sheets.
Docs
- create and format documents, configure the different views in the interface, and use the various features
- count words in a document by using the word count feature under Tools
- create and share word documents, and format the text inside the document
- save documents from Google Drive to your local drive
- insert an image into a document and align it
- move files around within Google Drive
Sheets
- name and move the spreadsheet files, enter values, and modify cell formatting
- create spreadsheets, identify the features to format, and manipulate data
- add and configure charts based on spreadsheet data
Course time: 53 minutes
Fee Waiver - Spring 2018 Semester
If you haven’t already done so, now is the time to submit your Self or Dependent Fee Waiver forms for the Spring 2018 semester. For those attending HSU, fee waiver forms need to be submitted at least three weeks prior to the first day of instruction in order to be processed by the HSU Fee Deadline of January 9th, 2018. (If you are registering after January 9th, fees are due within 72 hours.) If you are submitting a fee waiver that will be going to another CSU, please keep their fee deadlines in mind, and submit your form well in advance of those deadlines to allow processing time.
Please Note: Fee Waivers do not cover all fees; you must remit the remaining balance due by your fee payment deadline in order to avoid late fees and/or cancellation of your class schedule.
For more information, visit the Human Resources & Academic Personnel Services Fee Waiver Program page, email us at feewaiver@humboldt.edu, or call 707-826-3626.
Veteran’s Day - November 11, 2017
Please join HSU HR&APS in honoring all of our active and veteran service members both within our campus community and beyond. As a reminder, November 11th is HSU Football Jack’s last game of the season. This is the “Tribute to the Troops” game in recognition of our veterans and their families. We hope to see you there…
Foundation Spotlight
HSU HR&APS supports the Not Forgotten Foundation which is a non-profit foundation established in 2014 by Veterans of the Armed Forces. The vision and mission of the foundation is to “provide awareness to the community about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and by recognizing the men and women that have served in the Armed Forces” all while paying “special tribute to those service members that have paid the ultimate sacrifice or suffered a life altering disability while serving.”
“As many as 400,000 Service Members live and struggle with invisible wounds of war. Sadly, most think that they are alone. Help Us. Help Them.” – Not Forgotten Foundation
The Battle Cross is a sacred military symbol honoring fallen service members and their sacrifice of losing their life in service to our country. The cross includes the service member’s rifle stuck into the ground or soldier’s boots, their helmet placed on top with their dog tags draped on their rifle.
NORMAL ISN’T NORMAL ANYMORE
by JD Kasper, MSgt (Ret.), USAF
I answered my country's call.
I stood my post. I did my job.
I’ve seen real super heroes and seen them fall.
I made it home when others didn’t.
Now things are a little different.
It’s more than guilt and more than shame.
There is a darkness that I can’t explain.
Darkness that you don’t see or understand.
This wasn’t part of the plan.
Hold me when I’m scared
Pick me up when I fall.
Keep your smiles and your pats on the back.
Just be there when everything goes black.
All because normal isn’t normal anymore.
For information on how you can support the Not Forgotten Foundation please contact Scott Kasper, PsyD in HR&APS at scott.kasper@humboldt.edu. Or visit the foundations website at http://www.notforgottenfoundationusa.com.
Featured Soft Skills Course
Coaching Techniques that Drive Change
Coaching by definition is action-centered. This is the main thing that differentiates it from counseling. At this point in the coaching engagement, the coach and coachee will have agreed on and co-created the Strategic Action Plan, which defines the goals and activities that the coachee will be working on throughout the remainder of the experience. Techniques covered in this course will give the learner the tools needed to lead from behind as a coach. Leading from behind is providing guidance through skillful observation and communication techniques that help guide the coachee's discoveries, self-awareness, epiphanies, and 'aha' moments. Keeping the momentum of progress, staying the course, and creating detours characterize the coach's work in this phase. These are accomplished through coaching tactics that include questioning, listening, observing, and challenging.
Objectives
- select power questions to get at the heart of a coaching conversation
- identify the elements of effective listening in coaching sessions
- set expectations for a coaching observation with a coachee
- use challenging as a technique to expand what a coachee thinks is possible
- conduct effective coaching sessions using questioning, listening, observation, and challenging
Course time: 26 minutes
Follow-Up Training
Employees who complete this course will be invited to attend an Instructor-Led follow up training on campus. We'll send a personal invitation with the place and date information.
Gratitude
Gratitude makes us more productive, cooperative, and motivated to succeed. It is also good for our heart. The Center of Excellence for Research and Training in Integrative Health at the University of California, San Diego, found expressing gratitude isn’t just good manners. If you’re suffering from cardiovascular disease, gratitude may just help save your life. They conducted a pilot study examining the impact of keeping a gratitude journal for two months on patients with heart failure. The patient who engaged in the journaling showed reduced markers of inflammation and increased heart rate variability, when compared to patients receiving the same care.
Here are a few things you can try to increase your overall well-being:
Keep a gratitude journal for two weeks.
Share something you are grateful for on the HSU Counseling & Psychological Services gratitude log.
Take 2 minutes to consider what you are grateful for each morning. You don’t have to do anything, other than close your eyes and silently give thanks.
Take a walk and greet students and co-workers on HSU’s “Hello Lane,” a walkway on the west side of Founders Hall.
Call a co-worker and say thanks. Let them know what they did that you appreciate and the impact that they have made on you.
Participate in StoryCorps’ The Great Thanksgiving Listen, a project that allows you to preserve the story of a loved one in the Library of Congress archive. Take this Skillshop through the HSU Library to prepare for your recording.
- Sunday, November 12
- Monday, November 13
- Tuesday, November 14
Robert Emmons, Professor of Psychology at UC Davis and a leading scientific expert on gratitude, says gratitude has the power to heal, to energize and change lives. Visit the Greater Good Magazine and read article and resource blog, Why Gratitude is Good to learn more.
CSU's Got Talent
“Leader as Coach, Save Time and Solve Problems by Asking the Right Questions”, November 16 from 2:00 P.M. - 3:00 P.M. PT
Do people ask you to solve their problems? Are you frustrated with the outcome of conversations with employees? As a leader, you can use a coaching approach to help your employees uncover their own answers for the problems they face. Discover how listening and asking powerful questions can engage and motivate your employees.
Learning Lock-In
Time: 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Location: Fishbowl (LIB 209)
New Employee Orientation
Wednesday, November 8, 2017 - 8:30 - noon
All new employees are invited to an Employee Orientation Program where we will review general conditions of employment, provide benefits information, and answer any employment related questions you may have.
Upcoming Classes
Tune In @ Noon
The “Tune in at Noon” brown bag lunch series brings faculty, staff and students together to participate in a non-work related activity during the lunch hour.
We hope you might consider “tuning in” to facilitate or encourage a colleague to share a special interest with us. If you have something you would like to share, please contact Julia Heatherwick 826.5154 or Alfredo Corral 826.5716.
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Tech Tips
Trello Tips: All Your Cards, Together
Ever want to see all of your assigned cards, from all of your boards, across all of your teams in one convenient location? You can! It's called the Cards page.
To access it, click your avatar in the top right corner of Trello and select "Cards" from the menu. Sort by board or by due date.