Category: Employee News

This document outlines the differences between Microsoft Teams and Dialpad Meetings and provides clear guidance on when to use each platform.

Dear OLLU Community,

The Office of Institutional Compliance (OIC) would like to remind all employees of the SharePoint OLLU Policies Site, our centralized resource for accessing University policies.
OLLU policies are organized by topic to make it easier to locate the guidance you need, including:

• Academic
• Compliance
• Culture
• Employment
• Financial
• Health & Safety
• IT
• Students
• University Operations
  
  We encourage employees to become familiar with the site and refer to it whenever questions arise regarding University requirements, responsibilities, or procedures.
  Questions About a Policy?
  For questions regarding University policies or assistance identifying the appropriate policy or department, please contact the Office of Institutional Compliance at compliance@ollusa.edu. OIC will assist with your question or direct you to the appropriate University department.
  For questions specifically regarding Academic Policies, Procedures, Guidelines & Statements, please contact Academic Affairs at AcademicAffairs@ollusa.edu.

Access the OLLU Policies Site:
OLLUPolicies – Home

Welcome Back! UPDD Week Kicks Off August 10–14

The start of a new academic year is almost here, and we can’t wait to welcome everyone back for University Professional Development Days (UPDD), August 10–14! Join us for a week of learning, collaboration, connection, and plenty of fun as we prepare for an exciting 2026–2027 academic year. Throughout the week, you’ll find engaging sessions, opportunities to connect with colleagues, games, prizes, and a few surprises along the way.

Don’t Miss Convocation – State of the University (Mandatory)

The University Professional Development Days keynote speaker, Norman Wirzba, will deliver an inspiring and thought-provoking address. Faculty and staff are invited to attend the session from 9:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. Please remember that while most UPDD activities are encouraged but not mandatory, Convocation – State of the University on Tuesday, August 11, from 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. is a mandatory gathering for all faculty and staff. This important annual event will provide updates on the university’s direction, priorities, and vision for the year ahead and marks the official start of the new academic year together as one OLLU community.

Whether you’re attending one session or many, we hope you’ll take advantage of this opportunity to reconnect with colleagues, celebrate our shared mission, and build momentum for the semester ahead.

Celebrating Community

In addition to administrative updates, each quarterly gathering will recognize university accomplishments and milestones. This year’s Convocation will also mark the debut of the Customer Service Excellence Award, a new recognition honoring staff members that create a welcoming, respectful, and caring environment for students, colleagues, visitors, and the university community.

REMINDER: Submit a nomination by August 4th by 5pm below.
(If your nominee was not selected, please know that their contributions are valued and they may be considered during a future nomination period.)

We look forward to seeing you August 10–14—and kicking off an incredible 2026–2027 academic year together!

Cybercriminals are getting more sophisticated, and phishing emails can look surprisingly convincing. If you receive a suspicious email, don’t forward it—especially not as an “FYI” to Paul Patillo or the IT team.

Instead, help keep our campus secure by reporting it directly:

1. Open the suspicious email.
2. Click the three dots button on the right-hand side of your email.
3. Select PhishNotify.

Reporting suspicious messages through the Phish button allows IT to investigate and protect the OLLU community more quickly and efficiently.

When in doubt, don’t click—report it! Every reported phishing email helps make our inboxes safer.

This Friday, August 7^th, the OLLU Center for Service-Learning and Volunteerism and the Biology and Environmental Science and Sustainability Programs are partnering with the San Antonio River Authority to start a native pollinator garden on our campus.  This new garden will be dedicated to St Francis of Assisi, for whom we are celebrating a Jubilee Year in 2026, and will be located on OLLU land behind our softball fields and alongside Elmendorf Lake Park.  Last semester, we partnered with the Bexar County Audubon Society to build Bexar county’s first chimney swift tower on this area, this structure provides important shelter for locally threatened birds.

This week we are going to begin preparing the lot for future planting in October and we need your help!  We will be “solarizing” the ground which means laying down cardboard and covering with mulch to allow the August sun to kill the undesirable plants underneath.  This will allow us to start fresh with selected native flowers and shrubs.  After lunch, come on out and join us – you should be prepared for the sun and to work with your hands, but we will provide gloves, sunscreen, tools, and plenty of ice cold water!  If you have an OLLU t-shirt please wear it.  Feel free to bring your family or friends, all are welcome!  You can park by the softball fields or on Cesar Chavez Blvd near the Worden Building or walk over.

If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to Jesse at joharasta@ollusa.edu or at (210) 431-3990.

If it seems like your inbox has been filling up with more campus-wide emails lately, you’re not alone. That’s one of the reasons Our Lady of the Lake University is taking a fresh look at who can send broadcast emails to the entire campus community.

Right now, 56 individuals and offices are authorized to send messages to all faculty and staff. As part of this review, the university will be updating that list to reflect current roles and organizational changes. In some cases, authorized senders are no longer with the university or represent offices that no longer exist.

The goal isn’t simply to reduce the number of emails—it’s to make campus-wide communication more meaningful. By ensuring that broadcast emails are reserved for information that truly affects the entire university community, important announcements will be easier to recognize and less likely to get lost in a crowded inbox. At the same time, more targeted messages can continue to reach the people who need them most.

This review will also help establish thoughtful guidelines and consistent practices for campus-wide communications moving forward, making it easier for everyone to know when a message is intended for the entire OLLU community.

As this work continues, we’ll keep the campus informed about what’s being considered and invite feedback along the way. Your input will help shape a communication process that better serves everyone across the university.

Our Lady of the Lake University (OLLU) will introduce a new tradition during its 2026 Convocation with the inaugural State of the University, a mandatory quarterly gathering designed to strengthen communication, transparency, and collaboration among faculty and staff.

Held four times each year — August, November, February and May — the State of the University will provide employees with regular updates on the university’s strategic priorities, institutional direction, key initiatives, and administrative policies. Cabinet members will deliver brief reports on their quarterly goals and accomplishments, offering faculty and staff a clear understanding of the university’s progress and priorities.

In addition to administrative updates, each quarterly gathering will recognize university accomplishments and milestones. This year’s Convocation will also mark the debut of the Customer Service Excellence Award, a new recognition honoring staff members that create a welcoming, respectful, and caring environment for students, colleagues, visitors, and the university community.

Every member of the OLLU community will have the opportunity to nominate a deserving colleague. Nominations must include specific examples describing when and how the employee demonstrated exceptional customer service, the actions they took, and the positive impact those actions had on students, coworkers, visitors, or other members of the university community. The deadline for submitting nominations is Tuesday, August 4, 2026, by 5pm.

Nominees should consistently demonstrate one or more of the following qualities:

Celebrating Community

While the State of the University will focus on institutional updates and employee recognition, it will also celebrate the university community through interactive games, prizes, and giveaways.Lunch will be provided.

Submit a nomination by August 4th by 5pm below.
(If your nominee was not selected, please know that their contributions are valued and they may be considered during a future nomination period.)