Category: Employee News

Employees required to complete annual compliance training by March 31

Full-time and part-time OLLU employees who received the following email notice from the Compliance Office on Feb. 24, 2023 are mandated to complete annual compliance training modules by March 31, 2023:

Dear OLLU Faculty and Staff,

As part of our ongoing compliance efforts, you are required to complete the 2023 annual employee compliance training modules to reduce or prevent incidents of sexual misconduct, sexual harassment, and other types of inappropriate behavior on our campus. This training also includes information about campus safety, protecting privacy rights, and communicating this information to the appropriate university officials. To support employees with their obligations, OLLU has provided the following online training modules to help employees learn how to recognize and prevent unlawful harassment. Additionally, these training programs support our compliance with regulatory agencies governing the practices of higher education institutions.

All OLLU employees are expected to know and understand the university’s policies on unlawful harassment and discrimination and to abide by them.  As a reminder, employees of OLLU who, in the course and scope of their employment, witness or receive information regarding the occurrence of an incident that the employee reasonably believes constitutes sexual harassment, sexual assault, dating violence or stalking against an OLLU student or OLLU employee, are required by law to promptly report the incident to the Title IX Coordinator within 72 hours of obtaining the information. We believe that all human beings are inherently sacred and deserve dignity and respect and every community member is expected to be respectful in all interactions as part of the learning experience. 

This training is mandatory for all full-time and part-time OLLU employees included in this email notice. 

The deadline to complete all training courses is March 31, 2023 

You are assigned to complete the following NINE courses: 

  • Data Security: Phishing (10 minutes) 
  • Data Security: Malware (10 minutes) 
  • Data Security: Passwords (10 minutes) 
  • Data Security: Physical Security and Unintended Disclosures (10 minutes) 
  • Data Security: Mobile Security and Third-Party Websites (10 minutes) 
  • FERPA: Protecting Student Privacy (10 minutes) 
  • Understanding the Clery Act (15 minutes) 
  • Committing to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion – Faculty and Staff (25 minutes) 
  • Title IX Mosaic: Prevent Sexual Violence Together (45 minutes) 

To begin training, follow these FOUR steps: 

  1. Go to https://learn.ue.org/Login2.aspx   
  1. Enter your login credentials. 
  • Username: Your @ollusa.edu email address 
  • Note: Do not use @lake.ollusa.edu email address
  • Password: Ollu2023!  
  • Note: Password is case-sensitive
  • The first time you log in, the system will prompt you to reset your temporary password and set a security question. 
  • Helpful Hint: You can change your password to be the same as your OLLU portal and email log in password. 
  1. Once you are logged in, be sure to complete all of the training modules assigned to you in the “My Courses” section of the home page. 
  1. You will receive an email containing a link to your completion certificate, upon successful completion of each course. Please keep a copy for your own records. A history of your completed courses is available in “My Completions.” The system will automatically document your completion so there is no need to forward your certificate as proof of completion. 

Thank you for your time and cooperation in completing this essential training program. 

 Tips for Completing Courses  

Need Help?  
If you have any issues with sign-in or accessing the courses, call Support at 844-348-3650, or visit the Support Site Learning Portal at portalhelp.ue.org for options to live chat or create a help ticket.  

All other questions should be directed to the OLLU Compliance Officer at compliance@ollusa.edu.  

Reminder: Submit nominations for One Percent for Saints Success Challenge

Nominations are being accepted for the One Percent for Saints Success Challege. Submit your nomination via the nomination link by April 14, 2023 (only complete nominations will be considered). First place will receive a total monetary award of $5,000, second place $2,500, and third place $1,000. In addition to the monetary award, the first-place winner(s) may receive some budget to support the individual or a select number of the team to attend a conference to present their initiative. Send any of your questions to SaintsSuccess@ollusa.edu.

What is the Saints Success Challenge?

Paralleling OLLU’s three university priorities, the One Percent for Saints Success Challenge will recognize those small or large initiatives that have been implemented that go above and beyond to challenge, improve, enhance, or elevate OLLU’s systems for how we matriculate, retain and persist, and graduate our students.

Who is eligible?

Staff, faculty, programs, departments, schools, campuses, multi-program/faculty/staff collaboratives who have conceived and implemented initiatives with a promise and focus on Saints Success are eligible for this prize. Anyone can nominate, and self-nominations are acceptable. No member of President’s Council (PC) is eligible.

Initiatives should be those already in place.

How to nominate?

Fully complete and submit the nomination criteria by April 14, 2023.

Selection

Comprised of off-campus non-OLLU individuals, the selection committee will objectively review all nominations and make first, second, and third place selections based on a rubric grounded in the nomination criteria. First place will receive a total monetary award of $5,000, second place $2,500, and third place $1,000. Note, in addition to the monetary award, the first-place winner(s) may receive some budget to support the individual or a select number of the team to attend a conference to present their initiative.

NOMINATE

The 2022-2023 One Percent for Saints Success Challenge is now open. Submit your nominations by April 14, 2023.

HOW TO NOMINATE

Submit your nomination via the nomination link by April 14, 2023. A complete nomination must include each of the following. Only complete nominations will be considered.

1. Introduction. Describe the one percent initiative that is enhancing Saint Success. Which department(s) and/or process(es) have been positively affected? Who is the one percent ‘team’? [up to 250 words]

2. Impact. Use any qualitative, quantitative or longitudinal data to speak to the impact the initiative has been having on student matriculation, student retention and persistence, and/or student graduation rates. In other words, how much has student matriculation increased because of the initiative? Or, how much has student retention increased as a result of the initiative? Or, how much have student graduation rates increased because of the initiative? [up to 250 words]

3. Scaling. Could this one percent initiative be replicated or scaled to other parts of campus? What impact could replicating or scaling have on Saints Success? [up to 250 words]

4. Sustainability. What will be required to sustain this effort? [up to 250 words]

Submit your nomination online.

Submit any of your questions to SaintsSuccess@ollusa.edu.

Dr. Healy named BCPA Fellow of the Year

Dr. Deborah Healy, Professor of Psychology, has been selected as the 2022 Bexar County Psychological Association (BCPA) Fellow of the Year. The BCPA Executive Committee unanimously voted Dr. Healy as this year’s honoree. In their notification letter, they said, “Your contributions and dedication to the field of Psychology, issues of diversity, and Bexar County has impacted many lives over the years and has not gone unnoticed.”

Dr. Healy will be honored at this year’s BCPA Social.

Dr. Crowe presented paper at Academy of Economics and Finance

Dr. Ronald Crowe, Assistant Professor of Economics and Finance, presented a paper at the 2023 Academy of Economics and Finance Annual Conference in Orlando. The title is “A look at Power BI, Power Query, R, and Python with Open-Source Financial Data.”

The co-authors include Dr. Michelle Avila and Professor Kathryn Winney, both Associate Professors of Accounting.

Dr. Carmona inducted into Texas Institute of Letters for 2023

Dr. Christopher Carmona, Visiting Associate Professor of English and Mexican American Studies, was recently inducted into the Texas Institute of Letters (TIL). TIL members are comprised of the state’s most recognized and serious writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, journalism, and scholarship.

Dr. Carmona serves as a board member of the national award-winning organization, Refusing To Forget, which researches the history of violence against Mexican Americans and Latinos in the early 20th Century and beyond. Carmona is also the author of “El Rinche: The Ghost Ranger of the Rio Grande,” which was a finalist for the 2019 Best Young Adult Novel for the Texas Institute of Letters. Currently, he is working on finishing this series of novels. Book two is out now. His short story collection, “The Road to Llorona Park,” won the 2016 NACCS Tejas Best Fiction Award and was listed as one of the top eight Latinx books in 2016 by NBCNews.

Employees encouraged to learn about Adelante Professional Development

Last semester President Abel A. Chávez, MBA, PhD, called for exploring professional development opportunities for employees. The Adelante OLLU Professional Development Initiative is a collaborative effort from the Center for Teaching Excellence, IDEA Council, and Professional Development Taskforce. Adelante OLLU is about moving forward together, juntos.

Adelante OLLU was introduced at the Staff Assembly meeting on Feb. 15. The presentation slides and video can be accessed here: Adelante Introduction.pptx

The slides provide results from the recent Professional Development Survey, information on how to access eCornell, Credly, Gardener Institute and other opportunities. They include details about selecting lessons and customizing eCornell learning paths, using guides for hybrid course facilitation, earning badges, and winning prizes. Departments are encouraged to review the presentation and video and meet with their teams to take advantage of these exciting opportunities. These resources are being offered through a generous grant secured by the IDEA Council and are only available to employees until January 2024.

Sign up and save the dates for Conflict Management Workshop Series

Registration is now open for a Conflict Management Workshop Series being offered by the Center for Teaching Excellence and the Department of Leadership Studies.

The two-session series will take place April 11 and 17 from Noon-1:30 p.m..

Interested individuals should register online at: https://ollusa.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_ezIdszrHLQHXYb4HERE

The workshops are structured and will be delivered by the Department of Leadership Studies as two, 1.5-hour sessions containing focused analysis of types of conflict and conflict management styles often encountered in the organizational dynamic. These sessions are designed to enhance the knowledge and effective practice of personal and group conflict management to increase collaboration and performance within the university’s functional groups.

Those who attend both sessions and will be entered to win two tickets to Fiesta Texas! Attendees also will receive a digital badge from Credly!

The sessions will focus on identifying adequate conflict management styles for diverse situations and self-reflection on The Four Agreements as a philosophy for enhancing communication and interpersonal skillsets. Participation is open to all faculty, staff, and administration.

To allow for adequate time toward the analysis and application of Conflict Management style results for the group, an assessment survey will be distributed via email to each participant two weeks prior to the first scheduled session. Surveys will need to be completed one week prior to the first scheduled session to allow for construction of results packages for each participant.

Adelante Professional Development Initiative to launch during Staff Assembly meeting on Wednesday

Staff Assembly will hold its first meeting of the spring semester on Wednesday, at 12:30 p.m. in Main Building, Room 220 or via Teams. Join for the launch of the Adelante Professional Development Initiative! Representatives will discuss exciting opportunities for OLLU employees to engage in a variety of ongoing developments, including eCornell, Gardener Institute, mentoring programs, and more!  

Dr. Friesenhahn publishes two poems

Dr. Jacob Friesenhahn, Visiting Assistant Professor of Religious Studies, recently published two poems that take inspiration from the beauty of butterflies. The first poem was published in Canary by Hip Pocket Press on Dec. 21, 2022. This poem is titled “oyamel” and is about the monarch butterflies’ migration to the Oyamel fir forests of central Mexico. The second poem was published in Burrow by Old Water Rat Publishing on Feb. 1, 2023. This poem is titled “the painted lady.” The speaker finds relief from worry through the contemplation of a butterfly’s experience of the world.

Links: 

Canary (canarylitmag.org) 

the painted lady – Old Water Rat Publishing 

Accounting Office changing procedures for City National Bank credit cards

Please note that starting with the statement ending 1/30/23, the Accounting Office will be ENCUMBERING the balance of all City National Bank VISA charges to cardholders fund 10 accounts. 

What is Encumbering?
Encumbering is holding the funds from the budget so that the available budget umbrella (60000 account) is LOWERED by the encumbrance. 

Why is this being done?
This encumbrance will be done for all card holders for each statement that there are charges on their card. This is necessary to ensure there is not overspending of allocated budget due to timing differences in expense report submittals. Unfortunately, delays in expense report submittals on the new system have been prevalent.  Encumbering is a way to ensure cardholders charges are accounted for as timely as possible. 

What will I see on my budget?
Cardholders will see an encumbrance on their fund 10 account with the account 10-XXXX-64919-01. This account 64919 is labeled Credit Card Expense Hold and will only be used to encumber credit card charges. This encumbrance will be done on cardholders operating budgets (fund 10) only REGARDLESS of where the card holder codes the charges for their respective charges.  Once all expense reports are submitted, Accounting will import in the charges to the expense accounts listed on the cardholders expense reports and reverse the encumbrance. 

Why is the encumbrance only being done on my operating budget?
Most non-operating accounts (funds 20-70) do not have allocated budgets.  Encumbering only works for departments that have a budget. By using cardholders operating accounts, Accounting is assured that the encumbrances record the use of funds systematically and consistently across all cardholders. 

What happens if this encumbrance puts me over budget on operating (fund 10) but I used another fund (20-70) to cover these charges?
As this encumbrance is a temporary hold on budget dollars, this is not a permanent issue.  As soon as all cardholders submit their expense reports, Accounting can record the charges per the cardholders coding on the expense reports and reverse the encumbrance. Therefore, it is important to all cardholders to get expense reports in as soon as possible.  Cardholders will need to address budget overage concerns through their division heads to the Budget Office.  Please note that if departments are over budget, Accounts Payable will not process payments on PO’s submitted. 

What if I don’t have an operating budget because my position is grant funded?
Whichever division the grant is under will receive the encumbrance; Accounting will not encumber to non-fund 10 accounts.