Category: Employee News

About 30 faculty and staff took part in the OLLU Spring Service Day at the Family Service Association KidShare facility. OLLU volunteers painted playrooms and work spaces to freshen up the spaces used by families and children dealing with difficult separation or divorce situations. A special Spurs theme was created in the teens’ room, and a special movie theater theme was designed for the children’s playroom. Following the day of service, participants took part in a reflection led by University Ministry.

The Center for Service-Learning and Volunteerism organizes two employee service days each year. Faculty and staff are allowed to take part in one service day each year without using leave time. The next service day is scheduled for Oct. 17. Details on the service project and sign up will be available closer to the date.

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The inaugural cohort of the Staff Leadership Academy completed a semester-long program on May 9. The Staff Leadership Academy was created as part of the “To Lead” initiative under the strategic plan. Participants included:

• Richard Keilholz – Clinical Counselor
• Carmen Ramirez – Director of the Student Business Office
• Anne Gomez – Director of Marketing and Communications
• Moses Porras – Housekeeping Supervisor
• Betty Galvan – Registrar
• John Sanchez – Director of Advancement Services and Annual Giving
• Veronica Reyna – Director of Graduate Admissions
• Kimberly Gibson – Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs in Online Learning
• Esme Flores – Director of Financial Aid

A new cohort is scheduled to begin fall 2014.

OLLU faculty and staff are invited to participate in a service project as part of “OLLU Service Day,” Monday, May 19 from 9:15 a.m.-3:30 p.m. at Family Service Association. Those who wish to participate should sign up by May 9.

Family Service Association is a nonprofit that provides a variety of human support services throughout the city. Participants will help in sprucing up the KidShare Program office—a space that provides neutral child exchanges and supervised visitation for families going through divorce while providing a range of counseling and other support options.

Volunteers will assist in one or more of the following tasks: painting offices and playrooms, cleaning windows and baseboards, sorting and cleaning toys, hanging shelves, laying carpet and stripping and refinishing linoleum floors. A few lighter tasks will be available for those who require lighter physical activity. This will be an indoor project.

OLLU Service Day is a University-approved initiative so employees do not need to submit vacation time in order to participate.

Employees who wish to participate should sign up here. Staff must obtain approval from their supervisor before signing up.

For more information, contact Jennifer Bendele, director of the Center for Service-Learning and Volunteerism at 210-434-6711, ext. 2393 or jbendele@ollusa.edu.

Hamid Khan, EdD, PE, professor of management, published a peer-reviewed paper in the proceedings of the International Academy of Business and Public Administration Disciplines (IABPAD) titled, “Marketing Research for Strategic Competitiveness,” which he presented at the IABPAD conference held in Dallas. He was also a session chair of the ‘Education/Curriculum Session.’ He also served as a ‘session discussant’ of papers presented in ‘Higher Education/Curriculum and Students Session.’

Faculty members participated in the OLLU Seed Grant Program to help them become more competitive in securing external grant funding for academic projects and programs. The winners for the 2014 Seed Grant Program are Renelinda Arana Bressler, PhD, assistant professor of Sociology, Robbie Kouri, MS, associate professor of Physical Science and Peggy Carnahan, director of the Center for Science and Math Education. Each winner will receive $2,500 for use in preparation of proposals for federal grants.

Employees may work a flexible summer schedule May 12-Aug. 15. Conditions of flexible summer hours are:

• All changes in summer schedule need to be approved by a member of the President’s Council after support by the immediate supervisor.
• All offices must be covered 40 hours per week during the regular hours.
• Alternative hours must meet the 40-hour work week required of all employees and assure full employment during alternative hours.
• When alternative hours are approved, it is expected that all assignments will be completed in anticipation of fall 2014.
• Alternative hours may be suspended based on the needs of the office (e.g. other employees on vacation).

President Jane Ann Slater, Vice President for Mission and Ministry Gloria Urrabazo, and Vice President for Strategy and Research Jeff Kantor met with Congressman Lloyd Doggett in Washington, D.C., last week to discuss Pell Grants and their impact on OLLU students.