Small token of appreciation and celebration for ESUP team

At the end of the day on August 20, ESUP hosted an internal staff social event at the West Bank Office Building. This “Ice Cream Social” was to celebrate the completion of program milestones and connect with ESUP staff throughout the program.

Clockwise from upper left: Associate Vice President Mike Volna enjoying a sundae; a poster for ESUP staff to write down Program "wins"; sprinkles for the sundaes; Executive Program Director Dennis Wenzel and Communications Project Director Tricia Conway serving ice cream; IT Intern Mohamoud Egal's sundae work of art

ESUP staff including Dennis Wenzel, Tricia Conway, Mark Powell, Carolyn Chase, Todd Toupal, and Amy Winkel took turns dishing bowls of ice cream while participants enjoyed building their own sundaes with cherries, strawberries, caramel, chocolate syrup, whipped cream, and yes… sprinkles! 

A poster was available for guests to record Program “wins” for the summer of 2014 including included President Kaler’s support, the program being on time, and MyU usability going very well.

ESUP thanks its unsung heroes

Last month ESUP hosted a recognition event for its staff to thank them for their effort to make the program a success. One of the highlights of the event was the acknowledgement of ESUP’s “Unsung Heroes.” ESUP employees nominated their co-workers who go above and beyond. According to Santiago Fernandez-Gimenez, ESUP director of change management, “We wanted to give staff members a way to recognize our colleagues for doing things that motivate and engage us to be our best selves in the workplace.” 

Staff nominated their colleagues expressing admiration and appreciation for the things they do. The unsung heroes were recognized for reasons ranging from upbeat positive attitudes to waking up at 4 a.m. every Wednesday to get to the Twin Cities from Duluth.

Three of the four "Unsung Hereos" recognized at the "Celebrate" event. From left to right: Aileen Lively, Holly Santiago, and Debbie Wing, not pictured Erin Schaffer.

The four unsung heroes recognized at the January event represented nearly 40 of their colleagues nominated among the ESUP staff. Fernandez-Gimenez put it best when he said, “The fact that we had so many staff members named as unsung heroes is a testament to the great collegiality and teamwork that ESUP is fostering here at the University.”

ESUP Update for July 1, 2013

Items from the blog
If you missed these ESUP items posted over the last two weeks, click on the title link to read more!

• OHR Portal steering committee kicks off -- The newly formed Office of Human Resources Portal Steering Committee held its first meeting on Friday, June 14, to help define, plan, and support the delivery of high-functioning, user-friendly HR functionality and content via the University’s new enterprise portal... 
• Consolidated Program Plan presentation -- On June 3rd, Rebecca Collings, program director from Cedar Crestone International (CCI), Kathy Brown, vice president for Human Resources, and Andy Hill, ESUP program director gave brief presentations on ESUP's Consolidated Program Plan and thanked the Program's partners at an event on the Twin Cities campus...
• New module in Student work stream -- A new module has started in the Student work stream: Academic Advisement... 
• ESUP at the Board of Regents -- On June 14, Dean Robert Elde presented an ESUP status report to the Board of Regents in his role as chair of the Executive Oversight Committee (EOC)...

HRMS hosts team appreciation lunch
On June 17, the HRMS work stream hosted an Appreciation Lunch for team members, including a taco bar, beverages, and desserts -- not to mention kudos and thanks from HRMS Project Director Kris Hause, Director of HR Operations Lori Lamb, and Vice President Kathy Brown. Brown commented on the critical importance of the HRMS project to the future of the Office of Human Resources and the University, and Lamb complimented the enthusiasm of team members to take on challenging work and do it well. Hats off to the HRMS project team, governance groups, and SMEs, for their great work to date!













Quick hits and reminders from across the work streams

• The Executive Oversight Committee approved two change requests at the 6/25/13 meeting, PY003 (payroll module) and BN001 (benefits module). Congrats, HRMS work stream!
• As of the end of June, the Student work stream reports 65% of Interactive Design and Prototyping (IDP) topics are complete or in progress. Great job to all involved! 

Consolidated Program Plan Presentation

ESUP thanks partners at Consolidated Program Plan event

On June 3rd, Rebecca Collings, program director from Cedar Crestone International (CCI), Kathy Brown, vice president for Human Resources, and Andy Hill, ESUP program director gave brief presentations on ESUP's Consolidated Program Plan and thanked the Program's partners at an event on the Twin Cities campus.

Over 100 people from all areas of ESUP came to the event to make connections, get reacquainted, and hear Collings' presentation which included more information on:

• What is a program plan?
• How did ESUP develop their program strategies?
• Where can people find information on the program strategy?
• What are some program deliverables?

Collings, Brown, and Hill each expressed their gratitude to ESUP's partners for their hard work, creativity, and perseverance on the Program. They encouraged everyone to continue their efforts to develop and implement an effective system for the entire University community.

"I'm relatively new to the Program so hearing more about the history and framework at this event was beneficial," said Patricia Samberg, instructional designer and system campus training lead, who attended the event from Duluth. "It was also a great opportunity to meet my colleagues from the other campuses and feel like a part of an enthusiastic and dedicated team."

The presentation is available to view here. Team members can get more information on the plan by navigating to the internal program site.