July 2023 SEA Newsletter

July 12, 2023

Find information and links to content shared in our July 2023 SEA email newsletter.

Message from the new SEA President


Hello –

Welcome to a new fiscal year! Thank you to all those who prepared our campus for the commencement programs and graduations in May and for those who just closed the fiscal year making sure that all of our budgets are closed out and ready for a new year!

As we look to this new year with a new SEA board and a new university president, I wanted to share with you the board’s commitment to represent you to the administrators we meet with and the committees we serve on. The board has already begun meeting with deans and VPs across the university to share the work we do and to ask the leaders of colleges and divisions how we can best help them in serving you.

In their meetings they have asked us to provide data on what is happening now and what can change to make your experience as a staff in their college/division better. They have asked for an annual report showing that data and the areas where staff are serving and improving campus. We are ready and excited to meet these requests. This coming year we will be upping our survey efforts. We have a place to share your concerns and questions, and we want to hear from you.

Please thoughtfully and seriously consider your answers to these questions, as this is your opportunity to share your experience and shape how things change in the future. We will be taking these responses back to the deans and VPs we meet with and building new opportunities for staff. We will take these surveys to the president and executive meetings to discuss the needs and desires of staff and how we can be a part of the change.

In our meetings with deans they have also mentioned a desire for staff’s help in leading the colleges. They want your voice. Please consider opportunities to serve on committees and working groups in your areas, as this is a real and close way for you to effect change. We as 23 members of a board can only do so much to represent over 3,000 members. You in your 8 hours a day, 5 days a week can do more to show how much each staff cares for the work we do in making the university an amazing place to be than we can through our service on our committees. Thank you for working with us in strengthening our Aggie family.

Also, this year we are focusing on increasing our connection throughout the statewide system (see newsletter spotlights) and our professional development.

We are so excited to serve you this year!

Alison Fabricius, president, on behalf of the SEA Board


As feedback for our deans and VPs, please fill out the following survey: https://usu.co1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_eP3DWZJaTSYj6t0

 

SEA Professional Development Seminars

Enhance your professional development with SEA Professional Development Seminars! Please take a moment to share how we can continue to provide professional growth and development training opportunities by participating in our survey!

2023-24 Professional Development Needs Survey

Congratulations to the SEA Employees of the Month

Congratulations to Chelsea Ritner, Assistant Director of Student Conduct and Community Standards in the Office of Student Conduct, for being named Employee of the Month for April, and to Paul Klimack, School Certifying Official in the Veterans Resource Office, for being named Employee of the Month for May! Please join us in expressing our gratitude for everything they do to help the university be a great place to live, learn, and work!
    Chelsey Ritner, Employee of the Month for April        Paul Klimack, Employee of the Month for May

Benefits Spotlight

Providing helpful information about your benefits from the Human Resources office:

  • Employee fitness classes are underway and continue through the summer! Virtual and in-person options are available. Registration and payment can be completed online or in-person in HPER 109. Contact bewell@usu.edu with any questions.
  • Don't forget to join the Be Well Listserv if you want to receive periodic emails about wellness opportunities! Simply send an email to sympa@lists.usu.edu without a subject line, and the text "subscribe usu-be-well-news" in the body of the email.

 

Ongoing Ways to Get Involved

Do you have ideas on things you'd like to see in an upcoming SEA newsletter? Let us know by emailing a member of our Media & Public Relations Committee, Cimaron Neugebauer or Benjamin Baksis.