Please help welcome Annelise Freeman, E-Learning Librarian. Annelise began working with the MU Libraries this week, on a six-month contract to explore, with librarians, faculty, and others, ways to improve library services to students having any kind of E-Learning experience. Her organizational home is in Research and Information Services Division, and she will meet regularly with the RAIS Department Heads group. She will be meeting with the MU Libraries’ Web Groups, the Assessment Committee, the Instruction Committee, individual librarians, staff at Mizzou Online, and many others in order to make recommendations regarding the libraries’ E-Learning presence. Annelise is an experienced secondary classroom teacher and curriculum developer, accustomed to using all kinds of computerized tools in her teaching. She also completed her Masters of Science in Information Science degree last May at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. She, her husband and baby boy relocated to Columbia in August. Welcome, Annelise!

A reminder that the Annual Enrollment Change Period for enrollment/changes in benefits effective 2012 will end on November 4, 2011. You are now able to initiate enrollment changes online through UM’s myHR at https://myhr.umsystem.edu.  However, if you are not making changes to your current benefit program, no action is required on your part.  Coverage will continue into 2012.

Exception: If you currently participate in the Flexible Spending program and/or wish to do so in 2012, you must enroll or re-enroll at this time.

Information on plan changes and costs for 2011 can be found at http://www.umsystem.edu/totalrewards/benefits. Contact Faculty and Staff Benefits at 882-2146 for additional information.

In anticipation of winter, it seems prudent to review MU’s policy on suspending business operations due to inclement weather. As per Policy 1:010, http://bppm.missouri.edu/chapter1/1_010.html, from the Business Policy and Procedure Manual, only the Chancellor (or in the Chancellor’s absence, the Provost) has the authority to cancel classes or close the campus in the event of an emergency. In most circumstances the University will not close and it will maintain its teaching, research and service activities in accordance with established schedules and operational demands even if classes are cancelled. Even when classes are canceled, campus operations typically will not be suspended due to severe weather.

If weather conditions affect an employee’s ability to travel to and from work, the same policy cited above delineates how to account for the time missed. Options include using paid leave and adjusting one’s work schedule during the same week (if possible) with supervisor approval.

Related to this, employees who suffer a slip, trip or fall while on University grounds should report the incident as a potential Workers’ Compensation claim. For employees in branch libraries, ask your department head about the procedures for reporting an injury. For employees in Ellis Library, contact Security at 882-4220. Be sure to inform your supervisor, as well.

If you have questions regarding any of this, please contact Leo at 882-9166 or via e-mail at AgnewL@missouri.edu.

Nominations are being solicited for the fall 2011 Student Excellence Award. The purpose of the award is to recognize those student assistants who are dedicated, creative, and/or industrious. Any student assistant employed in any MU Libraries department is eligible for consideration. The recipient will receive a certificate of appreciation which will be presented to the student in his/her own department.

The nomination deadline is Friday, Nov. 18. The award will be announced before the end of the semester. Please forward nominations to Leo Agnew, 104 Ellis Library. The nomination form can be found at http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/staff/committees/staffdevelopment/development_opportunities/employee_awards/student.htm. In the event of multiple nominations, the ‘extra’ forms will be retained for consideration for the fall 2011 student award.

It has been a while since the award was last given. As such, it seems prudent to list the criteria:

1. This award is to be given to a student who exceeds in quality and/or quantity the expectations for his/her position, and who has made exceptional or outstanding contributions to the achievement of a department’s goals and objectives.
2. The award may be given up to two students per semester.
3. Students are nominated by any MU Libraries employee.
4. This award is to be given to any student currently employed in the Libraries.

*You will notice the monetary award has been dropped. It is the hope of SDC that student recipients will still find value in being nominated for the award and that supervisors will want to recognize outstanding student assistants via this award.

It has been a while since we have looked at the LIA/LIS level increase request process. Here are three documents which will help us get reacquainted with the process: Level and Competency Statements (Levels and Competency Statements); Level Assessment Form (Level Assessment Form); and Directions for Determining Competency Levels (Directions for Determining Competency Levels).

To access other documents and information associated with the level increase process, go to http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/staff/admin/classification/reclassification.htm.

I’ve received a request to hold info sessions for individuals in LIA/LIS titles plus their supervisors…that sounds like a good idea to me. Look for announcements in future editions of News Notes.

Leo