The next Lunchtime Leadership Book Talk will take place Jan. 21, 2010, from 12:00 – 1:00 p.m., at 159 Ellis Library.

This is an opportunity for MU Libraries employees to gather informally over lunch and share quotes from books or articles on the topic of leadership or management that seem especially pertinent for MU Libraries right now. This is open to all library employees as it seems sensible to hear from current and emerging leaders within the organization in terms of what they are reading on the topic.

Attendance is voluntary but compensable for non-exempt supervisors since the discussion applies to the workplace. As such, schedule adjustments may be needed to offset overtime considerations. RSVP’s are not required.

But, we ask you bring a brief something to share with the group, e.g., copies of the talking points of the book or journal article. For examples of documents shared at the Nov. and Dec. sessions, go to http://mulibraries.missouri.edu/staff/committees/staffdevelopment/default.htm – this leads to a SharePoint site.

A reminder that a second hands-on SkillSoft training session will take place Wednesday, Jan. 5, from 10-11 a.m., room 213 Ellis Library. Space is available for another dozen individuals to participate. If interested, rsvp to Leo for head count purposes.

Goodbye to Will McCrary, LIS II, Math Sciences Library. Will accepted a job at Columbia College as an Instructional Technologist.

Congratulations to Rebecca Rodriquez, Veterinary Medicine Library, and Hong Li, Catalog Department, Access Services, Collections and Technical Services, winners of the Student Excellence Award for the fall 2010 semester! The reasons given in support of their nominations include:

Rebecca Rodriquez:

• She is knowledgeable, approachable, enthusiastic, and greet everyone with a fantastic smile.
• Her positive attitude and attention to details allows her to provide excellent reserve, circulation, and basic reference services to patrons.
• Her longevity with the Veterinary Medicine Library (4 years).

Hong Li:

• Her initiative and follow-up through allows her to work independently on a multitude of projects.
• Her willingness to further her knowledge about cataloging different materials.
• Her longevity with the Catalog Department (3 years).

The MU Libraries will hold a forum on the topic of “Free Speech within a Diverse Workplace,” to include discussions of employee rights and responsibilities as well as the role of social media in the workplace. The forum will be held Tuesday, December 14, from 10:30 – 12:00, 103-A Stotler Lounge, Memorial Union.

Noel English and Noor Azizan-Gardner to facilitate the forum. Both are part of the Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative – Noel as the Director of MU Equity, and Noor as Director of Diversity Programming and Professional Development. They will begin the forum with a review of MU’s and the Libraries’ commitment to diversity followed by an assessment of case studies to illustrate where employee rights and responsibilities seem clear-cut, and where gray areas exists.

This is an important topic, and all library employees are invited to attend.  We are all affected by political, cultural and social issues in the workplace, and we need to be able to express differences in opinion in respectful, courteous and constructive ways. The forum will explore ways to accomplish this. Release time is available; RSVP’s are not required.

You are invited to a hands-on session to learn more about myLEARN, the new online learning program sponsored by both UM System and campus HR. myLearn is available on myHR (myHR > Self Service > Personal Information > HR Training – myLearn). All faculty and staff have complete access to the program offerings, including online courses and other resources—from highly technical topics to software application instruction, business skills development and legal compliance awareness. Some programs offer certification to verify the training was completed.

Come see what all the excitement is about with SkillSoft. The first training session will take place Tuesday, Dec. 21, from 2:00 – 3:00 p.m., room 213 Ellis Library. The second will take place Wednesday, Jan. 5, from 10:00 – 11:00 a.m., room 213 Ellis. Representatives from System and campus HR will conduct the training. Release time is available. I’ll send an Outlook notice and ask for RSVP’s as space is limited to X number of users.

Whether you attend a training session or not, I encourage you to access SkillSoft, as we need to have discussions of what to do with this resource at both the group and individual levels. For example, if I want to do some individual training, questions arise like how many hours can I devote to training per week/month; who identifies the courses I can access; do they have to be job related or can I explore other topics; and so on. My two-cents is the more individuals who look at SkillSoft and its features, the better the conversation we can have on making the most of it for staff development.

12/1/1980, Judy Maseles

12/1/1982, Pat Jones

12/5/1983, John Kuhlman

12/17/1990, Jack Batterson

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 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.

A few items of interest to all employees regarding pay days this month.

For employees paid monthly, the December monthly pay date this year will be Thursday, December 23.  In contrast, December retirement checks will be paid on December 31.

For employees paid bi-weekly, the pay period ending 12/11/08 will be paid on December 22 and will be included on the 2010 W-2’s.

Dottie Heuer will be returning to her position as Student Security Supervisor.