August 2015
Volume 13 | Issue 2
Employee Appreciation Day – Sept. 1
Mark your calendars for Tuesday, Sept. 1, from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m. when the Kent Student Center Ballroom will turn into a fun-filled employee appreciation event!
As the cross-divisional committee works out the additional details and activities, you will be hearing much more regarding the complimentary lunch, entertainment, games, giveaways and more that will make up this day of appreciation. Lunch and events will take place concurrently throughout the three-hour period, 11 a.m.–2 p.m., so that departments may schedule release time for staff, and employees will be able to have the same experience no matter what time they attend. Employees are not required to use designated sick or vacation leave to attend; however, the time for participation in this event should be coordinated with encouragement and guidance from their supervisor or manager.
In addition to the daytime festivities, a special evening Employee Appreciation Event will be held for second- and third-shift workers from 10–11:45 p.m. in the Kent Student Center Ballroom on Sept. 1. Evening attendees will also enjoy a meal, music, games, lip-sync competition, prizes and more.
For meal planning purposes, all employees who wish to attend should register for this event by selecting the day or evening event button on the Employee Appreciation Day homepage. All employees who have registered by Aug. 27 will automatically be entered into our free prize drawings.
The university administration is looking forward to bringing this event to all full-time and part-time faculty and staff for all they do to make Kent State University a great place to work!
If you have questions, please contact the Employee Engagement and Outreach Office at 330-672-2100 or hrweb@kent.edu.
Empower Timekeeping Update
All Kent State campuses have now transitioned to Empower, the university’s new timekeeping system. If any of your employees who use the system require disability-related assistance, please have them contact Amy Quillin, director of Student Accessibility Services. Quillin can be reached at 330-672-8036 or aquillin@kent.edu.General questions about the operation of Empower should be directed to the Payroll Office at 330-672-8640 or payroll@kent.edu.
Things to Know for Student Employees
Career services would like to remind you of some key resources as you seek to hire, train and supervise new and returning student employees:Posting positions: Many new and returning students are currently searching for on-campus jobs. We encourage departments across all eight campuses to post their fall position openings now on Flash @ Work. Supervisors seeking to post for the first time should contact the Career Services Center at 330-672-2360 or campusworks@kent.edu to have an account created.
Training and supervising student employees: To ensure your student employee’s success, a thorough orientation to the job, department and key university policies is critical. For recommended topics and key policies for review with your new and returning student employees, see the Training & Supervising section of the Student Employment Handbook.
Student Employment questions can be directed to Ami Hollis at 330-672-8380 or ahollis@kent.edu.
Get a Jumpstart on Your Beyond Compliance (BC) Training for the New Fiscal Year!
Beyond Compliance training provides a mix of learning opportunities that are geared toward relevant university policies and laws as they pertain to unlawful discrimination, harassment prevention and violence prevention. Some training opportunities fulfill annual compliance mandates, but all provide a wealth of information designed to heighten awareness and offer prevention solutions.The Division of Human Resources set a minimum goal of two hours of Beyond Compliance training for all faculty and staff to complete each fiscal year. In fiscal year 2014-15, more than 4,800 sessions were attended totaling more than 6,000 hours of training, with webinars being the most popular choice. The Employment Law Series, Green Dot and Step Up and Speak Out webinars were very popular and will be offered again for fiscal year 2016.
The Division of Human Resources will continue to offer a blend of training options, including webinars, online courses and facilitator-led sessions. To make Beyond Compliance courses more identifiable, they are housed on the Beyond Compliance registration site and are flagged with the letters BC, and the number of hours each session satisfies is listed. This will make it much easier to identify the courses and add to your training records for discussion during the annual evaluation period.
For a list of updated offerings, check out the Beyond Compliance registration site. For additional questions regarding Beyond Compliance, please contact the Human Resources Training and Development Office at 330-672-2100 or hrd@kent.edu.
A.L.i.C.E. Crises Training Sessions Available
Public Safety, in partnership with the Division of Human Resources, continues to offer A.L.i.C.E. workshops. The 90 minute long A.L.i.C.E. sessions are designed to give participants insight and response options when encountering an active shooter. A.L.i.C.E. — Alert, Lockdown, Information, Counter and Evacuation — is crisis training created by two Texas law enforcement officers.This highly effective and "common sense" training has been readily adopted by many educational law enforcement institutions in Ohio and throughout the United States. The training is open to everyone, but we are encouraging faculty and staff to take the time to attend one of the sessions. Hopefully, you will never have to use the information you will learn, but if a situation does arise in a classroom or in an office, you will have an idea of what you can do to increase your survivability.
To register for A.L.i.C.E. training, go to the KSU HR Online Registration site and search on "ALiCE" (do not include periods after each letter).
If you have questions regarding A.L.i.C.E or any other training, please contact the Human Resources Training and Development Office at 330-672-2100 or hrd@kent.edu.
Title IX Trainings for Faculty and Staff
Beginning in September 2015, the Office of Equal Opportunity and Affirmative Action will be conducting a series of customized Title IX* trainings for faculty, staff and students.The monthly sessions will consist of topics such as:
- What is Title IX? Defining sexual harassment/sexual misconduct;
- How and where to report issues related to Title IX;
- Statistics on sexual violence;
- The university’s responsibility; and
- What happens after you report a Title IX issue?
Please choose from the sessions below by selecting the audience (Faculty and Staff or Student Only) and date you are requesting. All sessions can also be found by searching the Human Resources Training Catalog, facilitator-led training, under Title IX Faculty/Staff Training and Title IX Student Training sessions.
| Date | Audience | Times |
| Sept. 24, 2015 |
Faculty & Staff Session Student Only Session |
9:30–10:30 a.m. 11 a.m.–noon |
| Oct. 22, 2015 |
Faculty & Staff Session Student Only Session |
2–3 p.m. 3:30–4:30 p.m. |
| Nov. 12, 2015 |
Faculty & Staff Session Student Only Session |
9:30–10:30 a.m. 11 a.m.–noon |
| Dec. 3, 2015 |
Faculty & Staff Session Student Only Session |
2–3 p.m. 3:30–4:30 p.m. |
| Jan. 21, 2016 |
Faculty & Staff Session Student Only Session |
9:30–10:30 a.m. 11 a.m.–noon |
| Feb. 25, 2016 |
Faculty & Staff Session Student Only Session |
2–3 p.m. 3:30–4:30 p.m. |
| March 23, 2016 | Faculty & Staff Session Student Only Session |
9:30–10:30 a.m. 11 a.m.–noon |
| April 28, 2016 |
Faculty & Staff Session Student Only Session |
2–3 p.m. 3:30–4:30 p.m. |
*Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in educational institutions such as Kent State University. Sex discrimination includes sexual harassment and sexual assault, which will not be tolerated at Kent State.
Still Time to Use Vacation Leave
Managers and supervisors are asked to share the information below with their staff members who accrue vacation leave.Vacation Cutback in September
Please remind classified and unclassified staff in your department to check their vacation balance and make sure they are not at risk of losing any accrued vacation time. According to the university policy regarding annual vacation leave for nonteaching unclassified and classified personnel, the maximum amount of vacation an employee can accrue is that which can be earned in a three-year period. Employees who are over their accrual maximum must use the time by Sept. 30; if not, they will lose any vacation hours accrued beyond the maximum.
Employees can easily check their leave balance in the MyHR tab of FlashLine, in the Employment Details channel. Once there, select the Employee Profile Dashboard and then the Full Leave Balance Information link.
All employees who earn vacation are reminded to report and submit their leave promptly. Accurate and timely reporting is important to make sure the time is being deducted correctly, and that you are not exceeding your accrual maximum.
If you have questions, contact a member of the Human Resources Records team at 330-672-8316.
Annual Sick Leave Conversion Takes Place in September
The annual sick leave conversion for eligible staff employees will take place Sept. 1 through Sept. 14. During this period, eligible classified and unclassified employees with a continuing appointment may convert accrued sick leave to vacation per administrative policy 3342-6-11.2.Eligible full-time employees who have a balance of at least 500 hours of sick leave may convert:
- A maximum of five days (40 hours) per fiscal year of sick leave to vacation; or
- A combined maximum of five days (40 hours) per fiscal year of sick leave to vacation and personal leave.
- A maximum of three days (24 hours) per fiscal year of sick leave to vacation; or
- A combined maximum of three days (24 hours) per fiscal year of vacation and personal leave.
The conversion process will be done online through FlashLine. The system will tell you how much sick and vacation leave you currently have and how much you are eligible to convert. With the electronic process, employees will receive a confirmation email and will also see the conversion reflected immediately in their FlashLine leave balances.
Eligible employees also will receive information about the conversion the week of Aug. 19 to their kent.edu email address.
If you have questions, contact a member of the Human Resources Records team at 330-672-8316.
Dates to Remember
| Aug. 4 | Lunch & Learn: Learning the Art of Self Expression. Visit www.kent.edu/hr/benefits/wellness for more information. |
| Aug. 12 | Walk and Talk: noon – 1 p.m. Visit www.kent.edu/hr/benefits/wellness for more information. |
| Aug. 14 | Kent State University at Geauga Commencement |
| Aug. 15 | Summer III classes end. Summer Commencement, 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m., Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center. Visit www.kent.edu/commencement for more information. |
| Aug. 19 | National Aviation Day |
| Aug. 21 | National Senior Citizens Day |
| Aug. 24 | Fall International Student Orientation |
| Aug. 25-26 |
Fall Graduate Student Orientation |
| Aug. 28 | University Convocation |
| Aug. 28-30 |
Destination Kent State: Welcome Weekend |
| Aug. 31 | Fall Classes Begin |
Tell Us What You Think
This e-newsletter is designed to keep you, the managers and supervisors, informed. Please take a few minutes to let us know what you think of it, along with any comments or suggestions. You may contact us at managersfeedback@kent.edu. We look forward to hearing from you.
For information about events and programs for university employees, please check out the Faculty and Staff calendar and share the information with your staff.
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