Vice President News from Ian Harper
Hi everyone, I hope all is well. Fall is certainly in the air and Thanksgiving is just around the corner! This month will mark my six-month anniversary at SUNY Brockport, time does fly. I continue to be impressed, humbled, and grateful regarding all of your amazing work and commitment to the University, and this month’s newsletter provides a small window into some of those activities. Never underestimate the value and importance of the work you do on a daily basis in support of making this University the success that it is.
I know that morale across the Division can be improved, and so several meetings have been held to explore ideas and initiatives that can help improve the overall morale across the team; these will be communicated in more detail shortly, and I do think they will help, but I also recognize that this is a continuous journey and welcome your feedback and any new ideas along the way. In the meantime, please take time to show your appreciation to your colleagues for a job well done, because a simple thank you does go a long way.
Please join me in welcoming our newest team members Brooke, Stewart, Aidan, and Ezgi, and welcome back to Lorraine. Congratulations to Matt and Tina on your promotions, to Melissa on your new role, and all the best to Tammy on your retirement.
Finally, don’t forget to check out the “Staff Saver Wednesdays” offer from BASC, which runs through December 11.
Take care everyone, and thank you.
Departmental News
October 2, 2024, was National Custodian Day!
The entire division thanks all of our custodial employees in Facilities Maintenance & Operations (FMO) for their around-the-clock hard work and dedication to maintain a clean and healthy environment for our students, faculty, staff, and visitors. National Custodian Day is commemorated every year on October 2nd and is known in many forms, including National Custodian Appreciation Day, National Janitor Day, Custodial Staff Appreciation Day, Custodial Worker Day, and National Custodial Workers Recognition Day. We apologize for being a month late, but please take a moment to thank your building’s dedicated custodian(s) and let them know how much you appreciate all they do.
Brockport Auxiliary Service Corporation (BASC)
Brockport Auxiliary Service Corporation (BASC) Dining Services has been on a listening tour this fall and is excited to share some of the changes made in response to customer feedback; check it out!: Dining Services Listening Tour: SUNY Brockport.
BASC continues its partnership with Student Union Leadership & Activities (SULA), the Intercultural Center, and The Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion to host its Heritage Menus Series. On November 7 and 13, Harrison Dining Hall featured menu items celebrating Native American Heritage. Recipes were adapted from The Sioux Chef’s Indigenous Kitchen cookbook by Sean Sherman and Beth Dooley and the New Native Kitchen cookbook by Chef Freddie Bitsoie and James O. Fraioli. Menu items included: Sumac braised beef, three sisters stew, pumpkin bread pudding, salmon with crushed pecans, steamed molasses corn pudding, and more.
BASC continues to offer “Staff Saver Wednesdays” at Harrison Dining Hall and Brockway Dining Hall Express every Wednesday through December 11, 2024. During this time, enjoy any all-you-care-to-eat meal at either dining hall for only $9.99 ($9.25 + tax)!
Brockport Information Technology Services (BITS)
Brockport Information Technology Services (BITS) is developing a comprehensive project plan based on ongoing strategic planning that will soon be shared with the campus for feedback.
BITS team members are participating in professional development: 11 will have completed the SUNY CPD Project Management Fundamentals and 3 the Advanced Project Management Class by mid-November. Also, 4 team members attended the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference (the largest organization for higher education technology professionals in the USA), in San Antonio last month, where there were over 7,500 attendees.
Facilities Planning & Construction (FPC)
Facilities Planning & Construction (FPC) announces that important work will take place in late December to upgrade our current electrical substation as part of the ongoing campus electrical infrastructure improvement project. As a result, power will be shut down on the entire campus while the work is being completed. Please coordinate campus activities around these dates:
- Power will be shut down at 6 pm December 27 and is expected to be restored at 9 am December 28.
- Power will be shut down at 6 pm December 28 and is expected to be restored at 9 am December 29.
The following buildings will operate on full building back-up power during these periods: Lennon Hall, Smith Hall, Brockway, and Seymour College Union.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation as this important work is completed.
Finance & Management’s Procurement and Payment Services (F&M / PPS)
Finance & Management’s Procurement and Payment Services (F&M / PPS) staff has been making the rounds and doing a lot of in-person and departmental training for the past two months.
They have trained over 250 faculty/staff. Pictured are Pam Powell, Kate Schaal, Julie Letourneau, Chris Walterick, and Mark Stacy as they are totally exhausted and need a rest from all the training they have done.
F&M’s Printing Services
Another great install by Dan Dippel, Manager of Print and Mail Services, and Robert Fisher! They put this wall-wrap up just in time for the School of Business and Management’s Open House event in Hartwell Hall. Great job, guys!
Human Resources (HR) and the Employee Success Center (ESC)
Human Resources (HR) and the Employee Success Center (ESC) are pleased to announce an upgrade in your benefit package: ESI’s Employee Assistance Program – or EAP, for short. This free benefit offers you and your family a wide variety of tools and services to help with life issues or problems that might affect your daily life at work or at home. It also includes training and other resources for your personal growth and development.
Please visit Higher Ed Employee Orientation - ESI Group to view the introductory video of this outstanding benefit. In addition, you can access the EAP Benefit Summary flyer that highlights the services and benefits available through the EAP.
Here’s a sampling of issues that your EAP addresses:
- Marriage & Family
- Stress
- Legal Problems
- Debt
- Childcare
- Elder Care
- Grief
- Pet Problems
- Education Planning
- Scholarships
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Taxes
- Wills
- Smoking Cessation
- Wellness
- Adoption
- Substance Misuse
- Mental Health
- Divorce.
Your EAP also offers thousands of personal and professional development opportunities, from webinars and online trainings to one-on-one telephonic coaching in the following areas:
- Certified Financial Coaching
- Home Purchasing
- Resilience
- Effective Communication
- Balancing Life at Work & Home
- Student Debt
- Relaxation
- Coaching for Beginners
- Workplace Conflict
- Practical Aspects of Retirement
- Succeeding as a Supervisor.
In addition, the Lifestyle Savings Benefit includes a menu of discounts, rewards and perks on thousands of products and services that you purchase every day.
There are many more benefits, so we encourage you to explore them and share them with your household. To access your EAP, simply call the toll-free number 1-800-252-4555 to talk with a counselor or coach. You can also visit your EAP online at www.HigherEdEAP.com for thousands of problem-solving resources and self-help tools. Your EAP is a free benefit and your confidentiality is assured. Nothing about your use of the EAP is shared with your employer unless you sign a release of information authorizing this. If you need help of any kind, we encourage you to take advantage of this no-cost, confidential benefit. Please be on the lookout for more information in the Daily Eagle regarding upcoming EAP Information Session that we will be hosting.
Your EAP is here for you and your family members!
HR congratulates Tammy Gouger as a recipient of the SUHRA Outstanding Service Award! This award recognizes a SUHRA member(s) who has consistently demonstrated excellence in their position that has resulted in outstanding contributions, exceeding goals and job expectations, and having a significant impact on a department and/or campus, not necessarily in a lead role. Nominees also consistently display characteristics valued and appreciated by coworkers.
Departmental Fun Facts
- BASC Dining Services has implemented a number of new offerings this fall. One of the most popular has been the addition of Yolato frozen yogurt at Brockway Dining Hall Express. In fact, in the first six days of it being offered, 80 gallons of frozen yogurt was served for an average of 4.2 ounces per guest. If you haven’t already, stop by Brockway to enjoy this delicious treat. Not only does it taste great, but it’s also produced locally in New York State.
- BITS closed 3,809 tickets from July 1, 2024 to October 9, 2024!
- Finance & Management’s (F&M) Printing Services has experienced substantial growth in the large-format category of print products and a sizeable increase in off-campus print work, with August 2024 being their highest-performing month yet! Total monthly sales climbed above $40,000 for the first time, representing a 130% increase over August 2023 and a 278% increase over August 2022!
Employees in the Spotlight!
New Employees
- FMO welcomes the following new hires to their team!: Brooke Lawson, Cleaner; Stewart Robinson, Maintenance Assistant; and Aidan Ehnot, Plant Utilities Assistant.
- FMO’s Parking and Transportation Services welcomes back (out of retirement!) Lorraine Lair, as Temporary Office Assistant 1! Lorraine started in Parking long ago, and worked in several other areas of SUNY Brockport over the years.
- Human Resources (HR) welcomes Ezgi Erdogan as our new Classified Recruitment and Retention Specialist!
Promoted Employees
- FMO congratulates Matt Ashmore on his promotion to Service & Repair Mechanic!
- HR congratulates Tina Bieber on her promotion to Benefits Administrator!
Retired Employees
- BITS congratulates Tammy Robertson, retiring after 25 years on December 4th! She has always worked for BITS, first as a Clerk I, then Clerk II, and finally promoted to IT Assistant.
Employee News
HR welcomes Melissa Wight to their team, as the Administrative Assistant to the AVP for Human Resources.
Getting to Know FMO’s Brian Guarino
Fill out the crossword puzzle below, answers will be provided in next month’s newsletter.
Birthdays in November
- Mike Baird
- Paige Beers
- Finessa Brandenburg
- Jackie Carey
- Stephen Cook
- Dan Dippel
- Jeremy Dobson
- James Dunn
- Natalie Farr
- Tyler Garrison
- Tamara Gouger
- Nicholas Leone
- Darryl Luxon
- Alicia McGuire
- Mary Grace Ontiveros
- Steven Osborne
- Corey Prince
- Malia Rodriguez
- Steven Sheffield
- Jason Sigler
- Channon Stratton
- Deborah Vivian
- Adam Zapata
Work Anniversaries in November
- Vernon VanSkiver, 42 years
- Wesley Sabo, 35 years
- Jeffrey List, 28 years
- William McGorray, 28 years
- Kevin Manners, 26 years
- Laurie Boyd, 18 years
- Glenn Moy, 18 years
- Jeff Maier, 17 years
- Daniel Quinn, 13 years
- Marla Strassner, 13 years
- Erik Will, 13 years
- Michael Rush, 10 years
- Julie Caswell, 8 years
- William Gergely, 8 years
- Shawn Maher, 7 years
- James Onley, 7 years
- Jessica Voisey, 7 years
- Kevin Anderson, 5 years
- Kayla Guck, 5 years
- Isaiah Jenks, 5 years
- Adrian Harris, 2 years
- Angela King, 2 years
- Rhonda Revier, 2 years
- Paige Beers, 1 years
- Ivory Polk, 1 years
- Kevin Rogers, 1 years
Did you know?
- What is the most common first name among our 247 A&F Division employees? We have six Michaels!
- And what is the most common last name? We have four Jenks!
Kudos Korner
Kudos to Finance & Management’s Office of Student Accounts and Accounting (OSAA) team! The OSAA team works hard each and every day, and we appreciate their efforts! Please join us in celebrating those who achieved “superstar” status in recent weeks:
- Erica Newman provided “above and beyond” Tuition Refund Committee service to a distraught student and their family experiencing personal challenges. The genuine sympathy and compassion Erica provided made a huge difference to the family.
- Paul Polaski began disbursing the NYS TAP award file solo, in only his third week on the job! The process is extremely complex, so the fact that Paul was able to execute it alone after such a short period of time speaks volumes about both his capacity to learn and his drive. (Special shout-out to Elizabeth Gorall for the incredible training she provided to Paul!)
- Patrick Stellman provided several process improvement suggestions during his training surrounding the reconciliation of various financial aid programs. Those suggestions have already been implemented and have allowed for the creation of a more robust reporting tool.
Kudos to Dan Murdoch of BITS! The recent Oracle/Linux 8 migration resulted in some hiccups for OSAA processes. Despite the incomprehensible amount of work that upgrade placed on Dan, our amazing BITS Senior Programmer Analyst, he somehow found countless hours to spend with OSAA to analyze, test, and resolve a resultant eBilling issue. Thank you, Dan! (Thank you, too, to Colleen Crouse of OSAA for spearheading the operational analysis and testing in order to ensure the transition for students was seamless.)
More kudos to Dan Murdoch of BITS, Colleen Crouse of OSAA, and also Peggy Barringer of OSAA who worked together to create, test, and implement efficiencies to the existing EOP stipend process. What an awesome team!
Green & Gold Star Awards – October 2024
- Kevin Anderson (Facilities Custodial) Thank you for going above and beyond with our staff room! Submitted by Library
- Amanda Auriemma (BITS) For helping the desktop students and triaging tickets while multiple people were on vacation! Submitted by BITS
- Patricia Capaldo (Research Foundation) Thank you for all your hard work on the Fort Drum grant project! I appreciate it! Submitted by Anthropology
- Angelo Cole (Parking & Transp Svcs) Receiving a Kudos from an event attendant. “Is awesome; always waving and smiling”. Submitted by Parking & Transportation
- Holly Cunningham (HR & Payroll) Assistance with odd questions about partial extra service & partial adjunct pay. Submitted by School of Arts & Sciences
- Hunter Forte (Facilities Custodial) Thanks for going above and beyond to help Allen 5th floor with our needs! We appreciate you greatly! Submitted by Finance & Management
- Johnna Frosini (Parking & Transp Svcs) For your assistance with the traffic issue at the corner of Residence Dr. and Kenyon. Thank you! Submitted by SOBAM
- Kayla Guck (Parking & Transp Svcs) Always delivering good service to everyone who walks In. Submitted by BITS
- Kayla Guck (Parking & Transp Svcs) Excellent work with event planning and execution. Great Job Kayla. Submitted by Parking and Transportation
- Matt Jock (Facilities HVAC) Our ice marker was broken and Matt quickly came to our rescue. Kudos to Steve S. for calling him. Submitted by Procurement
- Mary Kochmanski (BITS) Assisting with passing around retirement card. Submitted by BITS
- Mary Kochmanski (BITS) For going above and beyond to ensure that SOBAM had up-to-date, working laptops and equipment. Submitted by SOBAM
- Peter Lovic (BITS) Peter helped me resolve my tricky IT problem when nothing (and no one) else could! Submitted by Psych, Philosophy, & Neuroscience
- Frank Mancini (BITS) Thank you for loaning portable AV/mic for Drake Library Trivia Night 10/15/24. It worked great! Submitted by Drake Memorial Library
- Frank Mancini (BITS) Frank got me a projector for my event on short notice and I’m very appreciative. Submitted by KSSPE
- TammyJo Manz (Facilities Maint & Ops) Thank you for volunteering for the CSEA election committee! Submitted by School of Arts & Sciences
- Terri Martinez (Facilities Maintenance) Thank you for volunteering for the election committee for CSEA! Submitted by School of Arts & Sciences
- Christopher Martinez (Parking & Transp Svcs) Always delivering good service to customers and supporting PTS in a high level. Submitted by BITS
- Laura Merkl (Scholarship, Res & Sp Prgms) Thank you for all your help on the NASA grant! Submitted by Chemistry
- Kevin Montano (BITS) For Kevins assistance with the Service Desk and Desktop Students while I was on vacation! Submitted by BITS
- Meagan Oas (Procurement & Pmt Svcs) Thank you for serving on the CSEA audit committee. Submitted by School of Arts & Sciences
- Pam Powell (Procurement & Pmt Svcs) Thank you for going above & beyond to get Hello Beauty up and running! Great work!! Submitted by Finance & Management
- Tammy Robertson (BITS) For always being there for our BITS Student Employees when they are needing help! Submitted by BITS
- Jeff Thompson (BITS) Thank you for excellent job as emcee at Library Trivia Night sponsored by Friends of Drake Library! Submitted by Drake Memorial Library
- Mark Watt (Facilities Custodial) You are always kind and respectful. You always go above and beyond. Thank You! Submitted by School of Business
- Mark Watt (Facilities Custodial) Extraordinary efforts in preparing spaces for ribbon cutting ceremonies. Submitted by SOBAM
- Julie Welday (Mail Services) you went above and beyond to provide assistance when needed. Submitted by Payroll Office
- Tina Wise (Facilities Custodial) Thank you for keeping SERC clean and beautiful as the day it was opened! Submitted byDrake Library
- Robert Young (Facilities Custodial) Amazing, positive, “can-do” attitude when subbing in Rakov 10/30/24. Great example of teamwork! Submitted by Student Accounts & Accounting
BizLibrary Suggested Course of the Month
Building Great Relationships with Coworkers - A video lesson devoted to helping learners build strong bonds with their peers in the workplace. This video lesson is the second of five in the “Building Great Relationships” video course, which guides learners in establishing trusting relationships with anyone they encounter at work. During this lesson, viewers will become familiar with key tips for strengthening relationships with coworkers, from being dependable to developing emotional intelligence to practicing humility.
Upcoming Events
- November 15 (11:10-11:50 a.m.) – Budget Town Hall in Edwards Hall, Room 103
- November 28-29 – Thanksgiving Break
- December 4 (3:30-5:30 p.m.) – Campus-wide Holiday Party in Cooper Hall’s New York Room
- December 6 (4:00-5:30 p.m.) – First Friday at the Alumni House – stop by for refreshments & socializing!
For more upcoming events, check out our inclusive SUNY Brockport Events Calendar.
If you have an item you’d like included in a future issue, please send to Laurie Smith (lausmith@brockport.edu).
SUNY Brockport Leadership Newsletters can be found on the Information page for Faculty & Staff (5th topic down).
A&F Division Organizational Charts – for your reference