The 2012 Operation Feed Campaign kicked off May 1 and will run through June 4. Once again the University Libraries will be doing its part to help alleviate hunger-related issues by participating in this campaign. Look for special donation requests and fundraising events in NewsNotes in the coming weeks. Also, beginning on Monday, May 7 each library location will have a food collection box in a convenient location. You can also make monetary donations online at http://fooddrive.midohiofoodbank.org/goto/OSUL, just click on “Make a Gift”.

If you would like to participate on the 2012 Operation Feed Campaign Committee please contact Quanetta Batts as soon as possible. Our first planning meeting will be Thursday, May 3, 10:30-11:30 a.m. in Thompson Library 305D. All are welcome to attend.

Thanks in advance for doing your part to help alleviate hunger in Central Ohio!

To support the development of OSU Libraries staff, the Libraries is offering staff the opportunity to seek funds for registration for the 2012 Ohio Library Support Staff Institute (July 22-24, 2012). Transportation via Libraries’ van will also be offered daily from the Libraries to Wright State University, where the meeting is held. Information on the Institute, including the program, is available at http://www.olssi.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=97&Itemid=55. The Libraries will support up to five staff registrations.

Staff must have the permission of their supervisor to seek funding. To be considered for funding for registration, please submit a one-page statement of interest to Chad Walz by May 18 (walz.4@osu.edu). Your statement should include your name and position and discuss how attending the Institute would enhance your ability to do your work within the scope of your current position. Please also ask your supervisor to submit a brief email to Chad indicating his or her approval of your attendance if you are selected.

Employee Self Service is a university wide system that will allow employees to manage their own personal demographic information. The system will go live on April 30, 2012.  You do not need to do anything at this time, simply be aware of some of the changes that will be coming.  Employee Self Service has two components:

eProfile allows employees to update their own personal information online, instead of completing a form and sending it to an HR employee to update the information in HRIS. In the future, the employee will enter the information directly into HRIS which will then filter into other university systems. Information in eProfile includes campus and home:

• addresses
• emails
• phone numbers
• addresses
• emergency contacts
• race/ethnicity information

Student Assistant Employees will need to enter address information both in HRIS and SIS.

eBenefits allows employees to enroll in and manage their benefits elections when they are eligible to make changes, such as at hire, rehire, when newly eligible because of a qualifying event, or during open enrollment. This will replace employees completing forms and submitting them to an HR employee to make manual entries into HRIS.  eBenefits will be used to enroll in:

• medical
• dental
• vision
• flexible spending accounts
• short-term disability
• voluntary life Insurance
• supplemental retirement plans
• dependent tuition assistance

Employees can also use eBenefits to view their benefit elections and print a Summary of Benefits statement.

Why change to Employee Self Service? 

• Employee Self Service puts faculty and staff in control of their data
• it meets employees’ expectations to have access to self-service capabilities
• it creates consistency across campus
• it is more efficient, it frees up HR employees
• it eliminates the need for Benefit forms to be printed, processed, and archived

We’re confident that you will find the new system to be easy to use and convenient.  To learn more please go to: http://hr.osu.edu/esshelp/index.aspx Otherwise, keep an eye out for further information that will be sent soon from the Office of Human Resources about the implementation.

From Director of Libraries Carol Diedrichs:  There have been significant changes at the Science and Engineering Library over the past year.  The collection was expanded last summer to include our music and dance materials and staff.  A number of our colleagues relocated into renovated spaces on the third floor.  SEL, our only 24/7 facility, also houses the Digital Union and the Terra Byte Café.  The “Science and Engineering” name is no longer as appropriate as we’d like it to be.  So we will be renaming SEL.

During May, we will be asking the campus community for suggestions for new names, and we’re starting with the Libraries’ staff.  I’m asking for your ideas for a new name for SEL.  Be creative; suggestions don’t necessarily have to be tied into the subjects reflected in the collection.  We’re looking for something memorable and distinctive.

Over the next several days, we will also be soliciting suggestions from students (who will submit their ideas through a special web page).  We’ll review your ideas and the students’ suggestions, select several of the best, and then ask university faculty members in the appropriate subject areas to give us their reactions to the ideas.

I plan to announce the new name of SEL early this summer so we can make appropriate changes in our printed materials and web content prior to the start of the fall semester.

Please send your suggestions to Larry Allen, allen.916@osu.edu, by Friday, May 11.

Thanks, cpd