CU Engineering Employee News & Resources - January 2024

Wednesday, Jan. 31. Noon-1:30 p.m., DLC 1B70 | Add to your calendar
Join us for the infamous and peppery annual chili cook-off! All CEAS faculty & staff are invited to sample (and vote on) delicious chili cook-off entries and spend time with your amazing colleagues. Please know that you do not have to be a contestant in the cook-off to join in the festivities!

Interested in registering as a contestant in the cook-off? Put your best & zestiest chili recipe to the test by registering as a cook-off contestant. Please register Wednesday, Jan. 24.

Thursday, Feb. 15. DLC 1B70
This full-day, in-person orientation is for new staff members in the College of Engineering and Applied Science who started after the last orientation on Oct. 10.

Invitations have been sent to new college staff members and those who were previously eligible but unable to attend a past orientation. If you did not receive an invitation but believe you are eligible to attend (or if you know someone that fits this description), please email angela.eberhardt@colorado.edu for more information.

Wednesday, Feb. 8. 2:30-4 p.m., Clark Conference Room (ECAD 109)
Take a well-deserved mental health break and join the HR team on Thursday, Feb. 8, for a Valentine's card crafting event. In collaboration with Meals on Wheels of Boulder, we invite you to lend your creative touch in crafting heartfelt Valentine's Day cards for our community. This is a come-and-go-as-you-please event — feel free to stop by for however long you’re able to!

Fifty percent of Meals on Wheels recipients live alone. Limited mobility can make this social isolation even worse, often leading to loneliness and depression that can lead to a decline in health and overall quality of life. With a simple gesture of a hand-crafted Valentine’s Day card, we can remind hundreds of homebound seniors across the county that they are not forgotten.

Are you a supervisor or a unit Human Resources Liaison (HRL)? Then this update regarding the QuickStart onboarding program for all new CU employees is for you! QuickStart is an informational session for new employees that provides them with critical information for starting their career with CU.

For all new employees, the QuickStart Program information will now be distributed to the employee’s supervisor and/or unit HRL, rather than being emailed to the employees as was done in the past. As the onboarding point of contact for your new employee, you will need to work closely with them through the onboarding process, share resources, and make sure they attend a QuickStart session within their first two weeks.

QuickStart is held from 9-10:30 a.m. most Mondays and utilizes the same Zoom link for each session. A complete schedule of all QuickStart sessions can be found on the campus HR website.

Learn more about this onboarding process update

Start the semester with a week of mental health refreshment brought to you by Engineering Staff Council. ESC will be hosting the following two events for all interested staff:

• Afternoon Coffee & Constitutional: Wednesday, Jan. 17. Noon-1 p.m., Engineering Center lobby | Add to your calendar
  Join ESC for coffee & tea from 12 - 12.15pm in the Engineering Center Lobby before heading out for an invigorating walk with your colleagues from 12:15 - 1pm.
• Lunchtime Yoga: Thursday, Jan. 18. Noon-1 p.m., CU Rec Center | Add to your calendar
  Join ESC for a relaxing and rejuvenating yoga class, taught for all levels of yoga. Attendance is limited to 50 participants, so RSVPs are required.  Please RSVP using this link or the QR code provided below.

Can’t make either of these events? Add calendar reminders to participate independently in some mini-mental health breaks throughout your work week:

• Meditation Movement - Tuesday, Jan. 16
• Deep Listening - Wednesday, Jan. 17
• Self-Soothing & Compassion - Thursday, Jan. 18
• Breathwork Break - Friday, Jan. 19

We want to ensure that everyone in our community is familiar with FAMLI and its benefits. Employee Services has created an on-demand course about FAMLI and scheduled Q&A sessions.

The Employee Services Leave Team invites supervisors and employees to attend our CU FAMLI Q&A sessions, held on Zoom from Nov. 29 to Feb. 2. These sessions are a chance for employees and supervisors to learn about the new CU FAMLI program and its benefits, and to ask questions about the program. 

Submission Deadline: Feb. 1
All tenure-track faculty and full-time instructors are required to electronically submit their FRPA each year as part of the annual merit evaluation process. Some units may require research, part-time and other faculty to submit the FRPA as part of an internal process. If you do not meet the criteria above, please check with your department chairs and/or directors to confirm if you need to complete the FRPA. 

Applications are due Jan. 15
​If you plan to take an AY 2024-25, fall 2024, CY 2025 or spring 2025 sabbatical, please ensure your application is submitted to CEAS HR by the deadline. Visit our College Procedures for Sabbatical Leave for more information.

Feb. 6-8. 11 a.m.-3 p.m., CU Rec Center, Ice Rink Overlook
Feb. 7: Bloodmobile outside of Folsom Field near the buffalo statute
CU Boulder Staff Council is once again partnering with Vitalant to hold a blood drive Feb. 6-8. Participants and volunteers will receive Staff Council-branded pens and sticky notes. To schedule an appointment to donate blood, visit vitalant.org or call 303-363-2300. Signup for a bloodmobile appointment is also available. 

All CEAS employees and affiliates are required to successfully complete the Skillsoft training listed below, per the CU Boulder Discrimination & Harassment Policy and the CU Boulder Ethics & Compliance Plan Policy.

• CU: Fiscal Code of Ethics (Skillsoft Library ID: _scorm12_cu_f00001_0001)
• CU: Information Security Awareness (Skillsoft Library ID: _scorm12_cu_u00063_0001)
• Discrimination and Sexual Misconduct, CU Boulder System (Skillsoft Library ID: _scorm12_cu_s10007_0001)

Wondering if you’re in compliance? Our CEAS HR team regularly conducts audits of training requirements and will contact anyone who still needs to complete any training. We will also follow up with unit HR leads regarding employees and affiliates who are out of compliance. Check out your training completion records by reviewing your “Learning Transcript” in Skillsoft.

New to Skillsoft or need a refresher? To learn how to locate and take the training, check your training transcript, and more in Skillsoft, check out the available resources and guides on all things Skillsoft!

New Staff Members

• Nancy Dallum, NCWIT - Dec. 1 (correction from our December issue)
• Pam Epstein, ADMIN - Jan. 1
• Shelby Capacio, NCWIT - Jan. 1
• Kimberly Macgregor, ECEE - Jan. 1
• Charlie Schayer, Western - Jan. 8
• Brett Perez, ITLP - Jan. 12
• Keriann Jacobson, ITLP - Jan. 16
• Kelsey Manning, ADMIN/FSC - Jan. 16
• Clarisa Collins, ADMIN/FSC - Jan. 16

New Faculty Members

• Huxley (Huck) Bennett, CS - Jan. 8
• Grace Burleson Setiawan, ME - Jan. 8
• Ahmed Hamza, CS - Jan. 8
• Emily Jensen, ECEE - Jan. 8

• Daniel Leithinger, ATLAS/CS - Dec. 31
• Victor Saouma, CEAE - Dec. 31

Celebrating Five Years 

• Brandon Geer, Human Resources & Payroll Coordinator - CS
• Amy Richards, Professional Development & Industry Relations Program Manager - CS
• Lauren Tomkinson, NCWIT AiC Community Program Manager - NCWIT
• Stephanie Weber, NCWIT K12 & Regional Initiatives Director - NCWIT
• Ben Weihrauch, Senior Director of Student Professional Development - ADMIN

Celebrating 15 Years 

• Beth Webb, Student Services & Curriculum Coordinator - CS

Celebrating 20 Years

• Mark Eaton, Lead Machining & Manufacturing Center Specialist - ITLP

Patty Sue Femrite, Finance & Payroll Specialist -  ECEE
Patty Sue is extremely dedicated, hardworking, and focused on continuously learning and developing best practices to manage and streamline tasks both efficiently and effectively. She brings a positive high energy and a personal touch to all she encounters. Patty Sue brings true professional attributes to ECEE and genuinely cares about delivering excellent quality work. She strives to integrate both an understanding of the big picture strategy and goals as well as attention to details. She also always goes above and beyond the call of duty. Patty Sue’s efforts have received rave reviews by all and have helped build the culture of her department.

Patty Sue easily develops and fosters relationships with faculty, students, and staff alike. She actively participates in meetings and events; her participation enables her to understand the departments’ implicit needs and initiate ideas to support our efforts. She is terrific in welcoming our new faculty members and students, helping them adjust to ECEE.

The Department of Electrical, Computer and Energy Engineering highly recommends Patty Sue Femrite for the outstanding team member award. She is motivated and positively engaged, serving as a true inspiration.

Start your supervisor learning journey! Learn how to optimize and grow your skills by partaking in the first track of the new campus Supervisor Development program. For more information, check out the CU HR webpage for a list of trainings you should take to complete “Learning Journey 1: Establishing your foundation as a supervisor.”

Next Cornerstone live support session hosted by campus HR: Wednesday, Feb. 7. Noon-1 p.m., virtual 
Have questions about how to update and/or use Cornerstone, especially after your mid-year coaching session?  Stop by the next Live Support Session that Campus HR will be hosting to have all of your questions answered.