UNews - Rosemary Howard

Open Mike - Coming together to support one another

trevor.kenney — Mon, 16 May 2016 20:31:18 +0000

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon discusses the latest issues and events at the U of L

There’s no denying that it has been a very difficult last few weeks for our community.

I want to extend personally my sincere condolences to the family, friends and co-workers of Cameron Stea and Rob Kern, dedicated staff members who we lost in the last week. We are all thinking of you during this difficult time.

��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge President and Vice-Chancellor Dr. Mike Mahon.

When you think about it, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ is much more than our place of work, but rather it is a small community. When we have our full complement of students on campus, our population is greater than 10,000, which is essentially a small southern Alberta town. It is not unexpected then when we are met with challenging circumstances as we have seen in the last week.

I urge anyone who is having difficulty dealing with the happenings of the last few days to talk to your co-workers or access the services available through the Employee and Family Assistance Program at 1-800-663-1142.

Despite all we’ve been through, there are some very positive things taking place here on campus, including the upcoming Spring 2016 Convocation, the excitement around finally breaking ground on the Destination Project and the celebration of some of our outstanding staff and faculty.

We recently presented an excellent group of people with the annual President’s Awards for Service Excellence. I often remark to others how committed our faculty and staff are and these annual awards are one way I can say thank you to a select few. Congratulations to this year’s winners, Rosemary Howard, Aaron Tamayose, Jadranka Smiljanec and the staff of the Teaching Centre. You can read more in their citations on UNews.

I want to thank the staff in Housing Services for quickly readying five suites to host evacuees from the Fort McMurray wildfire. The ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ put its best foot forward in 2013 and served as an outstanding host to more than 250 people displaced during the High River flood event and we are once again ready to help out. I’m extremely proud of how welcoming our community is and I expect the evacuees who do make their way to campus will take great comfort in being amongst our U of L family.

Late last year, the Government of Alberta passed the Public Sector Compensation Transparency Act, which requires the disclosure of public sector employees (including those working at post-secondary institutions) who earn over $125,000 per year. The U of L is working towards implementing this new legal requirement and will inform affected employees of the process and timelines of disclosure as well as potential impacts and exclusions. More information will be posted on the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ website. Also, a letter has been sent to all affected employees.

Spring 2016 Convocation takes place June 2-3 and I urge everyone who is on campus to come down to the 1st Choice Savings Centre to take in some part of the ceremonies. If you have never been a part of Convocation, you really should take some time to experience the event, as there is a certain energy associated that is unique to anything we do here. We can all take pride in the roles we play in helping our students realize their aspirations and Convocation is a truly memorable celebration each and every year.

Lastly, I want you to save the date for the Destination Project groundbreaking ceremony. Unfortunately, the previous date of May 24 had to be postponed and we don’t yet have another date confirmed by the provincial government, but keep in mind we will be celebrating the beginning of construction on this transformational project soon. The future of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ will be forever altered by this project and we all have the opportunity to witness the first shovels in the ground. I urge you to come out to take part in history.

President's Awards celebrate outstanding service

trevor.kenney — Fri, 06 May 2016 19:58:50 +0000

The President's Awards for Service Exellence were handed out at the annual Long Service Awards & Retiree Recognition celebration on May 4, 2016, and once again they reflect some of the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ's most outstanding individuals and teams.

The award winners are listed below.

Teaching Centre Staff - Team

Said to be one of the most positive and upbeat places on campus, the Teaching Centre is home to a team that consistently provides exceptional service and support to those who teach at the U of L. Committed to customer service and creating a sense of ‘home’ on campus for instructors, the Teaching Centre is a highly valuable, yet rarely celebrated, resource that enhances the teaching experience and the impact our teaching staff has on students.

The Teaching Centre staff form a powerhouse; each member performs a crucial role to support the whole. First point of contact Jill Payant organizes events, triages questions and concerns; provides administrative assistance and all other duties as assigned; Bernie Wirzba and Victoria Holec strive to improve the effectiveness of learning environments; John Kometz and Alyssa Di Rocco support and keep Moodle and other technologies running; Tyler Heaton evaluates and supports classroom technologies; Brad Reamsbottom organizes events and works collaboratively with Glenda Martens to develop the many publications of the Teaching Centre such as the ‘Light on Teaching’ Magazine; Todd Doucette's work in video production has expanded the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ’s reach into the broader Lethbridge community through his Ed Talks TV show airing regularly on Shaw; Doug Orr and Jeff Meadows' work with faculty, graduate students and instructors to provide support for their teaching; and David Hinger’s remarkable leadership empowers those he works with to take initiative and go above and beyond their job requirements. This is a group of individuals fully dedicated to teaching excellence and customer service.

This remarkable team provides exceptional service to the community, works together to help advance one of the central functions of this university, and is committed to innovation and leadership. All this is done with a spirit of professionalism, enthusiasm and genuine passion for this institution.

Rosemary Howard - APO

A proud ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge graduate, Rosemary Howard (BASC ‘73) began working full time in the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library in January of 1973 and shortly thereafter moved into the Interlibrary Loan department.

Rosemary has led the interlibrary loan team at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ for more than 40 years. She works diligently to find research, articles and books for students and faculty members. Rosemary is known for her ability to acquire the “almost impossible” for members of the university community. She has requested and received interlibrary loans for very rare and difficult-to-locate materials, found titles in foreign languages, and found and requested items from libraries all over the world. Rosemary is quite the detective; it is a rare request that goes unfilled. She can track down incomplete citations, make sense of improper bibliographic information and find items that have been mis-shelved for years. She leaves everyone with the feeling that she and her team did everything they could to meet the research request.

The technology in libraries has changed dramatically since the 1980s. This is no less true than in the field of interlibrary loans. From a world of paper catalogues, fax machines and postal mail, to one that employs integrated systems to deliver content directly to email inboxes, Rosemary has moved with the times. Through all the changes, she has adapted and evolved with the environment — learning and mastering the new technologies critical to successful outcomes in her work to become one of the best in her field.

Jadranka Smiljanec - AUPE

As a housekeeper with Housing Services for 30 years, Jadranka (Jay) Smiljanec is an unsung hero who demonstrates an inspiring work ethic and positive attitude. She truly cares for the students who live in residence, and takes on physically demanding tasks to ensure the health and well-being of our residents. Her efforts have a direct impact on the reputation of our institution, and are deeply connected to resident satisfaction and success.

Since joining the Housing Services team in 1986, Jay has witnessed tremendous growth and change at the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Lethbridge. From one residence building with 200 students living on campus to seven buildings housing more than 1,000 residents, Jay continues to arrive every morning with a smile on her face and the resolve to tackle the never-ending task of keeping residence clean. Jay has been quoted as saying, “I do love what I do because of the ‘before’ and ‘after’. I feel so much better just seeing it all clean.”

When asked about working with Jay, colleagues all share similar experiences —they are warmly welcomed, respected and appreciated. Jay has provided both professional training and valuable life lessons with hundreds of housekeeping employees, and is a true constant in an industry with high turnover rates.

Jay truly cares for residence students and contributes positively to on-campus student life. She treats our students as her own family and treats our living spaces as if they were her home. She is a motherly figure and a tremendous role model for residents and Residence Assistants.

Jay is someone you meet and never forget. Between her naturally welcoming presence, her willingness to go out of her way to smile and say hello, and her highly sought-after baklava, she is integral to the residence experience and the Housing Services team.

Aaron Tamayose - APO

As manager of the Accommodated Learning Centre, Aaron Tamayose (BA ’09) serves students with enthusiasm, caring and open-mindedness. Aaron ensures students are connected to learning supports, receive necessary accommodations and have access to a myriad of funding resources. He works tirelessly to guarantee that all students supported by his team are treated equitably, with esteem and dignity.

Aaron is thorough, patient and compassionate; he is able to quickly assess when adaptations are needed in a variety of situations. His passion for assisting people is apparent when interacting with students of varying disabilities and mental health concerns. In fact, Aaron treats everyone — students, parents and employees — with integrity and respect regardless of circumstance.

A passionate alumnus, Aaron is deeply committed to the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ. From his determined quest for knowledge to his ambitious involvement with multiple committees and organizations, Aaron's professionalism and dedication to the U of L is exemplary. Some of the groups Aaron is involved with include: the People Plan, Disability Parking working group, multiple subcommittees for mental health programs, co-chair of the Harassment and Discrimination consulting group, and the anticipated Integrated Post-Secondary Experience Program.

In addition to the work arising from his position and his volunteer responsibilities, he is actively pursuing a master's degree in counselling psychology.

E-mail delivery system proves popular

trevor.kenney — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 20:23:21 +0000

If you've submitted an inter-library loan request recently, chances are you've experienced the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ Library's latest service improvement – e-mail delivery of article and book chapter requests. You can now access your filled journal article or book chapter request via a link to the item in PDF format, delivered to you via e-mail, often receiving your article and chapter requests within one day.

This new system is also a very green option as it enables significantly less paper consumption if you choose to read and save your filled requests in electronic format. No changes have been made to the delivery method for books and other inter-library loan items that must be returned to the library.

E-mail delivery of filled article and book chapter inter-library loan requests went live on Mar. 30. Your e-mailed links to requested items remain active for 14 days or 10 viewings, whichever occurs first.

For years the library has received most filled article and book chapter requests from supplying libraries in electronic format. Prior to the introduction of e-mail delivery, however, Document Delivery Services (DDS) staff distributed those requests to you in printed format due to system limitations. Over the past year the library has addressed those limitations through upgrades to the request forms and the library's inter-library loan management system.

The upgraded request forms now capture your e-mail address, and require you to acknowledge that if the requested work "is under copyright protection, you agree that if a copy is provided, it will be for your private use only, in accordance with the regulations pertaining to fair dealing in the Canadian Copyright Act."

The system upgrade enabled the library to change its delivery method for articles and chapters from print to e-mail. The library shares its inter-library loan management system, Relais, with the libraries at Athabasca ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ, the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Calgary and the ��Ѹ��Դ��߿�Ƭ of Alberta, which hosts the Relais servers.

"The implementation of this service has gone extremely smoothly," says Rumi Graham, DDS manager. "We have received many positive comments from faculty and students regarding the speed with which requests are filled, ease of use, and the positive impact on the environment."

Graham acknowledges the enthusiasm and dedication of the DDS staff who helped plan and implement the e-mail delivery option: Rosemary Howard, Linda McLeod, Carolyn Gaebel, Marina Crow, and Mara Baldwin, as well as Samantha Lutterotti, a member of the library's Systems and Web Services staff, who provides technical support for the library's Relais workstations and systems files.

Inter-library loan e-mail delivery popular

trevor.kenney — Wed, 17 Jun 2009 19:48:24 +0000

UNews - Rosemary Howard

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