Meeting Minutes
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Marston Science Library, 3:30-5:00PM
Call to Order
Program - Mary Wise, Head Coach University of Florida Volleyball
Mary Wise gave us an insight into her life as the Coach of the Florida Gators Volleyball team. Ms. Wise is an individual who truly lives and loves her profession as the leader of UF Volleyball program. Mary spoke of her passion, drive and love for her team and for the sport. With enthusiasm and insight, the coach of Gator Volleyball explained why the NCAA Regionals are so important to Gainesville and the University community. Ms. Wise encouraged us all to attend the NCAA Regionals in December along with our family, friends and neighbors. We need to show our support so that future Regionals can be sponsored here again at the University.
Thank you to Mary Wise for speaking to our group and allowing us to experience some of the enthusiasm and exuberance of her life as the coach of the UF Volleyball team.
APA members are strongly encouraged to volunteer for the December 8-9 NCAA Volleyball Regionals. If you would like to volunteer, send your name and contact information via the APA suggestion box.
Approval of Minutes from September 2006 Meeting—Approved
New Business
Diane Craig discussed the proposed recommendations submitted by the Inter-campus Communications Task Force for improving internal communications at the University of Florida.
- InsideUF Web site should serve as the primary
communications source with links to other campus-wide internal
communication resources (e.g., InfoGator, Research News, DDD
memos, major UF listservs, etc.). While InsideUF is
prominently displayed on the home page, it would benefit from
an easier to remember URL than http://news.ufl.edu/insideuf.
Adding a link to the InsideUF Web site on the myUFL portal
would further benefit the readers.
Added Comments: Many people still are not aware of Inside UF. Wendy Thornton commented that a person must be exposed to some information at least seven times before it is recognized. - The myUFL portal would benefit from a thorough
review and assessment by communication professionals of its
role as a communication tool for UF. A university office that
communicates frequently with faculty, staff and students, such
as the University Relations or the Office of Human Resource
Services, should play a greater role in its content
management. Any recommended changes should be evaluated by a
group of campus portal users for usability and value.
Added Comments: Diane spoke of links off a myUFL portal sign-on page, however this can be labor intensive. Wendy recommended looking at what other Universities are doing with communication - how are they distributing news. Another question that was posed: Is Bridges the appropriate unit to manage information of the Portal? Another prevailing sentiment is that many faculty do not know their GatorLink username and do not know how to access their myUFL portal. - New employee orientations for faculty and staff should include information about the myUFL portal, including how to use self-service features, how to locate campus information, and where to go for user support. Information should be readily available in printed brochures or flyers and on the Web. Added Comments: Every new employee must attend an orientation session with Human Resource Services and is given some brochures with information about employment and benefits. There is a page on the HR site that addresses the New Employee Orientation at http://www.hr.ufl.edu/training/neo/default.asp.
- University Relations (or committee of communication
professionals) should review the Deans, Directors, and
Department Chairs memorandum (DDD Memos) process. Do the memos
get to everyone who needs them? How do we encourage
administrators to read them and disseminate important
information to staff? Should a communications professional
review the content for clarity? Can we utilize new
technologies to submit DDDs electronically and send to target
audience(s) such as researchers, business managers, etc.?
Added Comments: Some more questions were who owns and who processes this information? Currently there is not one place that organizes and describes all the communication sources into one location. DDD memos have changed from their initial purpose. The DDD has become too diluted. The list of email users has become out of date. - A marketing and communications campaign should be planned to publicize both new and existing resources. The campaign should define the purpose of each resource, including how and when to use each. Target messages to faculty, staff, students, department administrators, deans, chairs, etc.
Old Business
We invite you to actively participate in this year's APA. Please contact the
chair of the task force in which you are interested:
- Human Resources Issues - Chair:
Wendy Thornton
Wendy Thornton gave a thorough update on the work done by the APA HR Subcommittee:- Flexible work option—A draft overview of the telecommunications proposal is being worked on by the committee.
- Training available to the UF community—Most UF staff are not familiar with the various forms of training that are available. A "Training Interest Group" may be reimplemented to take a look at such programs as Net-G and Pro-3
- Stress Management—UF does not have a cohesive stress management policy and nor does it have a portico where employees may obtain information.
- Employee harassment or bullying by employers—A topic to be explored.
- Employee Education Program—The committee will look at the possible expansion of this program.
- Inter-Campus Communication - Chair:
Judy Bousquet
No additional report. - Community Service - Chair:
Curtis Ball
Curtis Ball announced the Community Service group holds its monthly meeting on the 1st Monday in the Reitz Union. Curtis mentioned the APA members will support the Gator Volleyball Attack Club when they volunteer for the NCAA Regionals.. Curtis encouraged us to support the Volleyball team by also purchasing tickets to the NCAA Regionals in December.
Diane Craig announced: We need a chair for the Staff Survey Task Force. If you
are interested in chairing this committee, please contact Diane Craig.
Adjournment