Greetings & Happy Spring Service Professionals!

It’s hard to believe spring break is almost upon us, signifying roughly the half-way point of another beautiful spring semester here at the Flagstaff Mountain Campus.  This semester has proven to be another busy one for SPAC, with exciting upcoming events that include a scheduled SPAC Brown Bag Series lunch discussion, a community based activity during Earth Week with our Adopt-An-Avenue cleanup, and coming in April we will have our Service Professional Advisory Council Annual Meeting.  These types of events are prime examples of how the Service Professional Advisory Council members work to foster an environment of professional and community growth for the folks we represent.

In addition to different events you can mark on your calendar, the Service Professional Advisory Council is always available to the entire service professional population as a conduit for networking with peers but also as a means to staying in tune with current university policy issues affecting our classification.  Moving forward this spring we will represent all of you as we meet with employee representatives from our other state institutions at our first ever inclusion in the Tri-University meeting that will take place in April down at ASU.  You can be certain we will have plenty to share about that come our May meeting so we hope to see you there!

Be sure to enjoy the remainder of the semester and remember that SPAC nominations for the upcoming academic year will be available later this spring.  Please keep an eye out for the opportunity to join us as we continue to seek enthusiastic new members that strive to define volunteerism both on campus and in the community.

Respectfully,

Justin B. Hagin
Chair, Service Professional Advisory Council
Ask-SPAC@nau.edu
nau.edu/SPAC

Every year, the Service Professional Advisory Council presents a deserving service professional with a Leadership Award at our annual meeting.  Past awardees have been recognized for outstanding leadership in the University, involvement in programs and events, and effectiveness as role models in working with our students.  Please consider nominating a fellow service professional who goes the extra mile in working with students, the University, and the community. 

The nomination form is available from the SPAC website: http://nau.edu/SPAC. The deadline for nominations is Friday, March 28.  Please submit your nomination to:  Bernadette.Presloid@nau.edu.

Plan on joining us for the presentation of the 2014 SPAC Leadership Award at our Annual Meeting on Thursday, April 17, 2014 at 1899 Bar & Grill – Lounge from 3:00-5:00 pm.

As is our tradition, SPAC once again solicited gifts from our colleagues around campus for our annual Adopt-a-Family drive. Two wonderful families – one with 5 children, the other with 4 children – who may have had a less joyful holiday season were the happy recipients of dozens of gifts, including toys for the kids, clothing, gift cards and even help with utility bills! December’s SPAC meeting was set aside as a Wrap Party; after which the presents were delivered to the families by SPAC members. One such SPAC elf remembers, “The family was most appreciative! They had a tree all set up, but with no gifts under it until they got the ones from SPAC!”

Thursday, March 27 at Noon
SPAC Brown Bag Lunch Special
Enhancing Well-Being and Teamwork through Attention Management
Our nervous system is equipped with two attention management systems; one is reactive, the other involves choice. In this workshop, participants will have an opportunity to reclaim choiceful attention through a brief exercise and presentation of a few take-away tips. Presenter:  Dr. Stan Clark, Office of Employee Assistance & Wellness

Thursday, April 17 from 3:00PM - 5:00PM
SPAC Annual Meeting and Mixer
It’s not too early to block out your calendar for the SPAC Annual Meeting and Mixer! Join us Thursday, April 17 from 3 - 5pm at the 1899 Bar and Grill Lounge. Enjoy a snack, mingle with your fellow service professionals and applaud the recipient of this year’s SPAC Leadership Award! Plenty of free parking will be available in the High Country Conference Center garage right across the street. Refreshments will be served!

Tuesday, April 22, 5:30pm
Adopt-an-Avenue Cleanup
Several years ago SPAC adopted Windsor Ln., and gosh! -- how our little lane has grown! Please join us after work on Earth Day (April 22) as we spruce her up. It shouldn’t take more than 45 minutes or so. We’ll meet in the parking lot off Windsor Ln., right behind Wildflower Bread Company. We’ll provide all the cleanup supplies – bring your families and pets!

Remember that full SPAC meeting minutes are available at our website: http://nau.edu/SPAC/Meeting-Minutes/

January Meeting

SPAC’s first meeting of the new calendar year featured a presentation on technology tools that are available to all NAU service professionals (and to all other staff and faculty). Chris Greenough and Dan Stoffel, SPAC members, described some of their favorite tools such as Google Apps, Lynda.com and Bb Collaborate. Their presentation slideshow is available from the SPAC site (see above). As usual, Diane Verkest, Associate VP – Human Resources, provided a thorough HR update.

February Meeting

SPAC was excited to welcome President John Haeger as a guest speaker in February. Dr. Haeger discussed the State of the University (very healthy right now) and the status of the search for a new NAU president. Kelly McKee and Lindsey Riebe from University College discussed the Student Success Coaching program, and they encouraged participation in the coming year.

Jeane Olson, Director of Student and Departmental Account Services, for receiving the 2013 Institutional Member of the Year award from the Coalition of Higher Education Assistance Organizations (COHEAO) at the annual meeting in January.

The many NAU employees that have been so helpful and patient in the process of data gathering related to state authorization.  The collaboration has made the process so much more efficient and pleasant! Thanks to Mikhael Star, Lela Montfort, Zane Shewalter, Katherine Maunders, and Tracy Locarni at University College, Blanche Johnson at Extended Campuses and Yael Bernstein at PAIR.

Jane Kirkley and Lori Rubino-Hare, Professional Development Coordinators at NAU’s Center for Science Teaching and Learning (CSTL), on being awarded a $387,000 grant from the Arizona Department of Education to enhance secondary science instruction. The grant funds a collaborative partnership involving the CSTL and middle and high school teachers in both Peoria and Gilbert Unified School Districts. The funds are intended to support the teachers in developing their science content knowledge, learning how to support student’s literacy needs in science, and strengthening their science teaching.

James Wittke, Geology Program, SESES, for being the first author on a 2013 paper produced by an international collaboration of researchers that appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences: “Evidence for deposition of 10 million tonnes of impact spherules across four continents 12,800 y ago”: James H. Wittke + 27 others, PNAS v. 110 (23), E2088-E2097. Link: http://www.pnas.org/content/110/23/E2088

The entire service professional staff at Campus Health Services!  This amazing team of dedicated service professionals in Counseling Services, Disability Resources, Health Promotion and Medical Services (including lab, radiology and pharmacy) works hard every day to provide quality integrated care, support and programs that facilitate a healthy, successful and inclusive campus community and academic experience for students, faculty and staff.  The work of this wonderful team often goes unnoticed, but without them many students and employees would not be successful in the University setting.  Thanks to all of them for helping to promote a healthy campus community!

Derek Hansen, Marketing Coordinator for EMSA, for working so hard, always making our marketing look good, being so creative and being able to juggle a million projects at one.  Without his expertise, our marketing efforts would fall on deaf ears.  Thanks for helping us connect with students.