Employment

We are delighted to welcome these ACC Employees who started November 1st!

• Yvette Riddick–Assistant III, Administrative–PIN
• Sonja Ferguson–Specialist, Advising/Student Services–RVS
• Aaron Ballew–College Police, Patrol Officer–SVC
• Jesus Castillo–College Police, Patrol Officer–SVC
• Logan Harper-Hill–College Police, Patrol Officer– SVC
• Frank Miranda Jr.–College Police, Patrol–SVC
• William Hosbein–Technician, Senior Computer Lab Support–EVC
• John Pfannkuche–Assistant, Lab- Building and Construction–RRC

 Vice President’s Office

State Employee Charitable Campaign (SECC) Campaign
Human Resources would like to sincerely thank each and every one of you for your participation in this year’s SECC. Your involvement in the campaign is critical to the mission and success of the charities involved in the campaign, many of whom depend primarily on the generosity of state employees for support.  A grand total of the donations will be announced in next week’s Connection.  Thank you for your participation in this program.

Benefits

Notification about TreasuryDirect and Saving Bonds
As you may have heard, the U.S. Treasury Department has recently decided to stop allowing the printing of paper saving bonds through payroll deduction because they will now offer the bond program all online at TreasuryDirect.  Therefore, in order to comply with this recent regulation Austin Community College District (ACC) will stop remitting payroll deductions as of October 31, 2010 to National Bond & Trust (NBT).  National Bond & Trust must discontinue the bond program.  Employees can set up an online account with TreasuryDirect www.treasurydirect.gov.

TreasuryDirect is a web-based system that allows investors to:

• Establish multiple registrations in one account.
• Buy, hold, manage, and redeem Treasury securities online 24/7, where you have secure Internet access.
• Purchase electronic Series EE and I savings bonds, Treasury bill, notes, bonds and Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities (TIPS) through TreasuryDirect.
• TreasuryDirect provides a summary of account activity, including recent purchases, payments, and account balance.

Please review the Information for Employees brochure and if you have very specific questions, please go online to TreasuryDirect www.treasurydirect.gov for more details.  We appreciate your cooperation as we move through the process of maintaining the U.S. Treasury Department compliance.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Susan M. Corbett at (512) 223-7617 or [email protected].

A Women’s Mini-Workshop Series for Stress Reduction and Renewal
(Workshop is designed for Breast Cancer Survivors)
The workshop is being offered by MariaLi Ramos-Cancel, Ph.D., RYT. MariaLi is a Psycology professor, a Kundalini Yoga teacher, and a breast cancer survivor who enjoys being able to share what she knows about yoga meditation and conscious breath with other women and, especially, with breast cancer survivors.

 Yoga Meditation, Conscious Breath, and Inspirational Rhythms

 Two introductory sessions will be offered at the ACC Rio Grande Campus on Friday November 5 and Friday November 19, 12:15 PM until 12:50 PM at RGC3 Room 3320.

 If you are interested in attending, please email Mariali at  [email protected]

Professional Development

Spring Development Day
ACC’s Spring Development Day will be held Friday, January 14, 2011. Professional Development workshops will be held at HBC from 9am-10:30am and 10:45am-12:15pm. Afternoon workshops will be offered from 1:30pm-3:00pm and 3:15pm-4:45pm. The ACC Spring Development Day website is now available and workshops are open for enrollment – http://www.austincc.edu/hr/profdev/events/springdevday/.  Please check back as workshops will be added.   

If you have any questions please contact the office of Professional Development and Evaluation Programs either by calling 223-7997 or emailing Nicole Bell at [email protected].

PowerPoint Intermediate Workshop
Don’t miss PowerPoint Intermediate workshop this Friday at RGC! Learn the tools for taking your presentation to a higher level in this intermediate level workshop. Discover how to create tables and charts, effective graphics, hyperlinks, and transitions, as well as how to convert your presentation to a webpage.

Date:  11/5/2010
Time:  2:30pm-4:30pm
Location:  RGC  Room: 229
Presenter: Merrilee L Shopland

Leadership Awards
You have a chance to recognize someone for the extra leadership they bring to our ACC community. An employee may be nominated for any of the following:

• Classified Employee of the Year Award
• Professional-Technical Employee of the Year Award
• Administrator of the Year Award, ACC Community Volunteer Award
• Student Success Award
• Servant-Leadership Award
• Bright Idea Award.

Nominations must be submitted by November 5, 2010.  In your nomination, please provide as many detailed examples as possible about why your nominee deserves the award. Winners will be chosen not on the number of nominations but on the content of the nomination. Nominating online only takes a minute.  Nominations will be reviewed by the Leadership Awards Committee and will be announced November 22, 2010.

More details for each award are posted on the website:  http://www.austincc.edu/hr/profdev/awards/leadership/index.php        

Interested in a Sabbatical leave?
Sabbatical leave is a privilege that is intended to benefit both the college and the employee. The President may grant this leave to staffing table employees.  Leave may be granted for the purpose of personal and/or professional improvement. 

Sabbatical Applications for the 2010-2011 Academic Year are due on November 15 in the Professional Development Office, c/o Christina Michura.   You will find more information about Sabbatical leave, including requirements, a checklist, a timeline and the application on the website:  http://www.austincc.edu/hr/profdev/sabbaticals.php.  For questions about Sabbatical leave, contact Christina Michura at [email protected]. 

Celebration of Great Teaching
The Celebration of Great Teaching is now accepting applications for faculty participants.  This unique, faculty-focused event differs from most retreats in that the program is created by the participants themselves. The format often includes teaching clinics, panels, organized discussions, “hands on” workshops, and presentations by participants. It also features choices among activities. The exchange takes place not only in scheduled sessions but also informally and in conversations. The goals of the seminar include sharing methods and techniques, celebrating good teaching, creative and realistic problem solving, exploration of new ideas, and professional and personal renewal. 

The retreat will be held April 1-3, 2011 at the Flying L Guest Ranch in Bandera, Texas.   

To learn more about the retreat and how to apply, please go to http://www.austincc.edu/hr/profdev/greatteaching/index.php.

If you have any questions, please contact David Lydic at [email protected] or Terry Mouchayleh at [email protected].