Wanted: Your photographs of nature for a UVAFinance project (a secret one!)

We already know from past projects that UVAFinance is full of people with an eye for beauty.  The photographs that adorn the walls of Carruthers Hall are a testament to that!

The Culture Crew is working on a project in which we'd like to feature some of our UVAFinance team's photographic submissions.  Right now the project is a surprise, but we promise you'll all be let in on the secret in a month or two. 

Our ask is the same as with the interior decorating project:  submit your photos of flora and fauna (preferably from our area of Virginia) to culturecrew@virginia.edu by November 30 (and you can email that address if you have questions or concerns, too!).

SEND PICTURES TO CULTURECREW@VIRGINIA.EDU BY NOVEMBER 30!

The Return of the Shoutout Board, and it's better than ever!

Since we've all been largely absent from Carruthers Hall, the Culture Crew has tried its best to maintain a virtual presence of the UVAFinance Shoutout Board.  

As we've all learned, though, some things are harder to maintain in the virtual world.  

We're pleased to share with you that we've finally landed on the next best thing to our physical Shoutout Board.  Using the online resource Padlet, we've built a shoutout board that has all the features you loved about our physical board and then some. 

Check out our new board here:  https://padlet.com/uvafinanceevents/Bookmarks 

With a double click on the board or by tapping the pink plus sign in the bottom right corner, anyone can add a thank you, congrats, or recognition to the virtual Shoutout Board for all to see and enjoy -- plus, there are some great features for you to play with!

Some of the fun things you can do on our new Shoutout Board:

• Upload your own pictures and files to illustrate achievements 
• Use the built-in features to draw by hand 
• Choose gifs or stock images and videos to illustrate your kudos
• Choose the color of your kudos
• Like and comment on others' shout outs
• Use your own camera to record your own video messages to your shout-ee

We encourage you to create a quick account with Padlet when you leave your shout outs -- it's very easy and means that your posts appear under your name instead of anonymously (you can also just note in your shoutout who it's from if you prefer).

It's been a long time without our Shoutout Board, so I'm sure you have a long list of folks you've been meaning to recognize.  Head on over and have some fun showing your appreciation!

https://padlet.com/uvafinanceevents/Bookmarks

Community Engagement within UVA and UVAFinance: a Cornerstone project on growing volunteerism

 In 2019, UVA staff used only 9% of the volunteer/public service leave hours UVA provides.

Kristie Sojka and Shannon Wampler

This finding and others regarding volunteerism and community engagement were part of a capstone project presented at the September graduation of the latest cohort of UVA’s Cornerstone Program. This project was proposed by Carolyn Dillard, the University-Community liaison, Louis Nelson, Vice Provost for Academic Outreach, and Kevin McDonald, Vice President for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Community Partnerships, in response to President Ryan’s Strategic 2030 Plan.

The Cornerstone project team working on the project consisted of UVAFinance’s Kristie Sojka and Shannon Wampler, along with Cecil Banks of University Advancement and Cheryl Gearhart of ITS. The group also reported that so far in 2020, staff are on track to use less than half of the volunteer leave hours used in 2019 (4% vs. 9%), likely due to the pandemic.

More than just exploring current staff trends in volunteerism, the project team also made recommendations on how to facilitate and increase community engagement:

• Utilization of a registry where staff and non-profits can be matched based on skills and needs.
• Using that registry to empower volunteerism by showcasing the possibilities and celebrating staff volunteerism.
• Creating structured opportunities such as a service/engagement fair (either in person or virtual) for staff and working with schools and units to cultivate best practices for engagement and providing volunteer opportunities.

Click image for a larger view

Although the project is complete and in the hands of its sponsors, Sojka and Wampler are excited to share the findings with their UVAFinance colleagues. They’ll be working with the UVAFinance Culture Crew and VP for Finance Melody Bianchetto on increasing community engagement within our team.

Do you have ideas on how to increase volunteerism?  Comment below, or email your thoughts to culturecrew@virginia.edu

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Read more about engagement and service goals in the 2030 Strategic Plan .

Download the “One Community Engaged: A study of UVA staff Volunteerism” white paper (LINK)

Pumpkin spice and everything nice!

Join your colleagues in UVA Finance for our first (and hopefully only) 
VIRTUAL PUMPKIN CARVING/DECORATING CONTEST! 

Let’s celebrate this ghoulish month by participating in a photo contest of your best Halloween creations. Since we can’t all be together to share our favorite costumes and decorations, we thought it would be fun to share our home creations with everyone virtually. 

 If you have a pumpkin that you’ve carved and/or decorated this year, grab a photo of it and share it with your colleagues by posting it to the Community Hub.

Entries should be submitted no later than October 26th. You can post your photo in the Online Community here: https://communityhub.virginia.edu/community/uva-finance-transformation/blog/2020/10/15/pumpkin-carving-contest

If you don't feel comfortable posting in the Community, you can send your photo to culturecrew@virginia.edu

Everyone will have the opportunity to vote for their favorites, with voting closing on Thursday, October 29th at noon. Winners of perpetual virtual bragging rights will be announced Friday morning, October 30th.

 
You can also post any other Halloween pictures that you’d like to share in a separate spot for fun! 
  

Let's lift everyone's spirits by sharing your favorite Halloween/Fall photos!

You can post your photo in the Online Community here:  https://communityhub.virginia.edu/community/uva-finance-transformation/blog/2020/10/15/pumpkin-spice-and-everything-nice 

If you don't feel comfortable posting in the Community, you can send your photo to culturecrew@virginia.edu.

We hope you’ll all join in the fun!  Questions can be sent to culturecrew@virginia.edu ! 

If you don't have any Halloween/Fall photos to share, please join us in the Community by liking and commenting on the photos!

Got Kudos for a Colleague? Shout It Out!

 

While 2020 has been a challenging year (understatement!), we all continue to work hard and help each other out. We've shown exceptional adaptability and resilience in a time of rapid change. When things get tough, the tough start celebrating our wins, big and small.

Recognize colleagues for their awesomeness by emailing the UVAFinance Culture Crew at culturecrew@virginia.edu. 

UVAFinance Recommends: Quarantine Entertainment

Looking for something new to watch?

Last Friday, UVAFinance colleagues got together for another online social hour.  The topic of conversation was "what are you binge-watching during the quarantine?"  Below you'll see some of the most frequently mentioned suggestions for your consideration.  

Outer Banks

Mindhunter

Bosch

The Crown

Ozark

The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel

Broadchurch

Moneyheist

Luther

Jack Ryan

Afterlife

Unorthodox

UVAFinance social hours are brought to you by the Culture Crew.  You're invited to join the next virtual event at 4pm TODAY!  Click here to join:  https://virginia.zoom.us/j/96323117770?pwd=SjBTMlN2Uk5tRjNUa01odWpsYWszdz09

Our next event is planned for June 5 at 4pm -- watch for more information!

From the Culture Crew: Your tips for remote productivity

In a recent survey from the Culture Crew, we asked respondents to share any productivity tips they had for working remotely (in a time of crisis, no less!).  Folks had some interesting tips, from practical to emotional.  Here are a few of them collected in video format - - enjoy!

See the video in a LARGER format on Youtube.

Want to know more about working remotely during the COVID-19 response?  Check out these two episodes of Finance Matters:

Adjusting to Remote Work
Working Remotely During a Crisis
Zoom Fatigue

From the Culture Crew: Social Hour on Friday 5/8/2020

Please join us for our 1^st UVA Finance Zoom Social Half-Hour this Friday at 4pm.  Our theme, binge-worthy tv/movies, might give you a few new shows/movies to check out this weekend.

Zoom on in:  https://virginia.zoom.us/j/95620360966?pwd=SmlXYVRBa0NHTFZtSkRFRmwxUTVBdz09

Resources and Information During the Coronavirus Response

• All Zoomed Out? Mark Anderson shared this great article about Zoom fatigue that might come in handy.
• UBI Update to find COVID-related transactions and POs: The UBI team has created a new field in GA_Analysis_Actuals and PO_Reporting modules to help identify COVID related transactions - it does this by looking for wildcard matches to "*COVID*" and "*Corona*" in Comments field, Project Name, Award Name, and Task Name. It will not be 100% accurate and may pick up some false positives (especially “*Corona*”) but if you are looking for directional indicators of spending related to the current crisis we hope this helps.
• Mindfulness:   1% Challenge (sign up 4/13 – 5/11)  Dedicate 14 minutes of your day in live or on-demand mindfulness sessions, plus earn rewards  Sign up between 4/13 – 5/11
• UVAFinance COVID-19 FAQ:  Updated consistently for your convenience:  https://vpfinance.virginia.edu/covid-19-faqs
• UVAFinance resources on working remotely in the crisis: http://uvafinance.blogspot.com/2020/04/working-remotely-in-pandemic.html

The Culture Crew brings you Virtual Shout Outs

Working remotely means it's not as easy to give your colleagues a "shout out" when they do something exceptional.  At the same time, our physical separation makes it even more important for us to stay connected.  

While we can't use our Shout Out board in Carruthers Hall, it's still possible to share your kudos, appreciation, and compliments.  Just email them to culturecrew@virginia.edu and we'll publish them in a "Virtual Shout Out Board" in every blog digest!

Note:  Since we're participating remotely, we encourage our finance family all across Grounds to participate!

Your shout outs can be submitted to culturecrew@virginia.edu 

UVAFinance Holiday Party Photos

These folks know how to plan a party!

Thank you to the UVAFinance Holiday Party planning committee for a festive bash on December 13!  We had a great time celebrating with our colleagues.

Click here to see pictures from the event. Thanks to Danielle Hancock for the great photos!

Congratulations to the Finance Outreach & Compliance/ ASG team for their winning Gingerbread House creation!

Candyland!

Get Grounded field trip to the Special Collections Library

UVAFinance Team members on their recent Get Grounded Field Trip

"UVAFinances’ Get Grounded journey to Harrison-Small Special Collections was enlightening to not only the historical treasures the University has in its archives but also to the number of artifacts recounting America’s Revolution and birth as a Republic. To have access to so much of America’s and the world’s written chronology of a people’s seamless transcendence of progress is astounding. All who attended left with a heightened sense of the significance of the University’s archival collection of historical relevance in a vast world of information and knowledge." -- Patrick Wood, PSDS

See all of the pictures from the trip on the UVAFinance Flickr page.

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Get Grounded field trips are brought to you by the UVAFinance Culture Crew.

Get Grounded Trip to Mechanical Engineering

UVAFinance colleagues had the opportunity to tour the Mechanical Engineering Building recently as a part of the "Get Grounded" series of field trips.

Check out photos from their visit on Flickr.

Get Grounded field trips are brought to you by the UVAFinance Culture Crew. 

Interested in getting involved?  Have an idea for a field trip?  Let us know by emailing culturecrew@virginia.edu 

Save the Date: UVAFinance Halloween Fun!

Hey UVAFinance: Don't forget Finance Shirt Friday!

Be sure to shoutout some of your colleagues Hoo have exemplified UVa Finance excellence by using the Shoutout Board!

Culture Crew

The Culture Crew* has been busy!

UVAPolice Department Canines Lunch & Learn

Officers Ragland and Joy delivered a presentation, took questions, and then Nahla the canine demonstrated her skills!

See photos here


Get Grounded Field Trip to John Paul Jones Arena

UVAFinance team members went beyond the cubicle and toured JPJ!  Read more about the visit here. 

See photos here

* What's the Culture Crew?  Read more and get involved here!

Demonstrating their petting skills.
More photos (and videos) available on Flickr.
Thanks to Danielle Hancock for recording this session!

Look at those happy faces!
More photos (and videos) available on Flickr. 
Thanks to Danielle Hancock for recording this trip!

UVA Police Department Canines are coming to Carruthers for Lunch

You may have seen in the UVA or local news that the University Police Department’s explosive-detection canine, “Muki”, recently retired after 56 dog years of service.  (Read more on the UVA Emergency Site)

UVA PD Retiree Muki

Officer Audrell Ragland who was Muki’s handler, is now working with a new partner, “Nahla”. Officer Ragland and fellow K-9 Officer, Sam Joy, who is working with “Rexo”, will be visiting Carruthers on Tuesday, July 23, at 12:00 noon for an exciting and interactive Lunch and Learn for UVAFinance team members.

Officers Ragland and Joy will deliver a brief presentation and answer questions, and then Nahla will demo her K-9 skills! We will also have the opportunity to interact with Nahla and Rexo.

Registration Required

The Lunch and Learn will be held in Carr-1 and Carr-2. As space is limited, if you plan to attend this Lunch and Learn, please enroll using the following link: https://www.myworkday.com/uva/d/inst/15$370556/15972$1406.htmld



Brought to you by 

Introducing the Finance Shirt Friday Team

Devin Foster, Alamanita Graves, Mel Miller, Stacey Parmenter,
Nick Williams, and Irene Paschall.  Not pictured:  Danielle Brown

If you've been out and about in Carruthers Hall lately, you've probably seen evidence of a renewed emphasis on "Finance Shirt Friday," and hopefully, you've been reminded to keep your UVAFinance t-shirt and/or polo in rotation and to recognize your colleagues on the Shout-Out board.

Who's responsible for this swell of Finance Shirt Friday spirit?  It's the Finance Shirt Friday Team!

The Finance Shirt Friday Team is a group of employees who answered the Culture Crew's call for volunteers to build team spirit within UVAFinance.

Composed of Mel Miller, Almanita Graves, Danielle Brown, Nicholas Williams, Stacey Parmenter, Irene Paschall. and Devin Foster, they're invigorated and eager to promote a fun atmosphere within our workplace.

The team says they aim to increase participation in Finance Shirt Friday, not just because of the possibility of prizes, but because it allows everyone a chance to feel camaraderie and meet colleagues from other areas.

"We want to showcase who we are as UVAFinance and celebrate supporting this family," says team member NickWilliams.

The group wants to extend the impact of Finance Shirt Friday, encouraging more participation from every area of UVAFinance and recognizing those who join in.


Team member Danielle Brown hopes getting more people involved will allow people more opportunities to connect with their work family.

The Finance Shirt Friday Team agrees, saying that it puts faces with names in and outside of your own department, encourages engagement, fosters unity, and recognizes the excellence that exists within our Finance community.

If you'd like to participate with this high-energy group, they would love to have you!

"We're interested in creative ideas to promote collegiality," says member Almanita Graves, adding, "more people make that creativity stronger -- the more, the merrier!"

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Contact any member of the Finance Shirt Friday Team if you're interested in joining the team.

Watch for more from this group around the building and in upcoming blog posts!

More information about Culture Crew opportunities can be found here. 

Bring your Special Interest to UVAFinance

Special interests allow us all to flower at work!

Are you a knitter who'd like to take an afternoon break to stitch with like-minded colleagues?  A wellness newbie interested in exploring meditation during the workday?  Someone new to the area who'd like to learn more about restaurants in the area with established Charlottesville foodies?  Or maybe you're just looking for a few colleagues to take a walk with you before lunch? 

UVAFinance's Culture Crew wants to help!  

We invite our talented team to bring their special interests, talents, and hobbies to the workplace via our Special Interest Group Team.

Composed of Mara Hilliar, Devin Foster, Brian Logwood, and Ruth Parcells, this group's purpose is to connect you to the resources you need to organize a group around your interest.  They'll help connect you with mail lists, rooms, resources, marketing, and assist in providing guidelines for a successful special interest group in our workplace.

What kinds of activities might be "special interests"?  Any of the ones listed above, but also things like photography, sports, painting, board games, video game groups, book clubs (different than our existing UVAFinance Book Club), or they could be centered around sessions you want to lead, topics you want to teach about, or even topics you want to learn about.  They could be held during lunch or breaks, or before or after working hours.   The possibilities are endless!

If you have something you'd like to share with the group, contact the Special Interest Group Team today, and they'll give you the right resources to help you flower in your niche so that our whole community flourishes.

Want to join the Special Interest Group Team?  They'd love to have you join them!  Just contact one of the members named above.

Check out this Harvard Business Review article on the benefits of employees bringing their special interests to work.

Read more about the Culture Crew here. 

Bake Off Winner (and winning recipe)

Iris Roberts of Student Financial Services was the winner of UVAFinance's Bake Off at the April 10 Potluck.  Her pecan bars had long been popular with her family -- her daughter even requested that her mom make them for her wedding.

Roberts, who says she doesn't try any recipes that look hard to make, says she entered the contest because "the bars are easy to make and these kinds of interactions between our departments are important."

Congratulations to Iris and thanks for bringing something sweet to the UVAFinance culture!

View the winning recipe here:  https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/pecan-shortbread-squares.html