WORKING TOGETHER MEETINGWednesday October 23, 2013

2:00pm-4:00pmMinutes

Chair: Helen Huang

Attendance:

John Allan Vesna Bajic Joanne Bedasie

Kurt Binnie Elizabeth Broccoli Lara Cartmale

Jun Cheng Christine Davidson Penny Deligiannis

Blanche Douglas Bessie Giannikos Dominic Goveas

Joanne Lawson Pierre Lee Nelly Leizerovich

Wendy Mauzeroll Suzanne Micallef Debbie Mparoutoglou

Wing Ng Madelaine Panoulias Cheryl Rhind

Morgan Selvanathan Yasmeen Tafhti Doug Ullrich

Maggie Xu Harris Ziko

Note taker: Elaine Taguchi

1) CAO Updates – Helen HuangOISE Staff Halloween Party: This is a dress-up event with prizes given for the best costumes. Helen and Tony Pitoscia will serve as the judges. OISE staff is invited but need to rsvp if they wish to participate in the $5 pizza lunch.

Staff Awards: The deadline for submissions is November 1, 2013. Pierre will send everyone the link to the website.

United Way: The senior leadership team will serve a pancake breakfast to raise funds for United Way. The date will be decided soon with Aramark donating the pancakes.

Holiday Party: LHAE will have their holiday potluck party on December 4th with a live band and open bar. LHAE will send an invitation with a sign-up sheet.

HSSSJE is having an end of term (holiday) party on November 27th in the Nexus Lounge.

Helen has asked WT to suggest creative ways to celebrate the Holidays. Suggestion can be forwarded to the Social Committee members (Bessie, John, Cheryl, Nelly and Pierre).

Excel Training for OISE: OISE is hosting a basic Excel training course. The 3-hour session will cover the basics with an introduction to pivot tables. The session is planned for the week of November 18th. This is free to all departments.

Other Items: For a future session, the group will discuss the best practices for records managements: looking at how to organize files, FIPPA considerations, what to do with files of faculty/staff who have left or are deceased and other considerations.

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Judge Marvin Zuker is available for a 15-minute presentation on Intellectual property rights. This will be scheduled at a later date.

The new Registrar, Sheldon Grabke, is starting on October 28th. He is coming from Seneca and has worked at York University.

2) OISE Operation Update – Elizabeth Broccoli

Fifth Floor Washrooms: The renovation is complete. However, since the ongoing Sustainability Project requires access to the mechanical room in the women’s washroom, this washroom will be closed until November 8 th.

OISE Sustainability Project: We only need to replace the motors on the concourse, basement and sub-basement. This will be completed in the next few weeks. The whole project will be completed by the end of November.

Kiosk: Installation is scheduled for the end of November.

Other items: The new interactive chairs in some of the classrooms require some instructors to adapt to teaching without tables. Concerns should be reported to Elizabeth.

Elizabeth will follow up on the classrooms and capacity checking with the Registrar’s numbers and room allocations. Concerns will be addressed by Helen and OSM in their regular meetings.

Elizabeth will follow up on issues regarding rooms booked for Registration and on-going renovations requiring room changes in September..

3) HR Update –Madelaine PanouliasCentral Payroll: Payment for off cycle cheques will be made electronically by direct deposit into bank accounts. The department head will approve the $75.00 charge to produce the off cycle payment. If the request is made by Wednesday, the deposit is made on Friday.

Holiday Pay Close: Pay close for monthly payroll is December 3rd. The deadline for inputting 2013 vacation in HRIS is December 3rd. .

4) Information Technology Update – Kurt Binnie

Digital Signage: With departments each requesting equipment for digital signage, OISE needs a more global approach and to determine a strategy for posting information. This includes the broadcasting of emergencies. The use of a single technology for messaging and communications is recommended.

Network: Network redesign project is in process. Quality of services are to be introduced. Education Commons will communicate regarding outages.

Other Items: OISE is participating in a pilot multi-point communication via laptop for courses conducted on-line. It is highly collaborative and includes up to 20-25 sites. A calendar invite with the application information to click opens the webex for the meeting. It can be used on iPad and iPhone. Currently it is available on a use-case basis. Interested parties should contact Kurt.

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Equipment for taping seminars and base line technology for every OISE classroom need review and updating. OSM rooms are controlled by the University of Toronto not OISE. Concerns should be directed to Kurt and Education Commons.

5) Finance Update – Wing Ng

Research Funds: Business Officers are reminded to budget for computer purchases on a timely basis.

SSHRC may be a little less strict in approving purchasing before the March 31st deadline but this causes difficulties in our FIS system. Purchasing equipment by Principal Investigators if approved on March 25 th for purchase by March 31st is difficult given the necessary approval and procedures. Accounts should be monitored regularly.

Forecast: Forecasts are due November 18th. Revised forms and instructions are on the website.

Other Items: Aramark is charging a 11% surcharge for large events if the order is not placed 3 days in advance. Regular events require 2 days advance ordering or a 10% handling fee will be applied. 2 order changes can be made before there is a surcharge.

6) Social Committee Update – Pierre Lee

Due to time constraints, Pierre provided his update through email on October 25th (below)

Wii Party:  This inaugural event was held on Oct 17, 2013.  Several staff members participated in a friendly game of Mario kart, Fencing, Bowling, and Wipeout.

Halloween Party:  Invitations for the Halloween Party has been sent.  Prizes will be awarded for the best costume. Helen and Tony Pitoscia will be the judge.  Please RVSP by Monday, Sept 29 th if you wish to participate in the $5 pizza.

7) Wellness Committee Update – Pierre Lee

Due to time constraints, Pierre provided his update through email on October 25th (below)

Meditation Workshop:  Prof Jack Miller has agreed to conduct a meditation workshop on Nov 21, 2013, 12 noon – 1PM, room 5/210 & 5/220.  Flyers for this event will be made available soon.  In the meantime, please feel free to spread the word about this event.

Fitness events @ UofT:  The Dept of Physical Ed has a program called “MoveU” whereby they can visit OISE and provide up to 4 free sessions.  Thereafter, cost will range from $25 to $45 per hour (note costs is per hour, not per person).

They have 4 different types of program to choose from:

o Zumbao Stretching (i.e. Intro to Yoga)o Dance Conditioning o Essentials (Core Training, Resistance Training, Interval Training).

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If the community shows interest in this, we can set this up beginning January, 2014.  So, please let your staff know about this program and we can gauge the level of interest at the next WT meeting.

8) Professional Development

Writing Expectations for Communications Professionals by Jennifer Sipos-Smith.

Presentation is attached

Handouts are attached

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