The Campus CONNECTION

Issue 16 June 2015

Now You Know

Compliance News

University Procedure

(UP) 31.99.99.H0.01,

Special Holidays and

Early Release

Current Staff Openings

Director and Coordina-

tor of Budgets

Secretary III - NTCC -

Mt. Pleasant Center

Director of Financial Aid

and Veteran Services

Benefits of Taking a Vacation According to the 2009 International Vacation Deprivation Study, commissioned by

travel service company Expedia, more than 30 percent of Americans did not use all

their vacation days.

Health Benefits

Taking time away from work and routine allows the body to replenish and repair it-

self, according to Karen Matthews of Mind Body Center at the University of Pitts-

burgh. The center surveyed 1,399 participants recruited for studies on cardiovascular

disease, breast cancer and other conditions, and found that leisure activities, includ-

ing taking vacations, contributed to higher positive emotional levels and less depres-

sion among the participants. Other benefits include lower blood pressure and smaller

waistlines.

Women especially seem to benefit from taking vacations, according to a 2005 study

conducted by Marshfield Clinic in Wisconsin. Women who vacationed less often

than once every two years were more likely to suffer from depression and increased

stress than women who took vacations at least twice a year.

Creativity and Innovation Benefits

Robert Kriegel, author of "How to Succeed in Business Without Working So Damn

Hard," says workers get many of their best ideas away from the job. Without the

pressure to respond to each crisis that arises, workers have the opportunity to consid-

er innovative approaches, Kriegel explains.

"Vacation should be really defined as a time when we can really turn off those tech

work savers and just relax and have fun," says Robert R. Butterworth, a Los Angeles

psychologist with International Trauma Associates. Workers in creative fields espe-

cially need the opportunity recharge their batteries. "If you have a job that's very cre-

ative and you don't take time off you hit a wall and you need a change. The break

will allow you to refresh your brain cells," explains Butterworth.

Productivity Benefits

The Vacation Deprivation study suggests when employees take vacations, businesses

benefit. According to the survey results, 34 percent of the respondents reported feel-

ing better about their jobs and more productive after taking a vacation. "The research

is clear, despite leaving vacation days unused, Americans believe in the restorative

power of taking time off," says Paul Brown, president of Expedia.com.

Christine Louise Hohlbaum, author of "The Power of Slow: 101 Ways to Save Time

in Our 24/7 World," explains on the CNN website that workers who forgo their vaca-

tions aren't doing themselves or their companies any favors. Even if they are physi-

cally present, they have often mentally checked out. "If people are overworked,

they're surfing the Internet. They're not contributing to the bottom line," Hohlbaum

says.

In this issue

Benefits of Taking a Vacation P.1

Employee Corner P.2

Reminders & Updates P.3

Employee Enhancement P.4

Supervisor Corner P.5

Employee Corner

Craig Howard Summer Nelson Luz Mary Rincon

Becky Golas Stacy Glover

Callie Fortenber-ry

Marc Icenhower Sara Lawrence

Si Yu Alex Serrano

Rosanne Strip-ling

Terrica Kirk

Kim Murray Jennifer Willis Jessica Luckey

Carl Greig Walter Casey Simon Kuder-

natsch Margie Wilburn

Teri Fowler Brian Billings

Kimberly Bursey Rachel Grant

BIRTHDAYS

Employee of the Month

April

Stacy Glover

Don Koontz

Woman’s Soccer Coach

Meet Our

The Campus Connection Issue 16 June 2015

Carol Langston

Director of Communications

Shannon Gustafson

Admin Assistant with UA

“Stacy Glover is always willing to pitch in and help with a smiling and willing attitude. Since October, Stacy has been carrying out the duties of the Director of Communications (DOC) as well as maintaining her own responsibilities as Di-rector of Marketing. Just a sampling of the additional DOC responsibilities have included being "on call" 24-7 for gen-eral media inquiries, university emergencies/alerts and com-munications from The Texas A&M University System. Stacy has also been charged with writing and generating press re-leases, ensuring that university events were promoted and covered by the media, as well as maintaining internal daily eagle communication alerts.

During this time of transition, Stacy has not let her mar-keting duties slide or miss the multiple deadlines in which she is responsible. In fact, her duties during this time period were somewhat magnified with the new web site design project! I am thrilled to nominate Stacy for the employee of the month and feel that she has genuinely been happy to assist and help during this time of transition.”

REMINDERS & UPDATES

The Campus Connection Issue 16 June 2015

Cafeteria Closing

The cafeteria will be closed beginning, Thursday, May 14 and will reopen on Monday, June 8.

In Loving Memory of

Steven Shidemantle,

a courageous friend

and colleague.

Weather-Related Events

It is important that you are prepared for weather-related events before they occur, and to know the university’s procedures on what to do should a weather-related event happen on campus. Visit http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures.shtml for training and informa-

tional material, or for a great PowerPoint presentation that educates on weather, visit http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/lightning/science/Dr_Lightning_Guide-science.ppsx.

Announcing New Employee Benefit We are excited to announce that we will be offering a new benefit to our employees – 2nd.MD

is a medical second opinion service.

Some of the details:

Available to employees, retirees and their covered dependents on A&M Care, J Plan and 65+ Plan

Completely free to the user (we pay on a per employee, per month basis)

Can engage the service through the website or by calling

Used most commonly for a new diagnosis, possible surgery, or medication change

User will speak to a specialist in the field of the diagnosis, normally within 3 days via video conference

Specialists come from various locations including Johns Hopkins, UCSF, Mayo Clinic and more

University Center Leak Repairs

Beginning on June 8th, a contractor will be on site in University Center to repair some leaks and leak dam-age, including inside sheetrock replacement and re-pairs. Some office spaces may be affected but we ex-pect the interruptions to be nominal and to be com-pleted in a timely manner. If you have questions about the repairs or would like to know which office spaces may be affected, please contact Sara Power.

Employee Enhancement

The Campus Connection Issue 16 June 2015

An EAP Reminder Life Can Be Hectic. The EAP Can Help You Find Your Balance.

Deer Oaks, your EAP, is always available to you and your household members. If you are struggling with children, finances, or just want some practical advice on health or the mind-body

connection, contact Deer Oaks by calling the Helpline. Counselors are available 24/7 to provide you with immediate care.

The EAP benefit covers five confidential short-term counseling visits and is at no cost to employees and their

families. Texas A&M University Texarkana has pre-paid for this benefit for all employees and their depend-

ents.

The EAP benefit is not only free to all full-time employees and their dependents, but it is also confiden-

tial. Deer Oaks EAP has considerable expertise and clinical knowledge possessed by its clinicians and numer-

ous convenient locations. Deer Oaks clinicians are well versed in helping clients of all ages, from young chil-

dren up to the elderly.

The EAP can assist with many different types of problems. Among these are stress, depression, anxiety, work-

place difficulties, substance abuse, marital problems, family or parenting conflicts, grief, violence and unhealthy

lifestyles.

Ten Quick Tips for Financial Planning Together When you and your partner are busy balancing everything in your lives, sometimes financial planning can fall to the wayside. Ten quick tips about financial planning together for when life gets hectic: • Set priorities and specific goals. Don’t assume you both have the same goals without discussing them. • Discuss values. Sometimes differing values make agreement on goals difficult. When one person wants to spend now and one wants to save for later, it can be a source of friction. The same is true when one spouse tends to be less risk oriented than the other about investments. • Plan in five year units. When planning for five year blocks, you can set both intermediate and long-range goals without feeling you’re being deprived forever. • Budget together. Set up a manageable system for your cash flow to-gether. • Know where your money is going. Keep records of your spending. • Don’t assume that because you’re both working that you have a lot more to spend. • Save regularly so you aren’t locked into that second income. • Who handles the actual paperwork can be a matter of personal pref-erence, although both of you should practice at it. • Don’t confuse the task of doing paperwork with the act of financial decision making. • Sit down together and discuss finances at least once a month.

Supervisor’s Corner

The Campus Connection Issue 16 June 2015

The Importance of Emotional Intelligence for

Supervisors The ability to manage our emotions at work is an important skill for every employee. Unmanaged emotions can

lead to overreactions, poor judgment, and unprofessional behavioral in the workplace. This skill is particularly

important for supervisors and managers, who are responsible for objective decision making and modeling pro-

fessional behavior for their teams.

Characteristics of Emotional Intelligence Managers and supervisors with significant levels of emotional intelligence typically share common characteris-

tics such as emotional self-awareness (the ability to know what you’re feeling), the ability to rationally respond

to strong emotions (the ability to think before reacting, etc.), and a tendency to use emotion for self-motivation

(i.e., use fear of failure to take positive action to improve the situation).

Those with Well-Developed Emotional Skills are more Likely to be Effective Managers A study done by Dale Carnegie Training revealed that a “caring” manager is one of the key elements of employ-

ee engagement. Supervisors and managers with well-developed emotional skills are better able to show that they

care for their employees, which will lead to having a more engaged and productive team. Leaders who manage

their emotions well also tend to make better decisions in the heat of the moment. They have the ability to remain

more objective in difficult situations, even when they’re feeling powerful emotions like frustration, fear, or an-

ger. Supervisors and managers with well-developed emotional skills will also have the ability to recognize and

be sensitive to the emotions of others, allowing them to tactfully and skillfully interact with an employee who is

angry, upset, etc.

How to Enhance Your Emotional Intelligence Below are several strategies you can use to enhance your emotional intelligence skills:

• Stay aware of what you’re feeling throughout the day – when you’re aware that you’re feeling a strong emo-

tion, you can manage the emotion instead of having it manage you which can lead to overreacting, making

poor decisions, etc.

• Think before you speak – in stressful or challenging situations, everyone experiences the fight or flight re-

sponse, which includes the release of adrenaline and often the experience of strong emotions. In these situa-

tions, it’s important for leaders to take a step back and think rationally so that they don’t overreact emotion-

ally.

• Have compassion for your employees – the world is a stressful place, and our employees need managers and

supervisors who care about them and are committed to their success.

How can supervisors gain a better appreciation for the impact their

behaviors have on those under their supervision? The simple answer is to work on developing an effective working relationship with your employees. Part of that relationship involves “checking in” on communication, interaction, and mutual understanding between each other. More broadly, learning about emotional intelligence (EI) is a way to appreciate human interaction and impact. In this context, you’re able to monitor your emotions, recognize the emotions of others, label them properly, and use this information to guide your behavior and thinking. Many resources are available to introduce you to EI skill-building. Your EAP can point the way to these resources.