You receive an email with a link to The Connection every week, right? Did you know:
- The Connection is a primary source of key information for staff members
- The Connection contains required reading for all staff.
- The Connection is updated each Monday afternoon
- The Connection is in a blog format and can always be accessed at http://connection.heartlandaea.org. There’s a link to The Connection under the Communications link on the Intranet in case you forget the URL.
- The blog contains an archive of past articles going back to 2008 and allows for comments to be made about each article.
- To comment on an article, go into the blog, click on the title of the article you’d like to comment about, scroll to the bottom and click on the link that says “Post a Comment."
- To submit content for The Connection, you should send it to the Communications Department by each Thursday at 2:00 p.m.
- Remember that The Connection is an important communications piece that is intended to help you do your job. Thanks for making it a part of your work routine!
HeartBeat is the Agency’s “cultural” communications piece and is emailed as a pdf to staff members the first Friday afternoon of every month, Sept. to June. Did you know:
- HeartBeat contains “good news” stories, staff accomplishments, employee status changes (new hires, position changes, title changes), birthdays, thank you notes, etc.
- HeartBeat submissions are due to the Communications Department by the last Monday of the month for the next month’s issue.
- An archive of past HeartBeat issues going back two years is available on the Communications link on the Intranet.
- Anyone can contribute to HeartBeat – especially ideas for good new stories.
- Which reminds us…You are doing great things every day to impact families, schools, students and educators, and we need to spread that good news! That goes for any fun things that are happening in our offices as well—help us showcase the whole agency! We have multiple avenues to get the word out—HeartBeat, Educator Connection, website, Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest—so please let us know about the great things that are going. Any piece of good news could be turned into a blurb, photos, video or a feature story. Help us spread the good news! You can always send an email to the Communications Department with your information. Ok, ready, set, go!
Look for exciting information at the All-Staff Meeting about this year's Wellness Program! Also get a jump-start on the new program by completing Step 1 of the Wellness Program: logging on to wellmark.com.
If you need help logging on, or you aren’t able to do so beforehand, visit the Wellmark table at the Benefits/Wellness Fair during the All-Staff Meeting. There will be four computers and staff available to assist you. Wellmark reps can also show you how to find your health history on your account, where you can find "how to calculate your cost" within your account and many other features that are available to you in your Wellmark online account. More information about this year’s Wellness Program is coming soon in HeartBeat!
It is recommended that healthcare professionals, emergency personnel and others who work closely with the public receive a Hepatitis B vaccination. New agency staff who serve children will be getting their second round of Hepatitis B shots at the All-Staff Meeting. If you work with children and haven’t received a shot in the past or you are a new staff member who didn’t receive the shot at orientation, contact Juliette Houseman, Benefits Specialist, to schedule a vaccination during the Benefits/Wellness Fair at the All-Staff Meeting. If you aren’t sure whether you should receive a vaccination, you can contact Juliette (ext. 14315) as well.
EMC is Heartland AEA’s workers’ compensation insurance carrier for workplace injuries. Our agency will be partnering with EMC this year to assist our employees in taking the appropriate steps should they be injured at work and need to visit a doctor. The new program will help ensure that injured employees initially see the appropriate doctor when seeking medical treatment. Stop by the EMC booth at the Benefits/Wellness Fair for more information or to ask your burning questions about workers’ comp!
You
received an email last week with a request to read the updated Staff
Handbook. This article serves as a reminder and highlights changes in
this year’s version of the Handbook.
The Heartland AEA Staff Handbook has been updated as of July 1, 2016 and is available for all staff to read and become familiar with.
Changes to the 2016-17 Handbook to be aware of include the following:
• Flexible Schedule (Section 3:2)
• Flexible Workweek (Section 3:3)
• Equal Employment Opportunity & Diversity (Section 4:5)
• Religion & Request for Accommodations (Section 4:6)
• Dress & Conduct (Section 10:4)
• Social Media Guidelines (Section 14:2)
All
previous versions of the Staff Handbook should be discarded or
archived. The Handbook also contains a Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Notice for staff to read.
After
you understand where to find the Staff Handbook and are able to review
it along with the HIPAA notice, you are required to complete a web-based read receipt form that confirms you have reviewed both of these
documents. Please DO NOT print and send this form to Human Resources.
Once
you click on the link to the web form, you will need to enter the
username and password that you use to login to the Employee Dashboard.
You will then be prompted to complete the read receipt form. If you do
not fill out the form in a timely manner, you will receive a friendly
email reminder to do so.
Please
note: In addition, all staff are being asked to certify that they are
not currently related to any employee or board member within Heartland
AEA or anyone within their district assignment. If such a relationship
exists, please disclose the relationship to Human Resources before you
sign the certification.
Note
that the handbook is in PDF form and contains links directly in the
document that allow you to navigate through the chapters and headings.
By clicking on an entry title in the index, you’ll be taken directly to
that entry. Adobe Reader will provide additional features such as the
ability to highlight and keep comment notes in the document should you
choose to save it locally to your computer.
For future reference, the Staff Handbook is archived on the Intranet > Human Resources > Staff Handbook.
Johnston Schools recently launched a new website with a new URL—www.johnstoncsd.org—but the district’s email addresses have not yet changed as we reported in last week’s Connection. Email addresses still end with @johnston.k12.ia.us. We apologize for the error.
Registration for Teacher Quality Courses and Study Groups begins today and ends Sept. 16, 2016. Teacher Quality (TQ) courses and study groups meet for 15 hours off contract time and participants are eligible for a stipend upon completion. New staff members are eligible to sign up for these opportunities.
The amount of the stipend is established after registration closes. Last year eligible staff members were paid $640 to participate in a course or study group and were paid $600 in 2014-15. The amount for 2016-17 will be determined when registration closes on Sept. 14. Classes and study groups will be offered from Oct. 2016 through June 2017.
Here is a frequently asked questions document that will help answer questions.
Professional Development Redesign TQ Option
The current work of the Professional Development Cade and Work Groups is taking longer than expected to develop and package for delivery to staff. In light of that, 15 hours of TQ pay is being offered for interested agency staff to pilot some of the PD Redesign materials as they are developed. Participants will pilot pre-assessments, engage in online content in at least three areas identified for agency professional learning: adult learning, data and assessment and instruction.
The time participants spend in the different areas reviewing content will vary depending on knowledge and skills, experiences, work style, etc. Participants might also complete modules in some additional areas (Behavior, Child Find, Early Childhood, Problem Solving and Technology) if they haven't used up all their TQ hours in the first three content areas. Participants will give feedback to work group leads through online surveys and focus groups held through Zoom. Most of the content will be online but learning activities, etc. can be done with a partner or a small group. The amount of time spent in online modules could vary based on a participant’s background and experiences. Staff members will complete the modules between Oct. 2016 and April 2017. Video instructions will be sent to participants when modules are available.
Apple recently released iOS 9.3.5 to fix a serious security vulnerability. This vulnerability can be exploited by simply visiting a malicious website. The Internal Technology Department asks all staff members with an agency-provided iOS device (iPad or iPhone) to upgrade to iOS 9.3.5 as soon as possible. You can update your device by going to Settings > General > Software Update. If you need assistance with this update, contact the Internal Technology Department.
