December 2023 Edition

Volume 6 Issue 4

The Fall term is coming to an end and another year as well. The campus continues to be an exciting place, day in and day out. In the next few weeks the sidewalks will be filled with graduates, a sight that always reminds me why we are here. You, our employees, are the backbone of the university and the reason our students succeed. Thank you for all you do!

Looking back at the year in UP, I'm proud of what we have accomplished. Among these accomplishments were three Town Halls - focused on Payroll; Leave/Workers' Comp/Accommodations; and Professional Development; we had close to three hundred people attend each of these sessions designed to provide our employees with increased clarity about varied UP processes and an opportunity to ask questions specific to each area. We look forward to welcoming you to future town halls in the new year. We also piloted a leadership training program for MPPs that will be available for all MPPs in the spring. This program is designed to provide our MPPs with an enhanced skillset and a common understanding of SJSU's expectations for managers so that there is consistent leadership and support for our employees throughout the campus. We reinstated in-person New Employee Orientation and brought in a new Manager for Organizational Development and Enrichment Programs as we look to enhance and expand the onboarding experience of our newest employees and help all of our employees thrive through varied professional development programming. We restructured some of our internal units as we strive to provide you with excellent service across the department. There is still more on our agendas, however, with much more left to achieve in our service to you. We look forward to working with many of you as we implement additional initiatives in the coming year.

We have a nice break coming up (December 25 - January 1), and I hope you all find time to rest and relax while spending time with family and friends or just yourself! Make sure to check your vacation balance now to ensure you don't go over your max before the end of the year. See more details on that below.

However you choose to spend your time away from campus, I wish you a wonderful end to the year and look forward to seeing you in 2024.

Transition Coming Soon...

As previously announced, the university is in the process of combining the Title IX and Discrimination, Harassment, and Retaliation (DHR) programs into one office. Because these programs have been run by separate offices for many years, the consolidation is still in the works. In addition to the office transition, a refocused marketing campaign, new websites, redesigned informational items, and new training content is being developed. In the end, the combined Title IX and DHR office will make it easier to find the right office to report protected status discrimination and harassment and receive support from the university. Please watch your email for future announcements regarding this important change for the university. Until the transition is complete, please contact the appropriate office for any concerns you have:

• Title IX and Gender Equity Office
• Office for Equal Opportunity

Saying Goodbye...

Anita Vasquez, Senior Director of UP Operations, has been with SJSU since March of 1995 and will retire at the end of the year with almost 29 years of service. The majority of her career has been in Human Resources/University Personnel, but she also spent time in the Office of the President. Her vast knowledge of Payroll and Benefits, as well as the history of SJSU, will be greatly missed, but we wish her well as she steps into her new retirement adventure. We want to thank her for her dedication to SJSU and our department. Things definitely won't be the same without her.

Amar Sidhu, Senior Payroll Representative, is also retiring at the end of December with almost 17 years of service to SJSU. Amar began her SJSU journey as a Payroll Technician in May of 2007 and retires as a Senior Payroll Representative. We wish Amar well in her next chapter and thank her for her dedication to SJSU and University Personnel.

Photograph by: Michael Pyrch
Pictured Back Row L to R: Terryn Ashley, Sharon Austin, Stacy Perez, Aimee D'Anna, Michele Delfino, Anita Vasquez; Front Row L to R: Vivianna Solis, Maria Rocha, Mi Duong

The Employee Support Services (ESS) team, including the Fee Waiver function, is under the direction of Anita Vasquez, Senior Director of UP Operations and Terryn Ashley, Manager of Payroll and Employee Support Services. The ESS team supports all employees by processing transactions for new hires, transfers, salary changes and more to ensure employees are paid on time. They collaborate with the Faculty Services, Recruitment and Retention, and Payroll Services teams as well as department administrative staff on campus. The Fee Waiver Coordinator oversees the tuition fee waiver program for faculty, staff and teaching associates, and collaborates with ESS on various projects and processes. Let's meet the team!

Anita Vasquez (She, Her, Hers) - Senior Director, UP Operations  - Anita manages all functions related to employee support services, payroll and benefits, including leave programs and workers' compensation. She also acts as a liaison with the State Controller's Office and the California Public Employees Retirement System. As mentioned above, Anita is retiring at the end of December, but will continue to manage her teams until her last day. Something you might not know about Anita is that she plays the guitar and is currently teaching her granddaughter how to play. Outside of work she also enjoys spending time with family and friends, gardening, cooking and teaching her granddaughter how to bake! Anita is also a collector of all genres of music. She owns hundreds of albums, 45's, 78's, cassettes and 8-track tapes. And yes, she still has her cassette player and turntable.

Terryn Ashley (she/her) - Manager, Payroll and Employee Support Services - Terryn manages daily operations for Payroll, Employee Support Services, and the Fee Waiver Program. Terryn has been in her current role for 17 months but has a total of 2 1/2 years in HR/UP. She has a total of 3 1/2 years of service on the SJSU campus and an additional 20+ years at the CSU Monterey Bay campus, bringing her overall CSU service to just a little over 24 years. You may not know that animals are Terryn's passion. She has dogs, cats, chickens, fish, a turtle and a snake that is almost 30 years old! Outside of work - and caring for her animals - Terryn enjoys walking in the mountains with her dogs.

Michele Delfino - Fee Waiver Coordinator and Employee Support Services Liaison - Michele coordinates the campus tuition fee waiver program for faculty, staff and teaching associates and also coordinates the annual reporting for IPEDS (Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System) and other employment processes. She also audits data, processes EDD (Unemployment) claims through Equifax and last but not least, is an expert resource to Payroll, Faculty Services and Employee Support Services. Michele is UP's longest tenured employee with 34 years of service to HR/UP. She's been in her current role for one year. Something you may not know about Michele is that she loves 70s music and notes that the Bee Gees are her all-time favorite. She also enjoys going on vacation and being with family and friends. She's looking forward to retiring in the near future.

Stacy Perez (She/Her) - Employee Support Services Lead - Stacy is responsible for supervising, evaluating, and providing work lead direction to five ESS Reps. In her role she troubleshoots and resolves complex PeopleSoft issues; runs monthly reports; coordinates and participates in special assignments & projects; conducts staff training & audits work. She is the subject matter expert for PeopleSoft & PIMS with regard to employee job transactions and participates in the testing of new or updated PeopleSoft functionality. She has been in SJSU and HR/UP for 23 years, and in her current role for about 6 1/2 years. Something you may not know about Stacy is that she loves musical theatre and has seen Hamilton five times. She loves spending time with her family, especially her niece and nephew, is a 49ers and Sharks fan, and loves to vacation in Hawaii.

The five Employee Support Services Representatives highlighted below are each responsible for the same type of work for different areas of campus. Each rep processes transactions such as hires, terminations, time base changes, leaves, promotions, etc. for faculty, staff and student employees. They deal with a myriad of situations and processes which involve analytical decision making and research in other databases. They engage in a full range of daily transactions as well as those of a cyclical nature, work in PeopleSoft (SJSU @ Work), and work closely with campus departments and the various teams within UP.  

• Sharon Austin (She/Her) - Sharon started her SJSU career at the HR front desk, then after one year, she moved into her current role. She's now been on campus a total of 12 years. Something you may not know about Sharon is, she was the assistant to a world renowned Vedic astrologer for over 10 years. She also lived in Italy, is fluent in Italian, worked in the fashion industry, was a substitute teacher, and did a few TV commercials! Sharon is a voracious reader, an avid jigsaw puzzler, is keen on crosswords, loves stand-up comedy, and loves to walk, hike and swim. If you've been to Sharon's office you know she is passionate about plants. Her favorite vacation spot is Chicago, as that's where her daughter lives. 
• Aimee D'Anna (She/Her/Hers) - Aimee has worked on campus for 17 years and joined the UP team a little over a year ago. Something unique about Aimee is that she has lived and worked in Downtown San Jose for 28 years. Outside of work, Aimee's favorite activities are design and event management. In her own words, "I am a lefty from Detroit who loves animals, art, and public service."
  
• Mi Duong - Mi began her SJSU career in 2019 in the School of Social Work and joined University Personnel less than a year later. She's been in her current role for four years. Something you may not know about Mi is, she likes reading random trivia facts and can spend hours just doing that. She says, "It's interesting because you can learn a lot of useful stuff, but you also get the nonsense stuff, too." Mi also enjoys reading whenever she gets the chance.
• Maria Rocha (she/her/hers) - Maria started her SJSU career as a Payroll Representative a little over 7 1/2 years ago. She has been in her current role for four years. Maria is always willing to assist others. She enjoys seeing new places with her family, spending time with her friends, or simply going for a walk. Maria shared that she lives in the moment. "I am in the present."
• Vivianna Solis (She/Her) - Vivianna is the newest addition to the ESS team, joining UP four months ago after working a little less than a year in another department on campus. Vivianna's favorite snack combination is Hershey's almond chocolate with Hot Cheeto's Outside of work, she enjoys training with her puppy and spending quality time with her cats.  

The We Are All SPARTANS! video and social media campaign has been a tremendous success, allowing us to shine a spotlight on some of the incredible staff members here at SJSU. It has been heartening to witness the connections and camaraderie among our Spartan community.

A sincere thank you to all who have participated and engaged with the campaign. Your stories and experiences have truly brought our community together.

The good news is, this is just the beginning! We have exciting plans aheadmore inspiring videos are in the making. Additionally, we are thrilled to announce that the interviews will resume in the Spring, providing us with the opportunity to learn more about the staff and the stories that make our Spartan community unique.

Stay tuned for more updates, more insights, and more connections.

Learn More and Watch the Videos!

Recognize a Fellow Spartan Today!

Contact University Personnel via Phone or Email

408.924.2250 or university-personnel@sjsu.edu

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