In November, the UPST team came together to celebrate five remarkable years of UPST at UMass—a milestone defined by innovation, collaboration, and excellence. In this special edition, we honor the achievements that have shaped UPST’s success and recognize the individuals and ideas that continue to propel its mission forward. From bidding farewell to a transformative leader to welcoming new voices…, Marking Five Years of UPST: A Special Anniversary Edition, This year, UPST proudly celebrates five years of innovation, teamwork, and service excellence. To mark this milestone, we’re working on a special edition of the UPST newsletter featuring reflections, success stories, and a look ahead at the next chapter for UPST. We’ve also put together a video we can share now: a heartfelt video montage capturing memorable moments and milestones from the past…, Celebrating David Cho’s Leadership and Legacy , As we bid farewell to David Cho, Chief Procurement Officer and a cornerstone of UPST’s success, we reflect on his transformative contributions over the past five years. To honor David’s leadership and the impact he’s had on the UMass community, we recently held a celebratory gathering, bringing together colleagues and friends to share memories and gratitude. David’s legacy of innovation,…, Supporting UPST’s Future: Highlighting Mike Durkin, Brian Girard and Amand Onwuka , As UPST looks to the next chapter, we are excited to congratulate Michael Durkin as the incoming Chief Procurement Officer. With support from new Deputy CPO Brian Girard and Amanda Onwuka, Director of Service and Quality, UPST is poised to build on its strong foundation. Together, this leadership team is committed to enhancing efficiency, strengthening campus partnerships, and driving innovation…
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In March 2024, we started a new Accessibility Tip of the Month section in the UMass President's Office Connection newsletter. As we wrap up the year, we wanted to reshare the tips we shared from March through November. , March 2024 - Add Alt Text to Images in Email, Word, and PowerPoint, Did you know you can add alt text to images in your emails ? Providing a text description of an image makes it accessible to anyone who uses a screen reader, and also provides a visible text description if an image doesn’t successfully load in an email. You can also add alt text to images in your Word Documents and PowerPoint Presentations . , April 2024 - Add Data Labels to Graphs and Charts, When creating graphs and charts, ensure you label each data point directly. Direct labeling reduces cognitive load for everyone and makes the content more accessible to the colorblind, low vision, and neurodivergent communities. Watch Ann K. Emery’s video “ Remove Legends and Directly Label (Dataviz Accessibility Quick Wins) ” for more on why direct labels improve the accessibility of data…, May 2024 - Creating Accessible Social Media Hashtags, When creating hashtags in social media posts, use camel or pascal case . A hashtag in Camel Case #looksLikeThis, with the first word in all lowercase and then the first letter of each subsequent word capitalized. A hashtag in Pascal Case #LooksLikeThis, with the first letter in each word of the hashtag capitalized. If you don’t capitalize the first letter of each word, a multi-word hashtag will…, June 2024 - Use Descriptive Links, When writing communications, use descriptive links so that everyone reading your communication understands exactly where the link will take them. Link names should be the same as the page name linked to. Be as explicit as you can. Too long is better than too short. Make the link meaningful. Don’t use “click here” or “read more.” Add a short description when needed to clarify the link. Learn more…, July 2024 - Enabling Auto-Captions in Zoom, All meeting hosts can enable auto-captions and a transcript by default in Zoom. This feature can improve the overall experience for hard of hearing and neurodivergent employees that have not disclosed their disability. In addition, always provide a way for meeting attendees to request additional effective communications. Some attendees may request a copy of the presentation ahead of time to help…, August 2024 - Font Accessibility, Use a familiar, simple, and easy to parse font for body content in digital documents, emails, and on digital signage. When selecting a font, ensure that characters are distinct from each other, such as a lowercase l and an uppercase I and the number 1. For example, Verdana has clearly distinct designs for characters. Note that there is no one optimal font, but selecting an easy to parse font will…, September 2024 - Create an Accessible Email Signature, When creating or updating an email signature, here are some recommended best practices to ensure your email signature is accessible: Do not put your email signature in a table to format it. Using tables for layout purposes creates a confusing and verbose experience for assistive technology users. Provide alt text for any images in your signature. For example, you can include the following alt…, October 2024 - Use the Microsoft Accessibility Checker, Did you know that Microsoft has a built-in accessibility checker? You can use the accessibility checker to identify common accessibility issues in your documents and emails, such as missing alt text or hard-to-read text contrast. The checker is available on Windows, Macs, and through Office 365 on the Web. You can find detailed steps of how to run the checker in Microsoft's Improve accessibility…, November 2024 - Add Alt Text to Images in Slack , When uploading images to Slack, you can add a description (or alt text) in Slack . Alt text provides a text-based explanation of a visual for the blind and low vision communities. Once you add the alt text to the image, an ALT button will appear on the bottom left corner of the image. As Slack makes the alt text feature available to anyone, it can also be used on smaller devices by anyone to get…
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New Hires, Name Hire Date Title Department Maria Apse 4/1/24 Assoc CIO-SvcDel,Strat&Plan UITS Gillian Boulay 4/8/24 Immigration Specialist OGC Kate Carroll 3/25/24 Senior Applications Specialist UITS William DeSimone, Jr. 3/25/24 IT Operations Manager UITS Scott McDavid 3/25/24 IT Client Support Specialist UITS, Departures, Name Departure Date Title Department John Hoey 4/13/24 Executive Director Communications Bill Smith 5/1/24 Customer Support Director UITS
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As the 2024 Solar Eclipse dazzled the skies above Westborough, Massachusetts on April 8th, employees from the President’s Office seized the opportunity for a celestial spectacle. From the Westborough office to scenic spots in New Hampshire and Vermont, they embarked on an unforgettable journey to witness the moon's captivating dance, covering about 93 percent of the sun at the peak of the…
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Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the industry's way of describing the systems used to support key areas like finance, human resources, and in higher education, students. In the context of UMass, ERP includes a myriad of technologies, from Peoplesoft HR, Finance and Student, Buyways, to a large number of point solution products acquired and implemented over the past 20 years. The UMass "ERP"…
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Buddy, UPST’s new virtual assistant, is live! , Buddy is now available on the UPST website! Using its advanced AI capabilities, Buddy can swiftly navigate through our website to provide you with answers and guidance tailored to your needs. Buddy is the ultimate helper: it’s available to users 24/7, so you can always receive an answer to your question. , What kind of questions can Buddy answer? , Buddy can answer questions relating to any information on the UPST website. Buddy can also retrieve documents and forms, and it can check the payment status of purchase orders. Some examples of questions Buddy can answer include: What is status of payment for PO C001557883? What commodity code do I need to use when purchasing furniture? How do I apply for a bank card? How do I register a new…, The future of Buddy , UPST has plans to integrate Buddy’s AI knowledge base with procurement systems including Peoplesoft and BuyWays. Keep checking back! Someday Buddy will be able to check contract status, supplier status, remittance details and more! To see a video showcasing what Buddy’s abilities, please visit this LinkedIn post . To start utilizing Buddy, simply visit our website and look for the chat icon…
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40th Annual Performance Recognition Program Nomination Period in May , A nearly 40-year tradition, the annual Performance Recognition Program is an opportunity to recognize the outstanding achievements of Commonwealth employees for their dedication and contributions to public service. The Human Resources Division (HRD) oversees the program which features two recognition tiers. The first is a certificate award program. The previously named Commonwealth Citation award…
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Step into the world of innovation and inspiration with, IMPACT, , a dynamic speaker series crafted by none other than David Cho, Chief Procurement Officer, and Shahriar Panahi, Director of Enterprise Data and Analytics. IMPACT isn't just your ordinary speaker series—it's a gateway to the remarkable journeys, groundbreaking insights, and awe-inspiring achievements of trailblazers from various sectors, both within and beyond UMass. Through candid conversations…, Monday, May 20th, from 12:00 to 1:00 pm, , as David & Shahriar kick off the series with Yolanda Lam, the powerhouse Global Head of Agency & Partnerships at Pinterest! Yolanda is set to unveil: The art of leveraging data to chart a stellar career trajectory Deep dive into how Pinterest harnesses data to anticipate customer trends Insider strategies to integrate these cutting-edge practices into your own journey Don't miss your…, REGISTER TODAY, !
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, When, : Friday, June 14 from noon to 1 p.m., Summary, : Join this UMass Lunch and Learn presentation by Brian Piper of the University of Rochester. Piper was the keynote speaker at the recent HighEd Web Analytics and AI conference. His presentation will offer practical examples of how generative AI can enhance your entire content creation process. Learn which AI tools can help distribute content to the right channels, assist with data aggregation…, Disclaimer, : Brian Piper’s presentation is intended to inform UMass employees of current AI tools and trends. UMass is in the process of developing governance and policy around the use of AI. As always with emerging technologies, please consult your IT and department leadership to ensure use of specific AI tools are authorized and covered in existing policies. Please, register now, for the Zoom webinar. Questions? Please contact Ron Agrella of the DX Team at ragrella@umassp.edu.
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On Wednesday, May 15th, in honor of Mental Health Awareness Month, the UMPO DEIA team sponsored a workshop on reducing stress and anxiety. This workshop was facilitated by two premier UMass Amherst staff: Dr. Karen Whelan-Berry, Director of Faculty Development in the College of Natural Sciences, and Paul Papierski, Director of Workplace Learning and Development. In this workshop, created by…
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