The controller’s office, partnering with other departments, is focused on improving data quality across the University in the coming years. One of the first projects is working with UPST to align account codes in PeopleSoft with commodity codes. A commodity code is an international standard system to identify goods or services. For example, one person might call what they buy “Kleenex,” and…
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UMass Dartmouth's eSports Team will be gaining a new arena this semester thanks to UPST’s dynamic partnership with CDW, one of four IT VAR (Value-Added Reseller) suppliers ! Learn more about this collaboration and read about what David Cho, Chief Procurement Officer, had to say about how CDW is reinvesting in our campuses and upholding UMass' commitment to delivering top-tier education affordably…
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New Hires, Name Title Department Venkata Sai Sudharshan Baswa Financial Analyst I Controller’s Daniel Kouns Category Manager UPST Saran Madam Sr. Data Engineer UPST Matthew Smith Sr. Network Specialist UITS Eric Sylvestre Network Specialist I UITS Abishek Cholkar Intern UPST Donald Dawin Intern UITS, Promotions, Name Title Department Susan Kong Applications Developer, Prin UITS, Departures, Name Title Department Chaya Mallavarum Sr. Boomi Integration UITS John Nelson Sr Applications Developer UITS Kate Targett Deputy CIO UITS
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Yummy Treats, Thanks to the Café at 50 Washington Street, the holiday spread was fantastic, and the desserts were next-level. Shoutout to our talented bakers in the Great UMass Dessert Contest!, Costume Fun , You all BROUGHT it with the festive fits! Favorite Seasonal Character and Festive Award went to Jacob Sturtz as Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer., Name That Tune, Phones out, game faces on! Ruthie O'Keefe was the name that tune champ! , Dessert Showdown, The baking battle was fierce, but the awards went to: Most Likely to Be Gobbled First: Chocolate Torte - Anne Zuev Judges' Choice: Chocolate Orange Olive Oil Cake - Sara MacKenzie Most Creative Presentation: Surprise Cake - Pam Giordano (seriously, wow!), Gift Swap Shenanigans , The annual swap brought laughs, surprises, and a little playful “stealing.” No one left empty-handed—or without a smile., Spreading the Cheer, We couldn’t have done it without your generosity: Tons of gifts were donated to brighten the holidays for the kids at the Guild of St. Agnes. Veterans at the West Roxbury VA Hospital received much-needed items, thanks to you all. Big high fives to everyone who joined, donated, or helped make this event such a hit. You all made the office shine brighter than ever., , Can't wait to do it again next year!, — The Holiday Planning Dream Team 🎄✨ Andrew Buroni Lucas Carter John Dawson Kelly Fucci Diane Gale Sam Herren Jacquie Kittler Denise Lindberg Cheryl Millett Amy Thompson Jillian Warren
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Did you know that Buddy, our AI assistant in Procurement, handles about 30% of all inquiries at the UPST Contact Center? Buddy represents our team's commitment to innovation and excellence in customer service. Whether it’s day or night, on a weekday or weekend, Buddy is always ready to help. Available 24/7, he provides immediate responses to questions about payment status, job aids, commodity…
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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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By leveraging connections at conferences like URMIA, the Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Team has been able to gain visibility from external stakeholders and is proud to partner with them to mature their own ERM Programs. The four ERM professionals spent the day at the Boston office learning about each other’s tricks and tools!
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On October 3, UMass President Marty Meehan, Secretary of Education and UMass Trustee, Dr. Patrick Tutwiler, UMass Deputy Vice President of Academic Affairs, Student Affairs, and Equity, Nef Walker, and UMass Chief Deputy General Counsel, Denise Barton, spoke to the UMass community concerning UMass’ continued commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in the wake of the recent decisions from…
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The Commonwealth Collegiate Academy (CCA) is an early college program administered through the President’s Office. CCA provides high school students the opportunity to take UMass courses in career-aligned pathways during their high school day. Students are not only able to earn college credits while still in high school at no cost to them, but they also are better prepared for the rigor and pace…
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