VPBA Newsletter - November 2005

Business Horizons

A monthly publication of Business Affairs

The University of
Texas at
San Antonio

November 2005

In All We Do,
We Do With

EXCELLENCE

Every Person,
Every Day,
Every Job

Kerry's Korner .....

Our first quarterly recipient of the Business Affairs’ Celebrating Excellence award will be announced in early December. As Thanksgiving approaches and the month and quarter rolls to a rapid end, please take time to recognize your fellow colleagues who have demonstrated excellence in their creativity, promoted/initiated needed change and/or have demonstrated excellence in their communication skills or methods. We have a superb staff and we need to recognize and show our appreciation to those most deserving. Go to http://www.utsa.edu/hr/Celebrating.Excellence/Index.htm for a nomination form.

Congratulations to Yolanda Miller, our HUB Staff Coordinating Group and to all Business Affairs personnel involved in purchasing for placing UTSA in the top 25 HUB programs in the state. HUB purchases increased by 66% in 2005 and over 25% of our purchases were with HUB vendors. This is a significant accomplishment and would not have been possible without the conscious effort that so many of you made to solicit and contract with HUB vendors. We will have an opportunity to recognize all of those who made significant contributions to our success on November 30.

And finally, it’s a great time of year to remind ourselves of how truly blessed we are. Thornton Wilder once said, “We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” Have a safe and relaxing Thanksgiving holiday.

Kerry

Upcoming Events:

Tobin Lab
Dedication
November 14, 2005
9:00 a.m.

VPBA Breakfast
November 16, 2005
8:30 - 10:00 a.m.
Roadrunner Cafe

VPBA Staff Relations
November 17, 2005
VPBA Conf. Room

Thanksgiving Holidays
November
24-25, 2005

*MARK YOUR CALENDAR FOR THE* - VPBA Holiday Party - December 14 11:30 a. m. - 1:30 p.m. - Laurel Room
Spotlight on........Jimmie Neff Jimmie was born in San Antonio, but his father served in the Air Force and subsequent assignments moved them to Florida, Spain and Ohio. After graduation from UT Austin, his jobs took him to Oklahoma, Texas, Ohio, Maryland and the Washington, DC area. In January 2004, Jimmie was hired to manage the space inventory for the university. Prior to working at UTSA, Jimmie worked for U. S. Civil Service for 32 years. He worked in and around the Pentagon for about 20 of those years. He was also a manager for the Army Broadcasting Service, part of the American Forces Radio and Television Service. Managing broadcasting stations in Germany, Italy, Panama, and Korea provided a bit of home for U. S. military men and women serving overseas. Jimmie is married to Peggy, who also works for UTSA in the Department of Chemistry. They have three children: Leslie is an Army wife and a high school special education teacher in Northern Virginia. Jeanne is a graduate from Stephen F. Austin State University and is working for a marketing firm in San Antonio, and Jon is a recent graduate from Texas A&M as a mechanical engineer. Amateur Radio, building and working on computers, playing the guitar and singing are a few of his hobbies. He also enjoys camping with the family and friends. Over the years, Jimmie has met and worked with a lot of interesting, talented people and he enjoys the new challenges that UTSA offers in this growing, bustling, dynamic organization with limitless potential.
Creative output must begin with creative input
CELEBRATING EXCELLENCE REWARD IDEAS WE NEED YOUR HELP! We would like your help identifying ways in which we can recognize recipients of the *Celebrating Excellence* program. Please reply to this email to submit your *Celebrating Excellence* Reward Ideas. You can also turn in your ideas to your AVP. We want our recipients to be rewarded in a manner that they appreciate so be creative and let your imagination go wild.
November 2005 has been designated as the first annual Diversity Month at The University of Texas at San Antonio. Diversity Month 2005, which has been coordinated by various UTSA departments and co-chaired by the Office of Institutional Diversity and the Office of Student Activities, will include an array of events both at the 1604 and Downtown campuses. Visit: http://www.utsa.edu/today/2005/10/diversitycal.pdf for the calendar of events.
To view BUSINESS AFFAIRS VIDEOS go to Business Affairs web site - www.utsa.edu/bussvc

HUMAN RESOURCES EMPLOYEES RECOGNIZED

The San Antonio Human Resources Management Association local chapter held its annual Volunteer Appreciation Dinner on Thursday, November 3, 2005 where two of UTSA's Human Resources employees received special recognition. Certificates of Appreciation were given to Denise Moore, HR Specialist II, for assisting SAHRMA with the Hurricane Katrina Relief effort and to Josie Dickerson, Employee Relations Advisor IV, for her contribution as a Programs Committee Volunteer. Congratulations Denise and Josie!

SUMMER VACATION PICTURES

Jacob Silver, son of Jennifer Silver accounting specialist with Grants and Contracts, spending his summer vacation at Grandma's.

Our Roadrunner Café is featured in the November 2005 publication, On-Campus Hospitality, click for the article. The Roadrunner café is the first dining facility on the campus and UTSA is the site for this year's National Association of College Auxiliary Services (NACAS) annual conference.

MARGARET BATTS TOBIN LABORATORY

Monday, November 14th
9:00 a.m.

DOWNTOWN SCAFFOLDING

The current schedule indicates that all of the scaffolding will be removed by mid-January, hopefully prior to the start of the Spring semester.

HALLOWEEN HAPPENINGS AROUND VPBA OFFICES

Bruce Twinkle & the 7 Constellations