HR Insider Newsletter Fall 2020

Fall 2020

Insider Human Resources Respect | Collaboration | Integrity | Stewardship | Professionalism | Science

Fall Edition 2020 C O N T E N T S

Benefits

2020 Open Enrollment Closed Personnel Leave Buyback

Retirement

Sick Leave Retirement Savings New TCDRS Site EAA Employee Retirement ICMA-RCWebinars

Training

Sparking Self Motivation In Your Staff

The Evaluation Process for Non-Supervisory Staff

Neogov Mandatory Training

Wellness

Humana Go 365

Records

Records Refresher Training

How to use Boolean operators in sharepoint search How sharepoint online recycle bin works

Recruitment

Rachel Mitchell , Administrative Assistant II

The Great Package Reveal

Work Study Students Virtual Opportunities

New Hires

Two new EAA employee and seven Fall interns

Important Dates

Deadlines; Anniversaries; Birthdays and Events

CLICKABLE LINKS:

MEDICAL DENTAL FSA/DCAP/HRA

LIFE/AD&D/LTD

RETIREMENT

ICMA-RC

Fall 2020

Benefits 2020 OPEN ENROLLMENT Open enrollment has successfully closed and your 2020 - 2021 benefit elections was reflected on your October 9, 2020 paycheck. Please take this opportunity to re - view your benefit summary and deductions. If you have any questions or concerns, contact Hilda Campos at extension 127. BENEFITS OVERVIEW Medical plan - Our two plans continue to be managed by Humana. You can continue using the same cards unless you have changed plans. Each plan covers the same services and include all the essential benefits and features. Since in-network and out-of-network deduct - ibles increased effective October 1, 2020, Humana will apply any deductibles you have met this year and transfer them to the new limits. Deductibles will re- set on January 1st. Important information: To help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, Humana is temporarily waiving member out-of- pocket costs for telehealth virtual visits. Access the care you need from the safety of your home. Dental plan - Dental benefits continue to be mana - ged by Metlife with no increase to premiums. Metlife will not mail dental cards. You can provide your den - tist Group # 5965612 and your SSN to verify benefits. Routine exams and cleanings are available at no cost as the deductible does not apply for these preventati - ve services when visiting an in-network dentist. Click here to view the plan summary. Metlife will also continue to provide the complimen - tary MetLife VisionAccess discount program. You can receive discounts such as 25% off frames or 20% off high index lenses. Find a participating private practice and provide discount code, MET2020, when making your appointment. Click here for more information. Life and AD&D Insurance - Reliance Standard con- tinues to provide coverages for life and accidental dea - th and dismemberment (AD&D) at 2 times your an - nual salary up to $500,000 at no cost to you. Reliance will also continue to provide supplemental coverage

Benefits

Retirement • Be actively employed with the EAA in December An accrued personal leave balance of 240 hours must be maintained; therefore, only the hours above the 240-hour threshold are eligible for the Personal Leave Employees who at the end the calendar year with ac - crued sick leave balance in excess of 480 hours are el - igible to convert these excess hours into real dollars to be placed into a 401a plan savings account as an added retirement benefit. Funds are placed into a 401a account at each employee’s current rate of pay. If you meet this criteria and already have an established TCDRS has added new content and streamlined the whole public site to make it easier to find what you need. Here’s what you’ll discover: • Mobile responsiveness: Each page is designed to look great on both desktops and mobile devices. • Simplified navigation: SICK LEAVE RETIREMENT SAVINGS PERSONAL LEAVE BUYBACK Employees who are eligible may participate in the Per - sonal Leave Buyback Program for 2020. To be eligible, an employee must have an accrued: • Personal leave balance of at least 240 hours by No - vember 30th; • Sick leave balance of at least 160 hours by November 30th; and NEW TCDRS SITE The new site is here!

Buyback. An employ - ee may “sell” some of their accrued personal leave in increments of 8 hours to a maximum of 80 hours.

If you meet this criteria and wish to participate in the Personal Leave Buyback program, please complete and submit this Form by December 4, 2020 to Mar- garet Ross. Forms received after the deadline will not be accepted. The Personal Leave Buyback payout will be included in the normal bi-weekly paycheck on 12/18/2020 .

for employees who elected additional life insurance and dependent life coverage. Long Term Disability - Reliance Standard is also pro- viding long-term disability insurance at no-cost if you are unable to work due to a covered illness or injury that is longer than 90 days. This policy provides 60% of your monthly income up to $10,000 per month. Optional Benefits - Employees will continue their benefits if elected with AFLAC, Legal Shield, Tran - sAmerica, Pet Benefit Solutions and Goodly Student Loan Program. NEW CHANGES HRA/FSA - On October 1, 2020, qualified employees who elected the HDHP medical plan received $500 deposited into an employer FSA account. These funds may be used for either medical/dental/vision expen - ses. On January 1, 2021 for employees who participa - te in our medical plans, the EAA will be contributing $1,000.00 (NPOs medical plan) or $3,499.99 (HDHP medical plan) into a Medical Health Reimbursement account (HRA). This account will only reimburse for medical expenses. In addition, HDHP medical plan participants will also receive $1,000 deposited into a separate HRA account that is designed to reimburse for only dental and vision expenses. These changes are designed so that Medicare eligible employees and/or their dependents are not penalized when their HRA accounts exceeds $5,000 during the plan year. For additional information, please refer to GM Roland Ruiz’s letter and email update outlining the changes and provisions.

401a plan, you do not need to do anything at this time as funds will be deposited into current account. If you meet this criteria and do not have an established 401a plan savings account, please complete and submit ei - ther the 401a Enrollment Form or the 401a Enrollment Form – Managed Accounts to Margaret Ross by Janu - ary 15, 2021.

Library has all our videos, articles, brochures, forms — basically all the content you could need — in one easily searchable place. • Expanded content: They have made it easier to find what you need and increased what they provide based on where you are in your career. Account Summary details provides your vesting date and re - tirement eligibility date. As a reminder, the EAA matches 180% of your contri - butions at retirement if you are eligible and vested. Enjoy the new TCDRS.org!

Get to the content you want faster with less clicks. • Resources: TCDRS new

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Fall 2020

Retirement 18-YEAR EAA RETIREMENT Happy retirement wishes to Jon Cradit and his family! Jon will be making new adventures traveling the country with his wife Lisa. We wish him the very best and greatly ap- preciate his contributions to the EAA.

Training

ICMA-RC WEBINARS

Wellness We would like to take this opportunity to thank those who’ve already completed all mandatory training courses in NeoGov! Great Job! F or those of you who have yet to finalize your train - ing, the deadline of October 26th is fast approaching. While you have some time to complete the courses, please do not wait till the last minute to do so. Em - ployees who experienced issues with the Workplace Substance Abuse Training for Employees course, will receive an email from NeoGov regarding the updated version in the next week. Be sure to complete this by the appropriate deadline. Here are a few helpful tips to remember: • You will need to disable your pop-up blocker and enable Flash Player to launch the courses. • It is important that you do not close either of the 2 pop-ups that appear when you open the training. Clos- ing the pop-ups will prevent the progress from being NEOGOV MANDATORY TRAINING HUMANA GO 365 Humana is offering the following webinars this month! Login to your Humana account to learn more: Topic: Caring for yourself: avoiding emotional fatigue! Learn about self-care and how Go365 can help. Tuesday, October 20th, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Topic: Catch up on what’s new with Go365 Get up to speed on the latest changes Humana has made to the Go365 program this year. Thursday, October 23rd, 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. OR Thursday, November 19th, 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m. Topic: Make the most of your Go365 program renewal Learn about self-care and how Go365 can help. Thursday, December 17th, 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.

tracked properly in NeoGov. • Exit out of the course window by clicking the exit button within the course itself, not the X in the top right corner of the entire window. Once you click the exit button within the course, the window will close, and the you should be presented with a Completed status. • Save your work often to prevent data loss. If you have not activated your NeoGov account, you will receive email indicating your account has been ac - tivated. Please follow the link in this email to access your account. The email link is only valid for a few days, so be sure to login to NeoGov as soon as possible to avoid any issues. In addition, NeoGov maintains all Certificates of Completion in your NeoGov profile. You do not need to forward/submit any of these certificates of completion to Human Resources. If you experience any issues with NeoGov, please contact Margaret Ross, ext. 110.

ICMA-RC continues to host financial planning webinars to help you prepare for retirement. Sim - ply go to ICMA-RC to register for an event. The following topics are currently available. Have you created an estate plan for your fami- ly? Tuesday, October 13th, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Do you have a tailored financial plan in place? Thursday, October 15th, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Are you thinking about investing in a ROTH IRA? Tuesday, October 20th, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m. Your 457 Deferred Compensation plan Thursday, October 22nd, 12:00 p.m. - 1:00 p.m.

Training

SPARKING SELF-MOTIVATION IN YOUR STAFF

EAA annual performance evaluations are just around the corner! Human Resources will host an informal presen - tation for those who need additional assistance navigating Reviewsnap, our online perfor - mance management platform. THE EVALUATION PROCESS FOR NON-SUPERVISORY STAFF To register for the event, simply click the following link: Fred Pryor Workshop – Sparking Self-Motivation in Your Staff. To get the most out of this discussion, download the Sparking Self-Motivation in Your Staff Workbook prior to this event. On Thursday, October 22nd, Fred Pryor Career Track will host a workshop from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. to learn how to apply management methods with your teams for lasting self motivation. In today’s fast—paced, team oriented workplace a powerful new approach to employee motivation has emerged: Intrinsic Motivation . Long term motivation arises only when people are motivated by the challenge of the work itself.

Stay tuned for an upcom- ing email for our virtual Hal- loween costume contest and pumpkin decorating!!

Training will be provided on Wednesday, November 18th from 10:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m. via Zoom. To JOIN, simply click the following link to register for the event: Human Resources – The Evaluation Process for Non-Supervisory Staff.

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Fall 2020

Recruitment THE GREAT PACKAGE REVEAL With the cancellation of in person careers fairs, Maggie Veliz made sure that students from Trinity University do not miss out on receiving items distributed at career fairs. Trinity student as - sistant, Caroline Strong was happy to assist with the package reveal. WORK STUDY STUDENTS In September, we welcomed four Trinity University work study

RECORDS REFRESHER TRAINING Records

Due to COVID-19 and social distancing, Records Refresher Training has been postponed/cancelled. We encoura - ge all employees to view the following 22-minute Youtube video to give yourself a refresher as well as the Prezi video presentation for sharepoint tips. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Nichelle Cunningham, Recor - ds Coordinator at extension 136. Nichelle is in the office every Tuesday. Records Refresher Training (with audio voiceover): https:// youtu.be/JC62MRyPTbQ Sharepoint Tips (Must be opened in Chrome or Edge): htt- ps://prezi.com/view/hXofLZyVeCvPG7XDgnYi/

students. Alex Solis is working with the Communications & Development team; Claire Carlson is working along - side the EAHCP team and Aaron Fe - leke and Branden Williams will be as - sisting our IT team. We are excited to have them join our EAA family!

HOW TO USE BOOLEAN OPERATORS IN SHAREPOINT SEARCH

Today I want to introduce you to a trick that I hope will make your SharePoint search results more relevant. As you migrate all the content from file shares and other

becomes super important to find exactly what you are looking for. So with this post, I would like to introdu - ce you to Boolean Operators in SharePoint search and explain how they can improve your SharePoint Search experience and explain how they can improve your SharePoint Search experience. keep reading > Link to full article: https://sharepointmaven.com/how- to-use-boolean-operators-in-sharepoint-search/

VIRTUAL OPPORTUNITIES The EAA participated in two virtual career fairs in September. UTSA’s STEM virtual career fair held through Handshake on September 21, 2020 and the St. Mary’s Science, Engineering and Technology career fair on September 24, 2020. Our participation in these events demonstrated our support in serving the needs of

cloud platforms, Sha - rePoint becomes THE go-to place for all the documents, knowledge base Wikis, and other content. And given the exponentially growing amount of content, it

Photos: Caroline Strong receiving EAA stainless steel straws, hightlighters, pencils and koozies.

our partners while promoting the EAA’s internship program. Students have responded well to this new environment and are excited to hear about the opportunities an EAA interns - hip can provide as they work one-on-one with employers for guidance and hiring tips.

S t a y up to date with the latest job vacan- cies and scheduled career fairs by visiting the Calen- dar of Events directly on the EAA Careers page.

HOW SHAREPOINT ONLINE RECYCLE BIN WORKS Are you ready to have a trash talk? In this post, I will be talking about SharePoint Online Recycle Bin. I blogged about it a while back, but a lot has changed since then, so I would like to share with you, my loyal blog followers, the new updates as well tips and tricks you must be aware of when using the Recycle Bin within the context of the Modern Sites. When I wrote an article on the Recycle Bin 5 years ago, we lived in the subsite world, with many sites sharing the same site collection. keep reading > Link to full article: https://sharepointmaven.com/how-sharepoint-online-recyc - le-bin-works/

Last month, the EAA collaborated with St. Mary’s University on conducting a virtual resume writing workshop and a virtual mock interview workshop for their students. These events took place on September 21st and 22nd and provided students the opportunity to work one-on-one with employers for guidance and hiring tips.

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Fall 2020

Anniversaries We would like to recognize and congratulate this quarter’s EAA anniversaries. Thank you for your service and we wish you many more successful years ahead! Name Date Of Hire Recognized at Board Years of Service Ned Troshanov 09/11/2000 10/13/2020 20 Years Joey Tovar 09/14/2015 10/13/2020 5 Years Gizelle Luevano 11/14/2000 12/8/2020 20 Years Deadlines and Events October 02 Timesheets Due October 07 Coping through financial times October 09 Payday October 15 EAAVirtual Staff Meeting via Zoom October 16 Timesheets Due October 22 Sparking Self-Motivation Workshop October 23 Payday October 30 Timesheets Due November 06 Payday November 04 The Evaluation Process for Supervisors November 11 Veteran’s Day - EAA Closed November 12 EAAVirtual Staff Meeting via Zoom November 13 Timesheets Due November 18 The Evaluation process for Non-Supervisors November 20 Payday November 25 Timesheets Due November 26 Thanksgiving Day - EAA Closed November 27 Day after Thanksgiving - EAA Closed December 04 Payday December 10 EAAVirtual Staff Meeting via Zoom December 11 Timesheets Due December 15 2020 Year-End Responsibilities December 18 Payday December 22 Timesheets Due December 23 Day before Christmas Eve - EAA Closed 4th Quarter Birthdays Angela Desiree Rizzo October 8 Jennifer Adkins-Schudrowitz October 8 Brock Curry October 10 Jeff Robinson October 10 Olivia Ybarra October 16 Damon Childs October 17 Kyle Craig October 18 Changbing Yang October 20 Roger Andrade October 24 Breanna Sauceda October 27 Charles Crawford October 27 Brent Doty November 7 Jim Winterle November 9 Hilda Campos November 9 Teresa Montez November 18 Jorge Paramo November 21 Deana Watson November 24 Branndon Trigg November 28 Marc Friberg November 29 Kahne Mia Cobarrubias November 30 Ricardo Fonseca December 8 Brenda Davis December 8 Matthew Cota December 10 Roland Ruiz December 14 Dalia Reinders December 15 Hakan Basagaoglu December 15 Stephanie Rosendahl December 18 Latifah Jackson December 19 Jesse Chadwick December 22 Jim Boenig December 31 December 24 Christmas Eve - EAA Closed December 25 Christmas Day - EAA Closed December 31 Payday

New Hires

Michael Paulson - Intern

Michael joined our IT department on August 31, 2020. Michael is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science de - gree in Computer Science from Texas State University with an expected graduation date of December 2021.

Charles Crawford - Data Collection Supervisor

Charles “Chuck” joined the Data Management department on September 8, 2020 and comes to the EAA with over 9

years of experience in data collection and management. Chuck received his Bachelor of Science degree in Geogra - phy from Texas State University. Prior to joining the EAA, Chuck worked at the Texas Water Development Board where he held the position of Program

Maegan Martinez - Intern

Maegan joined our Communications & Development division on August 31, 2020. Maegan graduated with a

Julia joined the Communications & Development division on September 9, 2020. Julia is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Bu - siness Administration with a concen- tration in Marketing from Trinity Uni - versity with an expected graduation date of May 2021. Angela joined our Information Tech - nology department on September 8, 2020. Angela is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Compu - ter Science from the Alamo Colleges/ University of Texas at San Antonio and is expected to complete her degree in 2022. Julia Hyun - Intern Lilianna joined our Modeling depart - ment on September 8, 2020. Lilianna is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Enginee - ring from the University of Texas at San Antonio with an expected gradua - tion date of May 2022. Bachelor of Science degree in Bio - logy from Texas A&M International University and is currently pursuing a Master of Science degree in Environ - mental Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio. She is expected to graduate in the Fall of 2021.

Supervisor. Currently, Chuck is supervising the EAA data collection activities and staff that support scientific investi - gations and technical analysis. Matthew Cota - Electronics Techncian Matthew “Matt” joined the External & Regulatory Affairs division on October 5, 2020 and comes to the EAA with

Lilianna Gutierrez - Intern

over 6 years of experience in environ - mental monitoring and devices. Matt received his Bachelor of Science de - gree in Environmental Science from Southern New Hampshire University. Prior to joining the EAA, Matthew worked at High Sierra Electronics

Inc., where he held the position of Senior Field Technician. Currently, Matt is performing installations and repairs of remote gauging systems along with other projects within the Field Inspection department.

Angela Rizzo - Intern

Kahne Cobarrubias - Intern

Kahne joined our Aquifer Science de - partment on September 8, 2020. Kah - ne is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science from the University of Texas at Austin with an expected graduation date of May 2021. Connor joined our Threatened & En - dangered division on September 8, 2020. Connor is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts degree in Environ - mental Studies from Trinity Universi - ty with an expected graduation date of May 2021.

Connor Helsel - Intern

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