Message from UAAD President Charlotte Frank

UAAD President Charlotte Frank
UAAD President Charlotte Frank

As we head into November and the few remaining weeks of 2016, UAAD is planning well into 2017. February will be an exciting month as we will be celebrating our association’s 55th year at Founder’s Day February 15th, and February 8th we have scheduled what I will refer to as “An Hour with the Chancellor”. We will meet with Chancellor Green in the Gaughan Center, Unity Room from 12:30-1:30 pm. UNOPA members will be invited and together we will be discussing our role in providing a voice for staff at UNL and what might be considered best practices in including our organizations in the development of UNL’s strategic plan. Save this date as this is an extraordinary opportunity for us to meet personally with our new Chancellor!

October was a busy month as UAAD had a presence in HLC Reaccreditation Site Visit during the Criterion 5 resources, planning and institutional effectiveness session Oct 24th. Questions were posed by members of the panel regarding professional development opportunities for staff at UNL. This provided an opportunity to discuss our purpose which includes promoting professional development among our members as well as to serve as a university partner in contributing to service and outreach. On Oct 20th, UAAD was again represented at a meeting sponsored by Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department in which the topic focused on developing and implementing a tobacco-free campus policy. Panel members represented various organizations and businesses and included individuals from UNO and UNK where policies have been implemented. As a result of this initial meeting, a core group of individuals, with UAAD represented, are scheduled to begin discussions this month on how to address this issue at UNL.

The “All About You” Wellness event has wrapped up and UAAD had a booth at each of the four sessions. This gave us an opportunity to be present in the larger UNL community and market our association and the benefits of membership.

Our annual Graze & Mingle meeting/luncheon will be held Dec 21st at the Pixel Lab and Hub. Bill Nunez, Chief of Staff/Associate to the Chancellor, will be our presenter. There will be more to come as plans are being finalized for the luncheon.

November events are on the calendar and include the professional development workshop, Building on a Foundation of Strengths which will be held Nov 10th at NET. UAAD Connect is busy making plans for a meeting for all ambassadors, participants and members in late November. Nominations for Carl A. Donaldson and Floyd S. Oldt Awards is underway. The winners will be announced at the Founder’s Day luncheon Feb 15th. Community Outreach has announced their latest donation drives. These include Feed the Hungry for Open Shelf and Matt Talbot. Donations will also be collected for winter wear for People’s City Mission. The monthly meeting on Nov 16th meeting will feature Molly Nance, Public Relations Director, from the Water for Food Institute. We will meet 11:45 -1:00 in the Gaughan Center, Ubuntu Rm 202.

It’s a great time to be a UAAD member! We have gotten off to a busy start and with all of the activities and offerings thus far, the next several months will bring more of the same. Join us when you are able to do so and bring your friends and co-workers so they can find out what our association is all about. Stay tuned for these regular updates. More to come…

More about UAAD at http://uaad.unl.edu/welcome