APIA Scholars Programs Team Newsletter #5

WEEK OF November 7, 2022

Welcome to the Programs Team Newsletter!

~Happy November~

Important Updates/Reminders:

November 11: Veteran's Day
November 23 (1 pm, Wednesday)-Nov. 25: Thanksgiving
December 23-January 2: The office will re-open for our hybrid work beginning January 3, 2023.
NEW team member! Ray Dominguez joined the APIA Scholars staff yesterday! Ray will be working with the Development department as a Development Associate. Ray, we are thrilled you’ve joined the team and look forward to you meeting the team through 1:1s and at our next staff meeting next week.
Noel was featured in the Ball State Foundation Blog! You can check out the blog here and read this impactful article featuring Noel’s leadership! Congrats to Noel on this feature with her alma mater!
Vacation/PTO: In order to plan for meetings and end of the year work projects, we are requesting all APIA Scholars staff review their remaining vacation/PTO hours and submit vacation/PTO requests for Nov. & Dec. to your supervisor by COB on Wednesday, November 9th for their review. Supervisors will then review the staffing needs of each department and respond with approvals/discussion/adjustments as needed.

Vacation time must be requested and approved through your supervisor. I have asked SLT for their department staffing plans during Thanksgiving week and the week before our office closes in December, so your supervisor will need time to review all of the requests before approving/making adjustments.
Unused vacation hours at APIA Scholars does not rollover from calendar year to year.
NEW: Staff will be able to roll over 5 days of unused PTO leave for use in the next calendar year (2023).
We are transitioning the title of our PTO (personal time off) leave to Personal Sick & Safe Leave (PSSL) although the yearly time allotment of days will remain the same.
Personal Sick & Safe Leave (PSSL). *Formerly referred to as PTO. You are not required to share your specific reason for using your PSSL time with anyone. However, when you do take personal/sick time you should give your manager as much advance notice as possible. PSSL may be used for the following:
1. Medical and dental appointments for yourself or family members
2. Your personal illness, or that of a member of your family.
3. Personal business that cannot be tended to outside of work hours (e.g., a house closing).
4. Social, legal or medical services related to stalking, domestic violence or sexual abuse.
5. Mental health day.
If you have questions about your current vacation/PSSL remaining hours for 2022, please reach out to Gulnara. As a reminder, with the audit starting next week there may be a delay in Gulnara’s response time so please allow plenty of time to check in with Gulnara on your remaining hours.
NEW for 2023: Michelle K. & Gulnara have been working on a new way of tracking our vacation/PSSL hours in Paychex. Starting in early 2023 staff will be requesting vacation/PSSL hours via Paychex. Stay tuned for more information from Michelle K. & Gulnara about this transition as we get closer to 2023! The transition will provide the following benefits:
1. Staff can access their vacation/PSSL balance at any time by logging into Paychex.
2. Ability to see all vacation/PSSL submitted for all staff at a glance through the calendar in Paychex, which will provide ease of planning.
3. This portal will also include tracking of timesheets for interns.

Question of the Week!

Drumroll Please!!

What's Spicy?

Weekly Priorities

What's Coming Up?

Upcoming Timeline of Events

Working Styles Check-In

Cultivating Gratitude & Joy: Letters of Love

Give/Receive Shoutouts

Share Any Memorable Pics!

Question of the Week!

Changes Every Week! :)

Do you prefer Daylight Savings Time (yes/no)? What are you looking forward to or not looking forward to? (click me)

Michelle Khlot:

"naur. time isn't real"

Christina Lambert:

"This is a great question but I don't ever remember which is which. Honestly if it could be sunny from 6am-8pm I would be happy, but I know that's not possible."

Melvin Nguyen:

"No I hate it lol. I never really understood the concept behind it and why we do it. It always messes with my equilibrium and schedule."

Ryan Nguyen:

"I'm not a huge fan with Daylight savings because I prefer sunrise and sunset to happen later! I usually go for a late night walk and coming across the sunset is always a treat for me. I also feel like my day lasts much longer.. I'm not sure if others relate or think otherwise!"

Shyam Gadwal:

"I hear that folks are more prone to being involved in accidents because of the time change. Also, it confuses me in general, I appreciate the intention but I see it as a tool of capitalism. Overall Daylight Savings Time is a no."

Cindy Luo:

"I look forward to it when we "fall" back, but I don't like that this means it gets dark at 5pm T.T."

What's Spicy Right Now?

List your top 1-3 priorities for the week!

If not applicable, share a few thoughts (positive/negative) about current and ongoing tasks.

Getting Priorities Straight! (click me)

Michelle Khlot:

Survey review

Ryan Nguyen:

Schedule and conduct reflection interviews with SIF 2022 Alumni
Develop timeline draft for new iteration of SIF
Develop MarComm draft to submit to Bryan for new iteration of SIF
Develop info brochure draft for new iteration of SIF

Shyam Gadwal:

High-level strategy outline for departments with Julie and Michelle

Christina Lambert:

1. Preparing for our NSC upload to ensure our student records are accurate
2. Working with individual emergency fund situations
3. Continuing to build out our yearly calendar and future goals

Melvin Nguyen:

Collect bios and photos for the Indigenous Perspectives in STEM panel.
Finalizing career development session(s) to offer in December and create project management plan
Brainstorm format/ideas for November Newsletter.

Cindy Luo:

1. Survey Review
2. Emergency Fund Calls
3. High Priority Scholar Outreach

What's Coming Up?

What's on the APIA Scholars calendar for you this week and next week?

Any important announcements and/or meetings?

Are there relevant updates within the current/upcoming month such as planned conferences, vacations, or PTO?

Upcoming on Your Radar! (click me)

Cindy Luo:

Ryan Nguyen:

Shyam Gadwal:

11/10 -- Ryan, Michelle C, and I are having lunch with the UCDC folks to learn how we partner on this awesome internship program
11/12 -- Sierra will be discussing APIA Scholars scholarships at the APA Next Education event
12/5 and 12/6 -- APIA Scholars Board meeting
1/2-1/13 -- Noel, Stacy, and Florie will be visiting Hawaii and Guam

Christina Lambert:

I am on call for jury duty starting November 7th so hopefully I won't be called...

Melvin Nguyen:

Michelle Khlot:

11/3 cindy check in

Weekly Working Styles Check-In (click me)

How would you rate your success at work this week?Net Promoter Score.

Here, success is defined by you! On a scale of 1-10, with 1 being entirely unsuccessful and 10 being completely successful, please provide a rating that best describes how you feel.

*Note from Ryan - Given the transition into the 4 day workweek, I designed this question in efforts to better understands the needs of our Programs team!

Cindy Luo:

5
No comment.

Ryan Nguyen:

5
I'm a bit behind in where I want to be with SIF brainstorming, but hopefully meeting with SIF 2022 Alumni and collaborating with Shyam will reignite some new thoughts and motivation.

Shyam Gadwal:

6
Finding the headspace to think and write was a little more difficult, but I'm carving time.

Christina Lambert:

7
I've had more time without meetings to be able to get project work done!

Melvin Nguyen:

7
No comment.

Michelle Khlot:

8
No comment.

Cultivating Gratitude & Joy: Letters of Love

Check out the shout-outs/appreciation-notes and fun/memorable moments with members of the Programs Team!

This is nice space to reflect, share, and celebrate the small/big wins achieved for the week!

Christina Lambert

"Christina -- thanks for discussing some big picture ideas, your thoughts are extremely valuable and influential" - Shyam

"Christina -- Your check-in's, encouragements, and updates have been so helpful and thoughtful <3" - Cindy

Cindy Luo

"Cindy-I really appreciate that we have the same rapport over chat or over a video call, whether its checking in or moving work forward I really like any time we can connect!" -Christina

"Cindy -- awesome progress on the renewal survey review, it's so important to be able to react and respond to what Scholars share with us" - Shyam

Melvin Nguyen

"Melvin-You are consistently reminding us to get new branded items and play music so I promise, I will address at least one of those things." -Christina

"Melvin -- Happy (almost) 1 month at APIA Scholars! Thank you for your vivacity, enthusiasm, and great ideas :) Excited for us to continue to rebuild our programs." - Cindy

"Melvin -- when you shared you took a note from a peer mentor and translated it to the emergency fund it made my heart jump, that's what we envisioned with this new process" - Shyam

Michelle Khlot

"Michelle-I know this was a little bit ago but thank you for introducing us to Cheetos the cat. Or is it Cheeto? Either way, always appreciate seeing the furry co-workers!" -Christina

"Michelle -- I hope you're having ball with your housemate's cats, I'm sure they are having a ball too" -Shyam

Ryan Nguyen

"Ryan-I appreciate the amount of detail and care you put into this newsletter! I've noticed that it's in a more accessible format than previously for me, and I am excited to fill it out each week." -Christina

"Ryan -- thanks for keeping me honest with the newsletter submissions, I hope being in Irvine was energizing and I'm sure your grandmother loved seeing you as a surprise" - Shyam

Shyam Gadwal

"Shyam-Thank you for all of our great conversations this week! I think we can really move some ideas along when we can connect about them." -Christina

"happy birthday Shyam!" -Michelle

Programs Team Shoutouts!

"Hi Programs Team! Thank you so much for taking the time to fill out these Newsletter Submission Forms and finding space to check out what these Newsletter entails. I really enjoy checking the responses to the question of the week, the gratitude messages, and the photo submissions of what keeps you all grounded! I hope you all are enjoying them too :) I look forward to the next upcoming few weeks in November together! P.S. I added this new dropdown if folks want to make a shoutout for the entire Programs Team so feel free to add in individual gratitude messages, a holistic shoutout, or even both." -Ryan

"Shoutout to entire programs team for piloting the new format for meetings and working sessions." - Melvin

All that is Good and Great!

See what the Programs Team has been up to!!

A safe space to share photos of what was aesthetically pleasing, captivating, inspiring, and interesting this week or last week!

Christina's Vibes

"This is my niece April in her Halloween outfit :)"

Ryan's Vibes

"It was areally nice eating with Michelle C., Andrea, and Danny at Nooshi (I got the kimchi fried rice in a hot stone pot - so good)! I also went for a little walk around DC the night of Halloween and on a random break from working, I went to the Botanical Gardens (where I got a nice sticker to add to my flask) :)"

Shyam's Vibes

"I took my cousin's kids to the arcade. It's been a while since I've been, but I still have my mario kart skills. Yippee!"

Melvin's Vibes

"Rosemary-Pear Soda :-)"

Cindy's Vibes

"Had a relaxing autumn weekend in DC, and finally tried Chiko's dim sum brunch with Andrea :)"

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