Rangers at Work, December 2017 | Page 1 [email protected] | 512.462.5321 December 2017 Human Resources & Sign Language Julie Dodd Human Resources Director Cristina Hernandez Payroll Officer Rudy Gomez Time and Leave Specialist Michelle Anderson Benefits Coordinator Dirk Albrecht Staff Support Specialist Phillip Darce’ Employment & Compensation Specialist Yassirah Escobar Certification Specialist Rosalinda Rivera Administrative Services Coordinator/Payroll Assistant Wess Smith Sign Language & Assessment Coordinator Cass Bertling Sign Language Instructor WHAT’S INSIDE Personnel Policy Spotlight: New Staff to Staff Fraternization Policy 1 Preparing for Return to Work Aſter Winter Break 1 Reminder: Health Insurance: Health Select BCBS 2 Calendar Of Events 2 Vacant Positions 3 Quote of the Month 3 December New Hires 4 December Transfers 4 December Promotions 4 Exiting Rangers 4 Sign Language Corner: Fun Facts 5 Now You Know: Do & Don’ts 5 PERSONNEL POLICY SPOTLIGHT: NEW STAFF TO STAFF FRATERNIZATION POLICY PREPARING FOR RETURN TO WORK AFTER WINTER BREAK Many of us look forward to Winter Break and at the time of this writing, many of you are already doing preparations for shopping, family gatherings, trips, heavy foods, sweets, festivities, and more shopping (resulting in empty wallets). When all is said and done we will be saying things like, “If only we had a few more days to recuperate.”; “Ugh, I do not want to get up early in the morning”; or even “I’ll be glad to get back to my routine!”. It is always difficult to return to work aſter a long respite/vacation. WebMD states that when we go on vacation from work, our sleep schedule becomes unregulated and trying to return to a normal schedule may be stressful. With prior planning before going on break and during break, we can actu- ally get some rest and be ready to return to work as if you had not leſt. Here are a few tips that will help us achieve this. Workplace relationships, be they friendship or romantic are a natural consequence of working with others. We oſten spend more time with our co-workers in a day than we do with those we don’t work with and bonds form. ese are all good things for both the employer and the employees, on and off the job, most of the time. ere can also be some downsides to the rela- tionships we form at work, particularly if it is a romantic relationship. ings like personal arguments bleeding into the work hours, jealou- sy, and office gossip and when the relationship ends on a less than positive note. All of these can impact the parties and those around them. ey can also lead to work performance issues and complaints. To provide clarity regarding responsibilities related to staff–staff relation- ships, TSD adopted Board Policy DHJ, Staff-Staff Fraternization at the ~ continued on page 6 ~ continued on page 3
Personnel Policy Spotlight: New Staff to Staff Fraternization Policy 1Preparing for Return to Work After Winter Break 1Reminder: Health Insurance: Health Select BCBS 2Calendar Of Events 2Vacant Positions 3Quote of the Month 3December New Hires 4December Transfers 4December Promotions 4Exiting Rangers 4Sign Language Corner: Fun Facts 5Now You Know: Do & Don’ts 5
PERSONNEL POLICY SPOTLIGHT: NEW STAFF TO STAFF FRATERNIZATION POLICY
PREPARING FOR RETURN TO WORK AFTER WINTER BREAKMany of us look forward to Winter Break and at the time of this writing, many of you are already doing preparations for shopping, family gatherings, trips, heavy foods, sweets, festivities, and more shopping (resulting in empty wallets). When all is said and done we will be saying things like, “If only we had a few more days to recuperate.”; “Ugh, I do not want to get up early in the morning”; or even “I’ll be glad to get back to my routine!”.
It is always difficult to return to work after a long respite/vacation. WebMD states that when we go on vacation from work, our sleep schedule becomes unregulated and trying to return to a normal schedule may be stressful. With prior planning before going on break and during break, we can actu-ally get some rest and be ready to return to work as if you had not left. Here are a few tips that will help us achieve this.
Workplace relationships, be they friendship or romantic are a natural consequence of working with others. We often spend more time with our co-workers in a day than we do with those we don’t work with and bonds form. These are all good things for both the employer and the employees, on and off the job, most of the time.
There can also be some downsides to the rela-tionships we form at work, particularly if it is a romantic relationship. Things like personal arguments bleeding into the work hours, jealou-sy, and office gossip and when the relationship ends on a less than positive note. All of these can impact the parties and those around them. They can also lead to work performance issues and complaints.
To provide clarity regarding responsibilities related to staff–staff relation-ships, TSD adopted Board Policy DHJ, Staff-Staff Fraternization at the
~ continued on page 6
~ continued on page 3
Rangers at Work, December 2017 | Page 2
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
First Aid/CPR/AED (for selected staff)December 7, 2017 1:00 PM to 4:00 PMDeaf Smith Center Training
EAP Training--Emotionally Intelligent TeamsJanuary 23, 2018 8:30 AM to 9:30 AMLecture Hall Training
Medication AdministrationJanuary 25, 2018 1:30 PM to 2:30 PMLecture Hall Training
EAP Training--Decision Making TeamsFebruary 13, 2018 8:30 AM to 9:30 AMLecture Hall Training
EAP Training--Defusing Hostile CustomersMarch 06, 2018 1:30 PM to 2:30 PMLecture Hall Training
Medication AdministrationMarch 22, 2018 9:00 AM to 10:00 AMLecture Hall Training
SORM--Driving SafetyMarch 28, 2018 8:00 AM to 12:00 PMMPR Training
EAP Training--Problem SolvingApril 10, 2018 3:30 PM to 4:30 PMMPR Training
First Aid/CPR/AED (for selected staff)April 12, 2018 1:00 PM to 4:00 PMMPR Training
This is a reminder for employees who have HealthSelect through BlueCross BlueShield of Texas. Deductibles will start over on January 1, 2018.
This means you will have to pay the $50 deductible per person for prescriptions before benefits are paid.
If you use In-Network Providers, there are no deductibles that you will need to pay for services. For Non-Network services, there is a $500 deductible for individuals and a $1500 deductible for the family.
When you pay for new prescription or have your current prescription filled after January 1, 2018, you may notice that you are paying higher than what you expected. This is when you are paying for the first $50 to meet the deduct-ible.
REMINDER: HEALTH INSURANCE: HEALTH SELECT BCBS
Rangers at Work, December 2017 | Page 3
Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.
~Henry Ford
QUOTE OF THE MONTH
VACANT POSITIONS• Admission Specialist• ARD/IEP Faciliator• Behavior Support Coordinator HS/MS/CTE• ECE/Elementary Teacher• Director of Instruction • Public Information Officer• High School Teacher Assistant• Security Officer--Part Time
To apply go to
www.tsd.state.tx.us/jobs/
• Student Development Assistant• Substitue Behavior Assitant• Substitute Audiologist• Substitue Speech Language Pathologist• Substitute Speech Language Pathologist Assistant• Registrar
October 2017 Board meeting. Our policy does not prohibit relationships between employees unless there is a direct reporting relationship.
TSD’s policy states that supervisors may not become ro-mantically involved with their direct reports. This includes dating and sexual relations. Managers should also avoid close friendships with individuals who report to them. A reporting relationship includes an individual who makes employment decisions for another (i.e. raises, promotions, demotions, terminations, etc.) Managers not in a direct report line with another TSD employee, for example they work in different divisions, should exercise caution about the impact of relationships with a non-reporting employee.
All staff should be aware that the standards of professional conduct must be followed at all times and that staff remain accountable for the performance of their job duties and their behavior in the workplace. Staff must ensure that their behavior does not open them up to claims of sexual harassment or favoritism or create dissension in the office as these destroy working relationships and are violations of TSD policy that may result in transfer or disciplinary action.
All staff should review and become familiar with the new policy. You will find a copy on our website at www.tsd.state.tx.us > About Us > Governing Board & Policies > Board Policies > Section D – Personnel.
Questions should be directed to Human Resources.
~ Personnel Spotlight-Staff-Staff Fraternization | continued from page 1
Rangers at Work, December 2017 | Page 4
DECEMBER NEW HIRES
Jose AmadorCoachAthletics
Mandy Castillo Night Residential EducatorStudent Life
Mohammad KhanPsychiatristHealth Services
Mikka Walters Night Residential EducatorStudent Life
Rebecca WashingtonTeacher AssistantECE/Elementary
Daniella Bernal CoachAthletics
Garrett Scott CoachAthletics
TSD proudly welcomes 7 new staff members to Ranger Nation as of 12/1/2017
DECEMBER TRANSFERS
Jordan Nasser SubstituteInstruction
Walter Schwall Night Residential EducatorStudent Life
1. How many countries in the world recognize sign language as the primary language of the deaf?
A. Out of 193 countries that use sign language, only 41 of them legally recognize sign language as the language of the deaf in their country by type of legislation. Legal recognition of sign languages in the world:
For more information go to: https://wfdeaf.org/news/resources/legal-recogni-tion-sign-languages-country/
B. United States is not listed for recognition of ASL as its legal language by law or any legal means:
For more information go to: https://wfdeaf.org/news/resources/legal-recogni-tion-sign-languages-country/
C. The Legal Recognition of Sign Languages by Continent:
- 4 out of 54 countries in Africa - 2 out of 44 countries in Asia- 2 out of 14 countries in Australia and Oceania- 26 out of 46 countries in Europe-1 out of 23 countries in North America (Mexico )-6 out of 12 countries in South America
For more information go to: https://wfdeaf.org/news/resources/legal-recogni-tion-sign-languages-continent/
2. How many sign language users and deaf people are there in the world?
A. 70 million deaf people in the world use sign language as primary mode of communication. It is also the first
SIGN LANGUAGE CORNER: FUN FACTSlanguage to many hearing people and deaf-blind.B. 360 million of world population (5%) have hearing loss of 40 Db or greater and 32 millions of them are children.
For more information go to: https://wfdeaf.org/human-rights/crpd/sign-language/http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs300/en/
3. How many signed languages are there in the world?
Since languages are constantly evolving, the numbers might not be accurate but as of September 2017, there are approximately 142 sign languages in the world.
For more information go to: https://nilservices.com/different-types-sign-language/ https://www.jw.org/en/chooselanguage?lo-cale=en&prefer=lang&docid=802013240
4. Where do we find signs for academic settings? Internet signs? Check out the websites below!
A. ASLCore- Vocabulary and Concepts in ASL in Philosphy, Literature, Biology, Physics, Chemistry and Engineering
For more information go to: https://aslcore.org/
B. HopesandFears shows article on how to sign some internet words such as Photo bomb, Emoji, Selfie, Duck-face, Screenshot, etc.
For more information go to: http://www.hopesandfears.com/hopes/now/inter-net/168477-internet-american-sign-language
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w.fa
cebo
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m/th
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NOW YOU KNOW: DO & DON’TS
Rangers at Work, December 2017 | Page 6
Make a List: Before you start your vacation, create a list of every project you are working on with its current status. Put all of this on paper. Leave yourself notes of what you are working on last, people you need to talk to, or issues you need to resolve and leave it for the future you to find.
Prioritize Your Work: From the list you created, priori-tize it by picking the top 6 tasks you need to start upon re-turn from vacation. This will give you a better and effective starting point no matter what happens.
Clean Up Your Workspace: File the paperwork, stu-dent papers, put items back to its proper place. Restock your necessities (paperclips, pens, clips, dry erase markers, etc.) Get the important documents labelled for follow up or review. Have your desk cleaned and this includes wiping down the desk, the keyboard, the monitor, the chair, and whatnot. This creates a sense of being prepared to return to a place that is clean indicating you are ready to work at a moment’s notice. (And preparing for those last-minute changes that seem to come up when we least expect it).
Get Plenty of Sleep: Before and while going back to work, make an effort to get your sleep schedule back on track. This way you can wake up refreshed and ready to be productive. Decide what you want to wear the night before and put everything you need (purse, wallet, keys, phone, TSD ID) in one location so you can have a smooth start in the morning.
Check your emails: The night before or upon returning to work, go through your emails first. This allows you to sift through the accumulated emails and find out what is important and address this. This brings you back into the loop and reduces the stress. You can either go through the email chronologically or organize it by subject or sender whichever helps you process information effectively.
Postpone your New Year Resolutions: While indulging yourself during break, we tend to create “new year’s” reso-lutions to do this or that. The suggestion is to postpone it by a week or two while adjusting to returning back to work from all of the activities you went through during break. Ease into your work schedule with light activities. After you have adjusted to the work schedule, by all means start your resolutions.
Start looking forward to your next vacation: This creates a positive outlook and something to look forward to while getting over post-Winter Break. Examples of upcom-ing vacations include Martin Luther King Day (long week-end) and Spring Break (one week break).
See you all after the Winter Break refreshed and ready!
