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Welcome to the May 2023 staff newsletter from the USC Dornsife Office of Administration and Finance. Here you will find updates, opportunities, and important announcements.
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OFFICE OF THE VICE DEAN
Commencement, New Staff, Fiscal Year End
Dear colleagues,
First, I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to our USC Dornsife Class of 2023 and to all our staff who are graduating from a USC program this year. Commencement is a time to reflect on all the hard work needed to complete a program, the newfound skills and knowledge gained — and then to truly celebrate! In addition, thank you to all who are involved in supporting our commencement events — you make our events incredibly memorable not only for all of us but especially for our students and their loved ones.
Next, we’re excited to welcome Jackie Domingo to the business services team. Jackie joins the USC Dornsife Business Services team as a budget technician. Her background is in human resources working primarily with non-profit organizations. In her previous role as an HR generalist, she managed employee records, benefits administration, and onboarding efforts, and helped lead the implementation of a new HRIS system for the organization.
I also want to extend a warm welcome to Shakira Holt, new program manager in the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging, who brings a wealth of knowledge and operational expertise to the office. You'll find more information about Shakira below.
Lastly, please remember that the fiscal year-end is approaching. Fiscal year-end key dates have been announced and our teams will soon be in touch with more information, but in the meantime please remember to submit your requisitions and reimbursements early to allow for this year's business processes to occur in a timely manner.
— Renee J. Perez, Vice Dean, Administration and Finance
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OFFICE OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING
Introducing Shakira Holt, Program Manager
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Shakira Holt, she/her, has recently joined the USC Dornsife Office of DEIB as program manager. She brings to this role nearly 25 years of experience as an educator, as well as leadership skills honed both in and beyond the classroom.
Most recently, she served as the district equity officer for Centinela Valley Union High School District. In addition to providing the guiding vision for the work of the Equity Team, she was responsible for gathering and analyzing data, developing DEI content for district faculty and staff, fostering positive and productive connections between the Equity Team and others, and leading the planning of a yearly equity symposium.
In 1999, Shakira earned her bachelor's degree in English from CSU Dominguez Hills. Shortly thereafter, she entered the Ph.D. program in English here at USC, beginning her journey as a Trojan. She earned her master's in English along the way to the doctorate and completed her studies in 2009.
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Spot Awards
Michele Dea
Operations Manager, Chemistry
“I am nominating Michele for this Spot Award because she embodies the true meaning of what collegiality and teamwork are made of! I know I can count on Michele in a pinch whenever our department poster printer is on the brink (almost always!). I know how busy she is, and yet, when our grad students require a printed poster — at the very last minute, of course — Michele is always quick to reply to our request knowing they need the poster ASAP for a conference. She never said, ‘I can’t’ or ‘I’ll get to this later,’ and she tackles any printing issues or problems with grace and kindness.” —Christina Tasulis Williams
Kellie Spafford
Laboratory Coordinator, USC Wrigley Institute
“This month alone she’s worked through the logistics of getting our old scintillation counter barged off the island and looking for funding to upgrade equipment. On top of all of this, she is constantly supporting a flux of researchers from inside and outside of USC, touring students around the facilities, maintaining laboratory equipment, working with Lightworks on upgrading lecture spaces, and so much more. Kellie is the hardest worker I know, and people from all departments around campus (facilities, hospitality, admin, education, faculty as well as the lab team) look to her for advice in one form or another. She is the glue that makes this campus run smoothly.” —Victoria Sperow
Tom Russo
Facilities Attendant, USC Wrigley Institute
“The reason we want to put Tom up for a Spot Award is because during this incredibly ‘dynamic’ winter at WMSC Tom has been going above and beyond in every way. We have been pummeled by emergency after emergency in facilities and constant understaffing in hospitality. Tom’s entire time at WMSC, he has been a team player and been MORE than willing to help anyone and do whatever task he is asked to do. No matter what it has been this winter, be it a sewage line rupturing, a dishwasher quitting unexpectedly, our roads washing out, sewage pumps failing, etc. (it has been a HARD few months out on Catalina…), Tom was always, ‘How can I help?’"—John Heidelberg and Butch Nealson
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Friday, May 12: Volunteer to support the Class of 2023 at the USC Dornsife Satellite Ceremonies. Sign up here >>
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OFFICE OF DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING
APIFSA at USC by Dr. Quade French, Associate Dean and Chief Diversity Officer
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In continuing to use this platform to forge new connections across USC Dornsife, the Office of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging (DEIB) is showcasing the work of Grace Ryu, she/her, (Associate Director, USC Dornsife East Asian Studies Center) and Linda Truong, she/her, (Senior Director, Information Technology with the USC Libraries) in the creation and ongoing leadership of the USC Asian Pacific Islander Faculty and Staff Association (APIFSA).
One of the most challenging elements of DEIB programming is not in getting things started, but in keeping them going. Interest and involvement tend to quickly fade as the energy and spirit that rallies and motivates, is slowly replaced by the tasks and routines of work and life. This is precisely why the fact that APIFSA is still going strong several years after its founding in 2021 is such an impressive achievement in the DEIB space. We asked Grace Ryu and Linda Truong to reflect on their work with APIFSA since its inception.
“When we texted each other back in March 2021 to start an API organization at USC, we had no idea that launching such an organization would generate the response that it did and be what it is today (currently at 400 members!),” remarked the pair of leaders. They credit the success of the organization to both the interest and participation of USC faculty and staff, and to the organizational infrastructure that they intentionally created from the beginning. Linda and Grace reflected on the importance of identifying leadership for the organization and creating committees so that ownership and responsibility for the success of the effort belonged to many. This emphasis on infrastructure is often overlooked when groups are first motivated to start a DEIB initiative, but to move from simple performativity to truly impact a community, a group needs more than passion, they need organization.
Their lasting success was evident in 2023 following the targeting of the API community in a shooting in Monterey Park. Grace and Linda recall that following the shooting, the organization was contacted by President Folt to consult about the proper response at USC to support the API community. “Because we set up the infrastructure at the start, we were able to pivot very quickly and support our community in the wake of these tragedies.” Moreover, APIFSA has partnered with the USC Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion under Christopher Manning to help bring about continued dialogue and organizational change.
Still, Grace and Linda recognize that the continued success of the organization is dependent on new leadership stepping forward, which is challenging for an all-volunteer organization. They share that they are grateful to Megan Chao (adjunct instructor, USC Annenberg) who has agreed to serve as Chair-elect next year. Yet, they acknowledge that for the organization to continue, more individuals will need to step up to serve. When asked how they are steering APIFSA forward in their final year as co-chairs, they share, “We want to make sure we stay relevant and advocate for the ongoing and evolving needs of our community. We have been partnering this past year with various DEIB officers and committees in all units throughout USC to share with them the API Empowered! Campaign and look forward to working with Dornsife’s DEIB office in our shared mission at USC.”
This focus on organizational infrastructure, policy, and practice can serve as an important blueprint for others seeking to be a part of the changes at USC toward equity and inclusion. Community takes work and commitment. The lasting success of APIFSA highlights the importance of taking spirited motivation and channeling it through a structured and organized effort to connect with relevant USC offices as a partner for change.
We thank Grace Ryu and Linda Truong for their work in amplifying the voices of the API community at USC and encourage anyone interested to contact them for more information:
Website: https://apifsa.usc.edu/
Email: apifsa@usc.edu
Instagram: @usc.apifsa
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TYt29goSvA&feature=emb_imp_woyt
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OFFICE OF CREATIVE CONTENT UPDATE
USC Dornsife Website Redesign Project
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Redesigned USC Dornsife website launches this week
After more than a decade without a significant update to the design of the USC Dornsife website, we’ve had some work done. The USC Dornsife website is relaunching this week with a complete design overhaul. But we’re not just focused on looks.
The new site includes:
- A simplified site organization that’s easier to navigate
- Adoption of WordPress for our content management system (CMS), which will be more secure, easier to operate, and more flexible than our previous CMS
- Design that meets ADA accessibility standards, a federal requirement that websites are designed to be accessible for people with disabilities
- Improved search functionality within our site and enhanced ability for Google searches to find our content
- A library of website templates and tools that allow web administrators to easily customize their sites consistent with the USC Dornsife website design structure and brand guidelines
A community-wide effort
The launch of our new site is the culmination of an almost two-year process that relied on the input and hard work of many different people at USC Dornsife.
More than 200 website editors across the College have worked on this project to date. At launch, more than 70 department, center, institute, and office sites will move to the new website platform. We will continue to work with those who are still building their sites in WordPress to help them complete the migration from our old CMS to the new WordPress CMS in the coming months.
And with any project this large, we may have missed something. Spot a broken link or other error? Please send any corrections to webproject@dornsife.usc.edu.
Next steps
Now that we have completed the first phase of our website redesign, we will be working with faculty who have portfolio and lab/research sites on the old content management system to move their websites to WordPress. Our team will be in touch in the coming weeks with information about how to begin the process.
Thank you to everyone who is part of this project. We are grateful for your time and effort to help create a stellar web presence for USC Dornsife.
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IMAGINE PROGRAM UPDATE
Tips and Information for Workday Finance Systems Users
Pro Tip: Did you know you can use the requisition type validations to see the allowable and non-allowable spend categories for each requisition type? Learn more >
Tips & Tricks: Did you know you can have multiple windows open when working in Workday? If you are not working with a hyperlink, you can right-click on the current Workday tab and choose duplicate. Learn more >
Tip for Grant Worktags: Did you know there is a list for available and restricted spend categories on the grant worktag? Bookmark the list >
Get Personalized Support! Schedule a Workday Support Consultation via Zoom. Consultations can be a great option for those that want to schedule their time in advance, have multiple topics to cover, need to train new staff, or would like to screenshare with the support team while you work through a process. These 25 or 50-minute sessions are a great opportunity for one-on-one support >
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TECHNOLOGY SERVICES UPDATE Zoom Room Upgrades, Cloud Services, Tech Takeback Day
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Final wave of Zoom Room upgrades is underway
The final wave of Dornsife Zoom Room upgrades is underway and will be completed by the end of this summer. We have reached out to all departments whose rooms are part of this final wave.
If your department has a room in need of an upgrade and DTS hasn’t confirmed that it’s on our upgrade list, please email us ASAP so we can evaluate it.
Dornsife Cloud service for researcher storage
DTS is rolling out Dornsife Cloud, a new robust and scalable cloud-based research storage service aimed at researchers with significant storage capacity needs. Dornsife Cloud is built on the latest cloud technologies (Microsoft Azure), which offers high availability, durability, and security of your data. Dornsife Cloud is priced at cost at $30 per TB per month. Please email DTS for more information or for a consultation.
Thanks for joining us for Tech Takeback Day!
We received a tremendous turnout for Tech Takeback Day on Apr 21. Thank you for all of your donations and patience as we worked to accommodate the larger-than-expected crowd! Based on your feedback, we plan to streamline our processes and offer this event again in the future.
As a reminder, e-waste collection is a service offered by DTS year-round. If you still have USC-owned equipment to recycle, please fill out this form and DTS can arrange for an on-campus pickup: Return/E-waste equipment >
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WE'RE HIRING!
Open Positions at USC Dornsife
Help us identify great candidates to join the Trojan Family! Please share these job postings with anyone you think would be interested. While the university has instituted a hiring freeze, the positions posted have been deemed essential and approved by the university administration.
Are you applying for a USC transfer or promotion? If the link is no longer active, the position may no longer be available. Learn more >
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Wednesday, May 3, 12–12:50 pm: Courage to Go Forward. This kick-off session will highlight the many benefits and support resources available to USC faculty and staff to improve mental health and well-being and will include small group discussions.
Wednesday, May 10, 12–12:50 pm: Move Forward. This week learn about the latest research on the benefits of exercise on mental health and well-being and how you can take advantage of USC’s current programs and resources to strengthen your mind-body connection.
Wednesday, May 17, 12–12:50 pm: Spirit Moves. Approach your mental health holistically by leaning into spiritual resources for faculty and staff. First, we will highlight the latest research on the positive effects of meditation on mental health and well-being. Then, join us for a meditation session led by Mindful USC, and learn how USC can support your spiritual journey.
Wednesday, May 24, 12–12:50 pm: Community Moves. USC provides a culture of care and community to our students, faculty, and staff in support of their mental health journey. Learn ways to create peer support and a sense of belonging, build inclusion, and get involved in these efforts.
Wednesday, May 31, 12–12:50 pm: Coming Forward. Discover practical strategies for promoting psychological safety and belonging in your teams, strategies for finding the right therapist, and ways to incorporate compassion and self-care as you go forward and we conclude the series.
Register for the USC WorkWell five-week webinar series >
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Are you graduating this year? We’d love to feature you in our upcoming newsletter! If you are USC Dornsife staff and graduating from a program at USC this year, please let us know here. If you know of a staff member who is graduating, please encourage them to participate.
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May 10, 2 pm to 3:30 pm: USC Business Services will hold a Campus Forum. Topics discussed will include updates and best practices in: • Sustainable Purchasing • Supplier Risk Assessment • Fiscal Year End Closing Procedures
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