JOY DRIVE 2017- CALL FOR PARTICIPANTS!

Each year Childcare and Family Resources leads a Joy Drive to provide student families in need with gifts for the winter holiday season. They invite departments on campus to participate by sponsoring a family. The Research Office has participated in the Joy Drive for the past few years, providing gifts and a grocery store gift card for the family we sponsored. Jillian Coleman has offered to help coordinate the Research Office’s participation in the Joy Drive this year. In the past, we have asked people who are interested in participating to donate to a fund which will then be used to purchase gifts for the families. If you are interested in participating, please let Jillian know by November 7th. Participation involves making a donation in any amount you choose to help purchase the gifts. If you’d like to help with coordinating our participation or shopping, you can do that too. They are also accepting donations of wrapping paper, ribbons, tape, etc. Please feel free to contact Jillian with any questions.

 

ACCELERATOR IN THE NEWS

Advantage Accelerator earns top-10 ranking among U.S., Canadian incubators
The Oregon State University Advantage Accelerator has earned a top-10 ranking among business incubators in the U.S. and Canada by a leading online network for angel investing. Go Beavs! Read all about it here.

 

UPCOMING RO EVENTS!

Tuesday, 10/31: Don’t forget to bring a spooky treat, costume or attitude to our Halloween party in the Breezeway from 12-1pm! Prizes for the spookiest!

Thursday, 11/2: Join us in the MU Horizon Room from 2-5pm for our New Faculty Orientation. If you are hosting a speed dating table please drop handouts off with Jane ahead of the event (or bring them with you!).

 

TRAVEL PROCEDURE CHANGE FOR RO- IMPORTANT!

A Pre Approval Travel Request will be needed to be completed for any in-state and out-of-state travel. The Pre Approval Travel request will be needed for any part of travel for which you are seeking reimbursement. For example, if you are seeking reimbursement for conference registration only and no other additional travel related expenses, please complete the Pre Approval Travel Request prior to attending the conference. This Pre Approval form will serve as an approval from your supervisor to attend an OSU Business related travel activity and your release time from your regular OSU work schedule. We have created Orange RO Travel Envelopes; please feel free to take one of these with you as you embark upon your trip as they contain helpful reference materials. Within this Travel envelope you will find:
• Research Office Travel Envelope sheet that will have our contact information and explains the contents of the envelope
• An envelope for your receipts
• Travel Reference sheets
• Travel Reimbursement Form (feel free to complete by handwriting or typing)
These Travel Envelopes can be picked up from hanging travel boxes from the side of Ying’s desk in Kerr 322 or from Kerr 306 by the in & out going mail.

Upon return from your travel please make sure within 30 days (this allows for processing time to meet the OSU 60 day requirement) to submit your reimbursement form and receipts back to our Travel inbox which is hanging from the side of Ying’s desk in Kerr 322. You and your supervisor will then receive a DocuSign approval request to authorize your travel reimbursement.  In addition to an email that Jenn circulated on 10/19, you can also find these documents under the shared drive: \Travel procedures. If you have additional questions please let Kim, Ying, or Jenn know.

 

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

HAILS!

Nichole Havranek will be joining OSRAA’s Cash and Financial Management unit on October 31 (spooky!) as a Grant Accountant (Accountant 2).  She has over 18 years of Oregon State University governmental accounting experience, including overseeing multiple university fund types such as Service Center Funds, Auxiliary Funds, Loan Funds, Agency Funds, and Foundation Funds.  She has experience interpreting and applying the unique policies and procedures that govern each fund type, and has worked in various university settings including department, central, and business center offices. Nichole brings a strong customer service focus as well as policy and contract compliance experience, and she will make a great addition to the CFM team. Please help us welcome, Nichole!

 

SAVE THE DATE!- RO HALLOWEEN PARTY 10/31, 12-1pm

Come one, come all to the Halloween Party… It will be held on between 12, 12 Bats… Ahh Ahh Ahh and 1, 1 1 Pumpkin Ahh Ahh Ahh.  Bring your favorite Spooky Halloween treat to share among the other ghouls, ghosts and goblins… It is unforeseen, but the Count himself will bring some Scary things as well…  Meet in the Hallway on the 3rd floor on Halloween, but beware of the bats in the belfry… Ahh Ahh Ahh.  Be there… or be SCARED!!!

WHEN/WHERE: 12-1pm on 10/31 in the 3rd flr breezeway

TIPS: Bring a treat if you’d like (optional)…the treats do not need to be desert specific, can be any potluck item. There will be prizes for the spookiest and tastiest treats.

This message brought to you by the RO Party Committee, and the letter S.

 

PARKING ON THURSDAY, 10/26- LOTS CLOSE AT 1pm

As most of you are already aware, most lots near Kerr will be closing at 1pm on on 10/26 for a football game. We realize the challenges this may present to those of you that drive to work. Please work with your supervisor to determine your plan for that day. Reminder that there is a free parking lot at the Benton County Fairgrounds and travel back and forth to campus in a courtesy shuttle. The shuttle will run from 4:30 a.m. through three hours after the game ends. Campus residents with parking permits will have uninterrupted access to R Zone lots throughout the day and night on Oct. 26. MOST IMPORTANTLY, THANKS FOR YOUR FLEXIBLITY!!!

Here are a few things to know and options for commuting to the Corvallis campus on Oct. 26:

• Parking flexibility. On Oct. 26, OSU parking permit holders can park in any commuter zone (Zones A, B, C and D) on campus.  However, cars belonging to employees in the orange lots on the linked map must be removed by 1 p.m. that day.
• Fairgrounds shuttle service. Instead of parking on campus on Oct. 26, utilize a free parking lot at the Benton County Fairgrounds and travel back and forth to campus in a courtesy shuttle. The shuttle will run from 4:30 a.m. through three hours after the game ends.
• Public transit. We encourage employees to use local transit to travel to and from campus. For details about routes and times of service, please see the Corvallis Transit System website.
• OSU Beaver Bus shuttle service will operate from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Oct. 26

 

WESTERN REGION OF NSF I CORP NODES AND SITES UPDATE

Karl Mundorff hosted the Western Region of NSF I Corps Node and Sites.  OSU had representative from the two regional nodes IN LA which includes USC, UCLA and CalTech, the Bay Area node which includes Stanford, Berkley and UCSF, UW, WSU and UC Merced. The group worked on ways to work together to influence federal and state level economic development, national agency innovation policy and ways to collaborate on programs and resources. Gust – is an online platform where startups (typically looking for funding but also looking for team members and other needs) list themselves.  The 2016 Regional US & Canada Accelerator Report is out and the OSU AA was the eight most active (by volume not deployment of investment dollars) Accelerator across the US and Canada.  Thanks for your leadership, Karl! More info here.

 

PHOTO OF THE WEEK- RO TIC TAC TOE YEARBOOK vol. 1

REMINDER: NEW FACULTY ORIENTATION- NOV. 2, 2-5pm

Our agenda for the New Faculty Orientation on Thursday, Nov. 2 from 2-5pm in the MU Horizon Room is coming together and will look fairly similar to last year’s. You should have received a calendar invite update with the agenda in the body of the email. I will circulate a final agenda as we get closer. As always, RO staff is encouraged to attend as much of the event as possible. The panel discussion should be a good one! Please remember to give all handout materials for the “speed dating” tables to Jane as early as possible the week of 10/30.  While it’s not imperative that RO Staff RSVP for the event, it wouldn’t hurt for catering headcount so please do take a moment to confirm your attendance here. Contact Jane Cigarran with any questions!

 

FLU SEASON IS UPON US- FLU SHOTS AVAILABLE ON CAMPUS

Get your flu vaccine and help us build herd immunity at OSU. Faculty, staff and students are eligible! Bring your ID and insurance card and wear short sleeves if possible. Many insurance plans are accepted. Cash price is $30. All flu clinics will be held in the MU Journey Room from 10 a.m.- 3 p.m. on the following dates: Thurs., Oct. 19; Wed., Oct. 25; and Tues., Nov. 7. Protect the Herd! Get your flu shot. Sponsored by PEBB.

 

EARTHQUAKE PREPAREDNESS- OCT. 19th SHAKE OUT

Join other OSU faculty, staff, and students in the Great Oregon Shake Out!On October 19 at 10:19 am, join the rest of Oregon and the nation and Drop, Cover, and Hold-On for 60 seconds to simulate the response to an earthquake. Folks in the RO are encourage to participate but of course we understand that it might not be possible given busy schedules. Either way, check out details on quake preparedness here.

 

NETWORK OUTAGE ON SAT. OCT. 14

Network Services contacted us today requesting approval for a building-wide network outage from 7:00 – 8:00 AM next Saturday, October 14 so they can switch the Kerr network over to the new building router.   Please let me know by Monday at noon if there is any reason they should not proceed as planned.

 

PHOTO OF THE WEEK