Currently@Carleton

You and your guest are cordially invited to join your colleagues and friends at the annual holiday party in Severance Great Hall this Friday, December 9, from 3 to 5 p.m.

We want to remind all benefit-eligible employees to turn in your health renewal forms and your flexible spending account election forms for 2006 if you have not already done so. Even if you are not changing your health plan election for 2006 we require you to return the form. Flexible spending account election forms cannot be accepted after December 31, 2005.

Also, please remember that mail operations will be suspended during the campus closing December 24 through January 1. Human Resources will not be receiving campus mail during this week. Please plan your outgoing mailings carefully in the month of December to assure that we receive your forms prior to December 26.

Please contact the Office of Human Resources at x7142 if you have questions related to this notice.

These are the changes in the P.E.A.R. Facilities winter break hours.

Pool hours will be Monday through Friday, 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and 4 to 6 p.m. at the West Pool, not in Cowling as previously advertised.

Cowling will be closed for the entire break for maintenance.

“Step Aerobics with Russ” will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 5:15 to 6:15 p.m. in the Rec Center Dance Studio, not in the Cowling Studio as previously advertised.

We would like to remind all staff about time recording for this December 26, 27, and 30. In addition to the scheduled College holidays of December 26, 27 and 30, President Oden has granted two additional paid days off on Wednesday, December 28, and Thursday, December 29. Please record your time as follows:

• Wednesday, December 28, and Thursday, December 29
  Additional paid days off (not a College holiday). Those employees who are regularly scheduled to work will be eligible for this paid day off. Please record the hours you were regularly scheduled to work that day, not to exceed eight hours, in the “Other Hours” section on the time sheet.
• Monday, December 26; Tuesday, December 27; and Friday, December 30
  These days are College holidays. Please record your time based on your budgeted FTE in the “Holidays-paid” section on the time sheet.

Those required and scheduled to work on a College holiday by your supervisor should record your time in the “Holidays-worked” column on the time sheet.

Individual staff needing to know their individual budgeted FTE may access this information on the Web using this link.

If you have questions, please contact Human Resources at x7142 or by e-mail at hr@carleton.edu.

There will not be a check run for accounts payable during the week of December 26 due to the holiday break. Please plan accordingly. Check runs will commence on Thursday, January 5 and each Thursday thereafter.

If a new phone is on your holiday wish list or that of your children, please recycle your old phone(s) through the Telecommunications Office or the A.C.T. Office. Project Friendship is the designated local charity through March 2006.

Jim Sheibel, Executive Director of Ramsey Action Programs, Inc., will be the presenter at the next Downtown Forum sponsored by the Northfield Downtown Development Corporation (NDDC). The event will take place on Tuesday, December 6, in the lower level conference room of the Archer House beginning at 8 a.m.

Mr. Sheibel has recently authored a book titled The Promise of Partnerships: Tapping into the College as a Community Asset about which he will be speaking. Designed specifically for community-based organizations, The Promise of Partnerships offers straightforward guidance on how to tap into the resources and expertise of local colleges and universities. For the first time, organizations can gain inside information on making contact with the right people on campus, refining the planning process to ensure that they are true partners in any enterprise, working with students and faculty, and building long-term success.

Mr. Sheibel is a past Mayor of the City of St. Paul, Minnesota. He has also served as the CEO of the non-profit organization Project for Pride in Living and has had several national roles as an appointee of President Clinton.

The NDDC Downtown Forum is a regular event scheduled on the first Tuesday of each month. It is free and open to the public and refreshments are served.