Campus Closure Due to Inclement WeatherBy Mary Main, Assistant Vice President, Human Resources and Environmental Health and Safety

It’s here: that time of year that makes traveling the most challenging. So, in anticipation of the first big nor’easter, it’s a good time to review our weather policy.

When Bates declares a weather emergency, only staff members designated as essential personnel should report for work as scheduled. Your department director will advise you in advance whether you are an essential employee in this context. Employees who are not asked to report to work (except temporary employees) will receive their regular pay.

If an employee has called out of work on the day of the weather emergency using vacation or personal time — and College offices then close — the hours or days of the weather emergency will be added back to the employee’s vacation or personal leave balance.

If an employee is using a vacation or personal day scheduled in advance of the weather emergency, no time will be added back to the employee’s bank for college closure. No time will be restored in any case if the employee is using sick time.

Regular nonexempt employees who are required to work during a weather emergency will be paid at 2.5 times the straight-time rate for all hours worked while the college is declared closed.

If Bates does not declare its offices closed as a result of a weather emergency, weather conditions neverthe-less may make employees concerned about their commutes depending on the distance of travel, driving hazards or other subjective factors.

(continued on page 2)

HR Newsletter

COMMUNICATOR

pg 2 Google Tip

pg 3 Safe Holidays

pg 4 Everybody Has a Story

INFORMING THE BATES COMMUNITY

To accomplish

great things we

must not only act,

but also dream; not

only plan, but also

believe.

~Anatole France

DECEMBER 2012

VOL. 1, ISSUE 10

Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College

New Staff

Members

Kim BentleyMuseum Education FellowMuseum of Art

Tyla DavisMail and Shipping SpecialistOffice Services

Paul HealeySecurity OfficerSecurity

Britney St. PierreCustodianFacility Services

Katherine OttersonResearch AssociateGeology

Will you be away from the office for a period of time and out of touch with your Bates Gmail? Consider setting up an out-of-office or away message to auto-matically respond to anyone who contacts you.

To setup an automatic out-of-office or away mes-sage:1. Login to your Bates Gmail account at http://

email.bates.edu.2. Click the gear icon located at the upper right,

then select “Settings.”3. From the “General” tab, scroll down to the “Va-

cation responder” section and select “Vacation responder on.”

4. Select the date range during which the vacation responder will automatically reply to incoming messages.

5. Enter the subject and message text for your response.

6. If you don’t want everyone who emails you to know that you’re away from your email, check the “Only send a response to people in my Contacts” box.

7. There’s also the option to “Only send a response

to people at Bates College.” If you check both boxes, only people at Bates College who are in your contacts will receive the automatic response.

8. Click “Save Changes.”

When you return to work, don’t forget to disable the vacation responder. Here’s how:

1. Follow the steps above to login to your Bates Gmail account, go to Settings, go to the “Gen-eral” tab and find the “Vacation responder.”

2. Select “Vacation responder off.”

3. Click “Save Changes.”

You can see a short video on these processes at: http://goo.gl/xpcIq

Note: If you’ve enabled a personalized signature in your settings, Bates Gmail will automatically append it to the bottom of your vacation response. Messages filtered as spam and messages addressed to mailing lists will not receive a vacation response.

Google Tips and Tricks: Out-of-Office/Away MessagesBy Lee Desiderio, Instructional Support Manager, ILS

Inclement Weather (continued)

In such cases, the employees must make their own judgments about whether to stay home or to leave work early. An employee’s decision, based on individual circumstances, will be re-spected by his or her supervisor. If an employee chooses not to travel or decides to leave work early because of the weather, he or she may use accumulated vacation time; make up the time on other days within the same work week, if ap-proved by the supervisor; or take leave without pay.

In such cases, the employees must make their own judgments about

whether to stay home or to leave work early. An employee’s decision, based on individual circumstances, will be respected by his or her supervisor. If

an employee chooses not to travel or decides to leave work early because

of the weather, he or she may use accumulated vacation time; make

up the time on other days within the same work week, if approved by the

supervisor; or take leave without pay.

Faculty are asked to determine whether

Faculty are asked to determine whether their classes will be held, and to contact their students when class is not going to be held.

If the college declares a weather emergency, the Security office will inform the campus through the emergency notification system. Please visit the Garnet Gateway, go to the “Personal Informa-tion” tab and select “My Contact Information for Campus Emergencies” to update your notifica-tion preferences in the event of a closure.

December Dates

of Interest

Biweekly pay date, Dec 6

Monthly pay date, Dec 13

Biweekly pay date, Dec 20

Safe Holidays Are Happy HolidaysBy Ray Potter, Environmental Health and Safety Manager, Human Resources

Feel the joy! It’s the holiday season once again.

There’s always a lot to do during this festive time. Please take a few moments to plan so you can keep your holidays safe. A little planning will enable you to get all your decorating and other preparations done and not have to worry about fire or injury. Here’s a list of risk-reduction steps to consider:

• Buy a fresh tree and be sure that it gets watered each day.• Use UL-approved holiday lights and inspect them to be sure the wires are sound and free of cracks,

kinks or punctures (never hang lights by putting nails or staples through the wire strands!). Turn the lights off when you go to bed or when you are away from the house, or put them on a timer.

• Be sparing in your use of extension cords and careful not to run them where people walk. Power strips are safer, but never plug a power strip into another power strip. Never use outlet adapters to expand capacity.

• Consider family and guests as you select and display decorations. Avoid small items and breakable ornaments if young children will be present. At the very least, hang these items out of reach of tiny hands. Keep decorations off stairs where they may be tripping hazards.

• Use battery-powered candles to eliminate the risk of fire.• Be sure to keep trees, wreaths and garlands, as well as other combustible materials, away from the

woodstove or fireplace.• When you hang lights or decorations above shoulder height, select the right type of ladder and

inspect it before using it.• Planning to bake up a plethora of holiday goodies? Make sure hot cookie sheets or pans don’t hang

over the edge of the counter or stove. Please don’t leave cooking or baking unattended on the stove or in the oven.

It’s a wonderful time of year. Please make it a safe and happy season.

Reminder:

Cigna ID Card

Be on the lookout for your new insurance cards!

If you’re enrolled in either the medical or dental plans at Bates, you will receive new Cigna ID cards for use in 2013. Please note that you may receive three or more enve-lopes from Cigna if you are enrolled in the medical and/or dental plans. Employees enrolled in the medical plan will also receive cards for their preven-tive vision plan (used for your annual eye exam only).

Please be sure to show your new cards to each medical, dental or vision-care office as you receive services in 2013. Cards should arrive during the last week of 2012.

December is the

toughest month

of the year. Others

are July, January,

September, April,

November, May,

March, June,

October, August,

and February.

― Mark Twain

Everybody Has a Story: Roger FournierBy Amie Parker, Employment Manager, Human Resources

Custodial supervisor for Facility Services, Roger Fournier was born of French Canadian and Irish heritage here in Lewiston.

Like many who are native to this city, Roger grew up in a Francophone household and did not speak English until he went to school. He attended local Catholic schools and worked hard on the family farm, an up-bringing that produced his strong work ethic. It doesn’t take much conversation with Roger to realize that he is indeed someone who takes pride in his work.

Roger began his career during high school with Bradco Chair Company, in Lisbon. By the time he left, in 1972, he had learned every position at Bradco. From there he went to work at U.S. Gypsum in Lisbon Falls, where he was promoted numerous times and developed strong management skills.

At U.S. Gypsum, Roger was consistently recognized for his commitment to workplace safety. He got the plant certified by the Occupational Health and Safety Administration by bringing a safety-champion pro-gram to fruition and elevating the company’s safety efforts above and beyond federal standards.

These accomplishments resulted in his certification by OSHA’s Voluntary Protection Program as a Special Government Employee, a role that allowed him to work with the federal government as a volunteer con-ducting safety audits at other organizations. Roger considers this work an invaluable part of his experience, as he learned so much from observing operations at other companies. By the end of his tenure at the for-mer U.S. Gypsum plant, which had become Knight-Celotex, he was the corporate safety manager.

Roger’s work has allowed him to participate in activities that he very much enjoys — notably athletics. He has coached the Lisbon High School junior varsity baseball team as well as a summertime Babe Ruth base-ball team for 16–18-year-olds, a team that won a state championship in 1993. He’s an avid softball player and his wife and children have supported him at every game.

What makes a hard worker and a strong leader? In Roger’s words, a supportive spouse (Nancy, his high school sweetheart) and a close family; mutual respect between him and his staff; and great role-modeling from his own supervisors.

It’s clear that Roger is both a dedicated employee and a true family man. He is committed to the people in his life as well as the organizations he works for. Aren’t we lucky to have him here at Bates? I think so.