The college is required to remind you each year to read the Conscientious Employee Protection Act (CEPA), Drug Free Workplace Act of 1998, Women's Health and Cancer Rights Act of 1998, and COBRA Qualifying Events. Now that we are well into 2010, we would like to call your attention to the annual notifications posted on the HR website at http://www.caldwell.edu/hr/employees.aspx.

Participants in the flexible spending account program (FSA) are reminded that expenses applied to the 2009 account must be incurred by March 15, 2010 and resulting claims submitted by June 15, 2010. If you have any questions or require assistance, please call Terri Demarest. Remember, you must spend the money you elected to withhold or risk losing it. According to IRS regulation, it cannot be refunded to you.

By the end of January, all employees received their W2 forms in compliance with IRS requirements. If you have already submitted your tax return and found that you either owed additional taxes or were due a refund, you may wish to consider completing a new W4 form for the remainder of tax year 2010. Forms are available on the HR website.

Kudos to Megan Hrbeck and Katie Kennedy for presenting a lunch 'n learn on Teamwork and Teambuilding from a Coach's Perspective. Other athletics department staff attended sharing their insights as well. Attendees were challenged to apply what they learned to the teams within which they work.

On June 30th, staff vacation carry over will be reduced to 20 days. Please be sure to use any days in excess of 20 before the fiscal year 2011 days are added. If you have any questions about the number of days you have accrued, please contact Sonia Workman.

It is performance evaluation season again – already! This year, the president and her cabinet will participate in a pilot program for the new 360° evaluation form and process. A new form has been approved and will be used to evaluate the president and her cabinet. Direct reports of the cabinet will complete a form for their supervisors and the cabinet will evaluate each other and the president. The purpose of such a process is to provide feedback to supervisors and insight into the way in which they are perceived by their staff. Training has been conducted and participants will be asked for their feedback after the process is completed. Refinements will be made to the form and process before rolling it out to all exempt staff in FY 2011. There will be no changes to the form or process for the rest of the exempt staff this year. Non-exempt forms have been updated to include skills and competencies criteria added to job descriptions last spring. HR will email links to forms and calendars as appropriate.

In a recent meeting of the Strategic Planning Committee, Sociology Professor Rosann Bar did a presentation on The Millennial Student. The SPC and the cabinet, also in attendance, found the information to be extremely interesting and insightful. Dr. Blattner has asked Rosann for a repeat performance for the benefit of all faculty and staff. Rosann has agreed to two more presentations in order to accommodate as many people as possible. The dates and times are as follows: March 31st at noon, and April 13th at 10:30. The presentations will last for 1 ½ hours with time for questions after each. Both will take place in the Werner Building Lecture Hall. A campus notification email will follow.

Presidential Service Awards will be presented by Dr. Blattner on Founder's Day, March 24th after the mass. This year, five year awards will also be presented. A list of award recipients has been circulated to ensure that no one has been overlooked. Congratulations and thank you, in advance, for your dedicated service to Caldwell College. Names will appear in a subsequent issue of Insights.