February 2010 CRS Advanced Technology
IN THIS ISSUEHAZELWOOD SCHOOL DISTRICT WHY MAKE SUBSTITUTE PAY COMPLICATED? TECH-SAVVY SUPERINTENDENTS HONORED IN PHOENIX 5 WAYS TO RECYCLE YOUR OLD GADGETS
QUICK LINKS CRS WEBSITE NEWSLETTER ARCHIVE CALENDAR SUBFINDER MEET MAXX
The Super Bowl, Valentine’s Day, Mardi Gras, Groundhog Day, the 2010 Winter Olympic games…who said February is uneventful?
Welcome to the February InTouch Online e-newsletter! We hope your first month of 2010 was a good start to the New Year, and that you are sticking to any resolutions made. The news is in; Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow and says there are six more weeks of winter! There is no need to get gloomy about this prediction because spring is sure enough to arrive and the warm weather will be here before you know it.
In the meantime, stay warm and enjoy this edition of InTouch Online because we have a lot of useful information for you this month! See how Donna Siesener, SubFinder Operator from Hazelwood School District in Missouri is always searching and implementing the latest features and functions SubFinder® has to offer. Check out how SubPay™ can help automate the process of calculating substitute pay. Just another way CRS helps organizations save time and money.
Enjoy and have a wonderful month!
Customer Highlight:
Hazelwood School District, MissouriNever Be Afraid to Ask Questions About SubFinder's Capabilities
Interview by: Corinne McLaughlin, Marketing Coordinator
Interview with: Donna Siesener, SubFinder Operator
The "Old Coldwater School" built in 1859.
Hazelwood School District is located in Florissant, Missouri, roughly 11 miles from St. Louis. The second largest school district in the St. Louis Metropolitan Area, the Hazelwood School District covers 78 square miles, an area larger than the City of St. Louis itself. Its northern and southern boundaries are the two Great Rivers, the Missouri and the Mississippi. Florissant is believed to be one of the oldest settlements in the state of Missouri; some historians believe it was settled around the same time as the City of St. Louis. Florissant is located in St. Louis County (est. in 1812), and was named in honor of Saint Louis, the King of France. Originally a separate town and now a suburb of St. Louis, Florissant was predominantly French speaking. The town’s name, Florissant, derives from a French term meaning “flowering.”
The city of Florissant takes a proactive approach in focusing on retaining and expanding local businesses, improving in community development all while keeping the city’s past in the present and alive. Because of continued development and keeping the community spirit alive, Florissant proves to be an attractive area to come to. Hazelwood School District takes pride in their surrounding history, community, and their vision of being the premier learning community, which is characterized through excellence, equity, and high expectations. In their quest to succeed in their mission for students to set high standards, fairness, and distinguished achievement, none of this can be complete without classroom guidance, whether a teacher is in the classroom, or whether a qualified substitute is present. Having SubFinder as their absence management solution can provide ease knowing that the system will provide them with the most qualified substitute considering such a large area. I recently got in touch with Donna Siesener, SubFinder Operator, about how SubFinder takes part in their continued success in meeting goals.
How long have you been working for Hazelwood? Since working at Hazelwood, how long have you been the SubFinder operator?
I started working for the Hazelwood School District in November of 2000 as a receptionist. We began using SubFinder in 2002. I then became the SubFinder operator in December of 2003.
How many certified and non-certified employees are at Hazelwood? Do both the certified and non-certified employees utilize SubFinder?
We have a total of 2,450 certified, administrative, and support staff employees. At this time, only the certified, administrators, and clerical staff utilize the SubFinder system.
What benefits do you feel SubFinder provides to the Hazelwood employees and substitutes?
On an average day, we have at least 125 absences. SubFinder helps ensure that we have the most qualified substitute to cover each absence.
We allow our employees to prearrange or request the substitute that they desire. The substitutes are able to job shop and secure a job in advance, which increases our fill rate and provides our substitutes with a more proactive approach in finding a job.
Recently, Hazelwood received their free upgrade to SubFinder 5.9. Have you worked with the latest features and functions that SubFinder now has to offer?
I have been able to utilize some of the new features and functions that SubFinder 5.9 has to offer. When more time is available, I know that these features will be a great asset when requests for absences, fill rate, etc. come from the administrators. I am looking forward to using them!
What SubFinder reports do you use regularly?
The reports we use on a regular basis are: substitute days worked, individual employee absences, daily building absences, and, most importantly entire district absence when we have a high amount of absences in one day. Also, when needed, our secretaries can access reports via the Internet portion of SubFinder. They like this because it is up to the minute and accurate.
Does your SubFinder system integrate with your HR/payroll systems to eliminate the need for dual data entry process?
At this time we do not integrate our HR/payroll system with SubFinder because we are in the process of implementing a new HR/payroll system, IFAS. When we have completed the implementation process and feel comfortable with IFAS, we will be integrating the two systems. I can’t wait! It will save us a lot of time.
How do you feel about the Customer Support that CRS provides? Do you find our Client Service staff to be knowledgeable and helpful when calling in for support or questions?
I have had the pleasure of working with Account Specialist, Kyle Smith. He has always been very helpful and courteous. At times, I feel that I am asking a "stupid question" but Kyle has always treated me with the utmost respect.
I would like to personally thank Donna, as well as the Hazelwood School District for being wonderful customers the past 8 years! Learn more about the Hazelwood School District by visiting their website at http://www.hazelwoodschools.org/. If you would like more information on SubFinder and how it can help place the most qualified substitute in your classrooms, please contact us at 800.782.3463 or email at subfinder@crsadvtech.com.
Why Make Substitute Pay Complicated?Automate the Substitute Pay Process with SubPay Using SubFinder Data
By: Corinne McLaughlin, Marketing Coordinator
SubPay is the first and only application of its kind that automates the process of calculating substitute pay using your existing SubFinder data. No longer will payroll have to manually calculate defined pay rates and incentives, such as escalating, retroactive, and long-term pay; SubPay will automatically manage this process and support accurate fund accounting practices by creating and assigning budget codes to substitute time worked.
“The use of functionality in SubPay helped us to develop budget codes that allow us accurate and insightful tracking of our budget expenditures…SubPay has a tremendous amount of features and flexibility. I love it!”
- Kristen Hilsabeck, SubFinder and SubPay Administrator, Austin ISD
Other SubPay benefits include:
Access to extensive reporting features.
Saving hundreds of hours of labor each year that would typically be dedicated to manual data entry.
Export data calculated in SubPay to your human resource/payroll applications.
For more information on SubFinder's substitute payroll application, SubPay, contact us at 800.782.3463 or subfinder@crsadvtech.com.
Tech-Savvy Superintendents Honored in PhoenixeSchool News Recognizes 10 School District Executives For Their Outstanding Ed-Tech Leadership and Vision
From: Staff Reports
Snow wreaked havoc with travel plans in several U.S. states last week, but the sun was shining in Phoenix on Feb. 11 as eSchool News honored 10 superintendents who are among the nation’s most successful in leading their schools into the 21st century.
The occasion was eSchool News’ Tenth Annual Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards, sponsored by K12 Inc., the Pearson Foundation, Promethean, and JDL Horizons’ Eduvision. The winners were honored at a private ceremony held in conjunction with the Century Club 100’s annual meeting during the American Association of School Administrators’ National Conference on Education.
Winners were nominated by the school field and then chosen by the editors of eSchool News with the help of Tech-Savvy Superintendent laureates from prior years.
This year’s winners are:
Eric Conti, Burlington Public Schools, Massachusetts
Jan Harris, Cullman City Schools, Alabama*
Manuel Isquierdo, Sunnyside Unified School District, Arizona*
Chip Kimball, Lake Washington School District, Washington
Pamela R. Moran, Albemarle County Public Schools, Virginia
Carolyn Ross, Churchill County School District, Nevada
Kim Ross, Houston Public Schools, Minnesota
Amy Sichel, Abington School District, Pennsylvania*
Gary Smuts, ABC Unified School District, California*
Craig Witherspoon, Edgecombe County Public Schools, North Carolina
(* SubFinder Customer)
The ceremony was supposed to feature a keynote speech from Tom Carroll, a former Education Department official during the Clinton administration who is now president of the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future.
However, Carroll’s travel plans were disrupted by “Snowmageddon,” as the record snowfall in the Washington, D.C., area was being called.
Instead, eSchool News Editor Dennis Pierce talked about the awards program and what it means to be a “tech-savvy” superintendent.
“[It] doesn’t mean you can set up a school network or write lines of code to support your Moodle installation—at least, not necessarily,” Pierce said. “It means you understand how technology can be used to improve instruction and streamline school operations. It means you recognize how technology can be used as a tool to meet the strategic goals of your district, rather than as an end in itself.”
Pierce said he’s been involved in the awards program since its inception, and this year’s awards were the toughest yet to judge.
“We received nearly 400 nominations from districts from coast to coast, and nearly all of those nominated were worthy of inclusion. That’s a good sign for the nation’s schools, I think,” he said.
“For all the talk about how our schools are failing to meet the needs of today’s students, there are many hundreds of school systems whose leaders understand the evolving nature of 21st-century teaching and learning. It seems that being a ‘tech savvy’ K-12 education leader is no longer an exception—and that’s a clear change from when we launched our awards program a decade ago.”
As each winner’s name was called, a short video clip of the honoree describing his or her ed-tech accomplishments played. These accomplishments included one-to-one computing programs that are turning classrooms into student-centered learning labs and boosting achievement; a technology incentive program that is raising the graduation rate and closing the digital divide; and the creation of an online-learning program that has solved the challenge of declining student enrollment in a rural school system. (For more information about this year’s award winners, click here.)
The Tech-Savvy Superintendent Awards are intended to recognize excellence in ed-tech leadership from the very top level of school district administration, and to hold these exemplary leaders up as models for others to follow.
Among other criteria, “tech-savvy” superintendents must model the effective use of technology in their day-to-day execution of the superintendency; ensure that technology resources are distributed equitably among students and staff; insist that adequate professional development is a component of every school technology initiative; demonstrate exceptional vision in leading the development and implementation of a district-wide technology plan; and think creatively and strategically about the long-term challenges and opportunities that technology provides in their district and in education at large. (For a full list of criteria, click here.)
(Editor’s note: For more coverage of AASA’s 2010 National Conference on Education—including what Education Secretary Arne Duncan had to say about NCLB reauthorization and superintendent training programs—see our AASA conference page at eSN Online.)
Reprinted with permission from eSchool News, copyright 2010. Visit http://www.eschoolnews.com/ for daily news and resources for K-12 educators. For free subscriptions please visit https://www.eschoolnews.com/freeesn/index.cfm.
5 Easy Ways To Recycle Your Old Gadgets
Article from: http://agreenliving.net/
Posted by: Green Life Staff
Nowadays, we face a dilemma between our greed for electronics and our need to protect the Earth. On one hand, we have to possess the latest in information and communication technology in order to be part of the goings-on in the world. On the other hand, we have to throw away the obsolete consumer electronics we possess and, hence, become part of the destruction of the world.
So, what should you, a budding environmentalist, to do? Well, you can recycle your old gadgets, of course! And doing so is so easy that you can teach others to do the same, thus, perpetuating the good cycle of environmental conservation. And did we mention that you can also earn money from recycling your old gadgets?
Resell for Money
No matter how obsolete your old gadget is, at least where you are concerned, somebody somewhere will be more than willing to take it off your hands for a good price. For example, you can hold a garage sale for your old gadgets in your yard, sell them on online auction sites like eBay, advertise them in your community and even dispose of them through a thrift shop.
You can actually take back a fraction of its purchase price when you re-sell it, which you can then add to your budget for the new gadget. Of course, you must be very careful to remove all signs of personal information like bank information for your own safety and security.
Donate to a Worthy Cause
If you are averse to selling your old stuff, you can always donate it to a worthy cause. With many poor institutions and people in this country, you ought to find somebody who will be very glad to make use of your electronic cast-offs. For example, maybe you have a relative who cannot afford your old computer, you can give it. Or a school needs donated computers for lack of funds, donate your gadgets. In this recession, you will find somebody somewhere who will appreciate something that’s for free.
Check with the Manufacturer
Some manufacturers will accept old units for recycling of re-usable parts and for proper disposal of the rest. Or you can trade-in your old gadget for a newer model, if the policies allow. Beware though as some manufacturers accepting old units for recycling might have malicious intent behind their programs. Doing a little research on the company’s environmental record is a good first step in determining whether you should recycle with them or not.
Your local government officials should be able to point the way to government and private recycling facilities near you. This way, you can save on transportation costs while saving the environment from the harm inflicted by your improperly disposed gadget.
Browse Through the Internet
The Internet is a rich source of recycling organizations that will recycle your old units for you. Often, you just need to ship it to them and let them take care of the rest. And if you are lucky, you may even save on shipping and handling costs as some recyclers send vouchers and/or stamps for this purpose. Look up FreeMesa, FreeCycle and Recycle It America, to name a few.
In conclusion, recycling old consumer electronics is a very noble endeavor indeed, one that we should all take part in now.
Visit http://agreenliving.net/ for tips on how to live a green life today!
We want hope you have a wonderful month of February, despite the six weeks of winter left! Before you know it spring fever will be all around us with longer days and warmer temperatures. Have fun with what is left of the winter weeks!
Sincerely,
The CRS Advanced Technology Team
