The inside scoop on the people and projects that support UNLV

In this issue:



• Rebel Re-CAP - UNLV’s Climate Action Plan Kicks Off
• New Professional Development Program for Administrative Assistants
• September/October Observance - Hispanic Heritage Month 
• Call for Monthly Awareness Observations
• Spotlight on Service
• Human Resources Professional Development Opportunities
• Upgrading Your Digital Literacy
• Dates to Remember

Rebel Re-CAP - UNLV’s Climate Action Plan Kicks Off

Last week, UNLV launched its Rebel Climate Action Plan (CAP) process to the public with a hybrid kick-off event. The Rebel CAP Core Team, which includes Musa Pam, Tara Pike, Andie Davis, and Zachary Billot, representatives from Brailsford & Dunlavey, and their partners have laid the groundwork to create a comprehensive climate action plan for the university and now look to the community for input. 

We urge you to get involved with this process. Your involvement will help us develop an inclusive plan that builds resilience, reduces exposure to risks and costs, attracts and retains world-class students, faculty, and staff, and strengthens partnerships. 

We invite you to complete:

• The Rebel CAP Ideas Assessment Survey to help us determine priorities.
• The Get Involved survey if you are interested in staying involved and/or joining a working group.

What’s next? UNLV Rebel CAP Working Groups are starting soon! These groups will help shape the CAP by sharing their ideas and expertise with the Rebel CAP Core Team.

Visit the Rebel CAP website for the latest updates and information.

New Professional Development Program for Administrative Assistants

Nohealani Benicarlo from the Office of the Senior Vice President of Business Affairs was recently featured in a UNLV News Center article for her participation in the soft launch of Human Resources’ new professional development program for administrative assistants. 

The Administrative Assistant Academy (A3) is an eight-week program designed to teach skills related to technical, professional, and administrative responsibilities. The program offers courses based on an individual’s learning path and competency requirements.

Communication is one of the program’s key competencies. Training sessions focus on how to direct, foster, encourage, and facilitate open communication. “I really liked the communication and business etiquette course,” she says. “It gave us pointers on our body language and how we communicate.”

Check out the full article to learn more about this new program.

September/October Observance - Hispanic Heritage Month

Hispanic Heritage Month (HHM) is celebrated from September 15 to October 15 every year to acknowledge the important contributions, diverse cultures, and extensive histories of the American Latino community. Unlike many other monthly celebrations, HHM begins in the middle of the month to highlight September 15, the anniversary of independence for Guatemala, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Established in 1968 as “Hispanic Heritage Week,” the celebration was extended to a month in 1988. 

To honor members of the American Latino community during this time, take some time to learn more about how their cultures have influenced cultures around the world and attend one of the City of Las Vegas HHM events.

Call for Monthly Awareness Observations

In each edition of the Business Affairs Bulletin, we strive to shine a light on topics that coincide with monthly national awareness observances (e.g. Women’s History Month, Earth Month, Native American Heritage Month, etc.).

We are seeking individuals to feature in future editions who are passionate about and/or advocates for one or more monthly awareness observances. Your valuable input and unique perspective will help us create informative, relatable, and engaging content that aligns with UNLV's DEI initiatives.

If you’re interested in being featured, please complete this form.

Spotlight on Service

In October 2022, we distributed our annual Business Affairs customer service survey. Many of our campus colleagues replied to the survey with notes of praise for our hard-working teams. See below for some highlights for our Rebel Recycling team. 

“We love the Rebel Recycling team!! Tara Pike is always so accommodating to our recycling needs including our department’s new paperless record-keeping project. Tara was very easy to correspond with and was amazingly responsive to requests for recycling pickups throughout the project. Tara and her crew do such an amazing job - what would the campus do without her?? Thank you, Tara!!”

“This (Rebel Recycling) is a great asset to the university and the student workers do a great job keeping the campus green.”  

Human Resources Professional Development Opportunities

Human Resources is pleased to announce additional professional development opportunities this fall:

Effective Communication in the Workplace: Seminars will cover verbal and non-verbal communication, written communication, and using communication skills in challenging and diverse workplace situations.

Upskill with UNLV Leaders: UNLV leaders contribute to our culture of continuous improvement by sharing their experience and expertise. Each month a different UNLV leader will facilitate a seminar on a pertinent leadership topic or skill.

Seminars are free and open to all UNLV employees. Each seminar will include a combination of presentations, discussions, and active learning to create an engaging environment.

Visit the REBELearn announcements section for more information or to register.

Upgrading Your Digital Literacy

Grackle Docs recently rolled out an updated version for users. The Grackle Suite is the add-on designed to review and enhance accessibility for Google Workspace documents including Google Docs, Google Slides, and Google Sheets. If you already have the Grackle add-on, there is no action required. Grackle will automatically update. 

The updated version includes:

• Enhanced keyboard navigation
• Enhanced PDF tagging
• Improved graphics display
• Increased operating speed
• Refined 'Progress Monitor' dialog box

To learn more about these recent changes, visit the Grackle Docs website.

Dates to Remember

• Sept. 15 - Oct. 15 - Hispanic Heritage Month