News and Events
Emory Cares Provides a Special Party
(left to right) Shani Coleman, Nicola Walker, Liteacha Davis, Nichelle Dooley, and Josette Simpkins of the Call Center.
Nicola Walker (Call Center) recently served as a Project Lead for Emory Cares International Day, held on November 12, 2011. Emory Cares is a day Emory dedicates for community service. Nicola elected to assist the Gateway Center (275 Pryor Street SW, Atlanta, GA), a men/women's shelter, soup kitchen, and provider of family assistance, by throwing a birthday party for around 20 underprivileged children who are normally unable to celebrate their birthdays.
The event included a magic show, a dance show, music provided by a DJ, party games, birthday cakes and ice cream, pizza and drinks, and a large gift bag filled with presents for each child. OIT employees from the Call Center and Integration teams attended, as well as various Emory alumni. The event was a tremendous success and well-received by the children and staff at Gateway.
For more information about Emory Cares, go to: http://www.alumni.emory.edu/volunteer-and-give/emory-cares.html.
OIT Holiday Party Next Week
The Square Pub was opened by two life-long restaurant guys, Jason and Bob.
It's that time of year. The annual OIT Holiday Party is here!
The OIT Party Planning Committee cordially invites you to join your OIT colleagues in beautiful downtown Decatur for holiday food and spirits Wednesday, December 7th from 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm. We have reserved The Square Pub exclusively for this occasion. This festive venue has three levels of seating, beautiful views of the historic Decatur Square, and easy access via Cliff Shuttles, MARTA, or by car (parking in the Courthouse deck is free if you leave at the end of the day). We hope to see you all there!
Officially, the party is for OIT staff only, and does not include spouses. RSVP today at http://tinyurl.com/7hvcj37.
Check on party updates at https://wiki.service.emory.edu/x/yQEIAg.
- Kim Braxton, Manager, Academic Technology Services
Breast Cancer Awareness
(left to right) Aderienne Graham and Tamika Pichardo at the Breast Cancer Awareness display.
For Breast Cancer Awareness Month, the UTS Call Center decided to bring awareness on October 25th by displaying pamphlets, brochures and handouts. Everyone wore pink shirts and pink ribbons to display our hope. In addition to the display board, we provided employees with pens, cups, and pins, as well as refreshments such as mints, desserts and drinks. We decided to include true stories of Call Center family members/friends who are currently battling breast cancer.
Nichelle Dooley, a UTS Call Center Communications Specialist, had a sister who fought breast cancer for over 4 years. Nichelle provided us with an intense story regarding her sister's fight for her life. She was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 28. Unfortunately, her sister's fight ended and she passed away on October 27th. Pharrah Jackson, a UTS Call Center Communications Specialist, also provided a story of a dear friend who was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 30 in May 2011 and completed chemo therapy in October.
We wanted to recognize Breast Cancer awareness and to honor our family and friends by sharing their stories, hoping that their experiences will inspire other survivors and supporters.
- Aderienne Graham, Team Lead, Call Center
Greening IT: Recycling Week Results
The "Green Swish" indicates stories or ideas emphasizing our Division's efforts to be sustainable.
UTS held its 3rd Annual Disc Drive for America's National Recycling Week in conjunction with the Office of Sustainability and Emory Recycles! There were 4 locations, well publicized by the Office of Sustainable Initiative and internally. There were a number of special requests: can we take VHS tapes? What about floppy disks? Cassette tapes? We checked with Emory Recycles and they said "Bring it On!"
How many did we collect? The Back to School Event was a major contributor to disc recycling but that has changed! Emory on Line (EOL) is formatted onto a flash drive for new students living on campus, and our Schools use fewer discs due to programming changes that allow them to touch devices in person rather than give away discs. Total take from one location was about 1150 discs, 25 floppy disks (included a brand new unopened box of 10). We anticipate about 2500 to 2750 discs based on current bin levels and we have lessened the load to the landfill.
Many thanks to all who participated, who helped us get the word out and most especially to our On Location Stewards: Kim Comstock (IT F&A) at 1762, Erica Weaver (Sustainability) at 1599, Linda Richardson (IT F&A) and Michelle Glass (IT F&A) at 1784!
Here at the Woodruff Library, the collection goes on year round at Suite 208. If you missed it for the National Recycling Week, please know that you can still drop off your discs - just call ahead to arrange, Dawn at (404) 727-6688.
- Dawn Francis-Chewning, Business Analyst, Academic Technology Services
Winship Cancer 5K Results
Runners answer the starter's gun in the Winship 5K.
The following email was sent out to the participants and volunteers of the Winship Win the Fight 5K Event, in which several OIT employees were involved:
October 15th was just a few short weeks ago, and we're still feeling the warm glow from the success of our inaugural Winship Win the Fight 5K benefiting the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. Since this was our first 5K event, we've been careful tallying up results and are very proud to announce that more than 1,700 runners and walkers signed up to help us Win the Fight, and we raised just over $200,000. In addition, we benefited from more than 180 volunteers who helped to set up tables, tents, and chairs, and handed out water, snacks, and t-shirts.
I want to express my deep appreciation for everyone's involvement. The response from the Metro Atlanta community was wonderful - and not surprising. Your involvement in this event demonstrates your belief in the work that we do here at Winship, and we are grateful.
Please mark your calendars for October 13, 2012, for the 2nd Annual Winship Win the Fight 5K! We look forward to seeing you next year. Thank you!
Sincerely,
Walter J. Curran, Jr., MD
Executive Director, Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University