June 2011 Connections

25

twentyfive

WAYS THE EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM C

Assessment of a personal problem or concern, and assisting you in locating appropriate resources to help.

— Discuss difficult challenges on the job related to relationships with peers or managers to help you decide on effective ways to improve and build on them.

— Help you decide what type of mental health professional and counseling approach will work best for you, based on your communication style, goals, and ability to pay.

— Help with improving communication and morale among your work team by skill-building and other training.

— Serve as a link between you and the workplace while you are a patient in a hospital being treated for a disease or severe illness, so you feel supported and less isolated until you are discharged.

— Meet with your family and conduct an assessment of personal problems in your relationships, and then find resources to provide support and empower change.

— Offer support and problem solving to address your concerns about administrative or disciplinary actions, and find ways to reestablish a good relationship with your employer.

— With your written permission, confirm to your supervisor that you are participating in the EAP and in its recommendations, and if desired, communicate your request for accommodations so you can participate in those recommendations (adjustments in schedule, etc.).

— Short-term support and problem solving for a mental health problem like depression to help you cope until your medication starts working.

— Day-of-discharge support to bring you up to date on important information, as you plan to return to work following sick leave.

— Post-discharge support from a hospital or treatment program to help you stay motivated and involved in the self-help, recovery, or treatment recommendations.

— Support and guidance for difficult decisions with long-term consequences for you, your family, or others (e.g., divorce, retirement, or resignation, or choosing to accept a transfer, promotion, or life change).

— Counseling and facilitation following incidents involving death, injury, which could have led to death or injury, and help with resolving fear and anxiety so memories of these events do not linger or interfere with your life.

— Provide training or instruction on specialized topics related to workplace productivity like soft skills for improving communication, goal attainment, or managing stress.

— Help you resolve conflicts or confusion associated with your mental health benefits or relationship with a provider.

— Provide you with a variety of health, wellness, productivity, and life improvement materials and fact sheets, or conduct research to find suitable information to learn about issues that concern you or others close to you.

— Help with conflicts between you and a coworker, with the goal of resolving conflicts and improving productivity and job satisfaction.

— Talk with you by phone if visiting the EAP office is not possible, is inconvenient, or is not preferred.

— Facilitate a back-to-work conference between you and your employer (supervisor, human resources representative, etc.) to discuss job expectations, accommodations necessary to support ongoing treatment or self-care, and to gain clarification on matters concerning employment benefits.

— Work confidentially to survey and interview individual team members, work group mem-

CHILD & FAMILY SERVICES EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAM / Έ716Ή 681ͳ4300 / Έ80

CAN HELP YOU bers, or work unit staff to gain difficult to obtain and accurate insight into the sources of conflict, morale deterioration, or other group problems, and then suggest solutions based upon the findings.

— Provide support and intervention to prevent delayed return to work from depression, family conflicts, or workplace communication issues with your work unit while you recuperate from injury.

— Provide assessments, support, and guidance to assist you in following through with rigorous, mandatory steps to prevent job loss resulting from policy infractions or legal penalties imposed by courts for offenses (i.e. DUI education, positive drug tests, etc.).

— Guidance for improving your relationship with your supervisor.

— Guidance and support in preventing burnout from workload and the negative effects of customer service stress.

— (for supervisors) Assist you in understanding how to work effectively with employees and improve their productivity, and how to respond to employees in helpful ways, including EAP support, when personal issues interfere with performance.

00Ή 888ͳ4162 ΈOUTSIDE WNYΉ

Ryan King Men’s Health Project Coordinator 1. I was born and raised on a reservation called Akwesasne.

2. My parents’ house sits on the American/Canadian border (literally…

I would sleep in Canada and have breakfast in America).

3. Despite all appearances, I’m an athlete… with volleyball being the sport I excelled in.

4. On every volleyball team I ever played on, I was always the shortest on the team. (I’m a very statuesque 5’ 7”.

5. My father is one of our nine Chiefs on our reservation.

6. My sister is a model. Good looks run in the family.

7. I’m a Mixed Martial Artist (MMA) with a proficiency in Muay Thai. Don’t let the pretty face fool you.

8. While I have no Latin bone in my body, I have latin rhythm. I can dance bachata, merengue, and salsa (just don’t ask me to spin you… you’re on your own ladies!)

9. I have two cats, Knuckles and Princess, while being a dog lover.

10. I’m a Gemini, in every sense of the word.

CONͳGRADUATIONS! The Evergreen Association was very well-represented during this year’s graduation season, with Sheila Stephens and Gary Williams both receiving degrees. Read more about their journeys to the cap and gown on page 8 of this issue of Connections.

Birthdays Ileana Hanesworth - June 6 Tara Grier - June 6 Ryan King - June 8 Tania Phillips - June 9 Yeaben Gompah - June 13 Ron Silverio - June 16 Marcus May - June 20 Crystal White - June 26 Brian Planty - June 284

Anniversaries Jim Mohr - 1 year Jorien Brock - 2 years Ray Ganoe - 5 years Brendan Orrange - 5 years Elisa Luciano - 11 years

Your Continued Dedication and Hard Work Are Noticed and Appreciated!

– The Management Team

CONNECTIONS CONTRIBUTORS PUBLISHER/LAYOUT JOHN CAROCCI EDITOR KIMBERLY HARDING CONTRIBUTORS KIMBERLY HARDING RYAN KING, LIYA MOOLCHAN SHEILA STEPHENS, GARY WILLIAMS ON THE COVER: THE WELLNESS CENTER CREW-SADERS AT AIDS WALK 2011

I am always looking for a way to save money on my groceries. Here’s a great coupon site to access: www.ppgazette.com. Click on the coupons button at the top of the page and create a username and password. There are four groups of coupons you can access: Coupons.com, SmartSource, Valpak and Red Plum. Click on the coupons that you want from each group and print them. That’s all you need to do! Watch for more cost cutting tips in future issues of Connections.

the road to cap&gown GARY’S STORY I began researching colleges in 2008 with the hope of obtaining a Bachelor’s degree to prepare myself for possible future advancement with the Evergreen Association. Knowing how time consuming it was to gather and sort through so much information, I brought the schools here to ACS for our annual Benefits Fair to make it easier on other staff who were thinking of returning to school—and I didn’t want to go back alone. I began attending Medaille College’s SAGE (School of Adult Graduate Education) accelerated program in the Fall of 2008 by taking a year of classes in their Associate’s program to obtain credits that didn’t transfer, or were not applicable, from my 1982 Associates Degree in Occupational Studies from Jamestown Business College. This allowed me to begin the Bachelor of Business Administration program in the Fall/ Winter of 2009.

What I Had to Expect Classes would be in the same classroom from 6:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. every Monday, with the exception of holidays and the occasional break. There would be a required study group of 4 hours per week to earn “seat” time for full-time accreditation and financial aid.

Books and assignments for the next course would be ready and waiting to be picked up at the final class. Yes, homework prior to ever having a class. I would spend between 12 and 18 hours per week on homework, write at least one individual and one group paper per week, and prepare and present one presentation per course.

Challenges: Reading and Writing I missed my second class of the Associate’s program to take a speed reading course to enable me to keep up with the required reading.

I didn’t like reading because I was a slow reader and would end up reading the same passage over and over again then get bored and stop. The speed reading course definitely improved my reading skills and kept me motivated to continue. My next hurdle to overcome—writing—I hate writing.

At first, there were 2 page papers that I barely got through, then came the 6, 8, 10, and 20 pagers, which became easier with time. My Associates program class had 24 students—

a very large class for Medaille’s adult program. We were very vocal class, with a great deal of dialogue amongst our groups, including structured debates—I think we all learned a lot through being exposed to everyone else’s perspective. My study group name was Troika with Margie Soto as one of our members. We created some awesome presentations on topics including marijuana legalization, promoting safe sex (had to stretch far for that one), genetic testing, gay marriage, illegal aliens, and racial profiling.

The Bachelor’s program began with 22 students and ended with 10. Several of the students migrated over from the Associate’s class. My study group of three was incredible and we called ourselves Gestalt Phenomenon. Some highlights included creating marketing plans, performing and presenting financial/SWOT analyses and recommendations for Buffalo Limousine, Ford Motor Company, and Disney. Our capstone project consisted of running an athletic shoe manufacturing corporation—including all aspects of production, distribution, marketing, and corporate/social responsibility. Each of the four teams began with the same information, capital, market share, etc. After one week (year) running the corporation, our team was in second place for meeting investor expectations and consumer image rating, and first place for market share. Each week (year) we captured market share, and by the end of the project we had 48% in both the Internet and wholesale market, all while meeting and improving investor expectations and consumer image rating.

I want to thank everyone for their help, ideas, opinions, and participation along the way. With your help and support, I was able to maintain residence on the dean’s list each semester, and I graduated Magna Cum Laude with a GPA of 3.83. My next journey begins Monday, September 19, 2011 when I begin Medaille’s Masters in Organizational Leadership program. After all, what’s another 18 months and $30K in student loans?!

by Gary Williams and Sheila Stephens

SHEILA’S STORY I received my Bachelor’s degree in 2005 and knew I would continue on towards my Master’s degree at some point. We had our annual benefits fair in 2008 and honestly I was trying to win a free cup or t-shirt but ended up speaking with Carlos from Niagara University. Everything really happened fast for me during that time. I took a packet home from the benefits fair, and after a few weeks I completed the application and was accepted into the MBA program. I officially started in the Spring of 2009. I took Saturday classes, which began at 9:00 a.m. and ended at 5:00 p.m. I knew I had to rearrange my entire life because I had two jobs, two children and two grandchildren, and they were all just as equally important in my life.

It was the most difficult thing I’ve ever done because I’m one of the biggest procrastinators in the universe and everyone knows this. I do my best work under pressure. In the MBA class you’re put into groups of 5 or 6 students and you basically have to adapt to everyone’s personality just to make sure your group projects and presentations are great.

Teamwork is definitely a must! Being in these group settings helped me with procrastination because it wasn’t just my work anymore, it was the team’s work. Every week we had tons of homework, papers and group presentations. I never thought once about quitting the program because I’ve always tried to set good examples for my children. Never start something and don’t finish it! They didn’t listen of course, but it was the learning new things and concepts every week that kept me motivated to complete the program, which I believe took about 15 months. The only bad experience I had was Stats! I felt like such a loser because all my other classes went great, and I just couldn’t comprehend this unnecessary math. I graduated on May 21, 2011 with an MBA and a concentration in Finance. Was it worth it? I would definitely have to say yes. I loved the school and the professors were very understanding. My brain is officially fried! What are my future plans now that I have my Masters degree? Well, I’ll retire from ACS with my Masters! Nothing more, nothing less!