PA Forward Health Literacy

By: Lauren Reiter

Throughout the year, the Informed Consumer committee has coordinated programs for students, staff, and faculty aligned with PA Forward’s five literacies: basic, information, civic/social, health, and financial.

According to PA Forward, Health literacy means “having the ability to make informed decisions in relation to an individual’s physical, mental, emotional, or spiritual health.”

This year the Informed Consumer series featured the CAPS program “Mental Health and You.” This session was designed as a safe space to both provide information and answers to attendees. Participants learned about the stress and burnout students can face as a semester comes to an end, or a deadline of a major project approaches. The talk discussed both visible and invisible signs of stress and burnout, providing a variety of recommendations for coping with either as a complement to the initial discussion. Participants learned about the various services our university specifically has to offer, such as Counseling and Psychological Services (CAPS). The second half of the session was designed as a question-and-answer space, where
the speaker fielded questions from attendees. Questions ranged from what external clinics or resources the institution partners with to asking about the specifics of what takes place if a student is in crisis. The latter half of the session could have easily stretched well beyond the scheduled time as the information was well articulated, kind, and empowering. -Kat Phillps

Customer Service Tip: Keep your promises

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

How many times has a customer service rep broken their promise to you?
* Failed to call you back.
* Failed to send you something.
* Failed to fix a problem.

It’s frustrating. A broken promise makes you question why you’re doing business with that company.

You can earn your customers’ trust by doing what you say you will do.
* Respond to customers when you say you’ll respond.
* Send what you promise to send.
* Fix problems you promise to fix.

It’s not as easy as it seems. People have a way of convincing themselves it’s okay to break promises.
* I was busy.
* I forgot.
* Someone else dropped the ball.

Imaging hearing those excuses as a customer. None of them are okay. You can stand out by being dependable, solid, and trustworthy.

Tech Tip: How to determine folder sizes in Outlook on the web

By: Ryan Johnson

How to Determine Folder Sizes in Outlook on the Web

Penn State Outlook Accounts have 100GB of storage per mailbox

To see how much mailbox storage you’re using in each folder, follow the instructions below:

  1. At the top of the page, select Settings (Gear Icon) > View all Outlook settings.
  2. Select General > Storage.

screenshot - Outlook storage

From the Settings > Storage page you should see a breakdown of how much space each folder in your mailbox is taking along with the option to permanently delete all items (or those older than 3, 6, or 12 months) in these folders to free up space if desired.

screenshot from Outlook - storage

PA Forward Financial Literacy

By: Lauren Reiter

Throughout the year, the Informed Consumer committee has coordinated programs for students, staff, and faculty aligned with PA Forward’s five literacies: basic, information,
civic/social, health, and financial.

Financial literacy means “having the knowledge and understanding necessary to make informed fiscal/economic decisions for personal life planning and business interests, including responsible budgeting, spending, and saving skills,” according to PA Forward.

This year, the Informed Consumer Committee hosted the Financial Fridays Book Club to help students develop financial literacy skills, including setting financial goals, exploring individual
financial priorities, and budgeting basics.

Each Friday for one month, a member of the committee led a one-hour workshop via Zoom covering one week of content from The 30 Day Money Cleanse by Ashley Feinstein Gerstley. Participants engaged in discussions via Padlet and polls via PollEverywhere to collaborate remotely. Session moderators also curated free financial literacy readings and tools from trustworthy sources such as the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau so students could further explore the topic of the week.

Want to build your own financial literacy skills? Access the book club activities and resources as well as a free e-book of The 30-Day Money Cleanse (available through the University Libraries)
at the LibGuide here: https://guides.libraries.psu.edu/financialfridays/moneycleanse.

—Emily Mross

Tech Tip: Reply all email etiquette

By: Ryan Johnson

email etiquette graphic for tech tip.

Using reply all allows for efficient group communications but it’s helpful to first make sure you are familiar with social standards of reply-all emails to avoid cluttering people’s email boxes when emailing large groups or listservs at the University. Below are some easy guidelines for using reply all in work situations:

When to Choose Reply All

  1. You Have Relevant Questions – Use reply all if you have a question that other contacts in the thread might have as well. Asking this type of question through reply all lessens the possibility of the original sender issuing multiple replies with the same answer.
  2. Your Response Could Have a Direct Effect on Others – Replying to all is the most efficient option when you have important information for the majority of the people included in the message thread.

When to Reply to an email with a different method

  1. Your response is only pertinent to the sender – If your response is relevant only to the original sender and not everyone on the message thread’s contact list, then send your email only to that person.
  2. You want to reply to a few people in a listserv or discussion group –

Unless your email asks a question that others might have, has a direct effect on the majority of recipients or involves scheduling a meeting with a small group, it would be best to find a more effective communication method.

For example, if a listserv message goes out offering congratulations to a coworker, it is most considerate to reply only to that individual to offer congratulations rather than the entire thread.

 

Customer Service Tip: The way it’s always been done

By: Jeremy Watkin, submitted by Carmen Gass

I’ve never really considered myself a “reptile person.” On those occasions where I’ve encountered snakes while hiking or working in the yard, I always jump clear out of my shoes in
complete fright.

It was Christmas of 2020 when my son made us a reptile family by welcoming a corn snake named “Mouse” into our home. Oh, and her favorite food is mice so it’s a fitting name. She was about a year old and two feet long at the time but has since doubled in size.

She actually has a great temperament, often content to gently wrap herself around a willing arm for an unspecified amount of time. And as far as pets go, a snake is incredibly low maintenance, eating and going to the bathroom about once a week. It’s all still a bit creepy though, but we’re adapting. Read more here.

PA Forward Civic and Social Literacy

By: Lauren Reiter

Throughout the year, the Informed Consumer committee has coordinated programs for students, staff, and faculty aligned with PA Forward’s five literacies: basic, information, civic/social, health, and financial.

PA Forward defines civic and social literacy as “engaging in discourse while remaining respectful of other individuals of varying opinions.” Learn more here.

This year the Informed Consumer series provided an opportunity for students to practice this skill by hosting “Renter-Landlord Rights and Responsibilities Trivia,” a lively and engaging discussion led by Daniel McKenrick, the Assistant Director of Student Legal Services at Penn State. Students living off campus and those preparing to rent were able to test their knowledge of their rights and responsibilities as a tenant. Participants learned the answers to questions ranging from “Can your landlord make you pay for your roommate’s share of the rent?” to “Can I move out of my apartment if the heating system breaks down and the temperature drops below zero?” The speaker covered important topics such as joint-leases, security deposits, insurance policies for renters, habitability, and more. An important theme throughout was the importance of documentation.    -Diane Zabel

Tech Tip: How to create a rule in Outlook

By: Ryan Johnson

  • To quickly create a rule right-click on any email from your inbox and select Advanced Actions -> Create Rule.

Outlook screenshot for tech tip

  • A Create a Rule Window will appear. To move emails from this sender to Deleted Items automatically as an example, click the dropdown menu and select Deleted Items. If the Deleted Items folder doesn’t immediately appear, select Move to a different folder and then find and select Deleted Items.

Outlook screenshot for Tech Tip

  • Click OK. A Window will then appear stating your rule was created.  You can check the box to run this rule now in your Inbox or simply click OK.

Outlook screenshot for Tech Tip

Customer Service Tip: 3 ways to immediately improve your customer experience

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

Today’s customers are increasingly unhappy.

The American Customer Satisfaction Index has steadily declined for the past four years. By the end of 2021, it had reached its lowest point since 2005.

What’s causing the decline?

A survey conducted by Toister Performance Solutions in April 2022 aimed to find out. Over 1,500 consumers across the United States were asked about their experiences with companies.

The results point to three ways that companies can immediately improve their customer experience. Read more here.

PA Forward Basic Literacy

By: Lauren Reiter

Throughout the year, the Informed Consumer committee has coordinated programs for students, staff, and faculty aligned with PA Forward’s five literacies: basic, information,
civic/social, health, and financial.

PA Forward defines basic literacy as ‘’developing foundational competency including reading, writing, math, job application assistance, and overall life-skill development.” Examples of basic literacy programs in other libraries include everything from adult literacy classes that cover filling out job applications to story hours for children.

This year the Informed Consumer series provided Book Club Kits to encourage reading as a way to connect and engage with others. Kits include copies of the book, reader’s guides and book discussion prompts, as well as some fun goodies to get students started. Titles include: The Girl With the Louding Voice, I Am Malala, and Where the Crawdads Sing. -Megan Gilpin

Tech Tip: Zoom login changes starting on May 11

By: Ryan Johnson

Starting May 11, 2022, Zoom is activating their forced single sign-on (SSO), requiring all users to login with their Penn State ID and password. To improve Zoom security, this update ensures that all Penn State Zoom users are authenticated via SSO at login.

Users are encouraged to follow these login processes now instead of waiting until the deadline.

Note: The majority of Zoom users at Penn State are already logging in via SSO and will not be affected by this update.

Please refer to these knowledge base articles for more information:

To take advantage of the new features in Zoom, it is strongly recommended that users use the latest version of Zoom. Please update your Libraries Computer Via BigFix Self Service and remember the following guidelines to keep your computer updated:

1.) Leave computers Signed out and Powered on unless in-use to receive regular updates.
2.) Sign out of shared machines. If any user is still signed in, updates will not occur.
3.) Reboot computers (even Macs) once a week to apply updates. I would recommend a weekly calendar reminder.
4.) Check BigFix Self-Service frequently for updatesI would recommend a monthly calendar reminder.

PA Forward and Informed Consumer Programs

By: Lauren Reiter

Throughout the year, the Informed Consumer committee has coordinated programs for students, staff, and faculty aligned with PA Forward’s five literacies: basic, information, civic/social, health, and financial. PA Forward is a Pennsylvania Library Association initiative that showcases how libraries of all types support and enrich an informed citizenry.

Many Pennsylvania libraries have participated in PA Forward, earning Bronze, Silver, or Gold stars for their efforts. At University Park, through the Informed Consumer series, we have worked our way up to the Bronze Star level and are looking toward Silver and Gold to join our PSUL colleagues at Penn State Fayette and Penn State Harrisburg who have already earned these respective distinctions for their campuses (If we are missing anyone at other campuses,
please get in touch!)

Over the next few weeks, we will share posts about the five PA Forward Literacies and the Informed Consumer programs we offered this year. If you are interested in PA Forward or the Informed Consumer series, feel free to reach out to Informed Consumer chair, Lauren Reiter, lmr29@psu.edu.

Many thanks from the Informed Consumer committee!
Sara Hess, Megan Gilpin, Emily Mross, Kat Phillips, Lauren Reiter, Diane Zabel

Safe Links feature to be enabled in Microsoft Teams on Apr. 29

By: Ryan Johnson

On Friday, April 29, Penn State IT will enable the Safe Links feature in Microsoft Teams to scan for malicious links in Teams messages. When this change is implemented, users may see this image when clicking on a link in Teams:

'verifying link' screenshot

After a very slight delay, they will either be routed to the destination if the link is deemed safe or see an error page if the link is deemed malicious. Users should submit a ticket to Office365@psu.edu if they believe the link was blocked in error.

Collaboration tools such as email and Microsoft Teams are a primary route for credential and data theft. The Safe Links feature in Office 365 email already stops hundreds of malicious links from being clicked in emails every day. Enabling the feature in Teams will bolster our efforts to improve our security posture and better protect the Penn State community.

This effort is in response to the Penn State Shields Up initiative and part of our continued collaboration with the Office of Information Security.

Customer Service Tip: Say thank you, not sorry

By: Jeff Toister (submitted by Carmen Gass)

It’s a busy day and your next customer has been waiting for awhile. What should you say to acknowledge the delay?
* “I’m sorry for the wait.”
* “Thank you for waiting.”
* Nothing.

The surprising choice is “Thank you for waiting.”

** Thank customers for minor service failures**
————————————————————
Small issues, such as a delay, can damage a customer’s
self-esteem.

They make people feel disrespected or less valued. The key to service recovery in these situations is to restore a customer’s self-esteem and make them feel better again.

“I’m sorry” can be effective, but thanking the customer can work even better!

Here are some examples:
* Restaurant: “Thank you for your patience while we prepare your table.”
* Retail: “Thank you for waiting while I helped that customer.”
* Coffee shop: “Thank you for letting me know we’re out of creamer.”

I often use this technique when Customer Service Tip of the Week subscribers point out a typo or another small error in these weekly newsletters.

“Thanks for spotting that typo,” I’ll write. “I appreciate you letting me know about it so I can fix it!”

There is one caveat. Saying “thank you” only works well for minor service failures. Big issues still deserve an apology.

Tech Tip: Keep your computer up-to-date

By: Ryan Johnson

tech tip: Update graphic with computer

Library Strategic Technologies is in the process of installing a security agent on all Library computers that will scan machines more frequently for software that is out of date and could be a security risk Penn State. This is being done to meet new Penn State Security Guidelines established by the Office of Information Security (OIS). As a result, our staff will be reaching out more frequently to faculty and staff to update possible security vulnerabilities.

Please follow the guidelines below to keep your library computer updated:

1.) Leave computers Signed out and Powered on unless in-use to receive regular updates.
2.) Sign out of shared machines. If any user is still signed in, updates will not occur.
3.) Reboot computers (even Macs) once a week to apply updates. I would recommend a weekly calendar reminder.
4.) Check BigFix Self-Service frequently for updates. I would recommend a monthly calendar reminder
5.) Update Manually any programs you download and install manually (this includes Adobe Creative Cloud applications).