a 24th thing

Last year when I was appointed to the campus EAP board I was curious about how the service has changed since it have been contracted to Human Solutions  One aspect of their services is a website chock full of resources from articles and newsletters on specific topics to a personal health assesment tool that lets you track and store information on a secure site for yourself and your family  to mulimedia e-courses on things like taking control of stress or retirement planning.  Given the computer savvy nature of this workplace I was shocked at the low utilization stats on this resource.

Then I found out why.

I tried registering on the site and did not get my confirmation and password email.  I waited.  I waited some more.  I called their 1-800 number where a helpful person suggested I try clicking on the 're-send my password' button and then checking my spam report.  Still no sign of it.  Though I did report the possibility that people registering using a U of S email account might have their confirmation going into the spam file to the Board and HR person in charge.

It has taken a while, but finally this registration/password notification bug is fixed. (it was getting eliminated at our end as unwanted spam and not even clearing into the "suspected spam" report that we receive - someone in IT had to "whitelist" the sender)

So even though this online resource is not part of the 23 things, it is part of your compensation as a U of S employee and has a variety of topics covered from parenting skills to pre-retirement planning. I think this is a subtle and convenient medium for delivering advice and information on sensitive issues. 

By the way, in the process of exploring the site and testing the registration process I did manage to register very easily using a gmail account, as did a couple of colleagues who helped me test it with their campus, as well as Shaw and hotmail accounts - so you can use a personal email to register if you prefer. BUT now the campus email works too.