Good Afternoon MTAS,

Gee, I realized that I had been out of the office quite a bit lately, but I had not realized that it had been so long since I was able to generate a Mustard. I hope you’ll stick with me as I detail some agency events.

First, let me address what I’ve been up to that has taken me out of the office. During the short Labor Day week, I traveled to Franklin to deliver some parliamentary procedure instruction to the elected and several appointed governing bodies for the city. They were a fun bunch and asked challenging questions. After that, I attended the joint meeting of all the IPS strategy teams. I’m very pleased to report that many of the teams have accomplished their goals and now are setting their sights on new initiatives. Way to make progress! For the record, MTAS is well represented on each of the strategy teams. I extend my thanks to all who participate in these efforts.

The following week, I took a vacation overseas. The weather was spectacular and the architecture, history, and culture were all amazing. Hey, I did my fair share of eating too, and thoroughly enjoyed each of those experiences.

The week after that, I attended 24 hours of training in Knoxville from ATD (the Association for Talent Development). While I don’t do a lot of course development, I do make an occasional presentation; and I hope that you’ll see positive changes the next time I talk to you in a group setting.

From ATD, I left for Baltimore to attend the ICMA annual conference. I have a lot of take-aways from that conference and look forward to sharing those with you in the upcoming weeks.

That brings me up to today, where I’m still trying to get caught up. Getting the Mustard done was at the top of my list – so here we are.

There are a few reminders I want to share with you.
· First is the Securing the Human Training with a deadline of TODAY. Please finish those 10 lessons today if you haven’t already, and for the majority who have already completed the sessions, thanks!
· The second is the campus chest campaign. I received an update from Steve Thompson on Friday, and MTAS stands at a 62% participation rate. Just so you know, the target is 100%. The charities that are supported by us and the university do such great work (just like we do) in improving the lives of Tennesseans. Please consider making a donation through payroll deduction or a one-time gift. A huge thanks goes to everyone who has already committed to sharing your hard earned dollars with the charity of your choice. If you are still waffling, here is the link to the campaign:
https://campuschest.utk.edu/ .
· Third, please don’t forget your progress toward your 32 hours of professional development for the calendar year. Sherri sent out a status report on your own personal achievement toward fulfilling your professional development goal of 32 hours. Please make sure your hours are properly recorded and make plans to achieve the goal (if you haven’t already). If you need help, please check in with your supervisor.

Now for some celebrations! During the month of September, we had some birthdays and anniversaries. Please join me in celebrating:

Birthdays : Steve C. (9-5), Warren (9-19), Abb (9-22), Kelley and Lisa (a shared birthday falling on 9-23)
Work Anniversaries : Steve W., Gary, and Kurt all on 9-1; Chris (9-2), and Nancy (9-5). Extra special congrats to Steve with one of those round number anniversaries!

One last celebration, and that is a vacation photo from Brett. His is the last one that I have, so if you’d like to share, now is the time. Brett tells me this is East Torrey Creek, at the top of Bomber Falls, Wind River Range, Wyoming.




On that happy note, I conclude this Mustard. I hope you have a fabulous week ahead that is full of excellent interactions with your customers, internal and external.

Sincerely,
Margaret