By Chris Krueger

Mother Nature served up a pre-Thanksgiving buffet of weather the last few days, offering a little of this and a lot of that wintry weather to every district in Minnesota.

Road conditions in District 2 and District 4 turned hazardous as snow accumulated quickly. Snow plow crews stayed busy clearing more than 11 inches of snow off highways in the Fargo-Moorhead area. Freezing rain hit District 3 and the Interstate 35 corridor from Pine City to Duluth in District 1. While snow depths varied from one-three inches in the south end of District 1, crews in the northern half battled 7-12 inches of snow.

Further south, temperatures dropped quickly and rain froze to the surface of Twin Cities Metro Area roads, creating slippery conditions. In southern and west central Minnesota, drizzle made roads wet, creating some slippery spots on bridge decks, overpasses and ramps, as crews worked to apply chemicals and sand to stay ahead of the weather.

More winter weather is on the way. The National Weather Service is predicting a heaping helping of freezing rain, sleet and snow, which will spread across the state Wednesday afternoon through Thanksgiving Day. Temperatures are expected to drop as soon as the weather clears.

By Beth Petrowske

A group of Mn/DOT managers led by Commissioner Tom Sorel recently represented the department at the first “in-person” State Smart Transportation Initiative meeting in Minneapolis.

Mn/DOT, along with 14 other state departments of transportation, are members of SSTI—an initiative established to promote smart transportation practices that promote environmental sustainability and equitable economic development, while maintaining high standards of governmental efficiency and transparency.

“Mn/DOT is committed to preserving our environment and maintaining a safe and efficient transportation system,” said Commissioner Sorel. “Members of the SSTI are looking for and sharing innovative ways to improve our stewardship efforts so that we use our financial and natural resources as sustainably as possible.”

SSTI members share ideas and technical information, learn together and serve as a resource to the wider transportation community. Mn/DOT hosted a lunch-time presentation about the department’s E-magination JAM and new Sustainability Policy Statement. The new policy includes information about the three components—the environment, economy and society—that must be balanced to attain sustainable transportation solutions.

“Mn/DOT was seen as a national leader at the meeting,” said Mike Barnes, Engineering Services director. “There was great interest in areas where we are on the forefront, including our sustainability, E-JAM, quality of life and online community initiatives, as well as the department’s efforts to improve its corridor coalition models.”

More information about SSTI, including materials from the recent meeting, is available at www.ssti.us/.

Employees interested in attending the latest Commissioner’s Reading Corner discussion can still sign up at ihub/readingcorner/index.html. Khani Sahebjam, deputy commissioner/chief engineer, will lead a discussion of “Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High,” by Kerry Patterson.

The discussion will take place Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 1:30 p.m., in Central Office Conference Room 461. Employees can also participate virtually via Adobe Connect and should log in as a guest no earlier than 1:15 p.m. All employees are encouraged to attend, even if they have not yet read the book, according to Qin Tang, Mn/DOT librarian.

Employees can also prepare for future book discussions by checking out other titles on the reading corner book list. Upcoming discussions will include these titles, which are available in the Commissioner's Reading Corner at the Mn/DOT Library:

• A New Breed of Leader: 8 Leadership Qualities that Matter Most in the Real World: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why
• The Trusted Leader: Building the Relationships that Make Government Work
• The 21 Irrefutable Laws of Leadership: Follow Them and People Will Follow You
• Collaborative Leadership: How Citizens and Civic Leaders Can Make a Difference
• Jeffrey Gitomer's Little Teal Book of Trust: How to Earn It, Grow It, and Keep It to Become a Trusted Advisor in Sales, Business & Life

Employees with questions can contact Rebecca Fabunmi, special assistant to the commissioner, at 651-366-4808. To read an interview featuring Sahebjam’s take on the latest book, visit ihub.dot.state.mn.us/readingcorner/interviews.html.

By Andrew Buss, Office of Financial Management

The countdown to the SWIFT implementation continues.

With seven months left to implementation, the TranSWIFT project is actively collaborating with Mn/DOT experts and state project team members to replace MAPS with Oracle’s PeopleSoft Financial system.

How will the transition to SWIFT affect your work?

In short, SWIFT will integrate all of the financial and procurement functions across all state agencies. However, finance and procurement employees aren’t the only ones who will be affected by SWIFT. Everyone who has work relating to consumable inventory, contracts, fixed assets and grants will also experience changes.

To determine how Mn/DOT can use SWIFT to manage the variety of grants the agency receives and distributes to local agencies to fund projects, Mn/DOT established the Grants Management Work Team,  headed by Barb Kryzer, Office of Transit.

Several other offices that manage and spend grant money also are on the work team, including Aeronautics, Freight and Commercial Vehicle Operations, Traffic, Safety and Technology, and Electronic Communications. Employees in these offices will use SWIFT to manage the accounting and contractual aspects of their grants. In order to meet the Mn/DOT-specific requirements, these offices are an integral part of the planning process for the grants management module.

“SWIFT will have so much more capacity than we currently have in MAPS,” Kryzer said.

SWIFT features include the ability to:

• Establish grant budgets and track multiple funding sources and expenditures against the budget  
• Separate the grant budget from all other budgets (i.e., appropriation, organization, project and contract)
• Set up and report budget items based on multiple fiscal years, grant years, or other user-defined periods
• Track actual expenditures and encumbrances against budgeted/allowable expenditures by user-defined period (i.e., monthly, quarterly, etc.)
• Link a grant to multiple projects or link multiple grants to a single project

The TranSWIFT Project Team is working directly with offices to ensure a smooth transition. Closer to the implementation date, the team will provide more information on other areas of the system, as well as the training and support that will be available to future SWIFT users.

For more information about the TranSWIFT project, including project status, schedule and updates, visit ihub/transwift/ or contact Bill Roen, TranSWIFT project director, at 651-366-4076.

By Lucy Kender, Office of Human Resources

The Early Retirement Incentive application deadline has passed and more than 450 Mn/DOT employees—roughly 9 percent of the workforce—have submitted an application.

“In the past five fiscal years, about 2.6 percent of our workforce retired annually,” said Eric Davis, Human Resources director. “For Fiscal Year 2011, we are looking at a 340 percent increase in separations due to retirements—that’s a significant increase.”

Some of the Early Retirement Incentive retirees already have retired—some will retire soon. Final retirements will begin next spring and continue until June 30, 2011.

The driving force behind offering the Early Retirement Incentive included taking a hard look at how the department does business.

“I have asked office directors and district engineers to take this opportunity to make some changes and find cost savings,” said Commissioner Tom Sorel. “In some cases, the position the retiree held will not be filled or will be held open for some time. In others, work will be redistributed and organizational charts will change.”

In light of those changes, the commissioner asks employees to maintain a positive outlook.

“I urge you to adopt an attitude of resiliency as we travel along some new roads internally,” Sorel said. “I know you may be facing changes and challenges, but facing them with optimism and commitment will aid in finding solutions.

“Change management is a process, not a singular event. I encourage you to show patience with each other as you see workplace changes, relationship changes and personal changes. Remember, change is the only constant.”

Saying thanks to those who are leaving is also a key component of change management, according to Sorel.

“I have seen an incredible number of retirement party flyers and we will likely see more in the coming months,” Sorel said. “Please take the time to personally share your appreciation to those who are retiring.”

For more information about the Early Retirement Incentive, visit ihub.dot.state.mn.us/hr/earlyretirement/.

By Sue Bousquet and Jesse Pearson, Office of Information & Technology Services

The Enterprise Geographic Information Systems Unit recently launched a new GIS website that aims to provide easier access to GIS software and applications. 

The website is designed to allow customers to easily get information about available GIS products, web services, applications and imagery, along with information on how to access the products. 

“The intent of this design is to take our customers full circle—from understanding what the product is and what you can do with it, to providing a method of obtaining the product and training,” said Paul Weinberger, EGIS Unit supervisor. 

The GIS Product Catalog is the first of three main additions to the website. The EGIS Unit plans to expand the site in the next few months to include the GIS Service Catalog, which will provide information on how the EGIS Unit can help offices add GIS components into their business to better meet analysis and data needs.   

To explore the GIS website, visit ihub.dot.state.mn.us/gis/.

By Kristin Kammueller, District 6 Public Affairs

Hundreds of students eager to learn more about the importance of science, technology, engineering and math stopped by the Mn/DOT booth at the 2010 STEM Summit held Nov. 4 in Rochester. The summit served as an opportunity for students in grades 6-11 to visit vendor booths and learn about different career opportunities where STEM skills are needed.

“The STEM Summit was a great opportunity for Mn/DOT to promote real-world applications of math and science to students considering future careers in engineering or technology,” said Jai Kalsy, District 6 project engineer.

The Mn/DOT booth had multiple interactive exhibits, including:

• Survey equipment
• Vehicle animation of the new Interstate 90 Dresbach bridge
• Crash video highlighting how the department is using innovative technology to warn motorists when it is not safe to cross through-stop divided highways
• Display with questions about different areas within the department