Funeral services for Mike Weiss, Office of Traffic, Safety and Technology, are set for 11 a.m., Friday, April 15, at Crossroads Church in Woodbury. Visitation will begin at 10 a.m.

Weiss, a 43-year Mn/DOT employee, died April 7. He was 64 years old.

Weiss was the department’s state signing engineer for more than 20 years. During his career, he worked in District 2, District 3 and Central Office. He also was president of the Minnesota Government Engineers Council from 1986-1987.

In his role as state signing engineer, Weiss was responsible for signing standards and policy for the state of Minnesota.

“Mike’s passion for signing and dedication to Mn/DOT were an inspiration to all that worked with him,” said Cassandra Isackson, assistant state traffic engineer and Weiss’ former supervisor. “He personally reviewed or developed every signing plan in the state during his tenure.”

Weiss often took plans home with him so he could spread them out in the basement and give them a complete review, according to Isackson.

“We would often joke about turning in a signing plan on Friday, only to have it returned on Monday morning with plenty of red pencil corrections,” she said. “He is missed.”

Under the guidance of the Hear Every Voice initiative, Metro District’s Public Affairs Office piloted the department’s first open house using webinar technology April 5 at a public meeting held to outline the future of the Interstate 35E Cayuga Corridor in St. Paul.

Webinar viewers had the choice of participating live and asking questions during the scheduled presentation or viewing the presentation on demand and submitting questions or comments during the scheduled time frame. For the pilot event, online participation included nine live viewers and approximately 75 on-site participants.

“The benefit of using technology is that it can be used in addition to our traditional methods of engaging and educating the public with a goal of expanding outreach beyond a selected time and location,” said Vanessa Levingston, public involvement consultant in the Office of Customer Relations.

A link on the Interstate 35E Cayuga website has been set up to allow visitors who were unable to participate during the live presentation to view a recording of the presentation and follow up discussion at their convenience. They also will be able to submit comments or questions to project staff. This will increase the number of citizens the department is able to engage with on the project, according to Kent Barnard, Metro District public affairs coordinator.

Metro District sent invitations to nearly 3,000 residents and businesses along the corridor and used news releases and email updates to alert the public about the meeting. Additional information was distributed by other agencies who are working cooperatively with the department to develop the corridor, including the city of St. Paul, several St. Paul district councils and the St. Paul Bicycle Coalition.

“Even with our outreach efforts, it is difficult to reach everyone affected by the project,” Barnard said. “Additional meetings will be held as the project is developed to involve even more of the public.”

Mn/DOT staff also is working to count and recognize individual views of the webinar.

“In other words, we’re not counting the number of times the same person views the webinar, but the number of new viewers, which provides the department with an additional tool to measure outreach,” Levingston said.  

Mn/DOT’s Hear Every Voice initiative is dedicated to providing staff and partners with tools and resources that will increase and expand the department’s engagement with the public. Future training opportunities and scheduled webinar discussions can be found at www.dot.state.mn.us/planning/publicinvolvement/. For more information about the initiative, contact Levingston at 651-366-3177.

Bob Richards, Labor Compliance, is now eligible for the state vacation donation program, which allows employees to donate up to 40 hours of vacation per fiscal year for approved recipients who have exhausted their sick and vacation leave due to illness.

Richards underwent open heart surgery in February and in early March, was diagnosed with Metastatic Adenocarcinoma, a life threatening form of esophageal cancer. Richards is currently seeking treatment at the Mayo Clinic.

To donate vacation hours, go to the Employee Self Service Web site and click “Other Payroll” and then “Leave Donations.” The site also allows employees to view a list of all state employees eligible for the program and enroll as a recipient.

Related information:

Road to recovery: Vacation donation program eases the pain (Newsline, Nov. 10, 2010)—Read a viewpoint from one Mn/DOT recipient.

By Lisa Yang

The department recently filled five vacant director positions in three separate divisions—Policy, Safety and Strategic Initiatives; Modal Planning and Program Management; and Operations. The five employees accepting the positions are:

• Jean Wallace, Office of Policy Analysis, Research and Innovation director
• Mark Gieseke, Office of Capital Programs and Performance Management director
• Cassandra Isackson, Transportation Data and Analysis Office director
• Ed Idzorek, Operations Division portfolio manager
• Mukhtar Thakur, Electronic Communications Office director

The department used a new approach when interviewing the candidates that included a technical component, an interactive component and a presentation that was developed and presented by each of the candidates.

“In looking at the individuals that are assuming these new roles in the department, I am excited to see the diversity that each one of them brings to their new job,” said Bernie Arseneau, deputy commissioner/chief engineer. “Their backgrounds are widely varied, helping them to bring new perspectives to their work and enabling us to move closer to our vision of being a global leader in delivering a safe and efficient transportation system through the implementation of our five strategic directions.”

Jean Wallace became the director of the Office of Policy Analysis, Research and Innovation on March 30.

Wallace joined Mn/DOT in 2008 where she worked in the Office of Project Scope and Cost Management as the assistant office director. In that role, Wallace stewarded project management, the project scoping process and the department’s cost estimating and cost management process.

Prior to joining Mn/DOT, Wallace worked for the Federal Highway Administration as the program operations team leader in FHWA’s Minnesota Division Office.

Wallace has a civil engineering degree from the University of Minnesota and is a registered professional engineer in Minnesota and Pennsylvania.

In her new role, Wallace’s major duties are to support and enhance transportation policy analysis, as well as support the advancement of transportation research. One of Wallace’s major duties includes supporting the E-magination JAM initiatives and other innovative ideas within Mn/DOT.

“I’m looking forward to so many things in this new role—I want to continue to support an innovative environment in the office and across the department,” Wallace said. “I think this position will give me an opportunity to serve the public in that capacity.”

Wallace can be reached at 651-366-3181. She will be located on the seventh floor of Central Office.

Mark Gieseke is set to become the Office of Capital Programs and Performance Management director this April.

Gieseke began working for the department in 1983 as a laborer on a survey crew in District 2. He then became a graduate engineer in District 3/Baxter before moving to Metro District. Gieseke has since worked in several other areas.

Prior to his new position, Gieseke was the Electronic Communications Office director.

As Capital Programs and Performance Management director, Gieseke will lead the development and implementation of the department’s capital improvement program for the trunk highway system.

“There are a lot of challenges, but there’s a great group of people who I get to work with on those challenges,” Gieseke said. “To me, that sounds like a perfect job.”

Gieseke can currently be reached at 651-234-7962. He will be located on the third floor of Central Office.

Cassandra Isackson will take over as the Transportation Data and Analysis Office director this April.

Isackson has worked at Mn/DOT for 13 years in the offices of Materials and Road Research, Technical Support, Traffic Engineering at Metro District and most recently in the Office of Traffic, Safety and Technology.

Isackson received her civil engineering degree from the University of Alabama. She worked at the Alabama Department of Transportation for five years in their Materials Office before coming to Mn/DOT.

As Transportation Data and Analysis director, Isackson will oversee traffic forecasting and analysis, roadway data, geographic information and mapping, and the GIS BaseMap.

“I am really looking forward to working with the people who are the source of valuable information that is necessary for me and so many others to do their day-to-day work,” Isackson said.

Isackson can currently be reached at 651-234-7010. She is located at the Waters Edge Building in the Metro District.

Ed Idzorek became the Operations Division portfolio manager on March 30.

Idzorek began working at Mn/DOT in January 1997 in District 3’s Planning and Preliminary Design Section. He moved to the Office of Investment Management, now Capital Programs and Performance Measures, in July 1998.

Idzorek also has worked in District 7 and Metro Project Delivery.

Before coming to Mn/DOT, Idzorek worked for 13 years at a consulting engineering firm.

As portfolio manager, one of Idzorek’s duties will be to work on the Chapter 152 bridge program.

“I’m looking forward to working with the districts and specialty offices to deliver the Chapter 152 bridge program, the interchange programs and the hopefully soon-to-be announced Better Roads for Minnesota program,” Idzorek said.

Idzorek can be reached at 651-366-3756. His office is located on the third floor of Central Office.

Mukhtar Thakur will begin his role as Electronic Communications Office director on May 11.

He replaces Mark Gieseke, who recently accepted the position of Capital Programs and Performance Management director.

Thakur has worked for Mn/DOT nearly 24 years. Most recently, he served as the department’s director of personal rapid transit.

Thakur can be reached at 651-366-4691. 

By Jessica Wiens

The National Research Council recently appointed Commissioner Tom Sorel to serve on the Executive Committee for the Transportation Research Board.

Sorel is one of approximately 25 voting members of the TRB Executive Committee, which is an advisory group that provides policy direction to TRB programs and activities. The committee consists of government, industry and academia leaders and also engages approximately 20 ex-officio members in policy discussions. This oversight is meant to ensure that TRB’s activities are beneficial to the national transportation system.

“Collaboration among such a range of professionals is vital as our local and regional transportation systems continue growing as part of the national system,” Sorel said. “This is a great way to showcase Mn/DOT as a national leader in transportation.”

The committee meets twice a year in January and June. Members serve for three years and may be appointed for one additional term.

Prior to coming to Mn/DOT, Sorel worked for 30 years in numerous positions around the country with the U.S. Department of Transportation and Federal Highway Administration. 

For more information on the TRB’s Executive Committee, visit www.trb.org.

By Lucy Kender, Office of Human Resources

In the near future, Mn/DOT will transfer employees’ training records from the Mn/DOT Learning Center to a new statewide system known as Enterprise Learning Management.

The ELM team needs employees’ help to ensure their records transfer accurately, according to Patti Follmer, ELM system administrator.

“Employees can help us by checking their current record in Mn/DOT’s Learning Center to see if it’s complete and up-to-date,” Follmer said. “Only classes with a completed status will be transferred to the new system.

“If the class status indicates ‘complete, passed, canceled or exempt,’ it is considered a completed status and will be transferred to the new system.”

Employees can check their training record by logging in to the Student Center and choosing “View My Training Activity.”

“If you find a class on your record that does not have a completed status and you think it should, contact your office or district training representative to change the information,” Follmer said.

If the enrollment was in error, training representatives also can arrange to have employees removed from the roster for that class.

For certain types of training, such as mandatory, safety, required certification or training with associated professional development hours, Follmer said she advises employees to be prepared to furnish documentation. This may include signed rosters, completion certificates or attendance receipts to their training representative before the class status can be updated.

“Even though it may be a few months before the new ELM system is up and running, we’d really appreciate it if employees could verify their training records by May 15,” Follmer said. “We’ll continue to issue updates and instructions as we move closer to implementing this new system—stay tuned.”

For more information about ELM, visit ihub.dot.state.mn.us/hr/learning-management/index.html.

Sixteen employees from around the state received awards at the inaugural Heroes of Mn/DOT event at the State Capitol April 8 for their efforts in going beyond the call of duty. Gov. Mark Dayton joined Commissioner Tom Sorel and Deputy Commissioner Bernie Arseneau in presenting the awards.

“The purpose of Heroes of Mn/DOT program is to acknowledge employees who acted courageously or provided meritorious service in response to extraordinary or dangerous circumstances,” Sorel said. “Their actions and service reflect greatly not only on themselves, but also on our organization.

“We all are ambassadors for Mn/DOT by the sheer nature of our work; however, they have taken their ambassadorship to a new level when they demonstrated their servant leadership and commitment by helping those in need.”

Honorees included:

• Jolyn Crum, Central Office safety administrator
• Kristine Hernandez, District 6 Public Affairs
• Jessica Wiens, District 6 Public Affairs
• Judy Jacobs, District 3 Public Affairs
• Don Machacek, First Driver
• Tom Shields, First Driver
• Julie Todora, First Driver
• DeLorah Curry—on behalf of the Critical Incident Stress Management Team
• John Martin, Michael Schmidt—on behalf of all Metro District snow fighters
• Kati Hanson—on behalf of all District 1 snow fighters
• Richard Andrews—on behalf of all District 2 snow fighters
• Daryl Swenson—on behalf of all District 3 snow fighters
• Roger Sazama—on behalf of all District 4 snow fighters
• Maceo Douangdy—on behalf of all District 6 snow fighters
• Jim Fester—on behalf of all District 7 snow fighters
• Lonnie Schrunk—on behalf of all District 8 snow fighters

To view an abbreviated video of the Heroes of Mn/DOT award ceremony, visit www.youtube.com/watch.