Welcome New Staff! iPromise

To continue to excel as specialists in the management of student housing owned by non -profits.
Welcome New Staff!
In This Issue
 Welless Updates pg. 2-4
 Upcoming COCM Events pg.
5
 Dealing with Negative Peo-
UMD Courtyards is happy to welcome Brian Moore as our new Maintenance Tech. Brian has been the field
of maintenance for 16 years. He has certifications in plumbing, electricity, general maintenance and
CFC. He has a great sense of humor and likes to play jokes on people. In his spare time he enjoys fishing on
one of his many boats and watching UMD football, “Fear the Turtle!”
SCC welcomes Estela Mineros as the new Housekeeper. She was born in El Salvador and recently has become a US citizen. Estela enjoys spending time with her two sons, shopping and watching Brazil win soccer
matches. She began work with us in late December 2015 and is a wonderful addition to the SCC family.
ple pg. 6
 Thoughts for 2016 pg. 6
 Movie Club pg. 7
 Employee Spotlight pg. 8
 Power Posing Contest pg. 9
CWR welcomes Misael Galarza to the Facilities team as a Maintenance Technician! Misael joins our team
with some great property maintenance experience and has already received compliments from the residents in his short time at CWR!
iPromise
For Jim Gallivan and Mark Torres (maintenance staff) from MassArt staff member:
Just wanted to say how awesome your crew is. Everything is fixed and looking good.
For Jim Gallivan from MassArt residence hall director:
A big thanks to Jim for his response in this matter. (Jim took quick holiday action on a bed bug report)
For Charbra Parkman from MassArt student:
Charbra I love you!!! Thank you sooo much!!!!
I was really panicking about Monday (parking) and you saved me yet again.
Thank you! Thank You!
For Jennifer Juliano (MassArt) from Summer Conferences Guest:
Perfect! You’re the best! (In regards to Jennifer playing people Tetris to find additional bed spaces for the
summer)
For Brian Collins from Joni Daminato (Florida Atlantic)
“Thank you once again” for all the work and effort you did for me yesterday. I appreciate all the “Hours” it
took to get me up and running. You were awesome, I can’t thank you enough.
For Kristin Moore (Frostburg) from Parent
Kristin is 100% the reason my son is living in Edgewood Commons. When we came up for a tour, she sold
us on the apartment because of how much she cared about what we wanted in our experience. My son
plans on staying in Edgewood until he graduates because of her.
Has someone on your staff gotten recognition from campus partners, residents, parents or other staff
members? Submit to Tara to be featured in the iPromise section of the newsletter!
Decluttering Secrets!
Realsimple.com
9 Decluttering Secrets from Professional Organizers
http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/organizing/professional-organizers
Nine smart strategies spotted in (and stolen from) the houses of expect clutter busters. Chalk it up to experience – they
really work.
Healthy Snack of the Month
Debbie Daniels
In an effort to provide additional healthy idea, please enjoy a video on how to make Chicken
Nuggets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8gbulq8HC0c
The Capstone Physical Wellness Committee promotes achieving physical wellness by eating well, exercising,
avoiding harmful habits, getting enough sleep, recognizing signs of disease, getting regular physical exams
and taking steps to prevent injury/illness.
Brain Teasers
Movie Riddle #1
His family desert him, alone in the woods
He finds his way to a home
A young boy soon becomes his friend
But he doesn't know where he came from
He likes to dress up in a young girl's clothes
But the military appear on the scene
A quick phone call home, an amazing escape
What movie can these clues all mean?
Movie Riddle #2
The Windy City
And one that's wet
Two lonely people
Who haven't yet met
A small boy travels
To the Empire State
What movie is this
That's also a remake?
Intellectual Wellness Committee
The Capstone Intellectual Wellness Committee encourages creative and stimulating mental activity getting the most out of classes and education by
asking questions, being open to new ideas, sustaining a growth mind-set, and learning new skills.
See Answers on Page 4!
Movie Riddle #3
A storm, a fall, and in a dream
A house flies way up high
To a world that's filled with colors
And where you might weigh a pie.
What classic is this?
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The Occupational Wellness Committee is excited to offer our employees a formal way to share
ideas and comments. Capstone On-Campus understands our greatest asset is our employees and
those employees have awesome perspective and comments! If you have a company wide initiative or comment to share, please send it to:
Comment @capstoneoncampus. com.
The Occupational Committee will shepherd the idea to consideration, explanation, or resolution.
Interested in
contributing to the newsletter?
Write an article, share a story, brag about programs, send in pictures
and more!!!
By the 15th of the month, send your
contribution to
Tara Wilkinson (corp) to twilkinson@cocm.com
Get active at your desk
The COCM Physical Wellness Committee
With the New Year underway, the Physical Wellness Committee wants to remind you to still stay active since it’s
getting cooler outside and you may not be able to get outside as much. Thanks to Debbie Daniels and Jamal
Fisher (FSU RA and Desk Assistant), we will provide you a new exercise you can complete at your desk each
month. Please make sure you still take time for yourself and stretch
Lower Leg Warm-Up
0:35-2:02 (Time Stamp)
https://youtu.be/LAeZZbpi8Ow?t=35s
Some positivity
for you!
Brought to you by
the Emotional
Wellness
Committee
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Healthy Eats— The Spring Edition Request
SPRING IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER (although many of us have had a pleasantly warm winter so
far)! Springtime usually allows us to get outdoors and enjoy the warmer weather and hopefully continue with our resolutions of more physical activity. After a great outdoor workout, what better way
to top it off but to come inside for a healthy treat to reenergize our bodies. The Physical Wellness
Committee would love to include your favorite recipe in the next edition of Healthy Eats. If you would
like to share your favorite spring time snack, meal, or drink for our SPRINGTIME HEALTHY EATS edition, please email it to Charbra Parkman (cparkman@cocm.com) by Friday, February 26, 2016. Although our goal is to share the healthiest recipes with you, a not so healthy one may be snuck in every
now and then. We hope this will encourage everyone to share!
The Capstone Physical Wellness Committee promotes achieving physical wellness by eating well, exercising, avoiding harmful habits, getting
enough sleep, recognizing signs of disease, getting regular physical exams and taking steps to prevent injury/illness.
Brain Teaser Answers!
Riddle 1: E.T The Extra Terrestrial
Riddle 2: Sleepless in Seattle
Riddle 3: The Wizard of Oz
Good Luck Cards
Don’t forget to let Joe Cantona, jcantona@cocm.com, if you are participating or participated in any
physical activity event (marathon, half-marathon, fund raiser, etc.) that you want to share with the
rest of the company. The Physical Wellness Committee wants to recognize you for your efforts and
energy. Please send Joe the following: The event name, the date of the event, and a picture of you
participating in the event.
The Capstone Physical Wellness Committee promotes achieving physical wellness by eating well, exercising, avoiding harmful habits, getting
enough sleep, recognizing signs of disease, getting regular physical exams and taking steps to prevent injury/illness.
COCM Cookbook Contest
Thanks to everyone who submitted entries for the 2015 COCM Cookbook. A copy of the book for each site will be
provided to your Director at the annual meeting. Please see your Director to try out some of the recipes submitted
by our COCM team members. The winners of each category will be announced in the next newsletter.
The Capstone Physical Wellness Committee promotes achieving physical wellness by eating well, exercising, avoiding harmful habits, getting
enough sleep, recognizing signs of disease, getting regular physical exams and taking steps to prevent injury/illness.
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Capstone Cares: February 18th
Occupational Wellness
On the 3rd Thursday in February, starting February 2016 COCM will recognize this day as Capstone Cares day. COCM communities across the U.S. are encouraged to unite to do good for others by volunteering at a local organization within their
community. This nationwide effort will draw recognition to the everyday people and organizations whose contributions
improve communities and better lives.
The Capstone Occupational Wellness Committee encourages each community to take part in this national Capstone Cares
event as a staff. With approval from the COCM Leadership, the Occupational Committee’s goal is to inspire every professional staff to participate at least (4) hours of volunteer time during the workday.
Thanks from the Occupational Wellness Committee
Debbie Daniels, Jim Gallivan, Amanda Pelar, Jamie Mancine and Heather Walker
The Capstone Occupational Wellness Committee supports finding personal fulfillment and satisfaction from our jobs or our chosen career
fields while maintaining balance in our lives. Positively impacting the organization we work in and society as a whole through our careers.
Mark Your Calendar!/Upcoming Events
Occupational Wellness
While these events are all optional, we hope members of your staff will choose to participate.
Webcam Monthly Conference Calls 2016
January 15 – Ensuring your residents have a voice
February 19 – Hiring and Training
March 18 – Summer Operations
April 15 – Move out
May 20 – COCM Systems
June 17 – Move in process, turn, new student orientation to the community
July 15 – Goal setting, internal and external SWOT
August 19 – Staff motivation and engagement
September 16 – Budget preparation
October 21 – Vendor Relationships
November 18 – Traditional programming, Resident Appreciation Week
December 16 – Reflection, success stories, new initiatives, topics for next year
Appreciation Days 2016
If you need help with ideas, please contact a member of the Occupational Wellness Committee!
Debbie Daniels, Jim Gallivan, Amanda Pelar, Jamie Mancine and Heather Walker
February 24 – Student Staff
April 27 - Administrative/Office Support
May 25 - Assistant Directors/Assistant General Managers
September 28 - Maintenance/Custodian
October 26 - Directors/General Managers
December 9 - Corporate Office and Regional Managers
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Dealing with Negative People
Jeff Kirkpatrick, East Stroudsburg
No matter where you work, there is a possibility for negative influence. I doubt anyone working for COCM could be considered a
negative person, but we also work with others in our campus partners and clients that might be seen as having an acidic attitude.
I recently read an article that brought up some interesting points of thought about this topic:
(http://www.hrmorning.com/managers-dealing-with-negative-attitudes/)
The article discusses how individuals with negative attitudes can affect those around them and the goals of the organization over
time. Some examples of these negative attitudes are:

Continually find things to complain about and exaggerate the seriousness of co-workers’ mistakes

Spread gossip and start rumors that pit employees against each other

Talk behind co-workers’ backs, and undermine supervisors’ authority with a never-ending flow of criticism that stays underthe-radar so it’s rarely recognized and corrected.
How do we handle these individuals; especially if they are someone we work with? The article suggests a few thoughts:

Acknowledge the awkwardness. Managers can let employees know they’re providing feedback that’s difficult to discuss.
It’s only human to feel that way.

Keep it results-oriented. A phrase like “I’m bringing this up because it’s important you address this issue to be successful in
your job” is helpful.

Accentuate the positive. It’s a good idea to highlight the good things that are likely to happen when the person changes the
disruptive behavior. On the other hand, if the person remains defiant, stressing the negative outcome if the person’s attitude
doesn’t change can be effective, too.
It will obviously be a difficult conversation, but necessary for the long term stability and effectiveness of your office or organization. The article discusses some pointers for handling the confrontation. Well worth the read if to only question how you deal
with difficult people. Stay positive everyone!
Thoughts for 2016
"I hope that in this year to come, you make mistakes. Because if you are making mistakes, then you are making new things,
trying new things, learning, living, pushing yourself, changing yourself, changing your world. You're doing things you've
never done before, and more importantly, you're Doing Something.
So that's my wish for you, and all of us, and my wish for myself. Make New Mistakes. Make glorious, amazing mistakes.
Make mistakes nobody's ever made before. Don't freeze, don't stop, don't worry that it isn't good enough, or it isn't perfect, whatever it is: art, or love, or work or family or life.
Whatever it is you're scared of doing, do it.
Make your mistakes, next year and forever.”
― Neil Gaiman
The Capstone Emotional Wellness Committee supports having high self-esteem, confidence, satisfying relationships, a support network and staying optimistic and enthusiastic about life.
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New Year’s Resolution Project (thanks Masha Sapper)
If you want to improve your organization in the new year and work on saving money, try this project.
Set fifteen minutes a day aside to unsubscribe from emails from companies whose email lists you’ve
ended up on. This will reduce the amount of emails you receive in the long run, saving you time and
making it easier to keep your mailbox organized. It also removes the temptation to spend money with
those companies any time they have a cool new product or a great sale.
WOW!!!
Green River College has been recognized as the college that has diversified the most since 1990. And Frostburg made it to the list as well!
Check out the article here:
http://time.com/4148233/college-student-diversity-top-campuses/
Looking to manager your money better? Here are some simple cost savings tips!
Starting 2016 Right: Money Survival Tips for Millennials
http://bloom.bg/1PbqGUM
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Brittany Ward, Office Coordinator, Bowling Green State University
What are your hobbies?
Do you have a funny Capstone memory?
Reading, playing with my cat, Mufasa,
and watching Law and Order.
A funny memory I have with Capstone
staff occurred over the summer on my
trip to New York for Property Boss training. The first night in while talking to
colleagues I decided to heat up my leftovers from dinner in the oven and well
one thing led to another and I set off the
smoke detector in the room. I was so
embarrassed! Good thing my colleagues
were very understanding and found
some humor in the situation.
What is your favorite memory working
with a student?
A student submitted a hilarious work
order. Here’s a little portion: “Our flusher ain't workin. The handle's just chilling
there not doing the job it was destined
to do. Roomie and I just want out porcelain throne back. We love our few
minutes of quiet time to ourselves and
we need it back.”
What is the best piece of advice you would
give college freshmen?
The best advice I would give to a college
freshman is to not be afraid to put yourself out there and get involved. Go out
and join groups, try something new and
make new friends! Also, it is not a bad
idea to befriend the hall staff :)
What are your long-term goals?
My long-term goals would be to get my
masters and move up in the world of
student affairs, either the housing or
facilities side of things.
Brought to you by the Social Wellness Committee
Social Wellness is having a supportive social network, contributing to society, valuing cultural diversity and having positive interactions with those around you.
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Both Frostburg ADs (Kyle Wolfe and
Chandler Stroup) purchased the same
pair of socks and wore them on the
same day!
Staff at UWP-Rountree Commons are instructed in CPR by Corey from Southwest Health Center Emergency Services
in January.
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