KCIT Training wants to help you get the knowledge and skills you need to get the most out of SharePoint

Due to the overwhelming response to our initial SharePoint course offerings, we’ve added more Basic and Intermediate classes to the schedule. Openings are currently available but they will fill up fast so enroll now to reserve your spot!

SharePoint Basic Training: In Basic training you’ll get familiar with site navigation, learn best practices and discover how SharePoint is configured for King County. To facilitate continued learning students also get exclusive access to post training support from the instructor.

SharePoint Intermediate Training: In Intermediate Training, we’ll build upon what you learned in Basic, learn more about Library settings, Custom Columns, Metadata and file structure. Creating Custom lists and management of metadata.

Click here for available Basic and Intermediate Training registration dates.

Students if you don’t see a class that works for you, please let us know! We’ll do our best to accommodate your request, and managers, we will work with you to identify and develop learning opportunities for your project or workgroup. Give us a call at 206-263-1335.

Social Media Spotlight: King County Employees Twitter

King County employees provide more than 2 million residents with excellence and equity in the essential services

Follow King County Employees on Twitter today!

Click here to view all King County social media pages.

Featured Job: Best Starts for Kids Prenatal to 5 Years Policy & Program Manager

Closing Date/Time: Sun. 12/18/16 11:59 PM

Salary: $78,634.82 – $99,674.22 Annually

Job Type: Career Service

Location: Chinook Building, Downtown Seattle, Washington

Department: Department of Public Health–Administrative Services

Description: The BSK Policy & Program Manager will provide high-level project management to BSK implementation activities with an emphasis on developing strong partnerships with other County departments and community stakeholders to create opportunities for collaboration and alignment for BSK. This position will also conduct policy analysis and develop recommendations on policies impacting children and youth in King County, with an emphasis on prenatal to 5 year olds.

Learn more about this position or view all available jobs.

Megan Pedersen appointed Director of Office of Labor Relations

megan-pedersenOn Monday, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced the appointment of Megan Pedersen as Director of the King County Office of Labor Relations (OLR),

Megan has been the Interim Director of OLR since January 2016 where she helped lead the County to its first ever total compensation agreement with the County’s Coalition of Unions, establishing wages and health benefits for 2017-18, while developing a Total Compensation strategic framework for all bargaining in the County.

Prior to overseeing the Office of Labor Relations, Megan was the Deputy Director of the King County Records and Licensing Services (RALS) Division from 2012-2016, and a Labor Litigator with the Office of Labor Relations from 2010-2012.

Before joining King County, Megan was an associate with Seattle law firm Williams Kastner where she specialized in representing management in labor and employment law matters. She is a graduate of the University of Washington Law School.

As OLR Director, Megan will lead the County’s work in strengthening our new total compensation methodology and work with our labor partners to ensure we are an equitable, innovative and fiscally-responsible government for our employees and the people of King County.

Please join us in welcoming Megan to her new role.

Holiday Food Drive Extended to Dec. 19

northwest-harvest-logoThank you to all who have given so generously during this year’s Holiday Food Drive benefiting Northwest Harvest. If you haven’t given yet, and you’d like to, you still have time! This year’s drive has been extended until Monday, Dec. 19.

Drop off your pre-packaged, non-perishable donations in the marked collection bins located in many King County buildings. If you have questions about the drive, call 206-477-9400 or email workorderdesk.fmd@kingcounty.gov. Thanks in advance for helping those in need this holiday season!

Attend a Sounders FC pep rally Friday at noon

sounders-logoThe Seattle Sounders have been on an amazing run through the post-season… and now they’re on the verge of their first-ever MLS Cup!

Join your fellow employees at noon on Friday, Dec. 9 as we rally on the Administration Building Plaza (Fourth Avenue side) and raise a flag to celebrate our hometown club and Major League Soccer’s best fans.

If you are on break or at lunch, or not working during this time, you’re invited to put on your Sounders gear, join in the pep rally, and help cheer the Rave Green to a championship against Toronto FC.

Your attendance is of course strictly voluntary, and employees will not be compensated or receive overtime for joining the celebration.

FIGHT AND WIN! Go Sounders!

Two public defenders become fellows in University of Washington Leadership Institute

Sade Smith and Matthew Sanders are excited about their participation in the Washington Leadership Institute.

Sade Smith and Matthew Sanders are excited about their participation in the Washington Leadership Institute.

Crossposted from For The Defense 

Both Sadé Smith and Matthew Sanders became public defenders because they knew it was in the courtroom – fighting on behalf of people who are often marginalized and disempowered – where they could make the biggest difference.

Now, they’re going to get the opportunity to take these values and aspirations to the next level.

Smith and Sanders, both attorneys at the King County Department of Public Defense, were selected as two of 12 fellows for the 2017 Washington Leadership Institute (WLI), a program co-sponsored by the University of Washington School of Law and the Washington State Bar Association (WSBA). WLI recruits, trains and develops minority and traditionally underrepresented attorneys for future leadership positions in the Washington State Bar Association and other aspects of the legal community.

Read more at For The Defense 

Tech Tip: What? Snow? Ice? Preparing to work from home in three easy steps!

The forecast says snow and you want to be prepared to work from home. Before you pack up and take your device with you (don’t forget the power cord), update the security patches. Go to your system tray (otherwise known as the “up arrow” in the lower right that shows “hidden icons”), click on the McAfee logo (it may be just an “M” or look different from this) and click “update security”.

snow-ice-remote-3

Now, you are secure if you work from home.

Next, you can log in to Microsoft Outlook, Sharepoint and many other applications now without using VPN. (KCIT completed a major upgrade earlier this year to allow for this level of flexibility.) VPN is still required to access some files.

Finally, if you do need to use VPN, please know that KCIT will have 24/7/365 teams available to manage high volume access.

Weather update: light snow expected for Seattle-Bellevue around 5 p.m.

snowman-lights

The National Weather Service has advised that a band of light snow will move into the Tacoma area about 4 p.m. and into the Seattle-Bellevue area around 5 p.m. Expect slick roadways even with the light accumulations that are expected with this band.

Another more significant period of snow will likely move into the area between 7 and 10 p.m. This band has the potential to produce 1 to 3 inches of snow, affecting the tail end of the evening commute.

Please let safety be your guide when making commute decisions. When an agency remains open, but conditions prevent you from reporting to work on time, notify your supervisor as soon as possible. You may request leave, subject to approval by your supervisor. If you have no leave accrued, your supervisor may approve leave without pay to cover absences. Sick leave may not be used. Refer to HR Bulletin 2011-0009 County Operations During Emergency Situations and Inclement Weather.

Goat Hill Garage: If you park at the Goat Hill Garage or work at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle, snow or ice could lead to the closure of roads in the vicinity. The City of Seattle has provided these alternative driving routes of the area (see two-page map of routes):

Leaving Goat Hill Garage if Jefferson Street exit is closed:

Route to I-5 or I-90

  • Sixth Avenue to Yesler – turn left (east) on Yesler
  • Yesler to Boren – turn left (north) on Boren
  • Boren to James – turn left (west) on James
  • Continue on James to I-5 ramps

Alternate route to I-90

  • Sixth Avenue to Yesler – turn left (east) on Yesler
  • Yesler to Boren – turn right (south) on Boren
  • Boren to Rainier Ave – continue on Boren to Rainier Ave
  • Continue on Rainier Ave to I-90 ramp

Resources for commuters

Productivity: If you have a Telecommuting Agreement and plan to telecommute, make sure that you check your VPN access ahead of time, and report any issues to the KCIT Service Center (HelpTicket@kingcounty.gov or 206-263-4357). Please remember that many work functions can be accomplished remotely without logging into the King County Network. You don’t need remote network access for email (https://owa.kingcounty.gov), online meetings and messaging (Skype for Business, formerly Lync), access to PeopleSoft, or to work on shared documents (SharePoint). All of these services are accessible from the Internet; simply connect to the web address (URL) from your location and log in.

Stay Informed: During an emergency make sure you’re getting the latest King County information on how you are affected, at work and at home:

  • Call the Employee Hotline—206-205-8600 (save it in your phone now!).
  • Check your King County email.
  • Go to www.kcemployees.com.
  • Contact your supervisor.
  • Follow King County on Twitter—@kcemployees@kcnews, and @kcmetrobus.
  • Check your agency website or Intranet (if applicable), and monitor local media channels.
  • Visit the Emergency News page at www.kcemergency.com for regional impacts.

Superior Court employees: Information will be provided on the Superior Court website, or by calling the following hotlines for recorded updates on the status of work locations.

  • Seattle courthouse/NJB employees: 206-205-6747
  • MRJC courthouse employees: 206-205-6746
  • Youth Services Center employees: 206-205-6747.

District Court employees: Call the employee Information emergency telephone line at 206-296-6820 for recorded information, or check the District Court website for updates on operational status.

Sheriff’s Office employees: All operations that are staffed on a 24-hour basis, or staffed by commissioned detectives or deputies, are considered essential, and employees scheduled to report to work in these operations are required to report to work despite emergency conditions or closure of other county operations. Refer to the King County Sheriff’s Office Inclement Weather Policy.

2017 King County Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration calendars

mlk-celebration

Click here for more information about the calendar and annual MLK celebration.

We are thrilled folks love the King County calendars and await them eagerly. We appreciate your patience! Calendars will start arriving to distribution points during the week of December 5. We are unable to deliver to each office, so please check below for distribution points.

Employees outside the downtown area: Calendars will be delivered to county offices outside the downtown area the week of December 5, so please wait for the delivery. If you do not have a calendar by December 9, please e-mail paula.harris-white@kingcounty.gov and we will direct you to a location where you can pick up a calendar.

Employees who work downtown: Calendars will be available at distribution points when they are delivered during the week of December 5. Please go to the nearest distribution point to get your calendar on or after December 6.

Employees in these downtown Seattle offices can get calendars from these contact people:

  • County Council: Linda Davis
  • Executive’s Office: Ayesha Kelly
  • Prosecutor’s Office: Dan Fernandez, Admin Building; Kirstie Johnson, Courthouse
  • HRD: Kimberly Robinson or Jeremy Rivera
  • Assessor’s Office: Rose Dotson
  • District Court: Heather Dean (all District Court locations)
  • Superior Court: Kathryn Schipper
  • DJA: Imee Crisostomo
  • DCHS: Teesha Bailey
  • KCIT: Christine Ynzunza
  • DPD: Leslie Brown
  • Public Health: Stephani Scappini, Chinook Building only
  • Solid Waste: Chris Varo
  • Parks: Matt Perkins

Employees in these downtown Seattle buildings can get calendars at these locations:

  • Administration Building general distribution: Room 708, Rose Dotson, Assessments
  • Courthouse general distribution: 2nd Floor, Wilena Montgomery, DAJD
  • Chinook Building general distribution: 3rd Floor, Sean Heer, FBOD
  • King Street Center general distribution: 4th Floor Transit Manager’s Office, Vinh Tran or Edward Burich, DOT

People with questions about calendar distribution may contact Paula Harris-White at 206-263-2444 or paula.harris-white@kingcounty.gov.

Public: A limited number of calendars will be available to the public at the annual MLK Celebration held Thursday, January 12, 2017, at noon at the 5th Avenue Theatre, 1308 5th Avenue, Seattle. 

King County employees have priority for the calendars.