Aztlana Quezada M.Ed. will be joining West Valley Barrett community as the new assistant director for engagement and retention. Her first day will be Monday, 21 October. 

Born and raised in the West Valley, Aztlana received an AA from Estrella Mountain Community College, a BAS from Grand Canyon University in Business Administration (magna cum laude), and a Master’s degree in Educational Leadership from NAU. She has extensive experience in scholarship management, student leadership development, and student engagement. 

She has also worked extensively with college honors programs and international honor societies to increase student engagement and develop leaders through extracurricular and co-curricular activities, events, and partnerships. 

Her first name is pronounced “Oz-LAW-nah,” and derives from Aztlán, the name of the Aztec homeland. 

ASU’s preferred airline, Southwest Airlines, is providing ASU travelers another opportunity to have all the benefits of A-List status for 90 days.  ASU travelers can register between October 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024, and if qualified, the traveler may be eligible to extend the A-List status for an additional 12 months by meeting qualifying criteria.  Please visit https://www.southwest.com/businesstierexperience/ to learn more and register.  

Please note: if you currently have promotional A-List or A-List Preferred status through a Corporate Tier Experience or Corporate Status Match promotion, then you will forfeit the promotional tier status received through such promotion upon enrollment in this A-List Corporate Tier Experience promotion.  

If you have any questions, please email myasutrip@asu.edu.

Public Service Loan Forgiveness: Help Employees Achieve Their Financial Goals

The Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program can offer significant financial relief to higher ed employees, but many don’t know they qualify for this benefit. PSLF is open to most full-time higher ed employees of nonprofit colleges and universities who have direct federal student loans.

HR can spread the word to current employees and use loan forgiveness as part of a retention and recruitment strategy. The average amount of individual loan forgiveness under the PSLF is $70,000, which makes the PSLF an especially attractive benefit to potential employees.

Here’s what you need to know about who qualifies for PSLF, how to offer a free webinar on PSLF to your employees, and what steps you can take to ensure eligible employees enroll.

What is PSLF?

Public Service Loan Forgiveness forgives the balance of direct federal student loans after 120 qualifying payments made by the borrower if they work for a qualifying employer (after October 1, 2007) and are under a qualifying repayment plan. It’s intended to reward and incentivize public service, like teaching, nonprofit work and work in the public sector. PSLF eligibility isn’t about what job an employee does or what their job description is; it’s about where they work.

Who qualifies for PSLF?

Full-time employees of a nonprofit organization or a federal, state, tribal, or local government are eligible. Full-time work is defined as 30 hours or more per week. That means most full-time higher ed employees are eligible for PSLF, including those who may work part time at your institution but are also employed at other qualifying jobs (as is the case with many adjuncts). But the PSLF only applies to direct federal student loans. Borrowers with other federal student loans may be able to consolidate them into a direct federal student loan.

ASU employees:

ASU employees may be eligible for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program. The PSLF program forgives the remaining balance on your direct loans after making a set amount of payments under a qualifying repayment plan while working full-time for a qualifying employer.

If you believe you meet the requirements, fill out the PSLF Form.

• Employer Identification Number: 860196696.
• Employer name: Arizona State University.
• To complete the form with an electronic signature, use employer email address: hresc@asu.edu.
• To complete the form manually, complete Section 2 with your signature, then submit to Human Resources for processing.

https://csw.asu.edu/programs/professional-development/information

As we start the new academic year, we encourage everyone to take a moment and update their profile to make sure all items are current.  Profile information is housed in iSearch and pulls over to our website.  If you would like a new headshot, Career Services offers FREE headshots through their photo booth. https://career.eoss.asu.edu/channels/professional-headshot/

Follow these steps to update your profile:

MyASU > Profile

Click on edit profile and it will take you to iSearch to update your information.

The Barrett Recruiting and Admissions Team is excited to welcome Isabel Ewan!  Isabel was born and raised in Tempe, Arizona less than a mile from ASU’s campus. Her family are longtime Sun Devils, and she followed in their footsteps completing her degree in English Literature at ASU in fall 2022. Her most recent position was as a Library Media Technician at McClintock High School. Finding creative ways to promote student engagement through reading was the library’s goal, and Isabel was grateful to have had a part in it. Isabel loves reading science fiction and fantasy novels. She will watch any movie and probably enjoy it. She has a seven-year-old dog named Mickey who loves to explore Arizona as much as she does. Isabel is looking forward to making this academic year a great one!

Get a sneak peek at Workday

Attend a Workday Expo for live demonstrations and to ask questions about ASU's new HR and payroll system before it launches Dec. 23, 2024.

Grab some free swag and see Workday features in action, including:

• Benefits and pay.  
• Compensation.
• Payslips.
• Time-off requests.

Expos are free to attend; no registration is required. 

Dates and times: 

• Aug. 15: West Valley campus — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., University Center Building, rooms 265/266
• Aug. 23: Polytechnic campus — 8 a.m. to 3 p.m., Cooley Ballroom A.
• Aug. 27 and Aug. 28: Downtown Phoenix campus — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Collaboratory on Central at the Westward Ho, Concho Room.
• Sept. 11: Tempe campus — 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., McCord Hall, Avnet Lounge.

Email the ASU Workday project team with questions or for more information. 

The Barrett Recruiting and Admission Team is excited to welcome Sebastian Montaño. Sebastian is a recent May 2024 graduate of ASU, Barrett the Honors College, where he earned his Bachelor of Science in Astrophysics, along with a Mathematics minor. He is currently involved in part-time research on galactic evolution, collaborating closely with faculty members from the School of Earth and Space Exploration here at ASU. Beyond work and academia, Sebastian frequently finds himself at the gym or on an early morning run around Tempe Town Lake. One interesting fact about Sebastian is that his grandparents own a well-known Tucson staple, "La Estrella Bakery", which has been in business for nearly 40 years!