What do I have to do?

As a supervisor, your role in the STAR program has five parts:

• understand who is eligible to participate in STAR
• talk to eligible staff members who report to you about the program (ideally, during the first few days or weeks of employment)
• review and approve or deny their requests for STAR credit (following the guidelines on the STAR Eligibility page)
• work with staff members to make time for STAR activities

The STAR system will email you when an event has been submitted for your approval. If you approve the event, the team member will return to the STAR site after attending the event to mark the event as completed. You’ll then receive an email from the STAR system notifying you that the employee has completed the event.

How should I explain STAR to staff members?

STAR is a program intended to reward A&S staff who complete 10 or more hours of professional development activities in a year. STAR participation is not mandatory.

What kinds of activities should I approve/deny?

Not all activities are eligible for STAR hours, and ineligible activities should never receive supervisor approval.

Examples of eligible and ineligible activities are provided on our STAR Eligibility page. If one of your employees requests approval for an event not listed as eligible or ineligible on this website, use our User Help & Suggestions form to submit the name, date, and a description of the event, and a link to the event’s web page (if it has one) for review by the Dean’s Office.

How much STAR credit are activities worth?

If they meet other criteria for eligibility (i.e., they are designed to enhance skills and knowledge related to the employee’s job), activities like courses, workshops, conference sessions, and webinars receive STAR credit equivalent to the length of the professional development portions of the activity. Examples:

• An employee completes an hourlong HR-sponsored workshop on software he uses at work. He has earned 1 hour of STAR credit.
• An employee travels to an overnight conference; she attends three 2-hour sessions on the first day and two 2-hour sessions on the second day before returning home. She has earned 10 hours of STAR credit.
• An employee views a pre-recorded webinar at his desk during work hours. The webinar provides 45 minutes of content. He takes over an hour to complete it, however, because he pauses the webinar to answer the phone and handle other interruptions. He has earned 45 minutes of STAR credit.
• An employee attends a CASSA luncheon, which includes a 30-minute presentation and about an hour of eating and socializing. She has earned 30 minutes of STAR credit. (CASSA, OCTSA, and PSA meetings are worth 30 minutes of STAR credit.)
• An employee enrolls in and completes a business class at UA. The class is worth 3 credit hours, so she has earned 3 hours of STAR credit.

Do I have to let my people participate in STAR?

Yes. A&S supervisors are required to work with their staff to make time to complete STAR hours.