ADOT's weekly ADOT Connection news bulletin helps you stay connected, informed and healthy whether you're working from home, in the field or in the office during the COVID-19 pandemic. The monthly issue of The Inside Lane is on hiatus. Go to the COVID-19 Resource Center for information and assistance.

Check out these stories and more June 24, 2020 • Learn about the updated COVID-19 Resource Center on ADOTNet. • Read about two innovative MVD programs winning awards. • Discover how retention of your deleted emails will change. • View construction photos of I-17 and Pinnacle Peak Road improvements.

Leadership Matters

Updated COVID-19 Resource Center website helps keep you informed #MaskUpAZ. In Director John Halikowski’s message to all employees last week, please make sure you are wearing a face covering in our buildings, including MVD offices. This is another key step in protecting ADOT staff and the public from COVID-19 infection.

I would encourage you to check out the COVID-19 Resource Center website on the ADOTNet home page. The website has been updated. I hope you find it easier to locate information and it helps keep you informed regarding COVID-19.

Based on input from employees and “hits” on the website, you asked that the website have the latest information on COVID-19, especially on what to do if you come in contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19, and the information being easier to access.

The website has been reorganized to reflect subject headings. All you have to do is click on a button, under such headings as “Director Messages,” “Office Resources, “Payroll/HR,” or “Employee Resources” to find information. In most cases, updated information is identified with a date stamp. We have even given the homepage a new look.

In addition, ADOT has a new email address that employees can use for asking specific questions or notifications on COVID-19: ADOTCOVIDnotifications@azdot.gov. This will help the agency manage employee questions or concerns in one central location. You can also find the email address on the COVID-19 Resource Center website.

We need to continue to do our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19, here at ADOT and in our communities. We need to stay healthy. We need to continue to practice preventative measures like physical distancing, wearing a cloth face covering in public when distancing is not possible, and washing our hands or using hand sanitizer. Most importantly, if you don’t feel well…stay home.

With the passing of Jonathan Begay, a traffic engineer in the Infrastructure Delivery and Operations Division, we have lost a member of our ADOT family to this virus. As Director Halikowski said in his message to all of us recently, “We do not want to lose anyone else on the ADOT Team. Let’s work hard to meet that goal of no more deaths.”

Safely Home.

~ Kevin Biesty, Deputy Director for Policy

In the Work Zone

Lunch and Learn virtual sessions boost accessibility With ADOT’s Lunch and Learn sessions going completely virtual, it is easier than ever for employees

around the state to participate.

An average of 135 employees have been joining in the virtual Lunch and Learn sessions since April. In comparison, an average of 36 employees from the metro Phoenix area had attended the monthly in-person sessions from 2014 through 2019.

The switch to a virtual-only format was in response to the public-health crisis prompting ADOT employees to telecommute and practice social distancing while in the office or in the field. Large in-person group events were canceled in compliance with Governor Doug Ducey’s "Stay Home, Stay Healthy, Stay Connected" executive order.

"With this improved Lunch and Learn process, ADOT is able to offer a learning experience to every team member in Arizona. Team members save time away from the workplace and maintain social distancing standards,” said Office of Continuous Improvement Program Manager Javier Ramirez.

Ramirez and the OCI team used Arizona Management System (AMS) tools to develop a Lunch and Learn

presentation format that could reach all employees regardless of where they were working. When the first Lunch and Learn presentation with a virtual option was offered in December 2019, there were participants from Page, Douglas, Kingman and Yuma as well as the Phoenix area. Over the next five events with virtual options, average attendance grew to 72 employees.

With ADOT upgrading many desktop computers to laptops with speakers and cameras, the virtual presentations have been more effective. Once ADOT provided Google Suite with the Google Meet application to everyone, Ramirez began testing how to utilize Google Meet as he developed a standard process for delivering Lunch and Learn virtually.

When virtual Lunch and Learn sessions became available, Sgt. Jesus Moreno of the Douglas Port of Entry was happy to participate.

"It's a four-hour drive one way to Phoenix so it wasn't feasible for me to attend the in-person sessions. The virtual Lunch and Learn presentations are easily accessible at your work location. You can eat lunch and learn at the same time," Moreno said.

Check your email for a Lunch and Learn calendar invitation to sign up, including a discussion of standard work on June 25. Future topics will be related to AMS, the strategic plan, and employee engagement.

Arizona State Retirement System contribution rate increases As of July 1, 2020, the total contribution rate of the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) retirement pension and health insurance benefit for both the employer and the employee has increased slightly from 11.94% to 12.04% for fiscal year 2021.

Likewise, the long-term disability income plan has increased very slightly from .17% to .18% for both the employer and the employee for fiscal year 2021.

Contribution rates are actuarially determined and adjusted annually to ensure the plan remains fiscally sound and able to meet current and future obligations. For more information, please visit ASRS's website at www.azasrs.gov.

Stay Connected/Stay Healthy

New retention policy set for Google Chats, deleted email messages Once you delete an email, you might think that it’s gone forever — but it’s not. Even after you’ve deleted a message, that data actually “lives” in the Google Vault, a web-based storage application used by administrators and legal personnel for retaining, searching and exporting data.

However, starting soon, ADOT’s Information Technology Group will implement a new retention schedule for deleted items in the Google Vault and for Google Chats:

• Google My Drive deleted items will be removed from the Google Vault 14 days after deletion from your drive.

• Google Shared Drive deleted items will be removed from the Google Vault 14 days after deletion.

• All Gmail deleted messages with a sent date older than 14 days will be removed from the Google Vault.

o For example, if someone sends you an email and it is in your inbox for 10 days and you then delete it, the email will be expunged four days later.

o If someone sends you an email and it is in your inbox for 15 days and you then delete it, the email will be immediately deleted from your trash and expunged from the Google Vault as it exceeds the 14-day retention from the sent date.

• Google Hangouts Chat will have a 24-hour retention applied to all ADOT chat messages. o If ADOT employees engage in a chat with another state agency and their retention

schedule differs from ours, then the agency with the longest retention schedule will win. For example, if you have a chat with an employee from another state agency with a retention policy of 90 days, then the chat message will be retained for 90 days. ADOT's 24-hour policy will be ignored.

If you have any questions, please contact the ADOT Service Desk.

Kudos

Innovative MVD programs capture top awards Two of the Motor Vehicle Division’s innovative programs won American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators awards, which will be presented virtually this summer.

Here are highlights of each program:

Easy, interactive process for the REAL ID

The Travel ID Document Guide on azdot.gov/travelid provides an interactive step-by-step process with simple instructions and document illustrations. Customers select a driver license, commercial driver license or ID card and choose which documents they will use to meet federal REAL ID requirements. An added feature of this guide is that MVD can keep track of selections customers make in the interactive process. This allows ADOT to clarify problem areas. Effective Oct. 1, 2021, only the Arizona Travel ID, a U.S. passport and other federally approved identification will be accepted at TSA airport security checkpoints for domestic travel.

Virtual inspections produce extensive efficiencies

With the prospect of an 800-mile round trip to a remote area of Arizona to inspect a business in person, the MVD’s Authorized Third Party unit concluded there must be a better way. They found the answer in the consumer video technology that millions of people use to keep in touch. Using video technology, MVD staffers conduct some inspections virtually, resulting in reduced travel time and expenses. The customer holds up a smartphone or tablet and walks around, giving the inspector a view to conduct the inspection. Using the Total Systems Thinking approach, this new virtual inspection process was shared with MVD’s Ignition Interlock Program unit, which inspects ignition interlock businesses around the state. Besides saving ADOT money, the teleconferencing program has improved customer service by reducing the time taken to open an ignition interlock facility from 24 days to nine days.

ADOT Direct Bill Authorization form gets an update The ADOT Direct Bill Authorization form has been updated to include a line for a hotel room’s tax rate. This is the form that employees who are traveling on ADOT business must take with them when checking into a hotel so they don’t have to use their personal credit card to pay for the reservation.

The update might seem small, but the improvement will be a big help for employees who issue purchase

orders, explained Administrative Services Officer Dawn Armeli-Kelley.

Armeli-Kelley, who initially suggested the improvement, said adding the room tax rate line to the form provides information that is required when you create a purchase order for lodging. The form now also includes a link that takes users directly to the ADOT approved hotels list on ADOTNet.

“I would like to recognize and thank Yasmine Lopez, Management Analyst 3, Motor Vehicle Division Forms and Publication Office, for updating the form and adding the link,” Armeli-Kelley said.

What's Up @ ADOT

Face coverings required for employees, customers in ADOT facilities In order to strengthen ADOT's efforts to protect the health and safety of employees and the public during the COVID-19 pandemic, all ADOT offices, including the Motor Vehicle Division, now require employees and customers to wear face coverings. Based on state and national public health guidelines, face coverings are mandated in ADOT locations where the public does business.

ADOT News Releases Monsoon season has started and Arizonans should take precautions during dust storms and torrential rain. New license plates feature random sequencing of letters and numbers. MVD office visits are still limited to appointments only. APS work will close Interstate 17 at times into late June. Because the Haviland Rest Area project was deemed an emergency due to the current public health situation, it was finished in under three months to help long-haul truckers who have been crucial in COVID-19 relief efforts.

ADOT Blog With monsoon season here, learn how to make sure your vehicle is rainstorm-ready. Kids are encouraged to create a sign to keep people from driving into a dangerous dust storm, then email a picture of it to adotkids@azdot.gov by 5 p.m. Friday, June 26. The children’s entries will be featured on ADOT social media and on the ADOT Kids page.

ADOT Videos

Watch ADOT’s video to learn about Arizona’s first-of-its-kind dust detection system developed by ADOT between Eloy and Picacho Peak, an area prone to sudden blowing dust. Visibility detectors, a weather radar system, variable speed limit signs, closed-circuit cameras and overhead message boards are the technologies clustered along 10 miles of Interstate 10 between Phoenix and Tucson. They are now operating as an innovative dust detection and warning system that’s ready to quickly tell drivers to slow down for safety when windblown dust reduces visibility.

ADOT Albums Check out the construction photos of Interstate 17 and Pinnacle Peak Road improvements in ADOT's Flickr album. A new bridge to carry Pinnacle Peak traffic over I-17 is part of the $50 million project designed to improve traffic flow and safety by rebuilding the older I-17 interchanges at both Pinnacle Peak and Happy Valley roads.

ADOT in the News Arizona has made a subtle but significant change to its license plates. The pandemic may affect funds for widening I-10. Closures, delays on I-17 in North Valley to begin Wednesday. The new I-10 system warning drivers of blowing dust is now fully operational. MVD offices are open for appointments only and driver license expiration dates are extended. ADOT to continue virtual options as in-person meetings resume. Monsoon 2020: How to protect your family.

On a Lighter Note

Eight places in Arizona you can enjoy virtually With many of Arizona's attractions closed or available on a limited basis amid the coronavirus pandemic, it can be hard to find fun ways to occupy your time. But if you've got an internet connection, you can enjoy many of those attractions virtually, from the comfort of your home. On the Arizona Highways blog, Arizona Highways Magazine Associate Editor Ameema Ahmed spotlights virtual tours of the Phoenix Zoo, OdySea Aquarium, Taliesin West, Herberger Theater Center, Grand Canyon, Lowell Observatory, Phoenix Symphony and Arizona Museum of Natural History.

ADOT Kids: Listen and name ADOT's dust storm song ADOT Communications staff wrote a song about dust storms but it needs a fun title. They are looking for kids to name it! Children can listen to the song on the ADOT Kids page, https://azdot.gov/adot-kids/dust-storms. Kids can email their song titles to adotkids@azdot.gov by Wednesday, June 24. Check the ADOT Kids page on June 26 to see the winner! Children can learn more about dust storms and driving by checking out the word search, dot-to-dot puzzle and coloring activity as well as seeing dust storm videos on the ADOT Kids page.

Where's your happy place? We want to know! Where do you go to feel relaxed, refreshed and stress-free? Let’s share our happy places as a way to connect with each other and spread some goodness. Thank you to Transportation Engineering Specialist Roger Vial for sharing the photo on the left of his happy place, his backyard swimming pool. Tell us where your happy place is, and send us a photo from when you were there by emailing InsideLane@azdot.gov. Check out the new ADOT Employees’ Happy Places Flickr album.

ADOT Connection is published weekly for the employees of the Arizona Department of Transportation by ADOT Communications. Visit our archive at azdot.gov/insidelane or adotnet.az.gov/insidelane. For questions, comments, story suggestions or to request a printed copy, contact InsideLane@azdot.gov.