HR Quarterly - Winter 2025

Message from the Associate Vice President
Happy New Year, Western Staff, Students, and Faculty!
January has arrived and with that comes the second edition of the HR Quarterly Newsletter. In this edition, you will find highlights from the past quarter along with HR department updates, shoutouts, and a get-to-know-us section. It is important to us that we provide information in our newsletters that you find informative along with utilizing these as a helpful resource for all things HR related. We invite you to take a short poll to share your thoughts on what you would like us to include in future newsletters. HR Newsletter Feedback.
Best wishes for 2025!
Liz Parkes
Associate Vice President – Human Resources
HR UPDATES
FAQs
ACCESSING YOUR W-2
On the new Web4U employee landing page, select Employee Dashboard to bring you to the Pay Information page. Select W-2 Wage and Statement link.


CHANGES TO YOUR MEDICAL, DENTAL, AND/OR VISION PLANS
Typically, you make changes to your plans during the annual open enrollment for plan changes that are effective the first of the following year. Every Fall, Western will inform employees via Western email as to when open enrollment is occurring for that year.
If you have a life change event that triggers a special open enrollment, please visit the HCA website for making changes to your benefits outside of annual open enrollment. Examples of events that let you change your benefits outside of open enrollment.
CHANGING YOUR ADDRESS
When you update your address in Web4U that automatically updates your address for your W-2 and Banner record. It will feed over within a pay period to your HCA Benefits 24/7 account, your insurance providers, and all retirement accounts.
Start at Web4U

Select Personal Information

Click on Access Additional Personal Information

Select Addresses and Phone - View/Update

Click on Address/Phone Change Form

Make updates on this form, making sure to check the box for W2/Employee Permanent if updating your address. Once complete, you must click the update button for the change to be accepted.

FEATURED STORIES
Recent HR Sponsored Training
HR was pleased to offer a three-part training in November and December related to conflict resolution in the workplace. The training was presented by Sheri Russell, JD, of Bellingham Mediation and Consulting. The trainings were very well attended, and we received many requests for the PowerPoint slides so have included those links below.
Conflict Resolution Training Part 1 PowerPoint
SUPERBOWL RECIPES
Football cake with a special pan:
- Bake your favorite cake mix in a round cake pan.
- Cut a 1-2 inch strip from the middle and remove.
- Push the remaining halves together to form a football shape.
- Frost with your favorite chocolate frosting.
Touchdown!
Ground Beef Taco Dip
So easy and yummy!! Serve with tortilla chips :-)
HR Holiday Gathering








SHOUTOUTS
- To Meredith Stott for her exceptional support and expertise. She consistently goes above and beyond in addressing questions and solving problems related to Millennium FAST. Her helpfulness, patience, and deep knowledge make her an invaluable resource, and her contributions truly enhance our ability to navigate and utilize the system effectively. Thank you, Meredith, for always being so dependable and supportive!
- To our incredible HRIS team for their outstanding work this Fall Quarter! They successfully processed an impressive 1,549 Personnel Actions forms (PAs) and processed 128 jobs from PageUp. Your dedication and effort are truly appreciated!
- To Bow Jerns from HR and Matthew Yoakum from Transportation Services. HRIS gets many parking deductions every pay period and they have been super helpful in helping HRIS get those in timely and effective ways.
- To Tara Terry and Bow Jerns for helping HRIS get things going again to feel smoother and more cohesive every pay period.
- To Katie Swanson whose organization and problem-solving skills are top notch! Thank you for helping our reception area run so efficiently! Especially during Fall Quarter start!
- To Tara Terry for always being available for any type of HRIS or Employment question.
- To Stephanie Norsby for being the most supportive supervisor ever!
- To Toni Ladner for her willingness to take on projects and help whenever asked
- A big thank you to Carrie Thurman and Kim Ayre for their invaluable support with position activations and management. We truly appreciate you!
Meet the Staff

Bow Jerns
Compensation Strategy Manager
(360) 650-3048
bow.jerns@wwu.edu
If any work task involves a position description, a salary amount, or a spreadsheet - then that task probably involves me! I mainly just want to get to know folks so that I can best support them.
Fun facts:
- I split my time between Bellingham and Acme! I have different outfit vibes depending on location (duh)
- I want nothing more than to spend all day cooking for you and your friends
- I always wear an apron in the kitchen
- I can write you an original piano piece about your personality and/or our experiences together that will for sure bring you to tears
- Chicken feet are my secret weapon in soup broths!
Kristen Isakovic
Assistant Director of Benefits and Payroll Operations
- Overpayment Reconciliation
- Garnishment Processing
- Supplemental Retirement Calculations
- Federal Tax Payments
- W2 Reconciliation
Fun facts: I Moved to Seattle for 10 years then returned to Bellingham to raise my 3 boys. One of my sons is now living in Seattle and the other two are living at home. My husband and I have been married 27 years. We have two dogs, a Siberian Husky/Standard Poodle mix, and an Australian Shephard/Standard Poodle mix.

Megan Summers
Assistant Director of Payroll
- Oversees Payroll
- International Employee Tax
- Federal Tax Payments
Fun facts: Is a twin; loves spending time with her cattle dog; avid painter currently tackling my second paint-by-numbers masterpiece. Watch out, Bob Ross!