USCIS Will Issue Redesigned Green Cards and Employment Authorization Documents

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services today announced a redesign to the Permanent Resident Card (also known as a Green Card) and the Employment Authorization Document (EAD) as part of the Next Generation Secure Identification Document Project. USCIS will begin issuing the new cards on May 1, 2017. These redesigns use enhanced graphics and fraud-resistant security features to create cards that are highly secure and more tamper-resistant than the ones currently in use. The new card designs demonstrate USCIS’ commitment to continue taking a proactive approach against the threat of document tampering and fraud. They are also part of an ongoing effort between USCIS, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to enhance document security and deter counterfeiting and fraud. The Redesigned Cards The new Green Cards and EADs will: Display the individual’s photos on both sides; Show a unique graphic image and color palette: Green Cards will have an image of the Statue of Liberty and a predominately green palette; EAD cards will have an image of a bald eagle and a predominately red palette; Have embedded holographic images; and No longer display the individual’s signature. Also, Green Cards will no longer have an optical stripe on the back. How To Tell If Your Card Is Valid Some Green Cards and EADs issued after May 1, 2017, may still display the existing design format as USCIS will continue using existing card stock until current supplies are depleted. Both the existing and the new Green Cards and EADs will remain valid until the expiration date shown on the card. Certain EADs held by individuals with Temporary Protected Status (TPS) and other designated categories have been automatically extended beyond the validity date on the card. For additional information on which EADs are covered, please visit the Temporary Protected Status and American Competitiveness in the 21st Century Act web pages on uscis.gov. Both versions are acceptable for Form I-9, Employment Eligibility Verification, E-Verify, and Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements (SAVE). Some older Green Cards do not have an expiration date.  These older Green Cards without an expiration date remain valid. Individuals who have Green Cards without an expiration date may want to consider applying for a replacement card bearing an expiration date. Obtaining the replacement card will reduce the likelihood of fraud or tampering if the card is ever lost or stolen. Eligibility for Green Cards and EADs For more information about the Green Card application process, please visit USCIS.gov/greencard. To request an EAD, you must file Form I-765, Application for Employment Authorization. Visit uscis.gov for more information about EADs.

By 2020, Emotional Intelligence will be one of the top 10 skills requiered in our "industrial revolution"

Read more...https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2016/01/the-10-skills-you-need-to-thrive-in-the-fourth-industrial-revolution/

Why are women so under-represented in US politics?

In 2017, 104 (78D, 26R) women hold seats in the United States Congress, comprising 19.4% of the 535 members; 21 women (21%) serve in the United States Senate, and 83 women (19.1%) serve in the United States House of Representatives. Read more......http://www.cawp.rutgers.edu/women-us-congress-2017

Cyber Quiz

Test your cyber IQ with the quiz question below. You can find the correct answer at the bottom of the Newsletter.

Question: You receive an email from the IRS asking for you to respond with your full name, date of birth, and address in order to finish processing your tax refund. What should you do?

 A. Respond quickly with the information they asked for so you can receive your tax refund as soon as possible.
B. Do not respond and report the suspicious email to the IRS by email or phone.
C. Reply to the email asking them to confirm their legitimacy.
D. Other, none of the above.

Cyber Quiz Answer

The answer to this week’s Cyber Quiz above:

Answer: B. Do not respond and report the suspicious email to the IRS by email or phone. The IRS does not initiate contact with taxpayers by email to request personal or financial information. This includes any type of electronic communication, such as emails, text messages, and social media channels. Do not respond and report the suspicious email to the IRS by email at phishing@irs.gov or by calling at 1-800-366-4484. 

Three Models of Emotional Intelligence

Too often, the notion of emotional intelligence in a professional environment makes many break out in sweat, palpitations, a pounding heart, start trembling, shaking really hard, with shortness of breath, a chocking sensation, and anxiety. 

The reality is not near as bad as we think. Emotional intelligence (EI) is a set of cognitive and non-cognitive competencies, skills, and abilities, directly and essentially connected to the behaviors and actions of everyone, in every field, including the actions of public administrators, policymakers, managers, and leader at any level of the organization bureaucracy.

The three major models of EI—Goleman’s EI performance model, Bar-On’s EI competencies model, and Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso’s EI ability model— resulted from decades of research, analysis, and scientific investigations. Those EI models focused on the individual’s cognitive and noncognitive competencies, skills, and abilities, with the purpose of understanding what emotions drive human behavior. 

According to Goleman, EI is an array of skills and competencies that contribute to the performance of managers and leaders in the workplace. Those skills and competencies focus on four capabilities: self-awareness, relationship management, self-management, and social awareness. These four EI competencies are the foundation of twelves EI subscales that include emotional self-awareness, emotional self-control, adaptability, achievement orientation, positive outlook, influence, coaching and mentoring, empathy, conflict management, teamwork, organizational awareness, and inspirational leadership.  

According to Bar-On, EI is an arrangement of interconnected behavior driven by emotional and social competencies that influence performance and behavior. Bar-On’s EI model focuses on five EI scales: self-perception, self-expression, interpersonal, decision-making, and stress management, and 15 subscales: self-regard, self-actualization, emotional self-awareness, emotional expression, assertiveness, independence, interpersonal relationship, empathy, social responsibility, problem-solving, reality testing, impulse control, flexibility, stress tolerance, and optimism, driving human behavior and relationships.

The last one, Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso, EI ability model focuses on perceiving understanding, and managing emotions, and using that information to facilitate thinking, and guide our decisions. Their EI framework emphases four branches of human abilities: perceiving emotions, facilitating thought, understanding emotions, and managing emotions strive to enhance the advancement of new intelligence and more intelligent method of building trusting relationships. 

A closed analysis showed that in fact, EI touches and influences every aspect of our lives, from driving our behavior, making decisions, solving conflicts, the way we feel about ourselves, how we communicate with others, and how we manage everyday stress, to the way we perform in the workplace, manage, and lead teams. EI influences every aspect of our personal and professional development, helping us to advance, mature, and reach our goals. 

In public administration, EI enhances and promote the type of human behavior that promotes fairness, social justice, social balance, leadership, trust, respect, motivation, growth, and excellence. EI improves and help us to build stronger relationships, influencing our senses, from the way we perceive, to the way we think about the world around us. 

It is extremely important to understand the distinctive characteristics between emotions and EI. Emotion is a natural instinctive state of mind that derives from our current and past experiences and situations. Emotions originate in our environment, circumstances, and knowledge, as well as our moods, and relationships. Our feelings and experiences influence our emotions.  Conversely, EI is the ability, skill, and awareness to know, recognize, and understand those feelings, moods, and emotions, and use them in a positive way. EI is learning how to manage feelings and emotions, and use that information to behave and act, including making decisions, solving problems, self-management, and leading others.

The Consortium for Research on Emotional Intelligence in Organizations focuses on the advancement, research, and better practice of EI in organizational settings. Scholars in the organization believe that EI competencies, skills, and abilities are essential to a healthy and productive environment and behavior. Decades of academic research and scientific investigations allow the scholars to validate that EI enhances productivity, satisfaction, relationships, goals, and many other aspects of the individuals’ professional and personal life. Further, scholars validated and highlighted that EI enhances self-esteem, well-being, as well as professional and personal motivations. Academic research validated that EI competencies, skills, and abilities hold the key to greater career success, which in current modernism comprises the 80% of employee success, distinguishing the best from the average.

All public servants, managers, leaders, policymakers, and executive management, regardless of their professional fields and area of responsibility must learn EI capabilities. The knowledge and awareness linked to EI will help them to have a better understanding of their constituents, as well as a better control of their temper, frustrations, behavior, performance, and communication methods. 

Goleman said: “people do not leave the company, people leave bad bosses.” I concur with his statement. Keep it in mind when building your next team, writing your next policy, or communicating with the person next to you.

Iberkis Faltas, MS, PMP, PhD., (ABD)