News for Employees
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Forget exercise — just get moving
Talking about the benefits of exercise is really a concept that’s worn out. That’s not something you’d expect to hear from two people whose careers are dedicated to helping individuals improve and maintain their health. But that’s exactly what Jude Sullivan and Dan Wanta – senior exercise physiologists at UW Health’s Sports Medicine Fitness Center – believe. “It’s important to recognize that the word “exercise” (as it refers to voluntary physical exertion) is only a few generations old,” says Wanta. “Before then, most people’s lives were naturally physically active.” Instead of obsessing about exercise, focus on the fundamentals. Simple things like taking the stairs, parking in a space far from the door, walking instead of driving when possible, really add up and help keep us in motion throughout the day.
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Many campus staff will soon be able to track career performance in MyUW
The ability to quickly access one’s performance reviews via MyUW is coming soon for many UW-Madison staff. The improvements will provide employees with an electronic performance review history (beginning with the first performance review conducted within the new system), which can help with their career and development goals.
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New food shed offers free vegetables, produce
The new UW Campus Food Shed offers students and faculty access to free vegetables and produce, stocked by UW agriculture researchers and local farms with excess crops. Many of this excess produce would otherwise be composted or thrown out. The food shed refrigerator is on the third floor of the Student Activities Center, with other locations in Science Hall, the Allen Centennial Garden and the Horticulture Building. It is open Monday through Friday. The refrigerator will be stocked when researchers and students have produce available, most consistently on Fridays.
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Find many resources on new IT website
If you visited the IT website recently, you’ll notice it looks a little different. The site, which was created to include all campus IT resources, was updated by DoIT using the new, official UW WordPress theme. This new look, feel and functionality better aligns with the digital style of wisc.edu and follows the UW brand and visual guidelines. You’ll find information on software, printing, free online training, web development, informational articles, guides, Tech Store deals, campus IT events and more.
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UW-Madison adopts drone use policy
A new UW–Madison policy will help researchers and instructors on campus meet the Federal Aviation Administration rules for flying unmanned aircraft systems (UAS) — better known as aerial drones — while also helping to protect privacy. The policy, “University of Wisconsin–Madison Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Policy,” encourages safe and lawful use of drones for research and instruction. The policy provides a drone use approval process and replaces a previous campus policy that prohibited students, staff or outside entities from operating unmanned aircraft/drones on the UW–Madison campus, interiors or exteriors. The new policy allows for some drone use for research and teaching.
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UW campus vulnerability scan coming soon
Beginning on July 5, participating UW-Madison campus units will undergo an external cybersecurity risk assessment. This vulnerability scan, through Cylance, Inc., is intended to identify signs of malicious activity for the purpose of diagnosing possible compromise and risks to participating units. If compromised machines are discovered during the analysis, Cylance will contact the Office of Cybersecurity for follow up and remediation with system owners. Please refer to the Office of Cybersecurity web page for more details as to how this will be administered, when, and how this might affect each department. Refer to the “Frequently Asked Questions” (FAQs) that have been prepared to address a number of initial questions.
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Field for facilities position narrowed to four
A search committee of faculty, staff, students and community members has recommended four finalists for the position of associate vice chancellor for facilities planning and management at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Members of the UW–Madison community and general public will have opportunities later this month to meet and talk with the finalists. Each of the candidates will give a presentation and answer questions in an open forum. To see the candidates and dates, times and locations of the forums, visit here. View the candidates’ resumes here.
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Proposed federal budget includes student aid, research cuts
President Donald Trump’s first budget request to Congress has understandably caused some concern on our campus and across the higher education landscape, Chancellor Rebecca Blank says in a blog post. The cuts are broad and deep, but a significant chunk of the savings proposed would come out of student aid and research spending. Our federal relations staff has been working to ensure that the importance of these funds to our institution, and to the greater state and national economy, is fully apparent to our congressional delegation. An excellent summary of the complete budget proposal and its potential impact on campus can be found here. You can also receive periodic updates by clicking on the subscribe tab at the bottom of the Federal Relations home page.
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Quality improvement, administrative process units to merge
The Office of Quality Improvement (OQI) and Administrative Process Redesign (APR) will formally merge in the coming months, joining to provide the UW–Madison campus with a comprehensive suite of organizational development and improvement services for both academic and administrative units. The impending merger follows the announcement that APR director Alice Gustafson will retire later this summer and as the search for a new director of OQI nears conclusion. Longtime OQI director Maury Cotter retired earlier this year. Darin Harris is currently serving as interim director.
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Some need to use holiday hours by June 30
For many faculty, academic staff and limited term employees, some holiday and vacation hours expire on July 1. If you have any remaining Personal Holiday hours, you need to use them up, or you will lose them, by June 30. If you have more than 8 hours of legal holiday, those hours reflect the two Floating Holiday hours that occurred this fiscal year, that also need to be used by June 30. Finally, if you have any vacation carryover hours, you will need to use those as well, by the end of the fiscal year, or you will lose those hours. However, if you are ALRA eligible you will be able to bank those hours up to your allotment.