News for Employees
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Partners in Giving Update
The Partners in Giving campaign, “Let’s Build a Better World Together,” is in full swing. Contributions are slightly higher than they were last year at this time. Partners in Giving is the state employee workplace fundraising campaign in Dane County. Employees are able to make a donation to the charity or charities of their choice and select how they want to pay for it. Donations can be made by payroll deduction, cash or check. The campaign runs through Nov. 30, so there’s still time to give. To make a contribution online or learn more, go to giving.wi.gov.
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You can contribute to a drug-free workplace
All faculty and staff are strongly encouraged to help make UW–Madison a drug-free workplace. You can do this by learning the facts about substance abuse, encouraging others to avoid substance abuse, and knowing where to go for help with a drug or alcohol problem—either for yourself or someone else. Please review the laws and expectations regarding substance abuse, which apply to all members of the UW–Madison campus community. Complete information can be found at go.wisc.edu/j15c7c.
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Remember to Use Two 2017 Floating Holidays
UW–Madison will have two floating holidays this year: Christmas Eve (Dec. 24) and New Year’s Eve (Dec. 31). These are designated as floating holidays because the legal holiday is on a Sunday and the following Monday is also a legal holiday. For University staff, floating holiday time can be used any time during the calendar year it is earned. Please note that both of these floating holidays, including the New Year’s Eve holiday, need to be used before December 31, 2017. For Faculty, Academic Staff, and Limited employees, floating holiday time can be used any time during the fiscal year in which it is earned, but must be used before June 30. If you have questions, please speak with your supervisor or your human resources representative.
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Free Program Can Boost Your Financial Fitness
The Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) is offering a Financial Fitness Program that can assist you in taking control of your financial future. The program is available to all Wisconsin Retirement System members at no cost. To get started, take a confidential online survey that helps you assess your knowledge of personal finance topics. Once you complete the survey, you will have access to free online educational resources for 12 months. You can also take advantage of free counseling time with a financial advisor. To learn more, visit etf.wi.gov/financialfitness.
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Late Night Diversity Forum for Employees
A Diversity Forum will be held on Monday, Dec. 4, 11:30 p.m.–12:30 a.m. at Gordon Commons, to review and discuss the recently released findings from the campus-wide climate survey. This session is intended for UW–Madison employees who work second and third shifts, although all UW–Madison employees are welcome to attend. Employees can attend without loss of pay and pre-registration is not required. Please notify your supervisor if you plan to attend. Interpretation services will be available for those whose preferred language is Spanish, Hmong, Tibetan, or Chinese. More than 8,000 students participated in the survey. UW–Madison officials will use the findings to make the campus more welcoming to all students.
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Event Focuses on Student Mental Health
A panel presentation and discussion on how UW–Madison supports students with mental health concerns will be held on Thursday, Nov. 16 from noon to 2 p.m. in the Marquee Room at Union South. Frequently, faculty are the first to notice when a student is struggling with mental health issues. This event provides an opportunity for faculty to engage with other campus professionals, identify tools to use in supporting students, and ask specific questions. The registration deadline is Wednesday, Nov. 15.
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Shape Your Future Job Family
Your job will be placed in one of twenty job families in the new job framework under development in the Title and Total Compensation Study. Register for the Listening Session about your primary job family hosted by your colleagues expert in your job family. You will learn about the study, review your job family definition and provide input to shape the sub-families. Over 1,200 employees provided feedback at recent forums. Job Family Functional Teams are reviewing 680 suggested changes to the job family definitions made by employees. Listening Sessions provide you with an additional opportunity to provide input on your future job family.
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DoIt Tech Store Customer Appreciation Day
The DoIT Tech Store is holding a Customer Appreciation event on Thursday, Nov. 16. Selected Apple products will be priced for one day only at hundreds less than the everyday price. Customers are encouraged to reserve the Mac or iPad they would like by Friday, Nov. 3, using the event’s online registration system. The $25 processing fee for making purchases via the Payroll Deduction plan will be waived. The Dayton Street location will offer refreshments, freebies and extended hours.
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New Look Coming to Some MyUW Portal Features
Beginning Monday, Nov. 6, a few of the Self Service features UW–Madison employees access through the MyUW portal will have a new look. A new display will appear in the areas of the portal where employees change their personal information and review information about their benefits. The new look is designed to be simpler and less cluttered, and to work well with mobile devices, including smart phones and tablets. In preparation for this change and due to other system maintenance, several self-service features will be unavailable beginning 4 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 3 and ending Monday morning, Nov. 6. Employees are encouraged to plan ahead and take care of any human resources, time and absence, payroll or benefits-related tasks in the MyUW portal before this outage begins.
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New Appointees Join EID Council
New co-chairs have been appointed to an advisory council that identifies and addresses challenges to recruitment, retention, engagement and inclusion of all employees, especially those in underrepresented groups. Jeff Novak, director of University Housing, and Carmen Romero-González, director of Cultural Linguistic Services, will lead the Finance and Administration Engagement, Inclusion and Diversity (EID) Council. Seven other new members of the EID Council were also appointed by UW–Madison Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Laurent Heller.