Effective Thursday, Aug. 5, all students, employees and visitors to campus will be required to wear masks when inside campus buildings. This policy change is being made in response to the recent arrival in the U.S. of the more infectious Delta variant of COVID-19. Vaccination rates in Dane County and on campus are higher than in other parts of the state and U.S. and this has helped limit the impact of the Delta variant. However, the virus continues to spread rapidly among unvaccinated people. Masks may be removed if you are working alone inside an office or lab with the door closed. Masks are not required in outdoor spaces, but may be worn if you wish. University Health Services (UHS) continues to offer free COVID-19 vaccines. If you are vaccinated, or get vaccinated soon, let UHS know to help inform campus public health policies. (If you were vaccinated at UHS, you do not need to take additional action.) Read more at news.wisc.edu/changes-to-campus-masking-policy.

Disposable face masks and cloth face coverings can still be ordered from the MDS warehouse through ShopUW+ at no cost to campus units. Mask fitters, face shields, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes are also available at no cost. Orders will typically be delivered the next working day after the order is placed. While all campus employees are eligible to login from the ShopUW+ login menu, using their NetID and password, only those employees identified by their school/college/division as Requesters can place orders for these catalog items directly. To find these items from the ShopUW+ home page, log in and go to Shopping Home > Facility Supplies > MDS Warehouse. A keyword search (e.g., “mask”) can be used to find the items of interest.

Employee bus passes and afternoon, night, moped, and motorcycle permits for the 2021–22 year (valid Sept. 1, 2021 – Aug. 31, 2022) are now available for purchase through the Transportation Services eBusiness portal at go.wisc.edu/tsebusiness or at one of the Transportation Services offices. Most reduced and low-cost parking options are also now available. Go to transportation.wisc.edu for details.

On November 7, UW–Madison employees will have updated job titles and new position descriptions as part of the Title and Total Compensation (TTC) Project. The project will update the university’s title and salary structure in partnership with UW System. To prepare for this change, employees are encouraged to view the updated TTC Project Resource Library website and attend the August 10–11 employee forums. Several online tools are available to help employees understand what will and will not change, and how to prepare for conversations to confirm one's job title and standard job description. To learn more, visit go.wisc.edu/ttcproject.

All UW System employees—including UW–Madison employees—who are paid over nine months will be moved to a biweekly pay schedule in August. Employees who are paid over nine months and have summer contracts that extend past July 18, 2021, may be impacted by the transition in unique ways, as contract dates vary. The online resource, Summer Contracts Transition to Biweekly Pay, demonstrates the impact of the transition on an employee with a summer contract. All employees who are paid over nine months are encouraged to review the Checklist for UW–Madison Employees Paid Over Nine Months, which provides information on actions one may need to take. These resources and others to help prepare for the transition can be found at hr.wisc.edu/single-payroll.