Some campus parking restrictions will be relaxed on Friday, Nov. 29, making it easier for employees who take the bus to travel to campus. The City of Madison’s Metro Transit will be offering a modified service schedule on November 29. Surface parking lots on campus will be treated as if the day were a UW legal holiday. No UW permit will be required to park in the surface lots. Parking ramps and garages will operate on a typical weekday schedule, and will require a valid UW parking permit or pulling a ticket and paying upon exit. For details, visit the Transportation Services website at transportation.wisc.edu.

For University Staff, all personal holiday hours from calendar year 2019 and vacation carryover hours from calendar year 2018 expire on December 31. You will need to use those hours by the end of the year on December 31, 2019, or you will lose them.  Employees who are eligible may elect to bank set amounts of vacation carryover and/or elect to receive a cash payout. If you have used sick leave in calendar year 2019, you may be able to change the type of leave you had used and instead use personal holiday or vacation carryover hours. This would prevent the loss of personal holiday or vacation carryover hours and restore sick leave to your balance. Any requests to swap one type of leave for another must be received before December 31, 2019. If you need assistance, please speak with your supervisor or your local human resources contact.

Instructors can now apply for a one-week Blend@UW course design session in January. Blend@UW helps instructors design blended and technology-enabled courses that foster deeper, more active learning for students. Participants include instructors at all stages of their teaching careers. Sessions will be held January 6–10 and January 13–17, 2020. Applications are due December 13 for the January sessions.

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 familiarize yourself with the laws and expectations regarding substance abuse, which apply to all members of the UW–Madison campus community. Visit go.wisc.edu/j15c7c for more information.