To prepare for the possibility of needing to increase our COVID-19 testing capacity, UW-Madison is looking for current employees willing to take temporary work assignments as Health Technician-COVID Testers from Aug. 30 to Oct. 1, with possible extensions. The temporary work assignment as a tester would be in lieu of an employee's current position. A supervisor's approval is needed. Testers receive their same salary plus a bonus.

Beginning August 23, multi-factor authentication (MFA) with Duo will be added to UW–Madison’s Virtual Private Network (WiscVPN). This upgrade is part of the mandated security processes from UW System Interim President Tommy Thompson and helps protect WiscVPN against user credential theft. The new login process will be similar to the current MFA authentication options.

Madison Metro Transit ended rider capacity limits on June 2, but face masks are required by federal law until at least September 13, 2021. Metro will continue limited routes and reduced service levels into 2022, when a network redesign is planned. However, certain service updates will go into effect August 22 to help improve service to and from the UW campus and UW Hospital. Details can be found at cityofmadison.com/metro. Information on UW employee bus passes can be found at transportation.wisc.edu/bus.

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 contracts starting in August will receive a partial biweekly paycheck on September 9 for August 23–28, and will receive their first full biweekly paycheck on September 23 for August 29–September 11. Following that, biweekly paychecks will continue to be received every other Thursday. These employees are also encouraged to review the Checklist for UW–Madison Employees Paid Over Nine Months.

An active phishing campaign is targeting UW–‍Madison email addresses. The attacker offers to provide financial assistance to qualifying employees. But the sure signs it's bogus include misspellings and a link to a non-UW URL. Get details on this phishing attempt and tips for recognizing typical phishing methods.