Top news:
- A message from Chancellor Rebecca Blank to UW–Madison employees provides her perspective on the university’s Smart Restart plan to expand campus instructional activities this fall. Chancellor Blank shares thoughts about instructional activities, addresses the challenges faced by UW–Madison families who will be juggling children’s learning activities and childcare needs alongside work schedules, and mentions challenging state budget news. She also expresses appreciation for the “efforts of our health workers and our researchers who are helping us to understand and beat this disease.”
- Pondering 2020-21 campus parking options in light of the pandemic? At this time, SMPH is anticipating that only individuals who need to be on-site in order to keep the education operation running will be expected to return to campus in the fall. Campus parking enforcement resumes for all of campus starting September 1, 2020. Parking offers for those who applied before June 26 have been emailed and must be accepted or declined by August 4. (Visit the Transportation Services Smart Restart Hub to learn more about options.) Parking decisions are challenging because – both institutionally and societally – we do not know how the pandemic may change over the next three to six months and beyond. While SMPH is not expecting a broad return to working on-site this fall, we recognize that this is a dynamic situation and subject to change should new developments unfold. Specific questions about parking options should be directed to UW–Madison Transportation Services.
- A virtual learning series, 31 Days of Women Leadership Learning, will launch on Monday, August 3, with a keynote address by Gloria Ladson-Billings, PhD, Professor Emerita and former Kellner Family Distinguished Chair of Urban Education. Each day of August will feature one learning opportunity from a woman leader. The event focuses on finding, building, and using one’s voice. Registration is free.
Shout-outs:
- Please send kudos about your colleagues. Honor someone at go.wisc.edu/shoutout and we’ll share the stories. Visit this page to see a collection of shout-outs to date. Submit your thoughts and we’ll share them in a future issue.
“I just want to give a big thank you to the Instructional Technology Team, specifically Chris Hanson and Kristin Simon who have been so incredibly helpful and responsive to all my technology needs and issues with virtual instruction. They have been so instrumental in problem solving technology issues in real time and I could not have done half the things I’ve needed to virtually without their expertise and knowledge. Thank you!!!” – Colleen Cobey, PT, MS, Faculty Associate, Doctor of Physical Therapy Program
Telecommuting tip:
- SMPH Shared Services IT offers news on tech updates and how to keep your computer running optimally.
Staying strong & supporting one another:
- Promoting well-being in academic medicine: AAMC has a list of resources on well-being for all those involved in academic medicine, including faculty, staff, researchers, residents, and students. A new addition is a toolkit from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai’s Office of Well-Being and Resilience.