Top news:
- Vice Chancellor Laurent Heller hosted an employee forum on August 13 in which Chancellor Blank and other university leaders provided updates and answered questions about the Smart Restart effort. The employee forum is available online and has nearly 8,000 views.
- Today is the final day to respond to OHR’s employee pulse survey on Smart Restart. More than 7,000 employees have responded thus far.
- Several campus virtual information sessions occur next week. Check today.wisc.edu – some events will be posted soon:
- a session for Graduate Students on August 19 from 9-10:30 a.m.
- session for Students of Color on August 19, 5:00-6:30 p.m.
- an all-campus / all-community session hosted by Chancellor Blank on August 21, 9:00-10:30 a.m.
- Request from the Office of Postdoctoral Studies: The office is recruiting an undergraduate student worker to perform office tasks remotely. If you have had a student working for your unit over the summer (or earlier) that you would recommend for a shared or redeployed arrangement between your department and Office of Postdoctoral Studies, please contact Imogen Hurley, PhD at ihurley@wisc.edu.
- Reminder: The Wisconsin Medical Journal (WMJ) is seeking papers for a special issue examining the impact of race and racism on the health of people in Wisconsin. Submission deadline: November 1 for publication in January 2021.
- Reminder: Call for nominations — 2020 University of Wisconsin-Madison Outstanding Women of Color Awards. A total of 1-2 nominations will be submitted by the Dean’s Office. To submit a name, please fill out this form by August 31.
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.
“All the thanks to Adam Mucci in IT for keeping my computer(s) up and running, and always being so willing to help when I inevitably run into problems.” — Laura Bucci, Medical Program Assistant Associate, Department of Surgery
“A big thank you to DaRae Coughlin, RN, MSN, FNP-BC from the Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center for suggesting the idea of sending out daily mindfulness reminder emails. Thanks also to Nathaniel A. Chin, MD, Director of Medical Services at Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Lisa Thomas Prince, MPH, Mindfulness Program Co-Manager at UW Health for supporting this initiative. It’s a great way to help with stress reduction, to learn to pause, and to allow a chance to feel connected as a group.” — Bonnie Nuttkinson, MS, Outreach Specialist, Wisconsin Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center and Department of Medicine
Telecommuting tip:
- Good leaders listen: Inc. has an article that lists six reasons why listening can make you a better leader. It can help demonstrate empathy and that employees and colleagues are valued.
Staying strong & supporting one another:
- Five-minute activities for stress relief: The New York Times has tips for relieving pandemic stress, including “music medicine” and paced breathing.