Top news:
- Safer Badgers/COVID-19 Testing updates: Please review a message sent this afternoon to all employees and students.
- Effective Sunday, Jan. 24, campus testing will transition to drop-in only (no appointments). Please note: while Badger Wellness Ambassadors will begin working across campus on Jan. 25, enforcement of the building access restrictions based on your digital Badger Badge will not begin until Feb. 1.
- A 1-minute video about successful drooling technique is available.
- Final reminder: Monday marks the Winter All Faculty/Staff Meeting, which will be from 4:30-5:45 p.m. on Webex. These meetings are great opportunities to hear directly from school leaders about school and to ask questions directly. Submit a question using this form. Monday’s meeting will consist of a presentation on genomic medicine at UW–Madison, as well as updates on the COVID-19 vaccine and campus developments, the school’s anti-racism efforts, and the Building Community program. Please note the WebEx link (use “Winter” if a password is requested).
- The Hot Topics in Public Health Symposium titled “The Coronavirus Pandemic at One Year” on Wednesday, Jan. 27 at 4 p.m. features an outstanding panel of experts, including SMPH faculty Dr. Nasia Safdar, Prof. Ajay Sethi, Dr. Ryan Westergaard, and Prof. Sheri Johnson joined by School of Veterinary Medicine faculty Dr. Kristen Bernard and Prof. Thomas Friedrich, as well as Wisconsin State Laboratory of Hygiene assistant director Allen Bateman and UW Health communications director Tom Russell. RSVP and submit a question
- A hearty congratulations to Ajay Sethi, PhD, MHS, associate professor of population health sciences and faculty director of SMPH’s Master of Public Health program, for receiving the Chancellor’s Distinguished Teaching Award. He is one of thirteen faculty members to be chosen for this year’s Distinguished Teaching Awards, an honor given out since 1953 to recognize the university’s finest educators. A virtual recognition event will occur on April 6. Read more
- Vaccination updates from UW–Madison and UW Health: On Jan. 19, Wisconsin Department of Health Services announced that individuals age 65 and older are eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, starting as soon as January 25, 2021.
- University Health Services has sent notices to about 1,800 members of the campus community from this group to invite them to make appointments to be vaccinated. It may be several weeks before vaccine supply is available to everyone authorized to receive it.
- Individuals in this age group may also seek vaccine through their health care provider. For instance, UW Health has a new online form that individuals can complete at uwhealth.org/vaccine to express their interest in receiving a vaccine (once eligible) and to be considered for same-day appointment openings, should those occur.
- Updated vaccine FAQs have also been released on uwhealth.org/covid
- Current resources for clinical personnel on the U-Connect intranet include talking points to use with patients/callers; staff FAQs; and patient FAQs. Recordings of two vaccine Q&A sessions from this week are also available on U-Connect.
- The latest issue of Faculty Central, the newsletter from the Office of Faculty Affairs and Development, is available. Read the newsletter and sign up to receive future issues.
- View this week’s Quick Links, with valuable information for all personnel, as well as information for researchers and clinicians.
Building an Anti-Racist SMPH
- The Native American Center for Health Professions 2021 Distinguished Lecture Series will begin on Feb. 19. from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. with a presentation titled “Menominee’s Journey to a Culture of Health” by Jerry Waukau Sr., Tribal Health Administrator, Menominee Nation, and Wendell Waukau, MA, ES, Superintendent for Menominee Indian School District. Download a flyer (PDF) and RSVP. A link to recordings of past NACHP Distinguished Lectures is available in the SMPH Spring 2021 Initiative: Advance Health by Acting Against Racism toolkit.
- View upcoming events relating to anti-racism topics at UW–Madison and beyond.Shout-outs
Please send kudos about your colleagues. Honor someone at go.wisc.edu/shoutout and we’ll share the stories. Submit your thoughts and we’ll share them in a future issue.