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In the Know: SMPH Updates for February 1, 2021 

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In the Know: SMPH Updates for February 1, 2021 

Top news: 

  • Safer Badgers/COVID-19 Testing updates: 
    • Reminder: Enforcement of Badger Badge restrictions related to university building access will be delayed from Monday, Feb. 1 to Monday, Feb. 8. 
    • Reminder: the Health Sciences Learning Center (HSLC) site is temporarily closed in order to modify the site’s configuration. Nielsen Tennis Stadium site or any other site can be used during the closure. The HSLC site is scheduled to reopen Feb. 15.
    • Reminder: Watch a recording of the COVID-19 information session presented on Thursday. View the video
    • Reminder: The contact tracing process at UW–Madison has been enhanced to catch potential cases of new SARS-CoV-2 variants that are being monitored by public health agencies due to mutations that may allow them to spread more rapidly and easily from person to person.
    • Second round of emergency COVID-19 financial aid is coming for students. These resources are open and available to all students.
  • The Wisconsin Medical Journal (WMJ) and the UW–Madison Interprofessional Continuing Education Partnership (ICEP) have teamed up to offer continuing education credit for certain original research papers published in the journal. Credit is now available for seven articles. Look for articles that display a blue “CE” button at wmjonline.org, and to register, click on the “earn continuing education credit” links or visit the ICEP website. There are no fees for participating in or receiving credit for this online enduring educational activity. WMJ is a peer-reviewed, indexed journal owned jointly by SMPH and the Medical College of Wisconsin.
  • Applications are now being accepted for the Spring 2021 Academic Staff Professional Development Grant program. Proposals must be submitted electronically to department chair/unit head by March 19. See the program’s website for eligibility requirements and also details about two virtual information sessions that will be held on February 3 and 9.    
  • Save the date for the SMPH Diversity Summit on April 20 from 4-6:30 p.m. The virtual event will feature keynote speaker Elena V. Rios, MD, MSPH, FACP, President & CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association and President of the National Hispanic Health Foundation. Registration is now open and all are encouraged to submit a question for the Q&A discussion. The event is co-sponsored by SMPH and UW Health.

Find more on the school’s Spring 2021 Initiative: Advance Health by Acting Against Racism page, including resources and more events. 

  • Visits for two leadership searches are taking place this week: Chair of the Department of Neuroscience and Chair of the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology. Visit the leadership search candidate visit page for details. Recordings will be available on that page for those who cannot attend. Passwords are “Neuroscience2021” and “MedMicroImm2021” for their respective searches.
  • The Building Community/Ebling Library Book & Film Club will offer a discussion of Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents on Thursday, Feb. 25 at noon. To register for this discussion and to get access to an electronic version of the book, please visit the Book Club website. Note: the author of this book was featured at the recent MLK Symposium, which will be re-broadcast on Feb. 9 at 6 p.m. as part of UW–Madison’s Black History Month events.

Building an Anti-Racist SMPH 

  • Music as Medicine: Evolution of Music in the Black Community: Today marks the first day of Black History Month. See this page of UW–Madison events throughout the month. The theme this year will focus on various forms of Black music and how they have been utilized by the Black Community as a form of activism, healing, and freedom of expression.   

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.

Telecommuting Tip 

UW–Madison Inclement Weather Guidelines for Employees: Many SMPH employees are telecommuting, but not all. For those currently approved to work on campus, it’s important to review the university’s inclement weather guidelines and be prepared.