Students and non-MSU employees can receive the vaccine for $30.
You might have noticed increased sniffling going around in the office. Cold and flu season is upon us, but staff, faculty and retirees at MSU can ward themselves against the flu with this year’s vaccine for free!
The Office of the University Physician will be offering flu clinics at various campus locations in October and November. The $30 quadrivalent flu vaccine is subsidized by Human Resources and can be administered via injection or nasal spray.
It’s that time of year! Benefits Open Enrollment is going on now
Sign up for health insurance, dental insurance, life insurance, flexible spending accounts and other benefits offered through MSU before Saturday, October 31, 2015. This annual month-long enrollment period is crucial in determining your benefits coverage for the 2016 year.
Read all you need to know about Open Enrollment in our 2016 guide, which includes cost of benefits, coverage summaries, new and important information this year and details about the various plans and benefits options offered through MSU.
Remember to attend the Benefits Fairs October 20-22 at Breslin Center to talk to vendors and MSU Human Resources Benefits staff members.
Open Enrollment is completed online through the Employee Self Service option in Enterprise Business System for health, dental, life and flexible spending accounts. Find detailed enrollment instructions in the Open Enrollment guide.
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to contact the HR Solutions Center. This team is prepared to help faculty and staff during the Open Enrollment period. Email your questions to SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or call 517-353-4434.
This week we are highlighting the Information Technologist II (Posting #1516) in IT Services. The successful candidate will serve as Application Performance Management Technician to provide critical performance, availability and capacity data necessary to effectively monitor Michigan State University’s core business applications, reduce downtime, and help in root cause analysis; research, evaluate and implement a monitoring/application performance solution; determine Infrastructure, Network, Middleware, DB & Application Development requirements and configure monitoring for intelligent, timely and actionable alerting; research, track and route issues to a successful completion, including communicating resolutions to management, software development teams, and customers; integrate application and business data/metrics with infrastructure data/metrics to provide an integrated, holistic capacity management solution; guide the development of dashboards/reporting for communication and diagnostics; propose, design, and implement enhancements and additions to current environment; provide direction, generate work, and collaborate with various system and application owners to onboard new applications to MSU’s performance management solution; mentor team members in professional areas of expertise related to job responsibilities.
For a complete description of this position, and to view all of our current postings, please go to www.jobs.msu.edu and select Support Staff under the Fast Jobs Search.
Here are some events happening over the next month that may be of interest to MSU faculty and staff. Please visit the links for more information. Many events require registration.
Spartans take the stage at this year’s homecoming with a theme focusing on the university alumni who have gone on to live extraordinary lives and grace the world’s stages. The grand marshal is Tony Award-winning composer William Brohn.
The parade, beginning at 6 p.m., is just one of many events scheduled for the week preceding the homecoming game. Listen to live music performed by Desmond Jones on Thursday, October 1, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Summer Circle Theater by the Kresge Art Center and enjoy free Dairy Store ice cream while supplies last at the Rock on Farm Lane on Friday from 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m.
There is plenty to do before kickoff, as well. The Green & White Homecoming Brunch starts at 8:30 a.m. before the game and includes special guests President Lou Ann K. Simon, head coach Mark Dantonio, athletic director Mark Hollis and more. Registration is required for this event. Many colleges are also hosting tailgates for alumni.
Don’t forget go Glow Green this week! You have the chance to win a $100 Spartan Bookstore gift card by participating in the photo contest.
Join the fun this week by showing off your Spartan Spirit!
Each neighborhood at MSU has an Engagement Center. Photo courtesy of  MSU Today.
It’s been a month of settling in, meeting new people and adjusting to the rigor of academics for new and returning students. The semester kicked off with the packed, crazy and exciting series of days that is student move-in. This event is highly coordinated, requiring intensive planning to ensure a smooth move-in process for everyone.
Residence Education and Housing Services has been there to provide students with outstanding residence halls, engaging activities and a wide array of resources that are especially important for freshmen. For many in this group, this has been the longest time they have been away from home, which makes the efforts of REHS that much more vital to ensure they feel welcome in this new environment.
Thank you, REHS, for making MSU a second home for our students!
“Influencer” is one of thousands of texts available through ElevateU
Do you want to create a lasting impression among your colleagues and enact change within your organization? You have the ability, but just might lack the in-depth knowledge of behavior necessary to influence those around you.
Attend the Professional Development Services “Influencer” session to learn how to be more effective in your everyday interactions and create strategies for lasting change. You will learn a proven model for creating change by applying six sources of influence. Find the root/real causes behind behavior problems, effectively motivate and enable others regardless of formal authority. The information in this two-day session is founded on tested research and case studies from trusted professionals. This session is in 10 Nisbet on Wednesday, October 21, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Friday, October 23, from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m., with attendance required both days.
You can also read the book that this class is based on, “Influencer,” for free through ElevateU. “Influencer” is a New York Times bestseller that will empower any reader, regardless of background, skill level or profession, to create inevitable change through influence. It was written by distinguished scholars and behavioral scientists.
Use these resources provided through MSU to take control of your influence!
Summer produce is on its way out to make room for fall fruits and vegetables. Pumpkins, cranberries, apples, squash and more will soon be gracing the East Lansing Farmer’s Market and the MSU student-run Farm Stand.
Once again Residential and Hospitality Services Senior Executive Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski helped us out by giving us some amazing seasonal recipes. This time, he gave us three of his personal favorites. You can view Chef Kurt’s crowd-pleasing Baked Fresh Herb Spaghetti Squash and Butter Beans with Kale recipes here.
Chef Kurt’s roasted squash soup recipe is also a favorite of many. You’ll be sure to impress anyone with this dish.
The MSU Student Organic Farm Stand operates from 11 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. every Thursday in front of the Auditorium. Photo courtesy of MSU Student Organic Farm Stand
According to the CDC, RA prevalence is believed to range from 0.5 to 1 percent in the general population.
Rheumatoid arthritis is just one of many forms of arthritis that affect millions of Americans every year. RA is an autoimmune disease of the joints, in which immune cells attack and eventually destroy the healthy lubricating tissues that surround joints. This causes painful swelling that can result in bone erosion and joint deformity.
According to the Center for Disease Control, rheumatoid arthritis can begin at any age, although it is more common in patients over 65.
Patients with moderate to severe rheumatoid arthritis experience chronic inflammation in many or all joints, while fewer joints are affected in those with mild RA.
There is no cure for RA, but there are treatments that can decrease the severity of symptoms and slow the disease. As is the case with many ailments, the sooner a patient begins treatment, the better. That’s why it’s important to look out for arthritic symptoms such as fatigue, loss of energy, lack of appetite, low-grade fever, and muscle and joint aches and stiffness that are especially noticeable in the morning and after periods of inactivity. Talk to your physician if you experience these symptoms.
Treatment includes medication supplemented with exercise and occupational therapy.
View the entire Best Doctors article to learn more.
Our previous customer experience survey helped MSU Human Resources understand what areas it needed to improve in order to better serve faculty and staff.
Your honest feedback benefits all staff and faculty at MSU.
We need your input once more in our new customer experience survey, which will be sent out Monday, September 14 to your MSU NetID email address. The survey features questions such as which area of HR is contacted the most, how employees contact HR for questions, how fast our response time was and how easy it was to have questions answered. It should take about 15-20 minutes to complete.
Since the completion of the survey in 2013, HR has opened the Solutions Center as a central point of contact for all faculty and staff questions. Your honest feedback is vital in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our reorganization.
You can read the results of the 2013 customer experience survey here.
Thank you for helping MSU Human Resources in our pursuit of excellence.
