Author: MSU Human Resources

Thank You MSU Extension

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Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities.
Michigan State University Extension helps people improve their lives through an educational process that applies knowledge to critical issues, needs and opportunities.

MSU Extension serves as an outreach mechanism that engages the MSU population existing beyond East Lansing. This network has actively bettered the lives of countless individuals, communities and businesses for over a century. In the early 1900s, “demonstration agents” taught cutting-edge farming or homemaking techniques. Today, Extension agents cover a variety of disciplines in 83 counties.

MSU Extension hosts a variety of events including a vegetable production workshop, nurturing parenting courses and a Diabetes Prevention Program, to name a few. With branches in 4-H, agriculture, business, food and health, lawn and garden, and natural resources, MSU Extension’s depth and breadth is sweeping. View an interactive map that illustrates the great impact that Spartans leave on the state of Michigan.

Thanks, MSU Extension! The work that you do allows MSU’s impact to reach beyond campus by positively influencing the entire state of Michigan.

Spring 5k Races on MSU’s Campus!

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Shamrock 5k Graphic
One 5k you can check out is the Shamrock 5k, benefiting the Tower Guard.

There’s no better way to kick that cabin fever than lacing up those running shoes and participating in a 5k for a great cause. There are plenty of 5k races taking place right here on MSU’s campus in East Lansing this spring.

Events Round-Up March 2015

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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.

Community Events

Every Saturday and Sunday – 1 p.m. or 3 p.m.

Free Guided Museum Tours @ Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum.

Friday, March 13, and Saturday, March 14, 2015

St. Patrick’s Day Celebration – Times vary, Grand Ledge.

Saturday, March 14, 2015

Grand Traverse Pie Company Pi Day – All Day, all locations.

Thursday, March 19, 2015

MSU Wind Symphony – 7:30 p.m., Cobb Great Hall, Wharton Center.

Saturday, March 21, 2015

Maple Syrup Festival – 11 a.m. – 5 p.m., Fenner Nature Center.

Friday, March 20, 2015

Breakfast with Mark Dantonio – 8:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m., Kellogg Hotel and Conference Center

Development, Training, & Wellness

Thursday, March 12, 2015

New Supervisor Essentials – 8:30 a.m. – 1 p.m., Suite 10, Nisbet

Wednesday, March 18, 2015

Recipe for Health Cooking Series: Olive Oil – 12:10 p.m. – 12:50 p.m., Brody Square or Online

Thursday, March 19, 2015

The Healing Power of Guided Imagery – 12:10 p.m. – 12:50 p.m., Abrams Planetarium

Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Communicating Up – 8:30 a.m. – noon, Suite 10, Nisbet

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Boosting Your Career with ElevateU (Lunch and Learn) – 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Suite 10, Nisbet

Thursday, March 26, 2015

Managing Confrontational Customers – 8:30 a.m. – noon., Suite 10, Nisbet

 

 

 

Measure Value with These Courses!

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How do you know the functions and services you offer are providing what your “customer” needs? And, if so, do you have the data to back that up? MSU leadership is promoting and supporting data-driven decision making. How do you know what to measure and who to ask? Attending two upcoming Professional Development Services (PDS) courses offered will help you decide what you should measure and then create a plan to do it.

Business Presentation
Assessments and surveys can help you better present your programs and services’ value to MSU leadership!

On Wednesday, March 25, from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. you can attend Proving Value: Introduction to Assessments, for free. How do you know the programs you offer are adding value? Assessments provide a method for determining what to measure, how to measure and who to ask. This session will cover a wide range of assessment topics such as, developing an effective assessment plan, collecting data, and interpreting and reporting your results.

The second class, Proving Value: Designing Effective Surveys,  will be held on Monday, April 20, from 2 p.m. – 4 p.m. and is also free. This course will discuss the best ways to get feedback from your customers to ensure your programs and services are adding value. This interactive session will help you in developing surveys that are useful, informative, and contribute to data-informed decision making. You will also discuss how to make your surveys user-friendly and increase survey response rates. The presenter for each of these courses is Paul Goldblatt of the MSU Residential and Hospitality Services Assessment Office.

For more information about these courses please visit the PDS site or download their catalog which details many more professional development courses offered throughout this year!

Electronic I-9 Tips: Hiring International Employees Correctly

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Our electronic I-9 system is now fully-operational and has made on-boarding duties much easier for the MSU community. In order to keep the I-9  procedure running as smoothly as possible, please keep these tips in mind when processing international employees:

  • International employees cannot use an “unclean” social security card. “Unclean” social security cards will display the phrase “VALID FOR WORK ONLY WITH DHS AUTHORIZATION”.  Do not accept “unclean” social security cards as valid documentation.
  • Very few employees fall under the non-citizen U.S. national category. Only those born or with ties to the outlying U.S. possessions of American Samoa and Swains Island are born as non-citizen United States nationals. Verify if these characteristics apply before accepting an I-9 with non-citizen U.S. national citizenship.
This social security card cannot be used as a supporting document for the I-9 form.
Unclean social security cards CANNOT be used as a supporting document for the I-9 form.
  • Employees must present one piece of documentation from List A or one piece of documentation from List B accompanied by one piece of documentation from list C. The following List-A documents are typically-accepted for international employees:
    • Foreign passport with I-94 or I-94A and I-20
    • Foreign Passport with I-94 or I-94A and DS-2019.

Job of the Week 2/20/2015

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This week we are highlighting an Information Technology Professional (Posting #0876) in Residence Education and Housing Services Administration. The successful candidate will serve within the Communication Arts and Sciences (CAS) Information Technology and Facilities Office to support all technology related needs. Provides independent, general (first level) diagnostic support to customers for a broad range of technical areas. Will be responsible for resolving routine technology related problems or questions from faculty, staff, and other parties within the college. Additional responsibilities include: managing inventory systems; assigning tasks to, training and managing student technical staff; assisting with network systems, computer labs, and classroom A/V systems. The organization supports 300+ individual users and 650+ computer systems in addition to college-managed video and audio production systems, and technology assisted instructional spaces.

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.MSU Jobs Icon

Beat Cabin Fever

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With temperatures crawling below zero, it can be easy to feel stir crazy during winter’s most brutal months. Luckily, there are many activities that you can do in order to defeat the dreaded symptoms of cabin fever.

Although the weather is chilling, campus venues, such as Abrams planetarium, provide an escape.
Although the weather is chilling, campus venues, such as Abrams planetarium, provide an escape.

Get lost in space at the Abrams Planetarium. 

The Abrams Planetarium plays shows featuring the Digistar 5 Project. The planetarium is open to the public on Friday and Saturday evenings as well as Sunday afternoons. All tickets are $4 or less, however, electronic payment is not accepted. Stop by to marvel at One World, One Sky: Big Bird’s Adventure or Ice Worlds.

Enjoy live entertainment at the Wharton Center.

The Wharton Center is a beautiful venue that hosts a wealth of interesting acts. Performances are eclectic and include plays, dance and concerts. Watch the Phantom of the Opera, The Aspen Santa Fe Ballet or 2 Cellos, among other talent.

Learn how to cook, relax and more with MSU Health4U classes.

What better way to spend a chilling day than to improve your skills? Health4U can teach you how to make breakfast for dinner or show you the calming nature of acoustic flamenco music.

Enhance your professional skills using elevateU.

Available in EBS for all faculty and staff, the elevateU platform offers a sweeping array of classes for your benefit.

Drink in some culture at the Eli and Edythe Broad Art Museum.

The Broad is a wonderful museum specializing in modern and contemporary art. Take advantage of the free admission and view stunning exhibitions including modern art from China and an artful display about student loan debt.

Take the edge off at the State Room.

The Kellogg Center’s State Room often has events, such as wine tastings, that are sure to entice you to leave the house. Keep up-to-date with the latest events.

Your FSA Receipts Deadline is Approaching!

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The deadline for turning in 2014 Flexible Spending Account (FSA) receipts is quickly approaching! Here are the FSA important dates to remember for your Dependent Care Spending Account (DCSA) and Health Care Spending Account (HCSA):

  • The deadline to use your DCSA funds was December 31, 2014
  • The deadline to submit receipts for your DCSA is April 30, 2015
  • The deadline to use your HCSA funds is March 15, 2015
  • The deadline to submit receipts for your HCSA is April 30, 2015

Important to note: The 2014 Program Year is working in coordination with Meritain Health. You will work with CONEXIS from 2015 forward.

Please remember, if you do not use all of your funds and submit your receipts by the required deadlines, IRS code requires the remaining funds be forfeited. If you still have remaining 2014 HCSA funds you’d like to use, you need to pay for eligible items or services out of pocket and then submit receipts along with a reimbursement request form. If you use your HCSA debit card, it will draw from your 2015 account funds.

Helpful Links:

FSA Information

Meritian Health – Reimbursement Request Form

Meritian Health – HCSA Debit Card Substantiation Form

A Day in History @ MSU – Martin Luther King Jr. Visits MSU

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On Thursday, February 11, 1965, more than 4,000 students and community residents attended a campus visit and lecture by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. The large crowd packed themselves into the Auditorium and an overflow spilled into the nearby Fairchild Theater where they could hear the civil rights leader’s speech. King came to MSU to kick off a fundraising drive for the  university student government-sponsored Student Education Program (STEP). STEP was the first all-student-administered educational outreach program of its kind in the country. It involved sending student and faculty volunteers to assist Rust College of Holly Springs, Mississippi during the summer of 1965. It evolved out of MSU students’ desire to help others and gain educational experience. The program focused on eight areas that emphasized improving education, which can be found on the MSU Archives page located here.

Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at Michigan State University
Martin Luther King Jr. speaks at Michigan State University on February 11, 1965. Photo courtesy of MSU Archives.

In his speech, King issued three challenges to the audience:

  1. People must achieve a world brotherhood perspective.
  2. The notion of superior and inferior races must be abolished.
  3. Massive action programs must be developed to rid the world of segregation.

King also called for new Civil Rights legislation pertaining to voting rights in his speech and made reference to the recommendations of the Civil Rights Commission and MSU President John A. Hannah, who was appointed chairperson of the Civil Rights Commission in January, 1957, by President Dwight Eisenhower. The work done by the commission on voting rights became the Title I section of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

In honor of Black History Month, we honor and celebrate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the many others that have made such a deep historical impact on American culture and our university.

Heart-Healthy Habits

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The American Heart Association has dubbed February as American Heart Month. There are several things that you can do to maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle:

Eat heart-healthy foods.

A nutritious diet plays a vital role in heart health. Fruits, veggies, fibrous whole grain foods and fish are best for your heart. Be conscious of food labels in order to limit your intake of saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, sodium and added sugar. Additionally, eat only as many calories as you need and drink in moderation.

heart-health-month
Are you doing what it takes to maintain a healthy heart?

Exercise

The American Heart Association suggests moderate activity for 2 1/2 hours a week to keep your heart healthy. Your exercise regiment can vary based on a number of factors. Talk to your doctor and set a target heart rate to exercise safely. Choose an activity that you enjoy.

Implement therapeutic lifestyle changes.

While diet, exercise and weight loss are all self-explanatory and fundamental pillars of a heart-healthy lifestyle, there are certainly other therapeutic lifestyle changes to consider. For example, quitting cigarettes and reducing stress are affirmative actions that aid in overall heart health.

The MSU community will recognize heart health in a variety of ways. Consider buying your Valentine’s Day sweets from MSU Bakers. Patrons can donate money to the American Heart Association with the purchase of baked goods.

To learn more about American Heart Month, visit the American Heart Association at heart.org.