Grab your skates and head to the ice at MSU Munn Ice Arena!

Have you checked out the MSU Munn Ice Arena? If you’re looking for an activity to do with the whole family for spring break, try visiting Munn. The MSU Munn Ice Arena was built in 1974 and has been home to the MSU hockey team for over 40 seasons. Munn hosts daily practices and home games for the MSU hockey team.

During the week at Munn, you can find a wide range of opportunities for skaters like freestyle skating for more advanced skaters who want to work on skills, jumps and routines, open skate for the public for all skating types, and even an “old timer’s group” where a group of guys just come in and play a few games of hockey. In the summer, you can find the ice arena filled with future hockey players at the MSU Youth Hockey Camp.

But Munn isn’t only used for camps and games, you can take part in open skate Monday through Thursday. Munn offers discounted admission prices and group discounts for faculty, staff and students. If you’re looking for some bonding time with your fellow co-workers, departments can rent out the ice privately. Departments can use an interdepartmental account transfer to pay for their event.

Skaters practicing at Munn Ice Arena

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So whether you want to get back into hockey through the IM league for students and faculty or want to sign up for an open hockey session to get a few games in during the week. Check out Munn Ice Arena website or Facebook page for more information.

Job of the Week – College Alumni Coordinator

This week’s job of the week is a College Alumni Coordinator (#565154) for the Honors College. This position is seeking an individual to provide support for the alumni community and to assist the alumni board with strategies to increase engagement and financial support.

The responsibilities for this role include developing and implementing programs to build relationships with alumni across the U.S. and abroad and coordinating meetings with the Honors College and MSU alumni. Other responsibilities for this role include collaborating with the Honors College Communication Coordinator to prepare, edit and disseminate communications with Honors College alumni and donors.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge acquired by completing a four-year college degree program in business, public relations, communication, marketing, or a related field; 1-3 years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in planning and production in higher education fundraising, event coordination, public speaking; or equivalent combination of education and experience.

For more details on the responsibilities of this position, and to view all our current postings, visit careers.msu.edu. Internal applicants should access postings through the Careers @ MSU tile in the EBS Portal.

Don’t Wait to Start Saving for Retirement

For younger MSU employees, creating a comprehensive retirement savings plan may not be a top priority. Why should you plan for your retirement now when that day is 30 to 40 years in the future? But the young have a huge advantage when it comes to saving money for retirement: more time. This additional time allows the young to potentially benefit the most from compounding, which may lead to greater savings down the road.

How Compounding Works
Compounding basically means allowing an investment to earn money while continually reinvesting those earnings over time. The more time you have, the smaller your original investment may need to be. In the hypothetical example below, a 25-year-old starts saving $5,000 annually ($416 per month) and a 40-year-old starts saving twice as much but waits until age 40 ($833 per month). 

Chart demonstrating numbers in surrounding paragraphs.

The 25-year-old ends up contributing less money over time – $200,000 versus $250,000 – but ends up with a higher balance: $798,735 versus $566,317. In other words, the 25-year-old contributes $50,000 less but ends up with $232,000 more than the 40-year-old who waited to save.

As this example shows, younger investors may benefit from saving as much as possible as soon as possible. MSU offers two voluntary savings plans: the 403(b) Supplemental Retirement Plan and the 457(b) Deferred Compensation Program. Starting to save earlier in either plan means contributing a smaller percentage of income and potentially earning more than if you wait until you’re older to contribute. So while retirement may be a long way off, the choices you make today can have a dramatic, long-lasting difference.

You can learn more about MSU’s voluntary savings plans on the HR website, including information about how to enroll or make changes to your retirement plan contributions. MSU employees can change their contributions at any time throughout the year. Reference this Retirement Plan Comparison document to see the differences between the 403(b) Supplemental Retirement Plan and the 457(b) Deferred Compensation Program.

Of course, remember that investment returns are not guaranteed and will fluctuate — in some years you may have gains, and in other years you may have losses. But over time, any investment that has a net gain will have benefited from compounding.

Important Information: Please note, the example above is a hypothetical illustration only and is not intended to represent the past or future performance of any investment. The example assumes contributions are made monthly at a 6% annual effective rate, compounded monthly. and no withdrawals. Actual performance will vary with market conditions. Investing involves risk. There is no assurance that the goals will be met or that the solution or strategy will be successful.

Questions? We’re here to help! Contact the Solutions Center at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or 517-353-4434.

This article was written in partnership with TIAA.

Get ahead for Spring Break with these discounts and savings with MSU Benefits Plus!

While MSU’s Spring Break has already ended, you may be getting ready for your non-college student’s Spring Break in a few weeks. Still looking for something to do? MSU Benefits Plus has you covered! All benefits-eligible MSU faculty and staff have access to a variety of discounts and savings through MSU Benefits Plus. Here you’ll find discounts and special offers on a variety of activities, hotels, entertainment and more!

To access all the discounts, visit MSU Benefits Plus and sign-up for a free account using your ZPID number (located on your ID badge), or you can find the number in EBS.

Check out some of the deals you can find for Spring Break:

Tickets At Work – Save on Multi-Day Disney Ticket Packages

Save on multi-day ticket packages when you buy in advance through Tickets At Work! Discounts are automatically applied when you visit their website.

Tickets At Work – Save at Michigan’s Adventure

Save up to 60% on admission to Michigan’s Adventure when you buy tickets in advance through Tickets At Work! Check out this discounts and more at their website.

Enterprise Rent-A-Car – Save on Car Rentals

Save at least 5% on rental cars when you book through the exclusive link! Discounts automatically applied at Enterprise Rent-A-Car website!

Premium Seats USA – Save on MLB Tickets

Save 10% on Major League Baseball tickets when you use code CORESTREAM at checkout! Save now on MLB tickets at Premium Seats!

Restaurant.com – Save Even More on Great Dining Experiences

Get $25 gift certificates for only $6 with code CORE at checkout! Check out restaurants in popular cities like Detroit, LA, Atlanta and more! Find the perfect place for your family to dine here.

Employee Travel Specials – Save on Cruises

Enjoy special offers and savings on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and MSC Cruise lines with rates as low as $52 a night on select cruises. Find your perfect cruise here!

Premium Seats – Concerts, Sporting Events, Theater Tickets, and more!

Save 10% with code CORESTREAM on great seats and exclusive VIP packages to live entertainment and sporting events throughout the country. From concerts of all sizes to professional and college sports to Broadway and beyond, you’ll find tickets to thousands of events at Premium Seats USA! Take a look at some upcoming events on Premium Seats’ website.

Hotels.com

Are you traveling for Spring Break? Take your family out for a fun night in the city! Save an ADDITIONAL 8% off most bookings at hotels.com with code CORESTREAM8. Find your destination at Hotels.com.

For more information on discounts through MSU Benefits Plus, visit the HR website. If you have any questions about the discounts, please call MSU Benefits Plus at 888-758-7575.

Job of the Week- Library Assistant II

This week’s job of the week is a Library Assistant II (#564112) for MSU Libraries. This position is seeking an individual to process and maintain materials records for the library and perform detailed bibliographic verification for English and foreign language materials.

The responsibilities for this role include updating information on automatic systems for maintaining records, distributing internal mail and performing detailed bibliographies. Other responsibilities for this role include processing paperwork, accessing materials for processing and processing outgoing first-class domestic and international mail.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge normally acquired from specialized training such as the first year of college or business school; six months to one year of related and progressively more responsible or expansive recent experience in an office setting; experience with record keeping, data entry/retrieval, databases, spreadsheet, word processing and web page editing; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

For more details on the responsibilities of this position, and to view all our current postings, visit careers.msu.edu. Internal applicants should access postings through the Careers @ MSU tile in the EBS Portal.

Celebrating International Women’s Day with Associate Vice President of MSU HR Sharon Butler!

March 8 is International Women’s Day, where women’s achievements are celebrated around the world. To celebrate, we’re shining a spotlight on Associate Vice President of MSU Human Resources (HR), Sharon Butler. From working for General Motors (GM) to the banking industry to higher education, Butler has been in human resources for over three decades. We sat down with her to get her perspective on women in the workplace and her advice for the next generation.

During Butler’s time in higher education, she served as the Chief Human Resources Officer at the University of Cincinnati, as well as in similar HR leadership roles at Wayne State University. She came to MSU in 2012 and has been the woman in charge of MSU HR since. But Butler began her career in HR in the mid-’70s at GM, working her way up from a machine operator to a frontline supervisor and finally to HR. She began working at GM at a time not long on the heels of the Civil Rights Act, quite often finding herself the only woman and minority in the room and in leadership. “At the time I began working for General Motors, most of the people who were in leadership positions were white, World War II veterans,” said Butler. “My first salary job was as a frontline supervisor, and at that time there were no other women supervising at the plant I was in, and only about four or five African American men supervising. There were several thousand employees who worked at that location.” In fact, it would be 10 years until Butler worked in an environment with other women in leadership roles.

Everyone faces obstacles in the workplace and sometimes they leave lasting marks. But how you overcome those obstacles can leave an even greater, and hopefully more positive, impact. From her time at GM, Butler learned the best way to overcome obstacles is to find a way to work together. Don’t be afraid to ask questions or admit you need help; communicate you’re teachable, but also be sure to make it clear what you can bring to the table to get the job done. “I don’t have to broadcast I’m the leader, but that I’m willing to work with others to get things done…It is better to confess what I don’t know, ask for help, and be willing to negotiate with others,” says Butler.

Another key is confidence – be confident in who you are, what you know and how you feel and express yourself. The presence of confidence, not arrogance, shows you are willing to learn and open to listening.

Sharon quote #1

In particular, women in the workplace are often faced with what has become known as the glass ceiling, which is an invisible barrier that “prevents women or minorities from obtaining upper-level positions” (Merriam-Webster, 2019).

Butler’s advice to women facing the glass ceiling:

  • Be confident, but not arrogant, and teachable.
  • Act like you want the position.
  • Use your voice to make yourself known.
  • Show your supervisor and/or leadership you are ready for a higher-level position.
  • Set your personal values and stick to them, no matter the cost. This could even mean not getting the result you want but helping to make a way for those coming after you.

Looking to the future for women in the workplace, Butler’s advice is to find ways to encourage women, give them opportunities to grow, listen and make them feel included. Most of all, Butler hopes for a future for women where they have the freedom to make the choices best for them without guilt – whether that means having a full-time career or a family or everything in-between.

Sharon quote #2

Take advantage of optional MSU benefits and resources

MSU is committed to offering valuable benefits to support you and your family. In conjunction with our faculty and staff healthcare committees, we review our benefits program regularly to ensure it offers a positive experience to our benefits-eligible employees, their spouses or other eligible individuals, and dependents. Part of the benefits program includes offering a wide range of optional benefits and resources for you to use. While MSU offers these tools and resources to support you and your family, living well is also about the choices you make. Whether it’s the doctors you choose or where to go for care, your decisions can impact your health and how much you pay.

But keeping track of the different benefits and resources available to you can be overwhelming. The following recap will help jog your memory on the new benefits we introduced over the last year, and review some of the “golden oldies”. You can also check out an infographic of this info by clicking on the image below.

Infographic demonstrating the content of this article. Press enter key to open as a PDF in a new window.

New programs we rolled out in the last year include:

  • Livongo – a diabetes management program providing free supplies, education and tips for making healthy lifestyle choices, and support with optional coaching. Read about an MSU employee’s perspective on the diabetes management program.
  • Teladoc – telemedicine services you can use to speak to a doctor at any time via web, phone or mobile app. They can even write you a prescription when necessary.

Let’s not forget those benefits and resources that have been hanging around for a while, but you may have forgotten about – sort of like those summer clothes stuffed in the back of your closet during this long Michigan winter.

  • Best Doctors – get medical advice from experts on your specific medical condition to feel empowered to make the best choice possible for your care. This is a great resource for getting a second opinion on a diagnosis and/or treatment plan.
  • Voluntary Benefits – these are optional benefits offered through MSU Benefits Plus. It has insurance offerings such as vision, long-term care, legal, pet, home/auto, and critical illness. And more than that, it offers a wide range of discounts you can tap into for everything from hotel stays to car rentals to even those tickets to Disney you’ve been thinking about.
  • On-Campus Services – save time by getting your MRI, x-ray, or CT scan done right on-campus at MSU Radiology or have the MSU Clinical Center or Olin Pharmacy deliver your prescriptions directly to your office. Convenience is key, and you have the right to request your doctor to refer you to or send your prescriptions to these close and convenient services.

While you might not need or think of these benefits and resources all the time, keep them tucked away for a day when you will, and make it easier and more cost-effective for you to manage your health.

Events Round Up – March

Community Festivals 

Maple Syrup Festival

Community Events

Outdoor Life / Field & Stream EXPO

Michigan Horse and Stallion Expo

Lansing Home and Garden Show

Food

Saturday, March 9

Be Kind Rewind at Lansing Brewery Company

Wednesday, March 20

Local Food Enthusiast Happy Hour

Friday, March 22

Swift Brothers at Lansing Brewery Company

Tuesday, March 26

Forks & Corks

Tuesday, March 26

Brewery Vivant Beer Dinner

Arts

Wednesday, March 6

Water School: Speak-in

Tuesday, March 12

Miss Saigon

Thursday, March 14

Studio (in) Process

Friday, March 15

A Wrinkle in Time

Tuesday, March 19

Lansing Storytellers Project: #Love Lansing

Wednesday, March 27

TEDxMSU 2019: Catalyst

Saturday, March 30

Flower Arranging Basics Seminar

Music

Sunday, March 10

New in Student Performance

Sunday, March 17

Mid-Michigan Bluegrass & Folk Concert

Friday, March 22

Symphony Orchestra

Sunday, March 24

Monterey Jazz: Festival on Tour

Family/Kid Friendly

Thursday, March 7

Zoo in Your Neighborhood

Saturday, March 9

Sensory Showtime: How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World

Sunday, March 9

Maple Sugaring at Woldmuar

Saturday, March 16

Sensory Friendly-NCG Movies: Wonder Park

Sunday, March 17

Family Special: Lucky Shamrocks

Sports/Fitness

Sunday, March 10

Broad Wellness: Yoga

Friday, March 22

Howl at the Moon

Saturday, March 23

Run for the House

Professional Development Opportunities:

Fundamentals of Supervision

Records Management and Retention at MSU

Sustainable High Performance

Job of the Week – Editor/Graphic Designer

This weeks’ job of the week is an Editor/Graphic Designer (#563294) for the Intercollegiate Athletics department.

The responsibilities for this role include determining and creating content, promotional materials and graphic elements to design and produce materials that reflect the mission and image of the MSU football program. The individual must be able to maintain contact with printers, editors, and clients to monitor production deadlines and budgets. Other responsibilities would include training student employees, recommending the reprinting, revision or discontinuance of publications, and coordinating the distribution of materials.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge acquired by completing a four-year college degree program in Journalism, English, Graphic Design, Public Relations, Marketing, or related Liberal Arts program; three to five years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in reporting, writing, editing, proofing, graphic design, photography, research, public relations; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

For more details on the responsibilities of this position, and to view all our current postings, visit careers.msu.edu. Internal applicants should access postings through the Careers @ MSU tile in the EBS Portal.

Register for Upcoming Roadmap to Retirement Courses

Are you thinking about retiring from MSU in the next 1-2 years? Thank you for your years of service to the university! We want you to feel prepared for this next stage in your life. To support you, we offer courses, tools and resources to help you plan for your retirement, including the Roadmap to Retirement course.

“We know it can be overwhelming to think about all of the things to consider when retiring. Based on our years of experience helping MSU employees, we’ve designed the half-day Roadmap to Retirement course to provide you with some of the most important information you will need as you prepare for this exciting transition to your next chapter in life,” says Dan Mackey, Human Resources Manager and Retirement Administrator.

This course gives you a chance to ask retirement experts questions and covers a range of topics critical to your successful retirement, including:

  • Your MSU benefits in retirement
  • An overview of Social Security
  • Financial preparation tips for retirement.

This half-day course is free to MSU faculty and staff. There are two Roadmap to Retirement courses available on Wednesday, March 13: a morning session from 8:30 a.m. – Noon and an afternoon session from 1:00 – 4:30 p.m.

Ready to Register?
To register for Roadmap to Retirement, login to the EBS Portal and click on the My Career and Training tab, then the Courses for Employees at MSU tile. Find a complete list of available OPD courses on the HR website.

Find More Retirement Resources on the HR Website
If you are unable to attend the Roadmap to Retirement course detailed above, there are a variety of webinars and online tools available on the HR website. The webinars on this page include the same presentation slides that are shared during the Roadmap to Retirement course.

Questions? We’re here to help! Contact the Solutions Center at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or 517-353-4434.