Job of the Week 3/11/16

This week we are highlighting a Greenhouse Coordinator (posting #2937) position, which will serve as the facility and equipment coordinator for the Horticulture Teaching and Research Center. The successful candidate will manage and oversee the maintenance of field plots and farm facilities in order to support horticulture research and teaching programs; will act as a resource person to faculty, research associates, staff, and students in order to coordinate the daily operations of the station; prepares and maintains field research plots (tilling, grading, disking, mowing), planting, irrigation, fertilization, and pest management in order to maintain plants and field plots for research and teaching; oversees and conducts improvements and repairs to station facilities and equipment including trucks, tractors, and other equipment and implements; will train, schedule, and supervise student employees; will requisition equipment and supplies for the station; will move, load, and unload supplies, materials, tools, and equipment; involves safety and tracking facility, equipment, systems, and supply usage in order to ensure that proper procedures are used (especially pesticides, fertilizers, and irrigation use for mandatory reports); assists with preparing station equipment, plots, and facilities for faculty, staff, and graduate students and help in setting up research projects as duties allow; occasional snow removal – plowing main farm roads, shoveling for building and greenhouse access.

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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.

Kicking Off America Saves Week!

Whether you’re counting down the days or have barely thought about it, retirement is coming for all of us, and this week is dedicated to educating you about the best practices in saving for your future. America Saves Week was started to keep the workforce informed and offer options for developing good savings behavior. If you invest with Fidelity and have questions about how much you should be saving or what you should be investing in,you have access to several online workshops to point you in the right direction for whatever stage you’re at in your career:

Change scattered in front of a piggy bank.
Photo courtesy of 401k Calculator.
  • Confident Investing in Any Market
  • Get Started and Save For the Future You
  • Preparing Your Savings for Retirement

In addition, TIAA-CREF Financial Services encourages developing a strategy and creating a timeline to plan out how much you should be saving now and offers some important guidelines on how to prepare for an emergency, saving for retirement, and starting with a strategy, as well as many more tips freely available on their website. For answers to all the questions you may have and even more information you may not have known about, be sure to take advantage of all the resources available to you this week!

Beat the winter blues

Snow-frosted trees line the Red Cedar River. Photo courtesy of Communications and Brand Strategy.
Snow-frosted trees line the Red Cedar River. Photo courtesy of Communications and Brand Strategy.

SAD isn’t just an emotion – it’s a type of depression related to the changing of the seasons, an acronym for Seasonal Affective Disorder. Those who have SAD might experience irritability, tiredness, loss of focus, difficulty sleeping and more.

Even without SAD, it’s easy to feel a little down in the winter. The lack of outside warmth, sunlight and outdoor exercise and activities contribute to a sluggish and gloomy mentality.

Fortunately, there are a variety of ways to keep your spirits up during the long, cold months ahead.

Healthy eating

It can be easy to fall into the habit of eating comfort food during winter. A healthy diet does wonders for overall mood and physical wellness by providing your body with long-lasting energy and essential vitamins and minerals.Continue Reading… Beat the winter blues

Events Round-Up December 2015

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

Daily through December 20

River City Holiday MRKT, noon – 7 p.m., Lansing

Thursdays and Sundays through Sunday, December 27

Wonderland of Lights, 5–8 p.m., Potter Park Zoo 

Saturday, December 5

Winter Glow, 2–5 p.m., downtown East Lansing 

Old Town Scrooge Scramble 5K Run/Walk, 10 a.m.–noon, Old Town

Saturday, December 5 – Sunday, December 6

MSU Holiday Arts and Crafts Show, times vary, MSU Union

Saturday, December 12

Breakfast with Santa, 10 a.m., The State Room Restaurant 

Sunday, December 13

Christmas in the Village, 2–4 p.m., Meridian Historical Village

Thursday, December 17 – Saturday, December 19

Cirque Dreams Holidaze, times vary, Wharton Center

Saturday, December 19

Cocoa + Classics, 3–5 p.m., Broad Art Museum

A  Jazzy Little Christmas, 8 p.m., MSU Auditorium

Development, Training and Wellness

Thursday, December 3

Boosting Team Performance, 8:30 a.m. – noon, 10 Nisbet 

Friday, December 4

D3.js for Interactive Data Visualization, noon – 3:15 p.m., Main Library 

Tuesday, December 8

Accounting in EBS, 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., 10 Nisbet

Tai Chi Exercises at the Broad MSU, 12:30 – 1:30 p.m., Broad Art Museum

Navigating Business Intelligence, 2:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m., B110H Wells Hall

Academic Women’s Forum, 3:30 – 5 p.m., MSU Union 

Wednesday, December 9

Cascade Server Content Manager, 1 – 5 p.m., 210 Computer Center 

Thursday, December 10

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

Relaxing Under the Stars, 12:10 – 12:50 p.m., Abrams Planetarium 

Tuesday, December 15

Creating Accessible PDF Documents, 1 – 5 p.m., 210 Computer Center 

Get your free flu vaccine!

Hand extracting vaccine
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.

View the 2015 flu clinic schedule here.

For questions regarding flu clinics, please contact the Office of the University Physician at 517-353-8933 or uphys@msu.edu.

Embrace fall with three delicious in-season produce recipes

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.

Student Farm Stand
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

Roasted Squash Soup

1 butternut squash

1 t.+2 T. canola oil

½ c. diced onionContinue Reading… Embrace fall with three delicious in-season produce recipes

MSU Surplus Store benefits environment and budgets

Do you have any unused supplies, furniture, electronics or other materials lying around your office?

MSU Surplus Store
The Surplus Store and Recycling Center opened in 2009. Photo courtesy of Communications and Brand Strategy

Drop them off or get them picked up by the MSU Surplus Store  to give these items an opportunity to be useful once more. Your department can also receive credit  for their sale.

The Surplus Store is self-supporting and works to reduce the amount of usable materials that are sent to the landfill. It takes and sells or recycles items from within and outside of MSU, acting as a medium between buyers and sellers. The facility contributes to the university’s continued advancement toward environmental sustainability and saves MSU money by redistributing these items to other areas of campus.

Items gathering dust in your home can also find new purpose through the Surplus Store. With students returning to campus soon, items such as mini fridges, microwaves, futons, rugs and so on will be in demand, and can be donated on your way to work!

You can browse the store for the hundreds of used home or work items at discounted prices. These include office chairs, industrial equipment, clothing, MSU collectibles, art, vehicles and much more. The store offers daily deals  at even greater discounts as well.

Try a Health4U Class This Summer!

MSU’s Health4U program aims to promote a healthy lifestyle within the MSU community. Health4U focuses on emotional wellness, food and nutrition, health consumerism, movement and fitness, and alcohol, nicotine, and drug information by providing opportunities to participate in programs, services and activities. If you’re looking to get in shape this summer or simply to enhance your personal health and wellness, do so in an accessible way by taking advantage of all that Health4U has to offer!

May 2015

Monday, May 18

Rest with Music: “World Music”

Wednesday, May 20

Relaxing Under the Stars

Thursday, May 21

Active Stretching – begins Thursday, May 21

How to Eat – begins Thursday, May 21

Living Abundantly – begins Thursday, May 21

Wednesday, May 27

Healing Power of Guided Imagery

June 2015

Tuesday, June 2

Kitchen Skill Drill: “Marinades and Rubs for Grilling”

Wednesday, June 10

Recipe for Health Cooking Series: “Yellow Perch”

Monday, June 15

Rest with Music: “Ukulele”

Thursday, June 18

Relaxing Under the Stars

Congratulations to the Walking Route Photo Contest Winners!

Walking can provide the opportunity to take great pictures of wonderful scenery. The winners of our walking contest did just that. Three MSU staff members received pedometers for pictures they submitted that were taken while traveling along some of their favorite walking routes on MSU’s campus.

MSU’s campus has many walking routes to enjoy and walking has many benefits. Find out the benefits of walking and how to locate walking routes on campus with our past article.

From left to right: Tim Skutt, Eli Broad College of Business, Lisa Roy, Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures and the Writing Center, Elizabeth (Ann) Bushon, Olin Pharmacy at the Olin Health Center.
From left to right: Tim Skutt, Eli Broad College of Business, Lisa Roy, Writing, Rhetoric, and American Cultures and the Writing Center, Elizabeth (Ann) Bushon, Olin Pharmacy at the Olin Health Center.