Enjoy the fresh air this allergy season with Teladoc!

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As warmer weather approaches so do those seasonal allergies and other illnesses. Have you dealt with constant sneezing, congestion, runny nose and itchy eyes? They could be a sign of seasonal allergies, which come around when the weather becomes warmer and flowers begin to blossom. We know going outside can get difficult with pollen in the air, you’re not always able to enjoy those outdoor activities. Try to get ahead of it this season with Teladoc, you can get advice for allergies and other illnesses.

Allergies aren’t the only thing that can affect you during the spring time – different illnesses like asthma, Lyme’s Disease and respiratory viruses are all common illnesses during the warmer months.

Here are some tips to help you combat seasonal illnesses (Teladoc, 2016):

  • On dry windy days, stay inside as much as possible.
  • Hire someone to mow the lawn and other outside chores.
  • Keep doors and windows closed at night (that’s when pollen counts are high).
  • Use a dehumidifier to keep indoor air dry.
  • After spending time outside, remove and wash your clothes immediately.
  • Don’t hang laundry outside to dry.
  • Wear a pollen mask if doing outside chores and activities.
Transcript

Teladoc Allergy Season – Login Today from Teladoc Health on Vimeo.

We know that life can happen, and you may not always be able to see your physician. That’s when Teladoc comes in! Teladoc gives you 24/7 access to speak with a licensed health care professional by web, phone, or mobile app. Teladoc can send prescriptions to a nearby pharmacy when medically necessary. To speak with a licensed health care professional through Teladoc, you need to:

  1. Request: Ask to talk to a health care professional 24 hours a day, 365 days a year by web, phone or mobile app.
  2. Visit: Speak with a health care professional; take as much time as you need to explain your medical concern.
  3. Resolve: If medically necessary, a prescription will be sent to the pharmacy of your choice.

To find more information on this benefit you can visit the HR website. To sign up, visit Teladoc.com and click on “Member Login” to set up your Teladoc account. Then request a consult with an available medical professional. If you have any questions you can contact Teladoc directly at 1-800-Teladoc or visit the Teladoc website.

Teladoc. (2016, May 03). Seasonal Allergy Tips. Retrieved April 3, 2019, from https://www.teladoc.com/blog/2016/05/03/seasonal-allergy-tips/

Job of the week – Human Resources Professional

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This week’s job of the week is a Human Resources Professional (#568434) for MSU Human Resources. This position is seeking an individual to support the university for pre and post hiring for units, employees and applicants.

The responsibilities for this role include reviewing and approving position request forms, approving hiring recommendations and assisting with onboarding questions. Other responsibilities for this role include hiring and applicant tracking, navigating questions and analyzing hiring and layoff reports.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge acquired by completing a four-year college degree program in human resources or a related field; six months to one year of related and progressively more responsible and expansive work experience in recruitment and hiring, and/or human resources administration; customer service experience and data analysis experience; 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.

Events Round Up – April

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Community Festivals 

MSU Science Festival

Capital City Film Festival

Community Events

Winter Farmer’s Market at Meridian Mall

empowerHER Leadership Retreat

Food

Friday, April 12

Be Kind Rewind at Lansing Brewing Company

Tuesday, April 30

Lansing Brewery Company Beer Dinner at HopCat

Arts

Friday, April 5

Sad Trombone Comedy Show ft: Josh Adams

Thursday, April 11

Studio (in) Process

Friday, April 12

Art Showcase

Saturday, April 13

Floral Arranging Basics

Monday, April 22

Comedian Jackie Keliiaa: Indigenous Women’s Speaker Series

Friday, April 26

The Swan Princess

Saturday, April 27

Junie B. Jones at the Wharton Center

Music

Friday, April 5

A Blend of Classic and Contemporary Works for Strings

Saturday, April 6

Live Music with Chris Canas Band at Lansing Brewing Company

Wednesday, April 10

The Manhattan Transfer Meets Take 6

Thursday, April 11

MSU College of Music Presents: 39th Annual Jazz Spectacular

Saturday, April 13

Oriental Tableau Annual Spring Dance Concert

Tuesday, April 16

Celtic Woman

Thursday, April 25

Wind Symphony

Family/Kid Friendly

Saturday, April 6

Family Day: Water in Our Community

Saturday, April 6

Sensory Showtimes: Dumbo

Sunday, April 7

FREE Family Series: Five Winds, One Sound

Saturday, April 13

MSU Green and White Game

Saturday, April 13

Zoo in Your Neighborhood

Saturday, April 13

Autism Friends Event at Jumpin Jax

Saturday, April 13

Small Animals Day 2019

Thursday, April 18

Night at the Museum

Saturday, April 20

Community East Egg Hunt

Saturday, April 27

Animal Babies Campfire

Sports/Fitness

Saturday, April 13

Spring Bird Walks at Fenner Nature Center

Sunday, April 14

Hippity Hop 5k

Sunday, April 14

Race for the Place 5k Run/Walk

Friday, April 19

Howl at the Moon

Professional Development Opportunities:

EBS Financial System Roles/Onboarding

Leading Change

Accounting in EBS

Supervisor Strategies for Performance Planning

Best Practices for Writing Policies and Procedures

Influencer

Fundamentals of Supervision

Managing Difficult Customers

Crucial Accountability

 

 

Job of the week – Executive Secretary II/S

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This week’s job of the week is an Executive Secretary II/S (#566431) for the Institute for Global Health in the College of Osteopathic Medicine. This position is seeking an individual to manage global health travel and appointments for the Associate Dean of the institute and Director for the Master of Science in Global Health.

The responsibilities for this role include managing the day-to-day schedules for the Director and Dean and drafting content for emails and letters while overseeing communication information in the office. Other responsibilities for this role include acting as a liaison with professors, physicians and researchers, communicating information to staff and publishing documents like newsletters and travel forms.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge acquired through a high school education with course work in word processing, typing, shorthand and grammar; five to eight years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in editing, composing correspondence, calendaring, spreadsheet, database and presentation software; 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.

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

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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.

Resources for New Supervisors

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Are you a recently appointed or newly hired supervisor or manager? Whether you’re brand new to your leadership role or an experienced supervisor looking for resources to develop your skills, there are tools available to help you. Information is available in various formats to fit your schedule and learning style including in-person courses, online resources and toolkits on the HR website.

Professional Development Courses

  • Fundamentals of Supervision on April 24
    Supervisors are a main determinant of overall performance, retention and morale in an organization. Participants with less than three years of supervisory experience will learn fundamental skills on how a supervisor adds value to the organization, how to move from peer to supervisor, tips to build communication skills and more. Learn more about the Fundamentals of Supervision course.
  • New Supervisor Essentials on May 22
    This course is for recently appointed or newly hired supervisors and managers of support staff. You will learn key tools you can use in your new role as a supervisor and a panel of supervisors will be available to answer your questions and share lessons learned. The Office of Employee Relations will also give an overview of important information that every supervisor at MSU needs to know. Learn more about the New Supervisor Essentials course.
  • Foundations of Student Employee Supervision Certificate Series starts June 19
    This four-session certificate series is designed for MSU professionals looking to enhance their skills in supervising and leading student employees. The series focuses on skill building and understanding the unique needs and challenges inherent in overseeing the work of student employees. These courses can also be taken individually, but you’ll need to attend all four to receive the certificate. Learn more about the Foundations of Student Employee Supervision Certificate series.

Online Resources with elevateU
The elevateU portal is full of online resources including eBooks, videos, courses and more – all available to you for free 24/7. Want to learn more about optimizing team performance, cultivating creativity or processing change? You’ll find resources on these topics and much more in the elevateU portal. Use these tools to help you build your own skillset as a new supervisor or share these resources with your team to help them reach their professional goals. Learn more about elevateU and access here.

Toolkits on the HR Website
The HR website contains a wealth of information useful to those in a supervisory role, including toolkits for various processes. Whether you have questions about how to hire support staff, want an overview of benefits options or need to know deadlines for payroll processing, these toolkits are available to assist you. Find toolkits for supervisors on the HR website.

Job of the Week – College Alumni Coordinator

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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.

TIAA offers financial workshops for women to learn more about investing, saving and more!

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Looking to learn more about financial literacy? TIAA, one of MSU’s retirement vendors, is offering upcoming workshops on April 11 specifically geared towards women who are either in the early stages of their careers or mid-career. The She’s Got It: Financial Knowledge for All workshops are guided to help woman learn about investing, building actions plans and learning how to secure your future well-being. This workshop will focus on core concepts on investing, finding ways to save for life events and developing financial goals.

Why is it important to save? In life, anything can happen, and it is important to save for your future and for both expected and unexpected life events. You may not end up saving as much as you like every year, but you can start with a goal and plan from there. The workshops will go over ways to save if your single, married, in long-term relationship and saving with children and parents.

Below are some of the basics things you can learn from the workshops:

Saving and investing:

  • Setting aside an emergency fund
  • Increasing contributions from raises
  • Learn how to pay yourself first!
  • Two secrets of making your money grow

What to consider when investing?

  • Investment risk
  • Volatility
  • Asset allocation and diversification
  • Expenses

The workshops will be held on Thursday, April 11. Choose from one of the following sessions:

  • 9:00 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. OR
  • Noon – 1:30 p.m.

Both workshops will be at the MSU Student Center, Lake Huron Room, located on the third floor. For more information on this workshop or to reserve your seat, visit the TIAA website or give them a call at 800-732-8353.

Job of the week- Data Entry Operator I

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This week’s job of the week is a Data Entry Operator I (#564699) for the College of Human Medicine. This position is seeking an individual to serve the community of Flint by connecting with families who were impacted by the Flint Water Crisis and serve as a resource for programs for wellness and recovery.

The responsibilities for this role include administering surveys over the phone and in person, entering data in the database and verifying source documents and information. Other responsibilities for this role include obtaining missing data, compiling data for reports and performing data searches as requested.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge acquired from specialized training such as that acquired in one year of Data Processing; up to six months related experience in data processing, key entry or database; 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.

Don’t Wait to Start Saving for Retirement

Published on by Megan MacGregorLeave a comment

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.