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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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

This week’s job of the week is a Police Officer (#562368) for the Department of Police and Public Safety. This position is seeking an individual to serve as a full-service law enforcement agent, upholding the high standards of conduct while protecting the MSU community and taking proactive measures to prevent crime.

The responsibilities for this role include participating in training sessions such as legal updates, defensive tactics and firearms. Other responsibilities for this role include performing investigations and conducting legal searches of subjects, deescalating situations with proper verbal commands and effectively carrying out community team policing functions.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge acquired by completing a four-year college degree program, or attainment of a degree within six months of hire; six months to one year of related and progressively more responsible work 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.

Did you know America Saves Week is February 25 – March 2? America Saves Week is a nationally recognized time to encourage individuals and families “to save money, reduce debt, and build wealth” (America Saves, 2018). This includes saving money and planning for retirement. Both MSU’s retirement vendors, Fidelity and TIAA, offer multiple resources for America Saves Week with live webinars, courses for financial literacy and other tools.

Fidelity offers a variety of online resources, including webinars on everything from managing life, to saving and investment, to preparing for retirement. Fidelity is offering live webinars for Fidelity members during America Saves Week; if you’re not a member, you can find previous webcasts available any time at Fidelity. There are additional resources on MSU’s Fidelity microsite; some resources may require a member login. For additional questions, you can give Fidelity a call at 888-766-6813.

TIAA offers educational articles on saving, tools for goal setting, a retirement calculator, and free live webinars. If you’re feeling unsure about investing or retirement planning, TIAA can help you with online professionals. You don’t need to be a TIAA member to participate in the live webinars, simply select the “Guest Login” option on their website when signing up for a webinar. You can also give them a call at 800-842-2252.

Whether you’re looking to save for retirement now or start planning for your future, Fidelity and TIAA can help you plan with webinars, online professional help and financial literacy courses. For general questions about retirement, contact MSU HR at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or 517-353-4434. For questions about your specific retirement plans, please contact your retirement vendor directly.

Do you have a loved who needs assistance with daily routines, such as bathing or eating, due to either a physical or mental impairment? Are you prepared if this were to become a reality in your life in the future – either for yourself or a loved one? Long-term care is here to help an individual due to an injury, illness, mental deterioration or advancing age. Long-term care is not only for the elderly; it can help you when an unexpected accident or illness arises.

MSU offers long-term care insurance as an optional benefit to eligible MSU employees. If you are an eligible faculty, academic staff, executive management, or support staff member,  you are eligible. Your spouse, parents, parents-in-law, grandparents, grandparents-in-law, adult children, and sibling (referred to as other eligible individuals (OEI) under the plan) are eligible as well.

Long-term care insurance is offered through Transamerica, and you can enroll anytime during the year through MSU Benefits Plus. Not sure what options to choose? You can consult with specialists from the Todd Benefits Group, a third-party firm specializing in long-term-care benefits, to help you select the Transamerica options that best meet your needs.

Here are some most frequently asked questions about long-term care:

How do I or one of my OEIs qualify for long-term care coverage?

First, a licensed health care practitioner needs to provide a plan of care and certify that within the last 12 months you/your OEI are unable to perform two out of six activities of daily living or have a severe cognitive impairment that requires substantial supervision, you are eligible to start receiving long-term care benefits. These activities include bathing, maintaining continence, dressing, eating, toileting, and transferring.

How do I determine how much long-term care coverage to get?

Policies have a daily benefit amount and a lifetime benefit amount. The daily benefit amount is the amount the insurance company will reimburse you for each day of qualified care received. The lifetime benefit amount is the total amount available to cover the cost of long-term care services.

Factors to consider when deciding how much to purchase include:

• Cost of care in your area of residence or where you plan to live in retirement
• Other sources of income or how much you can afford to self-insure

It’s best to consult the Todd Benefits Group for assistance in deciding.

Does long-term care only include out-of-home care or in-home care?

Long-term care includes Home Care, Home Health Care, Adult Day Care, and Hospice Care.

What if I wish to remain at home but still require long-term care?

a. Long-term care insurance called TransCare II includes a Cash Benefit which, once you qualify for benefits, you can choose to receive your benefit payments in an amount equal to 10 times the maximum daily benefit each month. You can use this money in any way you see fit and it gives you freedom of choice to pay a family member for care, for example.

b. The Remain at Home Benefit can further assist with challenges you may face when you wish to stay in your home. For example, this benefit can be used to pay for the following qualified long-term care services:

i. Home modification (ramps, grab bars, etc.)

ii.Caregiver training for informal caregivers (such as a family member)

iii. Therapeutic device or technology (i.e., crutches, wheelchairs, hospital-style beds)

iv. Medical Alert System (rental or purchase of systems to monitor health)

How much does it cost?

Premium rates vary depending on the coverage you select. Contact the Todd Benefits Group to determine what coverage is best for you. There’s also a Premium Calculator on their MSU website portal which allows you to review some coverage options, as well as create your own custom plan and see immediate premium quotes.

Are there any discounts available?

• A 5% discount for all (including family members) who qualify for coverage.
• Married/Partner* discount of 15% if only one spouse applies (if you have a spouse/partner).
• Spousal/Partner* discount of 30% if both apply (with identical coverage) and are approved.
• Preferred discount of 10% if you qualify medically.

*This includes OEIs.

What happens to my policy when I retire or change employment?

Coverage is provided under an individual long-term care policy, which means nothing changes if you retire or change jobs. Benefits and discounts are permanent.

What happens if I never use my long-term care policy?

In the event you do not utilize your policy, there is a return of premium to age 67. If you pass away before age 67, TransAmerica will pay a lump sum benefit to your beneficiary or estate totaling the sum of all premiums paid less the amount of any claims.

Still not sure if you or your OEIs are eligible? First, review your respective policy: Faculty & Academic Staff; Support Staff. You can also learn more about more about long-term care insurance on the HR website or request more information from Todd Benefits Group at 1-888-310-8633. Visit MSU Benefits Plus to enroll and learn about enrollment options.

Information in this blog post was provided in part by the Todd Benefits Group and Pacific Resources, MSU’s voluntary benefits administrator.