Vision 2020: focus groups

Share your voice to create a new vision statement for the school, and reflect on our mission and values: Two more focus groups will occur on Monday, March 2 at 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. and Tuesday, March 3 at noon to 1:00 p.m. Choose from in-person and online attendance options.

Political activity on campus: guidelines for the 2020 campaign

How is "political activity" by employees and students defined? As a university employee, are there restrictions on political campaign activities? Can university employees run for state office? These are among the questions addressed in campus guidelines for personnel and students who wish to engage in an important but regulated activity: political campaign involvement.

Leadership search candidate visits

Over a span of six weeks, a total of nine candidates for two SMPH leadership positions will be brought to Madison for two-day interviews. Finalists are interviewing for the school's Chief Diversity and Inclusion Officer position, and for the Chair of the Department of Family Medicine and Community Health.

Finalist CVs and details about their talks are available on the new Leadership Search Candidate Visit webpage.

All SMPH faculty, staff, and learners are invited and encouraged to attend the candidates’ presentations or view them via livestream, and to provide input to the search committees via a confidential survey.

Upcoming events: Mark your calendar

The following events are open to the SMPH community in March, April, and early May. Join in! 

• All-School Party: Monday, March 30 from 4:00 to 6:30 p.m. in the HSLC atrium. Brought to you by Building Community. Download a flyer (pdf)

• Diversity Summit: Monday, April 6 from 4:00 to 8:30 p.m. beginning in HSLC 1306. SMPH is honored to host keynote speaker Elena V. Rios, MD, MSPH, FACP. Dr. Rios serves as President & CEO of the National Hispanic Medical Association. Brought to you by Building Community. Register today

• Centennial Scholars Program Distinguished Speaker Series: Wednesday, April 8 from noon to 1:00 p.m. in HSLC 1335. SMPH is honored to host Eve J. Higginbotham, SM, MD, Vice Dean for Inclusion and Diversity, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania. Register today

• 12th Annual Bioethics Symposium: Thursday, April 16 from 1:00 to 5:30 p.m. in HSLC 1306 (livestream available). The topic of the symposium is “Valuing Health, Addressing Inequality.” More information

• Spring Faculty/Staff Town Hall: Monday, April 27 from 4:30 to 6:00 p.m. in HSLC 1335. Agenda to follow.

• Spring All Staff Town Hall: Monday, May 4 from 10:30 to noon (livestream and recording available), location TBA. This event is co-hosted by the SMPH Committe on Academic Staff Issues (CASI), SMPH University Staff Issues Committee (USIC), and Hope Broadus, JD, Associate Dean for Human Resources. 

Funding opportunity for research on women's health and sex/gender differences

UW–Madison has been awarded a $3 million, 5-year institutional career development grant from the National Institutes of Health to support assistant professors who wish to develop independent careers focused on these areas. 

Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women's Health (BIRCWH) is a mentored career-development program designed to improve women’s health by developing a scientific workforce capable of leading independently funded research programs. Applications are being accepted through April 6, and applicants should plan to attend a mandatory informational session on March 4. 

Joint statement against discriminatory behavior towards physicians, staff and learners

On Feb. 12, Dean Robert Golden and UW Health CEO Dr. Alan Kaplan issued a joint statement. Our faculty, staff, and learners should not be the targets of hatred and vitriol. If and when they are, each of us is responsible for stepping in to halt it.

Faculty and staff awards

Several faculty and staff members have recently been honored with national or campus recognition:

• Terri Young, MD, MBA, professor and chair of ophthalmology and visual sciences, has been elected Trustee-at-Large of the Association of University Professors of Ophthalmology.
   
• Amy Fiedler, MD, assistant professor of surgery, has been selected as a member of the 2020 class of Presidential Leadership Scholars.
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• Susan Wenker, PT, PhD, assistant professor (CHS) of family medicine and community health has been selected by the Academy of Geriatrics for the Joan Mills Service Award.  
   
• Gretchen Olson, administrative specialist, and Caitlin Scott, MLIS, communications specialist for the Collaborative Center for Health Equity, have been honored for their volunteer roles with the Parters in Giving campaign. Both Olson and Scott will receive the Partners in Giving Innovation and Events Award. Olson will also receive the Partners in Giving Excellence Award.
   
• Gina Green-Harris, MBA, director of Center for Community Engagement & Health Partnerships, and Jasmine Zapata, MD, MPH, assistant professor (CHS) of pediatrics will be honored on Thursday, March 5 from 5:00 to 7:30 p.m as 2019-20 Outstanding Women of Color. Shiva Bidar-Sielaff, MA, UW Health Chief Diversity Officer, is also being honored as a member of this year's cohort. RSVP for the reception (registration is full; waitlist available)

Native American Center for Health Professions receives scholarship funding 

In Summary: The American Medical Association (AMA) Foundation in partnership with philanthropist AMA General Counsel Brian Vandenberg has created the Vandenberg Health Equity Fund. In February, the AMA announced that this fund will provide a gift to the Native American Center for Health Professions (NACHP) at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health for scholarships and other support to eligible Native American medical students. Wisconsin serves as home to 12 Native Nations, many of whom face the most striking health disparities in the state.

Be alert against gift card scams

In Summary: SMPH Director of Cybersecurity and Networking Christopher Spencer warns that SMPH personnel and learners continue to be targeted by con artists posing as supervisors and other authority figures within the school. These scams generally begin with an email from a spoofed address (usually posing as a senior leader) to a university recipient asking if that person had time to handle a quick task. In subsequent interactions, the targeted individual is asked to purchase a gift card. If you receive a message like this, do not respond. Instead, forward the message to abuse@wisc.edu for further evaluation.

HR highlights

Midpoint performance review conversations should be complete:

• Midpoint conversations (for the time period of July 1, 2019-December 31, 2019) were due on February 14. Supervisors received an email with detailed instructions on January 9. 

Plan ahead — make an appointment with payroll and benefits specialists when needed: 

• The payroll and benefit team is dedicated to serving SMPH personnel, including newly hired employees, by administering payroll, time reporting, benefits, and leave accounting for assigned departments. While the team will accommodate walk-ins whenever possible, appointments are always preferred and are necessary in situations where in-depth consultations are needed. Please contact your payroll and benefits specialist directly to schedule an appointment. Look up contact information for your specialist​

Title and Total Compensation (TTC) Project updates: 

• The TTC Project is modernizing all non-faculty job titles in the university for the first time in over 30 years. New titles and position descriptions are expected to be effective in July, 2020. Additional resources have been added recently to the TTC Resource Library, including training and FAQ materials for managers and supervisors and learning series materials on "What is a Salary Structure" and "Business Title Guidelines." Employee conversations, some of which have already begun, will be extended through the spring. Visit the TTC Resource Library

Shining a light on SMPH staff members

More than 2,700 staff members in the School of Medicine and Public Health play key roles in carrying out our academic, research, patient care, outreach, and service activities. To raise awareness of these contributions, the SMPH Committee on Academic Staff Issues (CASI) has launched a Staff Spotlight series that highlights both academic staff and university staff.

In this issue, read about Kevin Jacobson, loan assistance program manager for the Wisconsin Office of Rural Health.

To nominate someone to be profiled for this series, contact Spotlight series editor Laurie Silverberg-Elwert.

Policy Updates

Campus Policy Library Project Team Submits Report and Recommendations, Seeks Input on Library: A cross-campus Policy Library Project Team is focused on establishing a searchable, online policy library for all university-wide policies at UW–Madison. Recently, the team submitted its report and recommendations from phase one of the project (discovery and planning) to the executive sponsors, Provost Karl Scholz and Vice Chancellor for Legal Affairs Ray Taffora. The report is now available on the project website. As the project enters the implementation phase, the team welcomes input from campus constituents on what they need and want from an online, searchable policy library. To share your input, complete and submit the comment form on the project website.

SMPH policy updates: Policy 30.05, "Policy for distribution of salary support, research expenditures and indirect cost return," has been approved. This policy intends to provide a consistent approach for research expenditures when a grant supports research activity in multiple departments/divisions/centers/units so the indirect cost return is appropriately allocated. View Policy 30.05

Mark your calendar for these faculty development events and opportunities

SMPH events:

• Pathways to Promotion 101 for early career CHS or CT track faculty, March 12
• Career Conversation series,  April 22

Learn more about these events at the Office for Faculty Affairs and Development event website

Headlines and announcements

School news:

• Video: Ballroom dance class helps community members reduce risk of falling
• AAMC News feature about ending gender harassment in medicine quotes SMPH Senior Associate Dean Dr. Elizabeth Petty
• Share your science: Submit a science presentation for the UW-Madison Science Expeditions public outreach event (submission deadline: Friday, March 20)
• Marmoset stem cells carrying Parkinson's mutation could lead to new model for studying disease
• UW study designs novel approach for better understanding teens and technology
• Researchers wake monkeys by stimulating 'engine' of consciousness in brain

Upcoming events and continuing medical education activities:

• March 3: Hostile and Intimidating Behavior Prevention Training for Faculty/Staff
• March 5: Alzheimer's Disease and Related Disorders Research Day
• March 12: 2nd Annual UW–Madison Diabetes Day
• April 7: Global Health Symposium: Connecting Scientific Knowledge and Indigenous Wisdom
• April 15: Advancing Health Equity 2020
• April 17-18 — Navigating the Transition Zone: Adolescence through Young Adulthood (Madison)
• April 20: The State of Wisconsin's Biohealth Sector
• See additional upcoming events