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Communication for the staff and faculty of
The University of Texas at Dallas |
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Wednesday, January 15, 2020 |
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Sign Up to Receive Your W-2 Electronically
The UTD Payroll office will be issuing W-2s by Friday, Jan. 31, to current and former employees who had wages in calendar year 2019. If you would like to receive your W-2 electronically instead of having to wait for it to be printed and mailed, please follow the steps below before Friday, Jan. 17.
- Log in to Galaxy.
- Under “Staff Tools,” click “Payroll and Compensation.”
- Click “W-2/W-2c Consent.”
- Check the box that says “Check here to indicate your consent to receive electronic W-2 and W-2c forms.”
- Click “Submit.”
Benefits of the electronic W-2 include earlier receipt of the form and the ability to access and reprint the form at your convenience. If you will be accessing your W-2 from an off-campus computer, you will be required to sign up for NetID Plus, if you have not already. Former employees can still access Galaxy for up to three years from their last day of work to access paystubs and W-2 forms.
Please contact [email protected] with any questions.
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Cheer on Comets Basketball at Community Appreciation Day
The Office of Facilities & Economic Development and the Department of Athletics invite faculty, staff and community members to Community Appreciation Day at 1 p.m., Saturday, Feb. 8, in the Activity Center.
Enjoy complimentary lunch and cheer on our Comet women’s and men’s basketball teams as they take on East Texas Baptist University.
For this event, you are welcome to park in Lot J or Parking Structure 4, in all but purple parking spaces.
Please request a reservation with your name and the number of people in your group to [email protected] by Tuesday, Feb. 4.
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2020 Live Healthy Campaign: Right This Weigh
UT Dallas wants to help you reach your personal wellness goals in 2020 through its fun, six-week wellness campaign, Right This Weigh.
Right This Weigh is a simple, creative approach to maintaining a healthy weight for life — based on numerous studies of individuals who have lost weight and kept it off.
Participants travel along famous trails as they practice healthy habits. No special foods, meal plans, or restrictions. Just easy-to-remember, everyday habits that produce consistent, long-term results.
The goal is to travel 300 virtual miles (50 miles per week) on trails around the globe by recording daily health habits. Earn 250 points to receive a UTD Apron to help you continue the healthy habits all year round.
The deadline to register for Right This Weigh is Monday, Feb. 3.
Some important dates:
- Monday, Jan. 27: First day to log activity. Begin recording health habits, and watch your trails come to life.
- Monday, Feb. 3: Registration and team formation deadline. Last day to register and form or join a team of three to five members.
- Sunday, March 8: Program ends. But you may backlog activity until Monday, March 9.
- Log your weight every Monday: Each week, you’ll have until Tuesday at 11:59 p.m. to enter your weight for the week.
For more information and to sign up, log in to utlivingwell.com.
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Donate Manual Can Openers This Month
During the month of January, the Office of Student Volunteerism is collecting Can Opener Drive donations to benefit the UTD Comet Cupboard.
Collection bins are located in the OSV office (SSA 14.431T), the Administration Building near the second floor elevator, the Student Union lobby, and the Residence Hall West lobby.
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Meet Your New Year’s Health Goals with Naturally Slim
You don’t have to give up your favorite foods to feel your best and improve your health.
With Naturally Slim, you don’t need to count points or calories, eat boring meals or buy special food. All you need is an open mind and a little bit of time, so you can build lifelong, healthy habits to lose weight, feel fantastic, and reduce your risk of developing chronic conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Naturally Slim is an online, video-based program that you can complete using any internet-connected device including your smartphone. And the best part? UT Benefits is giving you the chance to participate in Naturally Slim at no cost to you.
The deadline to apply is Friday, Jan. 17 at naturallyslim.com/livingwell.
The Naturally Slim program starts Feb. 3, and is available to all UT SELECT and UT CONNECT medical plan members age 18 and above, including employees, retirees, spouses and dependents who have not participated in the last 12 months.
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Register for Training, Professional Development Courses
Human Resources’ Office of Talent Development will offer several training and professional development courses this semester.
To view all of the training and development opportunities this semester, visit the classes page. To register for training, log in to Galaxy, then go to My Menu > LEO > Find Available Training.
For more information, email [email protected].
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Next Spring Admin U Series Starts Jan. 29
The spring Admin U certification series will begin on Wednesday, Jan. 29. Admin U is designed to provide both initial and ongoing training for those who serve UTD in administrative support roles. This certification consists of eight core classes that provide the foundation for all other classes.
With their supervisors’ support and permission, participants in Admin U may choose to take electives that build upon their current job knowledge and skill, thereby, taking them to higher levels of proficiency.
Any administrative assistant or individual in an administrative support position is encouraged to contact Jillian Mcnally or Terry Cartwright for further details.
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UT Dallas Is Committed to Bees, Trees
The Office of Sustainability is kicking off 2020 by recertifying UT Dallas for Tree Campus USA and Bee Campus USA! Both programs are implemented to raise awareness for species management, enhance habitats, develop community and celebrate achievement.
The Office of Sustainability’s Bee Campus USA page contains more information on UT Dallas’ Bee Campus USA committee, pollinator-friendly plants for our region, and pollinator events.
The Tree Campus USA page contains access to the UT Dallas tree inventory, as well as information about the campus forest.
For more news from the Office of Sustainability, subscribe to its email newsletter.
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Purchase Tickets to The Brain: An Owner’s Guide
Learn about groundbreaking brain health research from renowned leaders during The Brain: An Owner's Guide 2020 Lecture Series.
The annual series is held at 6:15 p.m. each Tuesday in February at the Center for BrainHealth, 2200 West Mockingbird Lane, Dallas, TX 75235.
This year’s topics and speakers are:
“Music and the Brain — A Window into Creativity,” Tuesday, Feb. 4: As a musician, hearing specialist and surgeon, Dr. Charles Limb is fascinated with the science of sound and music. He studies the brains of well-known musicians, from jazz improvisers to freestyle rappers, to find what parts of the brain are involved in the kind of deep creativity that happens when a musician is “in the groove.”
“When to Eat to Sleep Better,” Tuesday, Feb. 11: Dr. Satchin Panda's findings have had a vast impact on public health, improving the mental and metabolic health of millions of people. He speaks to the role of sleep and eating — popularized as intermittent fasting — in helping prevent, manage and reverse metabolic diseases.
“Unlocking Human Potential: Inside The BrainHealth Project,” Tuesday, Feb. 18: Our bodies are now outliving our brains by an average of 20 years, but neuroscience has revealed that the brain’s decline is not inevitable. The BrainHealth Project is a collaboration of experts working on the next societal health revolution that will help people of all ages develop a roadmap to take control of their brain health.
“The Therapeutic Potential of Cannabis: Fact vs. Fiction,” Tuesday, Feb. 25: Dr. Igor Grant is an active researcher and public spokesperson in discussions of the risks and benefits of cannabis use. With the recent changes in legalization of hemp production and CBD products in Texas, Grant can address what is known about their effectiveness and any possible risks.
There are two ticket options for seating. Auditorium tickets ($60) offer a view of the speaker and presentation slides live. Food and drink are not allowed in the Auditorium. Reception Hall tickets ($50) provide a view of a live video feed of the speaker and presentation slides. Food and drink are allowed in the Reception Hall. This series is offered for 0.4 ASHA continuing education units (advanced level, related area). Each lecture is worth .1 CEU.
For full lecture descriptions, visit the Event Details section on the ticket sales page.
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Center for BrainHealth Event
The Center for BrainHealth announces the following upcoming event:
Frontiers Lecture: Taking SMART from the Laboratory to the Wild, noon, Friday, Jan. 17, Ellipse at the Brain Performance Institute — Leanne Young PhD'16, former executive director of the Brain Performance Institute, will discuss Strategic Memory Advanced Reasoning Training (SMART) strategies and how they can be applied to training programs for first responders, veterans and their spouses/caregivers. Register to attend this lecture.
For a complete listing of BrainHealth events, visit Comet Calendar. |
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Center for Teaching and Learning Events
The Center for Teaching and Learning hosts a variety of events and workshops throughout the year.
Using Social Media to Create a Community of Practice, noon- 1 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 23, McDermott Auditorium (MC 2.410) — Technology can interfere with learning, but this is not inevitable. Dr. Julie DeLello, associate professor and director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at UT Tyler, will share ideas for using technology tools to enhance the fundamentally social nature of human learning. Open to faculty and graduate teaching assistants. Seating is limited to 110 attendees. Lunch will be provided while supplies last. RSVP by Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Teaching Statements and Teaching Portfolios for Graduate Teaching Assistants, noon- 1 p.m., Wednesday, Jan. 29, McDermott Auditorium (MC 2.410) — Are you considering a career as a professor? This workshop will introduce participants to the statement of teaching philosophy and its place in the teaching portfolio. Dr. Karen Huxtable-Jester, associate director for the Center for Teaching and Learning, will share how to convey your instructional goals and strategies and provide a compelling case that shows how you are an effective teacher. Open to all postdoctoral and graduate teaching assistants. Seating is limited to 110 attendees. Lunch will be provided while supplies last. RSVP by Monday, Jan. 27.
For a complete listing of CTL events, visit Comet Calendar. |
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Office of Research Seminars
Beyond ATGC: Oxford Nanopore Technologies Lunch & Learn, noon-1:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 16 (RL 3.204) — The seminar will feature updates from Oxford Nanopore along with application talks from speaker James Brayer. Lunch will be provided. Registration is required and seating is limited. For more information, email Tiffany Willoughby or call ext. 4577.
Founders Academy Essentials - UT Dallas Livestream, 11:15 a.m.-2:30 p.m., Jan. 21-24, Venture Development Center (ROC 1.202) — Starting a startup is easy. Building a great company is not. Amongst all the excitement of running a startup is a lot of hard work and stressful decisions. Whether you're working on your MVP and preparing for launch or already generating revenue, you will be exposed to fundamental insights and tools to help dramatically increase your odds of success. Registration is required and seating is limited. For more information, email Dresden Goldberg or call ext. 5130.
Question, Persuade, Refer (QPR) Suicide Prevention Training, 10-11 a.m., Wednesday, Jan. 22 (MC 2.404) — The Student Wellness Center invites you to learn how to detect when someone may be considering suicide and acquire the skills to prevent it. Information about resources and suicide among college students will be included. Registration is required and seating is limited. For more information, email Tiffany Willoughby or call ext. 4577.
Budget Revisions, 2-3 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 23, Brazos Lab (FO 1.206C) — Interested in learning how to re-budget funds in a project? Join the Office of Post Award Management as they share the process with you. You’ll have the opportunity to work with the revision form. No more emails needed. Registration is required and seating is limited. For more information, email Tiffany Willoughby or call ext. 4577.
Genome Center Users Seminar: RNA-Seq Experiment Pipeline Lunch & Learn, noon-1:30 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 28 (RL 3.204) — Lexogen Inc. has developed a complete line of reagent kits for working with the transcriptome to make your life easier. From RNA extraction, rRNA depletion and mRNA enrichment, to library prep kits for small RNA, whole transcriptome and expression profiling. Lexogen also introduced a Metabolic RNA-Seq kit for measuring nascent RNA levels in cells, globin blockers for working with blood samples and spike-in RNA variant controls for experimental quality control. Seminar will include a technical overview of these products and describe how to make libraries without fragmenting your RNA to get unparalleled strand specificity. Learn how to make expression profiling easy and affordable. Registration is required and seating is limited. For more information, email Tiffany Willoughby or call ext. 4577. |
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Reminders
Collect Cans, Create Art for Comet Cupboard
The Comet Cupboard invites you to create a team and participate in the 8th Annual Raising Cans food drive art competition. UT Dallas’ food pantry serves over 300 students per week. So donations are greatly needed.
The Raising Cans art building event will be from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 20, in the Visitor Center Atrium. RSVP online to compete. Deadline to register is Thursday, Feb. 13.
Competing groups will gather nonperishable food, school supplies and personal care items leading up to the event in order to construct creative sculptures on the day of Raising Cans. Groups can have more than one team if they wish.
For more information about Raising Cans or Comet Cupboard, email [email protected] or call Whitney Vela at ext. 2709.
Save the Date for Next Book Club Discussion
The Center for Translation Studies invites you to discuss the first book of the 2020 Reading the World Book Club series: Go, Went, Gone, by Jenny Erpenbeck, translated from German by Susan Bernofsky.
The brown-bag discussion will be from noon to 1 p.m., Tuesday, Feb. 11, from noon to 1 p.m., in the Eugene McDermott Library (exact location to be determined). The book is available for loan from McDermott Library and will be available for purchase from the campus bookstore. The book club is free and open to students, faculty, staff and members of the larger community.
Online Consent to Receive Form 1095-C for Calendar Year 2019
In accordance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions, UT Dallas will have the 2019 Form 1095-C available on or before Jan. 31, 2020. Form 1095-C includes information about the health insurance coverage offered to employees, retirees and their dependents. You will receive Form 1095-C if you were enrolled in the UT Medical Plan or if you worked an average of 30 or more hours per week or were considered a full-time employee in 2019. Graduate student employees who are covered under the UT Student Health Insurance Plan will receive form 1095-B directly from Blue Cross Blue Shield.
If you provide consent, you can access your Form 1095-C online through Galaxy. If you provided consent in 2017 or 2018, you do not have to do so again. The deadline to provide online consent is Jan. 16, 2020. If you do not provide online consent, you will receive the form in the mail on or before the IRS deadline. The forms are expected to be available online on or before Jan. 31, 2020.
If you need to provide online consent, log in to Galaxy with your UT Dallas NetID and password. Then, go to Staff Tools, select ACA Form 1095-C and follow the on-screen instructions. Written instructions and FAQs are posted on the HR website for your reference.
If you have any questions, email [email protected] or contact the Office of Human Resources - Employee Benefits Team. If you have additional questions about your Form 1095-C, you may also visit the IRS website and the UT System Office of Employee Benefits website.
Register for Discounted Employee DART Pass
UT Dallas Parking & Transportation Services and Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) are partnering to provide affordable access to public transportation for UT Dallas faculty and staff members who wish to purchase an annual DART pass at the discounted rate of $360 for the 2020 calendar year. The discounted price for employee DART passes will be available until Feb. 14, 2020. After that date, faculty and staff may purchase a DART pass at the DART corporate rate.
To purchase an annual pass, download and complete a Faculty/Staff DART Annual Pass Application and send it to [email protected]. You should receive an email confirmation from our office within one business day. Payment must be made via credit or debit card at the Parking Office located in Parking Structure 3.
For 2020, faculty and staff have the option of selecting a DART GoPass App or a GoPass Tap Card. Both options allow for DART Local service. The GoPass App is a digital pass available through the DART GoPass phone app. The GoPass Tap Card is a physical card that requires the user to tap at DART kiosks prior to boarding. The main benefits of the GoPass are that replacements are free since it is registered directly to your cell phone number, and it does not require tapping at the DART kiosks before boarding. Replacement Tap Cards need to be purchased at the prorated rate at the time of reissue or issuance.
Faculty and staff selecting the app option will have their pass automatically activated on their cell phone. Those selecting the card can pick them up at the Parking Office.
For more information, please visit our website or call (972) 883-7777.
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About This Newsletter
InterCom is the official University-wide newsletter for UT Dallas faculty and staff members. This periodic publication is designed to provide University employees with important information necessary for the workplace, as well as community news that supports the University's mission. Guidelines about content and submissions can be found here or contact Robert Tracy at [email protected] or ext. 3521. |
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