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STUDENT-LED GRIEF SUPPORT GROUP ON CAMPUS
One in four college students is grieving the death of a loved one. On a campus where over 30,000 students are currently enrolled, this means that there are over 7,500 students grieving. As anyone who has experienced the death of a loved one knows, the world keeps on turning despite the grief. This is especially true on a college campus where students are expected keep up with our studies. Combine this with a culture where death is a taboo subject and many are left with an environment in which expressing grief can be particularly difficult.
Actively Moving Forward (AMF) is non-profit organization committed to supporting college students who are grieving the death of a loved one. The University of Utah chapter runs a student-led grief support group providing a space for students to talk about their experience and feel supported by their peers. The group is held the first and third Wednesday of the month from 6-7:30 p.m. and the fist and third Thursday of the month from 12-1:30 p.m. in the Union.
As a group of grieving college students supporting other grieving students on campus, we know the holidays can be an especially difficult time. While, we do not believe that there is one “right” way to grieve, we want to offer a few tips to help students deal with their grief over the holidays.
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH FOOD DRIVE
Through Saturday, Nov. 28, University of Utah alumni and students will rally the community for the “United Against Hunger” food drive to collect food and donations on behalf of the Utah Food Bank.
Monetary donations can be made online at alumni.utah.edu/fooddrive or by mailing a check payable to the Utah Food Bank to: University of Utah Food Drive, University of Utah Alumni Association, 155 S. Central Campus Drive, Salt Lake City, UT 84112.
Nonperishable food donations can be brought to the Alumni House (155 S. Central Campus Drive) or the Utah Food Bank (3150 S. 900 West). Please indicate that the donation is part of the University of Utah food drive.
OPEN THE DOOR TO GIVING WITH THE U HOSPITAL ANNUAL FOOD DRIVE
Join the University Hospital food drive and make a difference this year.
The annual hospital food drive, held Nov. 23 through Dec. 15, benefits the Utah Food Bank. All donations will support the mission to feed hungry Utahns.
There are many ways to give: Run the Utah Human Race on Thanksgiving morning, donate online or volunteer at the Utah Food Bank to help the hospital reach this year’s goal of 450,000 pounds of donated food.
University Hospital has led the effort to gather food donations for those in need over the past five years, collecting over 1,262,340 pounds of food since 2010.
Call Tracy Bodrero at 801-581-2429 with any questions about volunteering, and for more ways to give, visit Pulse.
THE CALVIN S. AND JENEAL N. HATCH PRIZE IN TEACHING
Deadline: Dec. 4, 2015
The Hatch Prize recognizes an outstanding and longstanding service by a teacher from tenure-line faculty ranks. The recipient of the Hatch Prize will receive $5,000. The award will be announced in March 2016.
All award nominations, grant applications and fellowship applications are available for submission online here.
EARLY CAREER TEACHING AWARD
Deadline: Dec. 4, 2015
The Early Career Teaching Award recognizes up to four outstanding faculty at an early stage in their careers at the University of Utah. To be eligible, a faculty member must have completed at least three full years but fewer than eight years of service at the University and must be tenure-line or career-line faculty. Each recipient will also receive $2,500. These awards will be announced in March 2016.
All award nominations, grant applications, and fellowship applications are available for submission online here.
UTILIZING UNIVERSITY MAIL RESOURCES FOR PERSONAL USE
As the holiday season approaches and usage of mail services increases, University Print & Mail Services would like to remind campus that personal correspondence and deliveries should not be sent to campus addresses but rather to home addresses. Because of recent changes with UPS and FedEx rerouting packages through the U.S. Postal Service, the volume of packages distributed through Campus Mail has increased significantly, making prompt deliveries more difficult.
Pursuant to university policy 3-166, “use of the campus mail system is available only to recognized university organizations for official university purposes and is not intended for personal use.” Accordingly, faculty and staff should refrain from using the Campus Mail system for receiving or sending personal mail. Questions or concerns may be directed to Juan Sosa at 801-580-7792 or Juan.Sosa@utah.edu.
ACADEMIC SENATE MEETING
Two important policy proposals will be discussed at the next Academic Senate meeting, the Safety of Minors Policy and Limiting Course Attempts. They will be heard and voted on by faculty and student representatives from all colleges across campus.
The meeting will be held on Monday, Nov. 30, in the Carolyn Tanner Irish Humanities Building, Room 109 at 3 p.m.
U GEOSPATIAL SCIENCES GET FEDERAL RECOGNITION
Branches of the Defense and Interior departments have designated the U’s Department of Geography as a Center of Academic Excellence in Geospatial Sciences, which involves mapping, measuring and simulating geographic locations.
The recognition is prestigious, and might attract more students, create research collaborations and possibly provide internship and job opportunities for students within the two agencies that made the designation: the Pentagon’s National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the U.S. Geological Survey.
Click here to read more.
U RANKS HIGH IN LIFE SCIENCES LICENSING
A new ranking by the journal Nature Biotechnology places the U in fourth place among universities nationally for gross revenues for licensing its life sciences technologies in 2014, and in sixth place for the number of life sciences licenses or options that were executed.
The rankings are skewed because they exclude MIT, Stanford, the University of Texas system and the University of Wisconsin-Madison – universities with high gross licensing revenues but that could not break out the portion due to life sciences.
Nonetheless, it is noteworthy that the U ranked so highly given that its $146 million in National Institutes of Health funding for 2014 was far less than such funding to other high-ranked universities.
The Nature Biotechnology rankings showed the U:
– Was fourth for its $74 million in gross life science licensing revenues received in 2014, after New York University ($212 million), Columbia University ($162 million) and the University of California system ($109 million).
– Was sixth for its 71 life sciences licenses and options executed in 2014, after the University of California system (223), University of Washington (222), Duke University (124), University of Minnesota (119) and University of Pennsylvania (103).
UNIVERSITY OF UTAH HEALTH PLANS INTRODUCES INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY HEALTH INSURANCE PLANS TO PUBLIC
University of Utah Health Plans (UUHP) introduced new individual and family health insurance plans this week, making a debut on the nation’s Health Insurance Marketplace.
The new plans make the insurer one of four to offer coverage to Utahns on the marketplace.
The move represents an important step forward in the growth of the insurer, according to UUHP CEO Chad Westover. UUHP now serves more than 155,000 members across a Wasatch Front network that includes access to 5,600 providers.
The individual and family plans offer key health benefits including outpatient/inpatient care, trips to the emergency room, pre- and post-natal care, mental health and substance use treatment, and prescription drug coverage.
The number of plans offered in Utah through the marketplace has declined in the lead up to the Nov. 1 start of an open enrollment period. Arches Health Plan recently closed its doors. BridgeSpan Health and Altius Health Plans have exited the marketplace in Utah.
That adds up to new opportunities for UUHP, which is looking forward to offering high-quality health insurance in nine Utah counties on and off the exchange, said Westover.
Health insurance marketplace important dates:
| Nov. 1, 2015 – Open enrollment begins | Dec. 15, 2015 – Enroll by this date for coverage to begin Jan. 1, 2016 |
| Jan. 1, 2016 – Coverage begins | Jan. 31, 2016 – Open enrollment ends |
Want to learn more? Visit the University of Utah Health Plans website,
U STAFF SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS ANNOUNCEMENT
The University of Utah Staff Council is pleased to announce that applications are now being accepted for staff development scholarships for the Spring Semester 2016.
Each scholarship is worth up to $500 and can be used towards the employee’s tuition bill. Scholarships can be used towards professional trainings, symposiums, conferences or workshops and their associated expenses.
The committee will process the scholarship applications based on the University of Utah Staff Council evaluation criteria.
Qualified applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Currently working and have maintained at a 75 percent or greater Full-Time Equivalency (FTE, 30-40 hours per week) in a benefits eligible position.
- Maintained 75 percent or greater Full Time Equivalency (FTE) in a benefits eligible position for two consecutive years as of Nov. 9, 2015.
- Have not received a Staff Council Scholarship within the past two years.
Current Staff Council Members are not eligible.
CLICK HERE TO APPLY.
APPLICATIONS ARE DUE BY 5 P.M. (MST) ON MONDAY, NOV. 23.
**Incomplete applications will not be considered.