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University employees can now select a “remember me for 12 hours” setting when signing in with Duo two-factor authentication (2FA), thus requiring the employee to use Duo 2FA less frequently in a given workday.

The setting is browser-based and will work only if the employee is accessing a Central Authentication Service (CAS)-protected resource from the same browser used to enable the 12-hour setting. Once the “Remember me” checkbox has been checked, it will remain checked by default unless the browser cache is cleared.

Please note that employees are strongly encouraged to use the Duo Push method (via smartphone or tablet app) whenever possible, as both the phone call and passcode via SMS options incur costs to the University.

Visit the 2FA site for general information about 2FA at the U.

The Obert C. and Grace A. Tanner Humanities Center at the University of Utah selected professor Jaehee Yi from the College of Social Work to serve as the 2017-2018 Professor Off Campus.

The goals of this program are to heighten campus awareness of local needs, foster an appreciation of service work by U faculty, strengthen dialogue between campus and community and build tolerance and respect in our diverse city. Yi’s project, “Photo Storytelling as Depression Intervention for Second-Generation Immigrant Adolescent Latinas” will begin fall 2017.

In collaboration with therapists at Community Health Centers, Inc. of Utah, Yi will develop a community-based mental health treatment  program. Her project will use photo storytelling, a new intervention method, to help reduce and manage depression for adolescent Latinas and integrate photo storytelling into supportive group therapy sessions. By sharing their experiences with family members, mental health providers and the general community through photo storytelling, Latina participants will help raise awareness about the mental health needs of their peers.

Since 2013, Red Butte Garden has been recognized as an Official Daffodil Display Garden by the American Daffodil Society.

Visit the garden this spring to see 450,000 blooming bulbs. Of those, 230,000 are daffodils (Narcissus). Other bulbs include Allium, Camasia, Cyclamen, Eremurus, Galanthus, Hyacinthus, Iris, Lycoris and more.

All bulbs don’t bloom at the same time.

Different varieties peak at different times, so be sure to visit often to see all that will be blooming this spring. For more information, go here.

Celebrate sustainability leadership on campus by nominating yourself or a colleague for an Alta Sustainability Leadership Award. These Awards recognize excellence in leadership in the areas of campus as a living lab, community partnership, sustainability education, and research. Thanks to the generous partnership of the Alta Ski Resort, an award of $2500 will be given to each recipient. All students, faculty, and staff eligible to participate.

Submit the nomination form by Feb. 28, 2017.

Congratulations to Catherine Soehner, associate dean for Research and User Services at the Marriott Library, and Ann Darling, assistant vice president for Undergraduate Studies at the University of Utah for co-authoring the book “Effective Difficult Conversations: A Step-by-Step Guide,” published by the American Library Association.

This book provides illustrated real-world examples of both successful and unsuccessful difficult conversations in the workplace.

Together, Soehner and Darling have provided presentations on effective difficult conversations as part of the University of Utah Leadership Development Program since March 2013. The success of their presentation broadened their reach across campus and they began providing the same presentation for the Health Sciences Leadership Development Program for a total of four presentations each year. For more information about this book, go to the ALA store.

Starting Feb. 1, 2017, University Information Technology (UIT) will begin the gradual migration of 27,000 student UMail accounts from on-campus hardware and software to Exchange Online, a cloud-hosted messaging application that’s part of Microsoft Office 365, or O365.

“The move to Office 365 is in keeping with the university’s strategy to transition to cloud-based services when there are improved services for students combined with less risk and cost for the institution,” said Chief Information Officer Steve Hess. “It will help better align us with Pac-12 and other peer institutions that have already successfully made this move.”

The phased plan will take place over the course of several months, starting with inactive accounts, but eventually encompassing all students with a non-employee role at the university.

Emails informing students of the change will be sent in batches, alerting users that their accounts may be moved as soon as 24 hours after receipt of the email. In addition, the emails outline the new login process and detail user interface changes to post-login screens.

Read the full story here.

The Career Services Team is looking for a way to honor exceptional faculty members who have helped students prepare for their future and build the tools necessary for success in finding a career.

The form is short and can be completed by going here.

Check out the flier below for further details.

This year we are excited to welcome Jennifer Azzi as our speaker. She is a former WNBA player with seven Hall of Fame inductions, an Olympic Gold Medal, a Stanford National Championship, the Naismith Award, and the Wade Trophy. Azzi also played as a guard for our local Utah Starzz for three seasons, leading in minutes played and in 2000, leading the league in free-throw percentage.

Azzi is a well-respected coach, speaker and author who actively represents the sport, both locally and internationally. Azzi’s lecture, Crossing the Half-Court: Women Breaking Boundaries, will address the success she has had pushing the needle on diversity efforts, and how we in higher education should think differently about creating similar successes, not just in sports, but in life.

This topic is particularly important realizing the low success of diversity efforts, despite trying. A symposium consisting of several smaller discussions centered around topics of diversity will follow Azzi’s noon lecture. There will be a light lunch preceding the lecture.

Additional details and a registration link will be available soon.

Drive less to help clean the air. Walk, bike, take TRAX, ride buses and shuttles — do whatever you can to not drive alone. Then, log those trips at tinyurl.com/Ucleanair throughout February to see your contribution to better air.

Mobile sources, including personal vehicles, are responsible for nearly half of all winter PM 2.5-related emissions that contribute to the unhealthy air. Together, we can make a difference.

Read more here.

To encourage student involvement and leadership, Clark Ivory, former chair of the University of Utah Board of Trustees, established the Ivory Prize for Excellence in Student Leadership. This prestigious award recognizes extraordinary and influential student-led projects that positively impact the campus and/or the broader community. The recipient(s) receives a $2,000 award and up to $10,000 to invest in the program or effort for which they are being recognized.

Those who have graduated from the U since 2011 (within the last five years), as well as those currently enrolled in undergraduate or graduate degree programs, are eligible. Self-nominations are welcome.

Nominations are due Friday, Feb. 24.