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The Open Enrollment period is underway (October 1 – 31), and many of you have already logged in to the EBS Portal to make your benefits selections for the 2019 period. To those go-getters who have already participated – well done!

If you’re still reviewing your options, the ALEX educational tool is a helpful resource. This easy-to-use online tool is funny, speaks in plain English (not insurance-talk), and will help you figure out which options best serve you and your family’s needs.

But What if I Still Have Questions About My Benefits Options?

We get it! Choosing your benefits can sometimes be a challenge. Which is why we’re happy to offer the Benefits Fair in October.

MSU Benefits Open Enrollment Fair

Tuesday, October 16 – Noon to 7 p.m.
Wednesday, October 17 – 7a.m. to 5p.m.
Breslin Student Events Center

Human Resources staff will be available to answer your questions and even help you enroll in your benefits on-site. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to talk with MSU’s benefits vendors.

If you’ve ever had questions about some of our voluntary benefits – like pet, vision or life insurance – now would be the time to ask them. Or, you can learn about the new free benefits options for employees – Livongo (Diabetes Management) and Teladoc (24/7 access to a medical professional). Find a complete list of the vendors attending on the HR website.

Don’t Forget Your Flu Shot at the Fair!

At the fair, the MSU Health Team will be administering the flu vaccine to eligible staff, faculty, retirees and their dependents. There will be no cost to those who have pharmacy insurance coverage, such as those enrolled in MSU health plans. Be sure to bring your prescription benefit card. Learn more about the flu shots here.

This week’s job of the week is a Golf Course Assistant Manager (#537489) for Forest Akers Golf Course. This position is seeking an individual to assist retail operations of the Spartan Spirit Shop at Forest Akers Golf Course.

The responsibilities for this role include interviewing, hiring, training and supervising part-time staff. The manager should be able to maintain quality control, purchase menus and supplies at the Spartan Spirit shop. Other responsibilities include forecasting, implementing and monitoring the annual retail budget and assisting with all marketing retail events.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge acquired in the first two or three years of college, technical, vocational or business school with course work in business, management, retail apparel sales, public relations or golf course management; one to three years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in golf course management or knowledge of golf course operations, retail sales and supervision; 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.

Community Festivals 

Color Cruise and Island Festival

Apple Butter Festival

Community Events

East Lansing Welcomes the World

Halloween Events

Saturday, October 13

Boo at the Zoo

Saturday, October 13

How to Halloween

Wednesday, October 24

Trick or Treat: Eastwood Towne Center

Friday, October 26

Howloween in Old Town!

Saturday, October 27

Halloween Adventures

Saturday, October 27

Kid’s World Costume Contest Party

Monday, October 29

Trick or Treat on the Square

Tuesday, October 30

2018 Great Pumpkin Walk

Food

Friday, October 5

October TEN for $10 Wine Tasting

Friday, October 12

Chili from

Saturday, October 13

Bend & Brunch: Yoga & Saturday Brunch

Friday, October 26

Halloween Murder Mystery Dinner

Arts

Tuesday, October 9

Love Never Dies

Friday, October 12

Healing Through Art by NAMI Lansing

Friday, October 12

Field Station: Matthew Angelo Harrison Opening

Friday, October 19

Rocky Horror Picture Show

Sunday, October 21

Opus Cactus

Music

Friday, October 5

Live Music with Chris Canas Band at Lansing Brewery

Thursday, October 11

Dynamic Piano Duo  

Wednesday, October 17

Camertone: International Chamber Soloists

Thursday, October 18

Masterworks 01: Pines of Rome

Tuesday, October 23

Symphony Band: College of Music

Family/Kid Friendly

Friday, October 5

MSU Midnight Madness

Friday, October 5

NCG Free Film Festival

Saturday, October 6

Sensory Showtimes at Celebration!

Saturday, October 6

Family Day: Connections

Sports/Fitness

Friday, October 5

Mitten Kitten Mash-Up 2018

Friday, October 5

Lansing Bike Party

Sunday, October 7

MSUFCU 2018 Dinosaur Dash

Tuesday, October 9

Lansing Brew Rub

Friday, October 12

Cleveland Cavaliers vs. Detroit Pistons

Saturday, October 13

Downtown Lansing Zombie Walk

Saturday, October 13

Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk

Saturday, October 13

Walk for the Animals

Saturday, October 20

Yoga at the Brewery

Sunday, October 21

Professional Development Opportunities:

Wednesday, October 10

Records Management and Retention at MSU

Thursday, October 11

EBS/Financial System Roles/Onboarding

Wednesday, October 17

Everything DiSC: Work of Leaders

Thursday, October 18

TEN Tactic for Powerful Business Writing

Tuesday, October 23

Engaging Teams for Maximum Performance

Wednesday, October 24

Managing Difficult Customers  

Friday, October 26

Building Capacity for Resilience as a Leader

Wednesday, October 31

Concur Travel Tips & Tricks for Success

Welcome to October! When you think of this month, what’s the first thing that comes to mind?

Crisp fall air and changing leaves?

Cozy sweaters and scarves?

Pumpkin-spiced lattes and other fall-flavored beverages?

How about the MSU Open Enrollment period?

We know! It’s not as exciting as a salted caramel mocha with a swirl of toffee-nut whipped cream, but it is pretty important. Open Enrollment is the annual period when you can make changes to your MSU benefits for the upcoming calendar year.

Throughout the month of October, you can switch health insurance plans, add or remove dependents from coverage, or enroll in a flexible spending account or voluntary benefits. And if you cover your spouse or another dependent on your plan, don’t forget to complete the Health Care Affidavit during Open Enrollment to continue their coverage for 2019.

Find instructions for how to complete Open Enrollment, including the Health Care Affidavit, here – including a How-To Enroll Video.

And while trying to decide between the maple-pecan muffin or pumpkin scone on your morning coffee run may be hard, choosing your benefits options can be even more challenging. But worry not – ALEX is here to help! This virtual benefits counselor will ask you some questions, take you through your options and provide an easy-to-understand summary of benefits suggestions and estimates. Meet ALEX and review your options here.

To learn more about Open Enrollment, view the employee and retiree open enrollment guides and other detailed information on the HR website.

Questions about Open Enrollment?

The MSU HR Solutions Center staff is available to help you (or recommend their favorite fall-flavored treats) at SolutionsCenter@hr.msu.edu or 517-353-4434. For long-distance, call toll-free 800-353-4434.

This week’s Job of the Week is a Communications Coordinator (#536816) for the College of Education. This position is seeking an individual to assist with multiple functions of communications and marketing within the College of Education such as editing, designing, updating and composing materials for college publications and other forms of communications.

The responsibilities for this role include creating content for various websites, marketing campaigns and social media accounts. Other responsibilities include responding to requests for communication and marketing services within and outside of the college.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge acquired a four-year college degree program in Marketing, Advertising, Communications, Journalism or a related field; up to six months of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in marketing, advertising and creative services, web content and design; or 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 Parking Coordinator (#533043) for the Department of Police and Public Safety. This position is seeking an individual to review written and verbal appeals for parking violations. The responsibilities for this role include managing leased parking space inventory, applications and billing accounts. Other responsibilities include interpreting and providing information on university ordinances, maintaining records related to all activities, and rendering final decisions on judgement through the appropriate channels.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge equivalent to that which normally would be acquired in the first two or three years of college, technical, vocational or business school; one to three years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in performing task related to the area of customer service; experience maintain composure in escalated situations and providing a high level of customer service.

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.

In case you missed it, here are the September 2018 HR Source newsletters:  Source Newsletter for Support Staff and  

Source Newsletter for Faculty, Academic Staff and Executive Management.

You can find older editions of the newsletter on the HR website.

Here are the headlines at a glance for this month’s Source:

Support Staff:

• Benefits Open Enrollment + FREE Flu Shots at the Benefits Fair!
• Introducing Teladoc for Online Medical Care
• New Support Options with Best Doctors
• New Professional Development Courses
• Upcoming WorkLife Office Opportunities
• Faces of Fatherhood Forum
• 2018 Veterans Welcome Picnic
• Raising Awareness with the Know More Campaign
• Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award Nominations
• Ruth Jameyson Above and Beyond Award Nominations

Faculty/Academic Staff:

• Benefits Open Enrollment + FREE Flu Shots at the Benefits Fair!
  
  
• Introducing Teladoc for Online Medical Care
• New Support Options with Best Doctors
• New Professional Development Courses
• Upcoming WorkLife Office Opportunities
• Faces of Fatherhood Forum
• 2018 Veterans Welcome Picnic
• Raising Awareness with the Know More Campaign
• Jack Breslin Distinguished Staff Award Nominations
• Ruth Jameyson Above and Beyond Award Nominations

Did you know you can get a second opinion for your medical diagnosis through MSU’s Best Doctors benefit? Feeling educated and empowered about your health can be a challenge sometimes, but Best Doctors just released two new support tools to help you make more educated, confident decisions about your health. These services are Treatment Decision Support and the Medical Records eSummary. Both are available to MSU employees and retirees.

Treatment Decision Support
Utilizing the Best Doctors Treat Decision support service, you have complete access to coaching and interactive online educational tools. The online educational tools offer you in-depth and easy to follow information about your specific health condition.

Medical Records eSummary
With your permission, Best Doctors will collect and organize your medical records and provide them to you on a USB drive. Using the Medical Records eSummary, you will get access to a personal health alert summary, that gives you a total snapshot of your medical wellness.

You can find more information on these two services on the MSU HR website. Best Doctors can be invaluable in clarifying or expanding your knowledge on health, with straightforward, comprehensive information on your diagnosis. For more information, call 866-904-0910 or visit bestdoctors.com.

This week’s job of the week is an Information Technology Professional (#531791) for the College of Natural Science. The college is seeking an individual to maintain and update operating systems and standard software, analyze, troubleshoot and resolve end user requests in a timely and accurate manner for the Dean’s Office.

Responsibilities for this role include standard network communication, routing, switching and networking principles. Experience with computer security and virus and malware removal is preferred, as well as strong interpersonal and customer service skills and hands-on troubleshooting experience. The IT Professional should have the ability to work independently and conduct the necessary research to solve system hardware and software problems.

The ideal candidate would possess knowledge equivalent to that which normally would be acquired in the first two or three years of college, technical, vocational or business school such as an Associate’s degree in computer technology or information systems; one to three years of related and progressively more responsible or expansive work experience in information technology related to the duties to be performed; 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.

Do you want to learn strategies for processing change or improve your communication skills? Organization and Professional Development (OPD) offers a variety of courses to help you reach your personal and professional development goals and is excited to offer four new courses to MSU staff and faculty.

ESL Advanced Communication Skills – September 20, 27, October 4, 11, 18 AND 25, 2018
This course is targeted towards MSU professionals who are advanced speakers of English as a second language. Speaking more than one language is an amazing asset, yet sometimes it can be difficult to find the words or expressions to say exactly what we mean. In this course of six workshops, you will learn oral and written communication strategies, grammar, and guidance for effective personal interaction.

Grammar Essentials – October 18, 2018
Do you struggle with punctuation or choosing the correct words? Do you need help constructing sentences that make sense? This course will help you strengthen your grammar and usage skills and present a more polished, professional image.

Thriving Through Change – October 25, 2018
Change is inevitable. How would you like to thrive through the change and transitions in your life? This course will define what change is and help you understand the stages and reactions to change. Learn techniques and strategies to help you cope with stress and manage the process successfully.

Effective Communication Using Data Visualization – November 14, 2018
Have you ever collected some great data, but weren’t sure how to best convey that information? Quite often, data is presented in simple tables, but not all audiences absorb information in the same way and increasingly bite-sized data points are preferred. That’s where various forms of data visualization come in as a tool to visually communicate complex data that can tell a meaningful story in a small amount of time. Join this interactive introductory course to discuss why visualizing data may be the right tool to use depending on the audience and content. There will be an opportunity to create data visuals using readily available tools, such as Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint.

Ready to Register?
To register, login to the EBS Portal and click on the My Career and Training tab, then the Courses for Employees at MSU tile. Find a complete list of available OPD courses on the HR website.