Happy Employee Appreciation Day! The university’s over 20,000 faculty and staff help make Michigan State University a leader in education and research. Your contributions are part of something bigger. Please enjoy this message of gratitude from Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, Christina Brogdon.
Employee Appreciation Day (Friday, March 4, 2022) is an opportunity for MSU employees to reflect on how you prioritize your mental health, how you talk about it with your supervisors, and how supervisors can show appreciation by supporting the mental health of their employees. Emphasize rest and recognition, learn about your self-care preferences and learn how to utilize the resources available to you!
Mental health should be treated like physical health. It should be discussed as normally as physical illnesses especially because physical and mental health can be connected. We should prioritize mental health because it has spent so long in the background. To break that cycle, put your mental health first and make it part of your everyday conversations.
Other reasons to prioritize mental health include:
Becoming burnt out at work is easier than you might think, and the best way to tackle or prevent burnout is self-care. Engaging in self-care in the simplest terms is making sure that as you prioritize work, you also prioritize sleep, nutrition, and exercise. Other suggestions for self-care include:
You don’t have to be the supervisor on your team to start a discussion around mental health. Use empathy to address situations regarding mental health and give space your coworkers space to speak openly about their experience. If you aren’t sure how to start the conversation, use the MSU resources linked below and ease into it.
If you are a supervisor, here are four ways you can show appreciation for your team in support of their mental wellbeing:
Michigan State University recognizes the value of its employees and to show appreciation for the important work we all do, the university’s Worklife Office provides a variety of resources to support our wellbeing:
Take a moment this Employee Appreciation Day to not only be thanked by those around you but also by your body as you begin to prioritize and destigmatize your own mental health.
It’s that time of the year, and the staff at the Office of Admissions are buried in reviewing the record number of over 35,000 applications they’ve received this year and sending out final decisions for potential additions to MSU’s student body. Michigan State offers rolling admission, and with a university as large as ours, the Office is always busy, but especially so when it comes time to decide the fall freshman class. Admissions is also constantly taking applications from transfer, guest, and graduate students, as well as helping navigate the process for future applicants and prospective international students. All of the time put in is a powerful effort to enhance the student experience, a Bolder By Design initiative that places importance on the ways students learn and grow at Michigan State as well as the value of achieving an MSU degree.
 Sorting out who to welcome into the MSU community is a tedious process, and it’s good to know we have dedicated people making the best decisions to shape the future of our university!
Thank you Office of Admissions, for choosing the new faces of Michigan State University!
The time is long overdue in expressing our sincere gratitude and thankfulness for our Michigan State University law enforcement. The MSU Police uphold their mission year round to enhance the quality of life on campus by building relationships, strengthening stewardship, and working collaboratively within our diverse community to reduce crime, enforce laws, preserve peace, and provide for a safe environment for all to enjoy. Over the past year, the MSU Police have responded to and acted honorably in their duty to protect and serve the MSU community. To learn more about the MSU Police Department and their available resources, please visit their website and follow their Twitter account to stay updated on the most recent developments and information. You also should consider signing up for MSU Alert. 
Thank you, MSU Police, for providing a safe environment for all.
The MSU Student Food Bank, a partnership between MSU Student Health Services, the Council of Graduate Students, the Greater Lansing Food Bank and Feeding America, was the first campus-based food assistance bank in the country. In 1993, the food bank’s founders recognized a problem that many other universities fail to acknowledge; some students face food insecurity on a regular basis. Still operational 22 years later, the MSU Student Food Bank’s goal is to cut grocery bills in half.
While the holiday season is over, the MSU Food Bank’s giving spirit has not diminished. Each semester, the food bank holds multiple distribution evenings. During distribution evenings, 15 to 20 students help package food, stock shelves and generally serve MSU students, both graduates and undergraduates, as well as their families.  The bank distributes an impressive 50,000 pounds of food annually to students and their families. This month, the food bank will be holding two distribution dates; January 14 and January 28. Donations would be greatly appreciated prior to these events. To volunteer, contact the MSU Center for Service-Learning & Civic Engagement at 517-353-4400.
Thanks MSU Student Food Bank for all that you do!
