News for Employees

UA community members are invited to share their ideas about smarter policies, processes and approaches. "Sharing your ideas could impact thousands of faculty, staff and students and change the way we do business here at the University of Arizona," says Karen Williams, vice president for information strategy. She is leading a strategic plan initiative related to optimizing business processes, and is asking employees and students to use the UAVoice website to help identify priorities.

There are plenty of reasons employees might be feeling stressed this time of year. One way to help manage that stress might be attending Meditation Mondays, a free, guided meditation group, led by UA employees. "The mind is really adept at thinking about things that have already happened or things that haven't happened yet, but our minds are less trained to be able to hold our attention or awareness in the present moment, so what we do is designed to be gentle guidance for that," says meditation leader Leslie Langbert, executive director of the UA Center for Compassion Studies.

UCAP is now in its functional calibration phase, the project's leader told members of the Appointed Professionals Advisory Council on Tuesday. The phase will ensure consistency across all titles and levels, said Jan Myers, director of compensation and the UCAP project director.

For many, the month of November conjures images of comfort food and fall festivities, and University events next month will deliver on that expectation. During events happening at the UA in the coming month, you can celebrate Tucson's culinary roots, immerse yourself in other cultures through crafts and books, and see the most eye-catching physics experiments.

Professor of nutritional sciences Kirsten Limesand found an unlikely research niche studying dry mouth. She also discovered a passion for training new scientists. "Hands down, the most rewarding aspect of my career is training students," Limesand says. "I prioritize hiring graduate students. It's like working with a piece of clay – you help start the molding process and help them move down that path."

Systems engineering professor Ricardo Valerdi talks rocket science, cybersecurity, the importance of teamwork – and what his students can learn from his sabbatical experiences. "Because different engineering disciplines can contribute to building a system like a rocket, I think it's important for students to keep in mind that just because you decided that you're going to major in a certain type of engineering doesn't mean you've closed any doors for your career," Valerdi says in this Q&A.

In this guest column, Chief Information Officer Barry Brummund writes about how UA information is kept secure, including efforts to require two-factor authentication for all employees and students. The UA also has developed 10 new programs related to information security, and plans to launch an improved information security awareness training program for all employees soon. "October may be the month when cybersecurity is most visible, but it's a priority for the University year-round," according to Brummund.

The new Postdoctoral Affairs office and postdoc association connect postdoctoral scholars with resources – and each other. Both resulted from the work of Jenny Hoit, a professor of speech, language and hearing sciences, whose time as a postdoc led her to improve the postdoc experience. "We're a Research I university and the work postdocs do contributes significantly to that status," she says.

Dr. Esther Sternberg, director of research at the Center for Integrative Medicine and the UA's resident expert on workplace well-being, offers advice for staying healthy at the office – like standing, stretching and getting outside. "Add up every single day of your working life and these small, incremental improvements on a daily basis truly add up to a much happier, healthier life," she says. "You can even begin to think of your office as your new gym."

The first cohort of the new International Scholar Academy includes 18 professionals from around the world. "Not only do our international scholars provide a wealth of knowledge in their areas of expertise, but they also bring new experiences and cultures that touch all of us at the UA," says Dana Bleau of UA Global. "We created ISA to provide a comprehensive resource to our visiting scholars that will allow them to cultivate key skills as they progress in their careers."