Flu shots lined up at hospital
This year, the University Employee Health Clinic
(UEHC), located on the first floor of Boyd Tower
in the General Hospital, will provide free flu vaccinations
to those employees at 50 percent or greater permanent
full-time employment who fit one of the following
high-risk categories:
- adults 65 or older, or who have a chronic
health condition, such as cardiac and respiratory
disease, diabetes, kidney disease, and sickle
cell anemia;
- people who are immunosuppressed due to
systemic steroid use or HIV/AIDS;
- women who are pregnant during flu season;
and
- health care workers involved in direct
patient care.
The schedule of vaccination clinics is available
on the UEHC web site. Intranasal FluMist will not
be part of this vaccination program. A University
of Iowa ID card is required at the time of the vaccination.
For more information, go to www.uihealthcare.com/depts/employeehealthclinic/index.html.
Time
to weigh benefits options
Open enrollment in the University’s 2005
benefits programs for P&S staff and faculty is
under way and will run through Nov. 20. Information
about benefit plans and options is available at https://hris.uiowa.edu/portal.
All changes can be made online.
The open enrollment period is the only time P&S
staff and faculty across campus can switch health
care plans and other benefits options. Those who
do not visit the HR site to choose new options will
go into 2005 with the same plans as in 2004, with
no option to change until next fall, unless they
experience a change in status, such as marriage,
divorce, birth of a child, or death of a spouse or
domestic partner.
“There have been significant premium changes
across most of the health care plans,” says
Richard Saunders, University Benefits director. “That
means last year’s choices may not be the best
this year.”
Specifically, changes in premium amounts and an
increase in the University’s contribution may
make different health care plans more appealing to
families or employees with children.
“The changes vary across the plans,” Saunders
says. “It’s important for staff and faculty
members to look closely at their options and do the
math to figure out their best options for 2005.”
Merit open enrollment began Oct. 15 and runs through
Nov. 15, with changes effective Jan. 1. Online enrollment
is not available for merit employees.
Changes in merit ben-efits choices must be accomplished
using the appropriate forms, available from University
Benefits, 120 USB, (33)5-2676.
Sports rehab just a
call away
Athletes of all ages and skill levels have an important
new option for treatment of injuries and other sports-related
disorders at the UI Sports Medicine Center, which
opened in September in University of Iowa Hospitals
and Clinics.
Orthopaedic surgeons, athletic trainers, primary
care physicians, physician assistants, and rehabilitation
therapists now pool their expertise under UI Sports
Medicine. Specialists treat all musculoskeletal conditions
and injuries including all sports-related medical
problems.
The clinic is a specialty service offered by the
UI Department of Orthopaedics and Rehabilitation
and is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday.
For more information, a consultation, or an appointment,
call (38)4-7070.
Say no to spam, spam, spam...
On Nov. 15, ITS will implement a new spam-fighting
system that should help University e-mail users lighten
the load of junk mail they see arrive in their in-boxes.
With the new system, ITS servers will reject e-mail
that shows a high probability (99 percent or greater)
of being spam and keep it from reaching your in-box.
Under the new setup, you, the University computer
user, will have the option of setting the spam-blocking
threshold higher or lower via a self-service web
page.
For more information, go to www.its.uiowa.edu/cs/email/nospam.html.
UI
campaign reaches goal of 100 named faculty positions
Private gifts to the University’s Good. Better.
Best. Iowa campaign have created 100 new endowed
faculty positions since the campaign began in 1999.
The 100 new endowed faculty positions bring the
total number of named faculty positions at Iowa to
284; this includes two deanships, 102 chairs, and
180 professorships. Campaign guidelines call for
a minimum gift commitment in most colleges of $500,000
to endow a professorship, $1.5 million to endow a
chair, and $2 million to endow a deanship.
Gifts and commitments to the $1 billion campaign
thus far total $770 million. The campaign coordinated
by the UI Foundation ends on Dec. 31, 2005.
Bureau shares UI expertise
The University of Iowa shares its educational opportunities
with Iowa communities through the UI Speakers Bureau,
which provides a list of faculty and staff members
available to speak on topics of all kinds. Any group—service
clubs, professional and educational associations,
library groups, senior centers, schools, churches—can
invite a UI speaker to an event.
Information about the Speakers Bureau, including
a list of potential topics, is available online at
www.uiowa.edu/speakersbureau.
Speakers can be arranged by filling out the online
speaker request form or by contacting Jane Van Voorhis
at (33)5-0011 or jane-van-voorhis@uiowa.edu.
FYI editorial staff changes
There have been several changes recently to the
staff of fyi. Gary Kuhlmann is fyi’s new editor.
Anne Remington has taken on the paper’s associate
editor responsibilities. Warren Staal now handles
the design of fyi’s front page and special
inserts. Linzee Kull McCray is the new managing editor.
As always, the staff of fyi welcomes your suggestions,
comments, and questions about this publication.
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