I&S Employee Newsletter - January 2021

Dear Infrastructure and Sustainability team,

Happy New Year! I hope each of you was able to relax and recharge over the holidays. As we prepare for the spring semester to begin this week, there are a few I&S and campus updates I want to make sure you’re aware of.

First and foremost, I want to congratulate Rebecca Fell on her promotion to executive director of Real Estate Services on a permanent basis. Rebecca took over the department on an interim basis in February just before the pandemic hit, and her leadership has been crucial as we’ve navigated a variety of new scenarios and challenges. That includes helping to orchestrate innovative solutions for a number of campus partners, including housing and athletics. Please join me in congratulating Rebecca.

On the campus front, there are multiple items I want to flag for your attention. First, campus announced last week that the on-campus monitoring testing will continue to be available for family/household members of CU Boulder staff as long as testing capacity permits. You must be asymptomatic to participate, and I encourage you to utilize this valuable service. Full details are on the Protect Our Herd website.

Second, the university is collaborating with Boulder County Public Health on the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines. While many of our frontline essential staff will be part of Phase 1B in the state’s distribution plan, we may be well into the spring semester before those employees become eligible. As vaccines become available for eligible employees according to the state framework, those employees will be notified of the option for receiving the vaccine through CU Boulder.

Finally, as you likely know by now, Boulder County last week shifted to Level Orange on the state’s COVID-19 dial. Along with rollout of the vaccines, this is encouraging news. However, we must all still remain vigilant, wearing masks, maintaining physical distance, working from home when possible and always staying home when sick.

You can read about all of these COVID-19 updates and more in the most recent weekly COVID-19 update in CU Boulder Today. I encourage you to read those updates each week as valuable information related to testing and vaccines will continue to be shared as new information becomes available.

Your work in 2020 to keep our campus thriving amid the pandemic was nothing short of inspiring. I am excited for the hope of a new year and a new semester, as well as the opportunity to keep working alongside each of you in service to this university.

Sincerely,

David Kang, vice chancellor for Infrastructure and Sustainability

The Infrastructure and Sustainability Inclusive Excellence Committee (ISIEC) will be hosting a session with CUPD’s Chief Doreen Jokerst on Thursday, Jan. 28 from 11a.m. to noon. The discussion will be focused around community policing.  The chief will talk about why CUPD encourages community relationship building as a way to prevent and solve public safety issues in our campus community.  We will be accepting questions for Chief Jokerst ahead of the session for her to address during the discussion.  Please RSVP and submit your questions via this link.

CUPD has a close working relationship with many divisions within I&S to keep our campus safe. If you want to learn more about the CUPD, please check out the CUPD webpage and join us on Jan. 28.

The Colorado Department of Labor and Employment (CDLE) has seen a rise in fraudulent unemployment claims attempting to exploit the overall increase in unemployment insurance claims associated with COVID-19. As many as 400,000 Coloradans have been affected, including some University of Colorado staff. Fraud victims are often alerted to the scheme by receiving a U.S. Bank ReliaCard in the mail when they have not filed for unemployment. If you suspect you might be a victim of this scam, or if you want information on ways to protect yourself from identity theft, read more here.

Just a reminder to all staff to double check your leave balances now, and make plans to use any hours of vacation time over the maximum allowable accrual and all furlough time before the July 1 leave sweep deadline. This past July, the Board of Regents voted to allow some flexibility to employees who were unable to use their vacation time due to the coronavirus crisis. This year, the leave sweep rules will return to normal. Leave maximum accruals are as follows:

University staff

• Any amount over 352 hours will be swept on July 1, 2021

Classified staff

• On July 1, 2021, the leave sweep will bring anyone over the maximum back to the maximum accrual based on length of service
   

  • 1 through 5 years – maximum is 192 hours

  • 6 through 10 years – maximum is 240 hours

  • 1 through 15 years – maximum is 288 hours

  • 16 years and above – maximum is 336 hours

As always, furlough and vacation leave requests are subject to the approval of your supervisor; don’t wait until June to put in your leave requests. If you have any questions regarding leave, please contact Jen Salyers or Tanya Patzer.

Do you want to practice public speaking, improve your communication and build leadership skills? With Toastmasters, you can do this and much more. We are pleased to announce that the Office of Infrastructure and Sustainability is partnering with campus HR to form a Toastmaster club called Chip Chat. Please join I&S HR and Casey Kipple of Chip Chat as we learn more about the organization and how you can get involved. The session will be held Wednesday, Jan. 20 from noon to 1 p.m. Look for an invitation from I&S HR coming via email. Learn more about Toastmasters here.

If you have questions or want more information on the Jan. 20 session, please email Kelsey Draper.

How long have you been working at CU?

Little more than one year.

What is your favorite thing to do outside of work?

I really love to throw on a record and cook! In a former life I was a chef and I still love to roll my sleeves up and get to work over a hot stove.

Tell us something that might surprise us about you.

I play the cello! I may be a little rusty now but I used to be quite accomplished and have even played in Macky Auditorium with the Boulder Philharmonic Orchestra.

What do you love about CU Boulder?

It’s pretty hard to argue with the weather or the setting but it’s the people that makes CU a place worth sticking around. From the relationships I made on campus as a student to the inclusion I feel as an employee the people here are great!

What are you currently reading?

Tokyo Ueno Station by Yu Miri. It’s a story told through the lens of a character living in the margins of society and how he navigates a rich modern city that has cast him aside.

All 2020 W-2s will be sent to the mailing address employees have on file in the employee portal by Jan. 31 and the 1095-C will be mailed by March 2 to employees eligible for health benefits last year. Both forms will be available in the portal shortly after they are released.

Jump into a fresh new year with the Anderson Language and Technology Center’s non-credit language classes from the comfort of your home. ALTEC’s spring program runs Feb. 1 through April 8 and features American Sign Language, French, German, Italian, Japanese and Spanish. CU affiliates pay just $150 per class. Visit ALTEC online to learn more.

To provide the CU Boulder community a centralized point of connection and information, the campus has established Buff Info, a team of dedicated professionals to answer questions and provide connections with campus resources.    

• Buff Info liaisons can be reached at 303-492-INFO (4636) or via email at buffinfo@colorado.edu, 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. The university will extend these hours when needed.

• The Buff Info team is available to answer questions on a wide variety of topics related to CU Boulder and help faculty, staff, students and parents connect with the appropriate campus office for additional information or assistance as needed.

Join the Conference on World Affairs (CWA) for three virtual sessions exploring how the United States’  international affairs might take shape as we enter a new presidential administration in our country. Experts from NATO, scholars from Stanford and Boston University, along with a former ambassador to Afghanistan and Honduras, will join discussions surrounding international perspectives on climate change, China and international relations policies. The sessions will be held via Zoom and livestreamed to the CWA YouTube channel; viewers may submit questions. Free and open to all. More information available on the CWA website