NEWS AND EVENTS
News
ORED Book Club
Changing, adding or stopping habits is hard. Bad habits repeat themselves not because you don’t want to change, but because you have the wrong system for change. Join your ORED colleagues as we examine an easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones by reading the book “Atomic Habits” by James Clear.
Laurie Sampson will be facilitating a virtual book discussion starting in early April where ORED colleagues can share their thoughts and takeaways from the book. If you are interested in participating in the book club, please contact Laurie by Monday, April 6.
Welcome
Dr. Anna Fitzwater joined the Institutional Animal Care Program as a veterinarian in January. Anna calls the state of Nebraska home, having in Dawson, Seward, and Dixon counties. She has a bachelor’s degree in animal science from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree from the Professional Program in Veterinary Medicine, a partnership between the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Iowa State University. She spent five years in clinical general practice, gaining broad veterinary medical and surgical skills. Her time in practice also developed her ability to lead while maintaining a team-based approach to ensure the well-being of both animals and the people who care for them. She has carried these skills into her role of clinical veterinarian, and she enjoys finding new ways to utilize them every day supporting excellence in animal care, cutting-edge research and hands-on learning experiences for students.
Anna is married and the proud mom of two children. When not at work, she can generally still be found in the company of her animals.
KUDOS TO OUR COLLEAGUES
Kathy Partlow, Proposal Development, is the first recipient of the Exceptional Excellence Award, sponsored by the Office of the Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic Officer. The award recognizes a university staff member who has shown exceptional support to a faculty member, exceeding job expectations and contributing to the success of the faculty member’s teaching and/or research.
Kathy was nominated for her work on a large, interdisciplinary proposal to the National Science Foundation. She helped the Husker team with the pre-proposal, proposal, site visit and reverse site visit. Her nominator, Terry Howell Jr. of Nebraska’s Food Processing Center, said Kathy’s efforts were crucial to the team’s success: “At times she was our cheerleader – spurring us on to meet deadlines. At times, she was our coach – willing us to the next level and helping us to believe in our mission and vision. At times, she was our star player – delivering clutch results for us when our spirits were low or our backs were against the wall.”
Kathy will receive a $1,000 award and will be recognized at The Laurels award reception in September. Congratulations, Kathy, and thanks for representing ORED so well!
Cindy Wooledge, Institutional Animal Care Program, passed the Assistant Laboratory Animal Technician exam, which is the first of a three-tier certification program for animal care technicians sponsored by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science. The ALAT exam covers everything from proper husbandry and Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee regulations to physiology and ethics. Congratulations, Cindy!
WELLNESS WATCH
One of the difficulties of remote work is the loss of face-to-face time with other team members. There are no longer so-called “water cooler” moments, where you bump into a colleague in a shared space and chat about non-work-related topics. Losing these social conversations can lead to feelings of isolation and loneliness, which can negatively impact your health. Evidence indicates that social isolation is tied to poor sleep, impaired executive function, accelerated cognitive decline, poor cardiovascular function and impaired immunity.
To combat these effects during this work-from-home phase, we’ve compiled some tips and tricks for building community and camaraderie from a distance.
- Recreate the water cooler online: If your team is using a remote chat tool like Slack, consider creating channels dedicated to socializing. These channels can be designated for particular interest-based topics: pets, sports, movies or music, for example. General Assembly, an education company in New York City, is even running a nightly trivia game via slack during the COVID-19 pandemic, as described in this CNBC article. Having these recreational Slack channels gives team members a designated forum for engaging in social conversation without disrupting work flow on the main work channels. Similarly, as described in the article linked above, you could set up a video chatroom for workers to have a morning coffee break.
- Dedicate time to team-building activities: When the team is physically separated, fostering cohesion and camaraderie takes on heightened importance. Consider using tools like Zoom or Skype to facilitate interactive activities. This article from the Couch Manager has some good ideas, including the “Two Pictures” game, where everyone on the team shares two photos related to their hobbies or families. Then, the team can discuss Have everyone on the team share two photos related to their hobbies or families, then discuss these photos in one of two ways: either during a 30-minute meeting devoted to the topic, or devote five minutes at the start of a regular meeting to have one person share at a time. Or try recurring 15-minute “coffee and learn” sessions, where the team unites for a coffee break and people take turns delivering short presentations on something they do, something they know or something they are.” That idea, along with others, is described in this Hotjar article.
- Involve the family: Many of us are trying to become accustomed to working with our children or other family members at home. Rather than trying to keep these energetic “colleagues” out of home workspaces, consider getting them involved by inviting them to chat with each other after work teleconferences end, as employees at the IT company GitLab have been doing. Letting kids chat enables them to make new friends, learn about other peoples’ lives and keep each other company — and gives parents a moment or two of peace.
Thanks to all who contributed to this month’s OPEN Book.
