OPEN Book is the Office of Research and Innovation’s internal monthly electronic newsletter that highlights upcoming activities, office news, and accomplishments. The OPEN Book newsletter is sent on the last business day of the month.
News, Information and Upcoming Events
Nebraska Research Days is scheduled for November 11-15, 2024. See the line up of events and register at Nebraska Research Days website.
Research and Innovation staff are invited to register now for the farewell lunch for Interim Vice Chancellor Sherri Jones as she moves into phased retirement. The farewell lunch will be held on Friday, November 15, 2024, 12:30-1:30 p.m. at Willa Cather Dining Complex, Red Cloud Suite.
Nominate your colleagues – Invaluable Services Awards
You have one week left (Nov. 4) to submit your nominations for the 2024 Vice Chancellor’s Invaluable Services Award via this form.
Each year, Research and Innovation gives special recognition to those who have made outstanding contributions to the past year’s successes. The Vice Chancellor’s Award for Invaluable Service is given to individuals who excelled in their work and demonstrated commitment to R&I’s mission. These staff members go above and beyond to support the values of leadership, innovation, and initiative as they provided exceptional service to clients and to the university. Each award winner will receive a commemorative plaque and $250.
Occasionally, an award is also given to individuals outside R&I to honor their impact on our efforts to achieve our goals. You can use the same form to nominate someone outside the Office of Research and Innovation.
R&I Staff Recognition Event – Registration Coming Soon
Do you have your bowling team lined up and name picked out? Save the date for the annual Research and Innovation Staff Recognition Event on Thursday, December 5, 2024 from 11:15-2:30 p.m. at Sun Valley Lanes and Games, 321 Victory Ln, Lincoln, NE 68528. Registration will be send out early in November. We eat, celebrate our hard work, bowl and win prizes. Start thinking about who you want to give a shout-out too with our tradition of kudos to colleagues.
R&I Potluck – What will you bring?
Have you starting planning and testing your the food you will share in January at the annual Research and Innovation Potluck? Make sure Tuesday, January 14, 2025, 11:45-1:00 p.m. is held on your calendar! We will go through the food line in 152 Whittier and eat in 136 Whittier (Midwest Transportation training room). Registration will be sent out after holiday shutdown.
NUFlex Annual Benefits Enrollment and Health Risk Assessment
The 2025 NUFlex Benefits Enrollment and Health Risk Assessment began on Monday, October 28 and will run through Friday, November 15, 2024. You will be able to update your coverage selections as many times as you like during the enrollment period.
Help documentation and videos can be found here.
NUFlex Benefits Enrollment
With the impending annual benefits enrollment period, you are encouraged to begin thinking about the enrollment process.
- Firefly, the University’s business portal, will be used to update all employees’ benefits.
- To view your benefits for the current year within Firefly, click on the Employee Self Service (ESS) tile, then the Benefits Participation: Current & Not Enrolled tile. At the bottom left of the screen select the Benefits Confirmation Statement button.
- Employees will have the opportunity to enroll, update, or end participation in their benefit plans every year.
- Review plan information and future premium rates in the NUFlex Benefits newsletter. The 2025 information will be available the week prior to enrollment.
- If you contribute to the Health Care Flexible Spending Account and/or the Dependent Care Flexible Spending Account, you will need to enter amount(s) – even if those amounts are the same as last year.
- You will need to update your Tobacco/Nicotine Designation each year if you enroll in or increase Voluntary Life Insurance.
- For information on Employee Plus One benefits are available here.
Health Risk Assessment (HRA)
The Health Risk Assessment (HRA) is an educational tool designed to help you learn important information about your current health status and how to improve it. Participation is voluntary; however, by completing this short survey (it will take 10 to 15 minutes to complete), you will receive a Personal Health Report that will help you assess and monitor your personal health status. You will also receive enhanced wellness benefits for completing the HRA. The HRA is available as part of NUFlex Benefits Enrollment and must be completed by Friday, November 15, 2024 to receive the enhanced wellness and preventive services benefit through the university’s medical and prescription drug plan for the next calendar year.
Contact UNL Benefits at (402) 472-2600 or benefits@unl.edu if you have any questions.
Modification to Sick Leave Allowance for Managerial Professional and Administrative Employees
In the recent past, Managerial-Professional staff who have completed two years of service receive a balance of 1040 sick leave hours each January 1.
To better align with the University’s budget and financial reporting requirements, all Managerial-Professional staff subject to Section 3.4.3.3 of the Bylaws of the Board of Regents, will have their six-month sick leave allowance changed from January 1 to July 1. This change will be effective July 1, 2024.
With the 1040 allowance reset occurring July 1, 2024, HR offices and/or departments will monitor employees sick leave usage in 2024 to ensure an employee does not exceed a period of six months. If you have any questions, please contact Ember Welsch.
Trakstar Perform – Performance Conversation Progress
You are all making great progess on your performance conversations! Keep it up.
NCLUDE Program Seeks Anchors for Spring
The NCLUDE program, currently offered by the Office of Diversity & Inclusion, will transition to Organizational Development & Training in Human Resources for the spring and beyond. “We are excited to continue the NCLUDE program. We want every Husker to feel like they belong here, and this program helps our students, staff, and faculty develop the awareness and skills to create strong communities of belonging,” said Mike Zeleny, Vice Chancellor for Business and Finance.
The NCLUDE small learning groups offer a space to build community and belonging as a part of everyday interactions. The small groups are intended to leverage peer-to-peer learning and introspection to help students, faculty, staff, alumni and the larger community understand and embrace the opportunities to create a greater sense of belonging.
Any individual, or pair of individuals (students, faculty, staff and community members), can anchor a learning group as long as they: work with Organizational Development & Training to develop a set of learning materials for the six sessions (or use previously developed materials) and attend the anchoring workshop. Individuals may anchor a group on their own or on behalf of a sponsoring unit. Anchors do not need to be an expert in the subject. Anchors simply create the time and space where people can learn and grow together. Everyone in a learning group has knowledge, experiences, and awareness from which others learn. Anchoring an #NCLUDE group involves three steps: (1) Create a learning group; (2) Prepare for a successful group; and (3) Anchor meetings.
Anchors can repeat a topic from past semesters or propose a new topic and work with the Organizational Development & Training to develop that topic in ways that:
- Elevate knowledge and awareness of diverse perspectives and shared experiences that shape our communities;
- Develop skills and support networks to navigate institutional structures and processes that may impose barriers to building community and belonging; and
- Strengthen ability to build and contribute to strong teams, relationships, and work environments.
If you are interested in anchoring, send an email to nclude@unl.edu by November 15.
Welcome New R&I Team Members
Allyn Pella, Research Portfolio Manager II, Project Management Office, started on October 1
Matt Walters, Grants Coordinator I, Sponsored Programs, started on October 7
Anjeza Erickson, Research Infrastructure Manager, R&I Vice Chancellor’s Office, started on October 28
Kaye Wolfe, Office Associate, Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior, will start tomorrow, November 1
Kaye will report to Jess Cronin. She was most recently was in the Department of Agronomy & Horticulture as the Office Support Lead. Kaye will be located at East Stadium in the CB3 space. An updated organizational chart can be found at https://research.unl.edu/open/staff/.
Kaye’s role will be to:
- Provide general administrative support to the faculty and staff of the Center for Brain, Biology, and Behavior. Including greeting visitors, monitoring building access, answering phones, scheduling research participants, responding to information requests, making room reservations
- Assisting and organizing calendars and meeting schedules for Associate Directors, serving as the travel coordinator for the Associate Directors, and providing general office support.
- Set up workshops and trainings, assisting with tours of the facilities.
If you see Kaye, please introduce yourself and welcome her to the Research and Innovation team.
Farewells
Julie Naughton‘s last day with NUtech Ventures was October 7. In the interim, please contact Cheryl Horst.
Stefanie Kremer‘s last day with Institutional Animal Care Program will be November 4. Stef will be a central data manager for Trio US, a company responsible for clinical trials in cancer research. In the interim, please contact Anna Fitzwater.
Hannah Kahler‘s last day with the Post Award team in Sponsored Programs will be November 13. In the interim, please contact Sam Mombou.
Sherri Jones‘ will step down from the Interim Vice Chancellor role on November 15 and move into phased retirement as a Senior Research Advisor. Jen Nelson was named the new Interim Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation. Congratulations Sherri and Jen!
Kathi Malone will retire from UNL and Sponsored Programs on November 25. Congratulations, Kathi! In the interim, please contact Sam Mombou.
Brad Roth will retire from UNL and NUtech Ventures on January 2. Congratulations, Brad! Cheryl Horst was named the interim director in July.
Kudos to Our Colleagues
Sara Quinn received Kudos award on October 4
Read about Sara’s award at https://news.unl.edu/article/quinns-research-compliance-work-earns-kudos-award.
Sara Quinn (holding award) received the Kudos honor during the Oct. 4 University of Nebraska Board of Regents meeting, which was held in Kearney. She is pictured with (from left) Jen Nelson; Chancellor Rodney D. Bennett. Dr. Jeffrey P. Gold, NU system president; Elizabeth Herbin, student regent; and Sherri Jones, interim vice chancellor for research and innovation. Photo credit: Todd Gottula, University of Nebraska at Kearney
Open Position Announcements
Associate Director for Research and Open Rank Research Professor, Center for Brain, Biology & Behavior,application review date begins 12/02/2024
Operations Associate (Temporary), Nebraska Innovation Campus, application review date begins 10/31/2024
Animal Care Program Technician/Veterinary Technician I, II, or III, Institutional Animal Care Program, application review date begins, 11/04/2024
Executive Specialist, Research, application review date begins 11/07/2024
The Month in Pictures
OPEN Book Submissions
If you enjoyed the news and photos, please consider sharing some for the next OPEN Book Newsletter.
Thank you to the OPEN Book reporters:
Mardi Bonner (Office of Sponsored Programs)
Megan Ebbers (Institutional Animal Care Program)
Petrina Suiter (Research Development)
Nova Gocchi Carrasco (Methodology and Evaluation Research Core)
Brooke Goedert (Nebraska Innovation Campus, Nebraska Innovation Studio, and Industry Relations)
Mari Greer (Vice Chancellor’s Office)
Casey Lundberg (NUtech Ventures)
Sara Quinn (Research Compliance Services), and
Ashley Washburn (Research Communications).
If you have anything you would like to include in the monthly OPEN Book newsletter, please reach out to one of these reporters or send it directly to Becky Carter (Vice Chancellor’s Office).
