Spears elected to Indiana University Board of Trustees
Indiana University alumni have elected Donna B. Spears of Richmond, Indiana, to the IU Board of Trustees. Out of 13,710 votes, Spears received 4,151.
Spears, who received her associate degree (1978), bachelor’s degree (1979) and Master of Public Administration (1981) from IU, has long been involved with alumni efforts. She became a member of the IU East Board of Advisors in 1992 and served as national chair of the IU Alumni Association Board of Managers. She has also served on the IUAA Executive Council and is currently on the Past Chairs Council. A life member of IUAA, Spears was awarded the Alumni Association’s Gertrude Rich Award in 2006 and the IU East Chancellor’s Medallion in 2016.
New travel and expense system launched
Chrome River, IU’s new travel and expense system, launched July 11. Chrome River will be used for travel reimbursement as well as Meeting Card and P-Card reconciliation.
If you didn’t get a chance to attend a Chrome River overview session, recorded sessions are available for viewing at your convenience. Training videos are available as well.
For additional details regarding the rollout, such as the plan for closing travel encumbrances, see the Chrome River rollout update document on the Travel website. To learn more about Chrome River, watch a video of CFO John Sejdinaj’s brief rundown of key features.
Questions and concerns can be directed to recharge@iu.edu.
Data science skillset package available through IU Expand
The IU Bloomington School of Informatics, Computing and Engineering’s Data Science Program is offering a non-credit-hour series of lessons through IU Expand, an e-learning service launched in February 2017 that delivers professional development and continuing education coursework to the IU community and the general public.
The Data Science Essentials skillset package aims to build and enhance participants’ data science skills for personal enrichment or to meet the prerequisites of the data science online programs. This package will provide access to seven self-paced, non-credit mini-courses, including Intro to R, Basics of Python, Intro to SQL, Basics of Java, Intro to C++, MongoDB and Linear Algebra.
Almost all of these mini-courses are written in text format and have video support. Additionally, participants will have access to a teaching assistant who hosts weekend or evening office hours. Cost for the package is $150, and registration is open.
Faculty, staff, alumni honored, hired, promoted
Read about recent IU faculty, staff and alumni honors, promotions and hires, including:
- Marjorie Lyles, professor of international strategic management, Chancellor’s Professor and OneAmerica chair in Business Administration at the IU Kelley School of Business on the IUPUI campus, who has been appointed president-elect of the Academy of International Business.
- Jared Hayman, who has been appointed vice chancellor for finance at IU Kokomo.
- Faye Camahalan, who has been named dean of the School of Education at IU Southeast.
- Five alumni who have been awarded the IU Alumni Association President’s Award.
- Five faculty who have been awarded the IU President’s International Research Award.
- Susan Hendricks, who has been named dean of the IU Kokomo School of Nursing.
Nominations for teaching and service awards, faculty honors open
Nominations for the Distinguished Professor Award; Distinguished Teaching Awards; associate instructor awards; the Ehrlich, Pinnell and Ryan Awards; and the President’s Award for Excellence in Teaching and Learning Technology are now open.
Nominations and supporting documentation must be submitted electronically by Oct. 15. Examples of successful nomination documents are available physically on each campus.
Recipients will be honored in the spring. Email uha@iu.edu or call Jon Lozano at 812-856-0893 with questions or requests to view a nomination dossier
IU Southeast bass fishing team wins state qualifier
In only its second contest since registering as a student organization, the IU Southeast bass fishing team won the Indiana Qualifier tournament, defeating teams from IU Bloomington, IUPUI, Purdue University and Indiana State University.
The team of Gavin Lagle and Atom Ward recorded the limit of five fish totaling 16 pounds, 5 ounces at Lake Monroe in Bloomington.
With the win, the team becomes eligible for the Carhartt Bassmaster College National Championship on July 19 to 21 at Lake Tenkiller in Tahlequah, Oklahoma.
Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council awards $150,138 in grants
The IU Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council, in its seventh grant cycle, awarded $150,138 to 20 programs affiliated with seven IU campuses on June 6. Grants ranged from $500 to $18,000.
The council prioritizes initiatives that develop women’s leadership; provide global experiences for IU students; improve public health; increase career and educational opportunities in STEM, particularly for women and underserved youth; and foster inclusion among diverse populations. Since 2012, the Women’s Philanthropy Leadership Council has awarded more than $820,000 in grant funds.
A full list of recipients can be found in a June 12 news release.
New tools available in Canvas
Canvas has introduced two new tools to simplify instructors’ lives:
- Multicourse announcements: Instructors can save time by posting announcements to multiple courses. This option can be found in the Canvas Announcements tool or added to the course navigation menu in any Canvas course site.
- Turnitin’s Canvas Plagiarism Framework: Instructors can help students improve their citation and paraphrasing skills with this new tool. It allows all feedback and grading to take place within SpeedGrader and/or the Canvas Gradebook.
IU East to offer training sessions for recognition, prevention of human trafficking
IU East will host three training sessions on prevention of human sex trafficking July 23 and 24. Each training session will pertain to members of one of three audiences: members of the community, service providers and law enforcement.
The training sessions are free and organized in partnership with the IU East Police Department, Wayne County Probation Office, Wayne County Sheriff’s Department, Richmond Police Department and Restored Inc.
Heads up on several updates from HR
IU Human Resources shared several recent updates to employee benefits. Here are a few changes to be aware of:
- The IRS reversed the HSA family contribution limit. Employees who elected family coverage under an IU-sponsored HDHP, signed up after March 2018 and elected HSA contributions up to the previous family limit may want to consider adjusting contributions to the newly revised family maximum of $6,900, or $7,900 for employees who are 55 or older. Employees with a spouse who is contributing to an HSA at IU or elsewhere may want to review overall combined contribution amounts to take advantage of the rule reversal. Changes to contributions can be made at any time by completing the IU HSA Change Form.
- There has been a reduction in premium costs for the IU-sponsored voluntary Supplemental Life Insurance plan. Effective July 1, employees enrolled in Supplemental Life Insurance will now receive an approximate 25 percent reduction in their monthly premium rate. The benefits included within this plan remain unchanged. The reduced premium deduction will begin with the July 27 paycheck for those who are paid bi-weekly and the July 31 paycheck for those who are paid monthly. New premium costs can be estimated using HR’s premium rate calculator.
- There has been a reduction in premium costs for our Long-Term Disability plan. Effective July 1, employees enrolled in the IU-sponsored Long-Term Disability plan will now receive an approximate 20 percent reduction in their monthly premium rate. The benefits included within this plan remain unchanged. The reduced premium deduction will begin with the July 27 paycheck for those who are paid bi-weekly and the July 31 paycheck for those who are paid monthly. New premium costs can be estimated using HR’s premium rate calculator.
The IU Human Resources customer care team can assist employees with all matters related to employment at IU. Questions can be answered by emailing askHR@iu.edu or calling 812-856-1234.
