February 10, 2016

Secure Your Accounts with Strong Passwords

Passwords are like online keys to the IPFW campus. You should do everything you can to prevent others from gaining access to them. When creating a password, make sure it is long and strong, with a minimum of eight characters and a mix of upper- and lowercase letters, numbers, and symbols.

Remember these tips:

Never share your password with others
Make your password unique to your life and not something that is easily guessed
Have a different password for each online account
If you must write it down, keep your password locked in a safe place away from your computer
Change your password several times a year

For more information on cybersecurity awareness, visit staysafeonline.org

Find Work-Life Balance with APSAC Series

Each spring APSAC-West Lafayette organizes the Richard A. Hadley APSAC Professional Development Series presentation that is streamed live to all regional campuses. This year's event will be March 1 from 2 to 4 p.m. Michelle Gladieux, Purdue alumna and executive coach, will present "Presence and Productivity: Pursuing "Work-Life Balance."

Gladieux will discuss how to be highly effective at work and live your days with more enjoyment. How does less worrying, smart risk-taking, and communicating with less fear sound? This workshop will help you understand your unique purpose in three main relationships: the one you have with yourself, with others, and with your work.Create space to clarify your passions and plan logical next steps. Stream the event from your desktop

Is Your Emergency Contact Information Current?

An emergency or crisis situation is not the time to find out that no one knows who to contact on your behalf. While employees are not required to provide emergency contact information, having updated information helps your supervisor be proactive in times of crisis. As Human Resources and Office of Institutional Equity explore an efficient and electronically secure way to gather this information, supervisors who maintain employee emergency contact information are reminded of the importance of keeping that information updated and secure.

Need Help with a Problem? Make an Appointment through EAP

Weber and Associates will be onsite for employee assistance (EAP) appointments February 23 from 1 to 4 p.m. The company provides professional assistance on a variety of issues to benefit-eligible employees and their covered family members. You don't have to wait until February 23, however. Weber and Associates is available every day! Call 260-432-0696 or 800-729-3971.

If you would like to confer with them on campus, please notify them that you would like to schedule an appointment during their February 23 onsite visit. After it has been scheduled you will be given the campus location for your meeting. If you would like additional information about the onsite visit or EAP, contact Vanessa Miller at millerv@ipfw.edu or 481-6684.

Help Fight Hunger----Donate to the Summit League Food Fight

IPFW Athletics is competing with Summit League schools in the annual Food Fight Campaign. Each school has a two-week period to raise money and collect food for a local food pantry. We have chosen the Fort Wayne Community Harvest Food Bank, with a goal to raise 8,000 pounds of food. Barrels for non-perishable food items will be placed at the Kettler Information Desk, Walb Union (near the bookstore), Gates Center Check-in, and at Student Housing during the week of February 14-- 20.

Buy a Bracelet and Wear Jeans

Student-athletes will also be selling bracelets for $5, which can also be purchased at the Kettler Information Desk, IPSGA Student Government office in Walb 225, and the Gates Center Check-in Desk. Chancellor Carwein has agreed that the the purchase of a bracelet you can wear jeans during Homecoming Week as long as you wear an IPFW-branded shirt. Bracelets are available starting today (February 10) and will be available throughout Homecoming Week.

Donations of food and money will also be accepted at these events next week:

Students vs. Staff Basketball Game, (Feb. 16)
Women's Basketball Game, Feb. 17, 7 p.m.
Men's Basketball Game, Feb. 18, 7 p.m.
Men's Volleyball Game, Feb. 19, 7 p.m.
Men's Volleyball Game, Feb. 20, 3 p.m.
Men's Basketball Game, Feb. 20, 7 p.m.

Student-athletes will drop off reusable shopping bags at departments and they will pick up any donations. Thank you for supporting the Summit League Food Fight and the Community Harvest Food Bank!

COAS Distinguished Lecturer Series

Join the College of Arts and Sciences (COAS) Friday, February 12, at noon in the Walb Classic Ballroom, when Professor of History Richard Weiner presents "Scrambled Pictures: Mexico in the American Imagination." Weiner's talk was inspired by Donald Trump's discourse last fall about Mexico, which in some ways is nothing new---- the United States has a long history of fixation on Mexico that goes all the way back to the age of independence. What accounts for this obsession? The question invariably leads to another that will also be addressed in his talk: what has been the nature of American depictions of Mexico?

Weiner's presentation is part of the COAS Distinguished Lecturer Series and is free and open to the public.

Cleanup of IRB Files----Be Sure You're Complying

The Purdue University Human Research Protection Program (HRPP) is undergoing an internal assessment to ensure compliance with the institution's Federal-Wide Assurance. If you have studies where Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval has expired (instead of having been closed via the continuing review process), you will soon be receiving an email from the IRB.

Please take steps immediately to close expired studies or apply for continuing IRB approval. Go to www.irb.purdue.edu/forms.php, Miscellaneous Forms, and select Continuing Review of Closure for Expired Studies. Complete this form and email it to irb@purdue.edu.

Because human subject research should not be undertaken without IRB approval, no study activity should be conducted when IRB status is expired. If you are still interacting with subjects or analyzing identifiable data (including coded data with a link to identifiers) and IRB approval has expired, please stop until you have worked with the IRB to renew your IRB approval. For questions, contact the HRPP office, 765-494-5942, irb@ipurdue.edu.

Learn How to Ace a Phone/Video Interview

Are your students looking for advice on the best ways to plan for and present themselves in different types of interviews? Do you use phone/video interviewing to hire or obtain info? Join Amy Shurley, a recruiter with over 10 years of experience, as she provides the inside scoop on how to ace video and phone interviews. Shurley will share what recruiters are looking for in each kind of interview and will provide practical advice on how to increase your success. Register for webinar

Mastodon Career Call Webinar: "How to Ace the Phone and Video (Zoom) Interview"
Amy Shurley, Northwestern Mutual
February 11, noon

Trade-in Your T-shirt during Homecoming Week

The Center for Student Success and Transitions is sponsoring a T-shirt trade-in during Homecoming week. Any student, faculty, or staff member can participate!

Just bring in any non-IPFW college T-shirt (BSU, IU, Purdue, etc.) and receive a free IPFW Mastodon shirt, perfect for wearing during Homecoming week. Traded shirts will be donated to charity.

Watch for these trade-in opportunities during Homecoming week or stop by the SST office in Kettler 109:

Mingle Monday
PJ's and Painting (Tuesday)
Colorful Cupcakes (Wednesday)
Rise and Shine Homecoming Breakfast (Thursday)
Taste of Fort Wayne (Friday)
Men's Basketball Game (Friday)

Go with the (Yoga) Flow

Need a midday break from the everyday stresses of work life? Take a few minutes and join staff and faculty for Yoga Tone and/or Yoga Flow at the Gates Center, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 12:05 to 12:50 p.m. For more information, visit the Division of Continuing Studies online catalog.

Photo of the Week