Staff Senate Newsletter • Oct. 2, 2020

Register to Vote by Oct. 5!

The last day to register to vote for the Nov. 3 general election is Oct. 5. Information for current and upcoming elections has been provided by Denton County.

UNT World Mental Health Day Virtual Conference

World Mental Health Day is Oct. 10 each year, and in honor of this day, UNT will be hosting a virtual conference to provide education and resources for our faculty, staff, and students on Oct. 9, 2020.

This virtual conference will host a variety of lectures hosted by several departments such as Dean of Students, Student Health and Wellness Center, Counseling and Testing, Student Money Management, Social Work, Rehabilitation and Health Services, Recreational Center, Human Resources, and more.

As well, there will be a special presentation from Keynote Speaker Monique Rhodes entitled “Making Friends With Your Mind – The Modern Day Super Power.” Monique Rhodes has been studying happiness and practicing mindfulness meditation for more than 20 years, and is a master at teaching how to calm your mind, live a happier life and take a little walk on the wild side.

Faculty/Staff Appreciation Lunch

The October Faculty/Staff Appreciation Lunch is Oct. 9. UNT faculty and staff can enjoy an all-you-care-to-eat lunch in any of our dining halls for only $5, reduced from $8.20, plus tax.

 

Campus Inclusion Climate Survey Results

The Campus Inclusion Climate Survey Results Zoom webinar is on Oct. 12 from noon to 1 p.m. The webinar will include a presentation on headlines from the data results, plus a discussion on the next steps with a Q&A session following with the two hosts: Joanne Woodard, Vice President of Institutional Equity and Diversity, and Shani Barrax Moore, Director of Diversity and Inclusion. Registration for the webinar is required and can be found on the Campus Inclusion Climate Survey results page, where you can also find the survey results for students, staff, faculty, and administrators. The page also has a form to ask questions ahead of the webinar.

 

 

Staff Appreciation Awards — Call for Nominations

Staff Appreciation Award nominations are now open! Read more about the nomination process, award descriptions and deadlines. Nominations close on Nov 2.

Zoom Session Live Captioning 

Live captions, appearing instantly while the speaker is speaking, are now available for all UNT World Zoom users. The Division of Digital Strategy and Innovation has tested them and created quick instructions for how to enable them in a live meeting or webinar.This is a big help to students with hearing impairments since it eliminates delays in arranging for a human captioner.

 

Financial Wellness 

Recordings of the virtual financial wellness courses presented by DATCU for UNT employees in September are now available online. If you missed them or need a refresher, you can learn the basics of budgeting, fraud protection, home buying, insurance and credit scores.

Integrated Communications Platform 

UNT World is transitioning telephone service from multiple technologies to a single communications platform that integrates telephony with online chat, conferencing, and collaboration. This initiative reduces the amount of effort it takes to manage systems, in addition to projected savings of one-half to one million U.S. dollars annually.

The digital transformation to Microsoft Teams for voice calling allows our institutions to take steps that move UNT World toward a state that supports the flexibility and compatibility now required in our new workforce. 

COVID Update

UNT’s Student Health and Wellness Center is offering testing to faculty, staff and students who have been identified by UNT’s Contact Tracing team as a close contact of a UNT positive COVID-19 case — within six feet for at least 15 minutes. That follows the CDC’s latest guidelines that even people who do not have symptoms should be tested if they’ve been in close contact with an infected person. If you have questions about potential exposure, testing or symptoms, contact UNT's COVID Hotline at 844-366-5892 or COVID@unt.edu.

Join Us at Our Next Meeting!

Meetings are open to all UNT staff members. The next meeting will be held on Oct. 13, 2020, at 3 p.m. 

For meeting agendas, minutes and recordings, please visit the Agendas and Minutes page. 

Contact Us!

If you have an article, announcement or suggestion relating to this newsletter, email staffsenate@unt.edu to have it included.