November 22, 2021

The 2022 Benefits Open Enrollment is now open and will run through Monday (Nov. 29) at 5 p.m.

Open Enrollment is your opportunity to assess your individual and family needs and elect the benefit package that is right for you.

If you were unable to attend the Open Enrollment Benefits Forums in person, the Benefits website has a link to the recording of the 2022 Open Enrollment Forum.

Passive Enrollment Option:
Open enrollment for 2022 is NOT mandatory. The passive enrollment allows employees to roll over most of their benefits from the previous year without making updates in the system.

Flexible spending accounts (FSA) and health savings accounts (HSA) will not automatically roll over. It’s important if you would like to elect these to do so during open enrollment. While open enrollment is optional, it is recommended that all employees complete open enrollment, regardless of if you are making changes to your benefit elections or not.

To find more information on open enrollment, please see our previous post in Tech Today, or visit our Open Enrollment website to get the most up-to-date details on benefits for 2022.

The President's Office and Staff Council would like to offer a free pie to our faculty and staff members as a small token of our appreciation for your hard work over the past year.

To reserve your pie, please submit our form by 5 p.m. on Dec. 3.

Pies can be picked up at the MUB from noon to 3 p.m. Dec. 16 and 17. If you have any questions email Laurie Stark at ldstark@mtu.edu.

The Michigan Tech Archives reading room will be closed to patrons this week (Nov. 22-28). Normal appointment hours will resume on Monday (Nov. 29).

Remote research will be available Monday through Wednesday (Nov. 22-24) this week — please submit requests via copper@mtu.edu.

On behalf of the entire Archives team, have a safe and happy Thanksgiving break!

The A. E. Seaman Mineral Museum will be closed for Thanksgiving break from Thursday through Sunday (Nov. 25-28).

We will resume our regular schedule — Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. — the following week, starting Monday (Nov. 29).

As a reminder, admission to the museum is waived for all MTU students, staff and faculty with their Tech ID.

Ph.D. in Electrical Engineering candidate Shane Oberloier will defend his doctoral dissertation Monday (Nov. 29) at 10 a.m. in the Electrical Energy Resources Center (EERC), Room 508, and virtually via Zoom. 

The title of his dissertation is "Open-Source TIG-Based Metal 3D-Printing."

Oberloier is advised by Glen Archer and Joshua Pearce.

Candy McCorkle, vice president of diversity and inclusion at Western Michigan University, will be presenting a virtual seminar on Dec. 3 from 1-2 p.m.

The seminar will teach participants to identify, describe and implement the five basic skills needed to begin leading their teams in diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) work.

From the abstract:
Following the summer of 2020 many colleges and universities have begun to focus on the diversity, equity and inclusion. Although this is an admirable focus it is shortsighted because most faculty, staff, administrators and students are not trained in how to integrate diversity, equity and inclusion into their work. ... It is the objective that upon the conclusion of this presentation individuals will be able to identify, describe and implement the five basic skills to begin leading their team in diversity, equity and inclusion work.

McCorkle will also have very limited 15 minute one-on-one sessions after the seminar. Sign up for a one-on-one session.

An additional resource in the form of a guidebook is also available.

Michigan Tech senior Laura De Marchi has been named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District Volleyball Team for the third straight season.

De Marchi holds a 3.79 GPA in biomedical and electrical engineering.

De Marchi led the Huskies to their second straight GLIAC regular season championship this season, averaging 11.55 assists per set to lead the GLIAC and rank sixth in the nation. 

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Michigan Tech men's cross country ended an impressive season with a 24th place team finish at the NCAA Division II Championships at the Abbey Course in Saint Leo, Florida on Saturday (Nov. 20).

The Huskies fell short of a top-10 goal but had bright spots competing against the nation's best runners. First-year Drew Kolodge finished 66th in 32:10.5 and was Tech's top scorer.

"My mental approach is confidence and knowing where I should be in the race and following through with it," Kolodge said. "Remembering all the work I did to get here and having confidence in myself was the most important thing."

"It was a tough day for our guys out there overall, and not our best," said head coach Kristina Owen. "We'll take some time to digest and reflect, but there's not any single factor that we can attribute it immediately. The silver lining is that our young runners did pretty well, and got a lot of great experience racing at this level. Back in August, our men's team got together and set some pretty lofty goals together. They had a heck of a season and hit most of them. Our team finish at nationals will be added motivation to come back even stronger next year."

Read more at the Michigan Tech Athletics website.

Face Coverings Required Indoors on Campus

While Michigan Tech is at Health and Safety Level Two, face coverings must be worn indoors. This applies to all students, employees and visitors, regardless of vaccination status.

Michigan Tech strongly recommends that all employees and students continue with handwashing and hand-sanitizing practices, especially in light of the virulence of the COVID-19 delta variant. Please be aware that if you are exposed to COVID-19, quarantine guidelines vary depending on vaccination status. 

In Level Two, students and employees are not required to monitor their symptoms daily prior to coming to campus. But, individuals should be mindful of their own symptoms. A useful monitoring tool is available from the CDC. 

*****

On-Demand COVID-19 Testing Available on Campus

Walk-in, on-demand COVID-19 testing is available to Michigan Tech students and employees during the fall 2021 semester.

Testing is located in the Datolite Room at the MUB on Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 11:45 a.m. There is no cost to be tested, and no appointment is needed. 

Please note: Testing will not be offered Nov. 22, 23 or 25 during the week of Michigan Tech's Thanksgiving recess.

Read more COVID-19 Testing Information on the MTU Flex website.

*****

Joint EPSSI/Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar

The next Environmental Engineering Graduate Seminar will be joint with the Earth, Planetary, and Space Sciences Institute (EPSSI).

The seminar will take place at 3 p.m. on Monday (Nov. 29) in the Great Lakes Research Center (GLRC), Room 202.

Emily Shaw, Ph.D. candidate in environmental engineering, will present "Toxicity in Fish Tissue: Redefining our Understandings by Quantifying Mixture Toxicity."

Read the abstract on the University Events Calendar.

All are welcome.

*****

Campus Phone Maintenance

Tomorrow (Nov. 23) from 10-11 a.m. and 2-3 p.m., Michigan Tech IT will be updating the hardware for our telephone servers.

We expect phones will fail over to redundant systems where available. Voicemail and the auto-attendant that answers 906-487-1885 are not redundant and will be down for 10-15 minutes during these windows.

If you have any questions or concerns, we can help. Contact us at it-help@mtu.edu or call 906-487-1111.

*****

Lunch and Learn: Holiday Health Hacks

Join Anna Mooi, dietician from Aspirus Hospital, as she discusses Holiday Health Hacks. This Lunch and Learn workshop will be held next Tuesday (Nov. 30) from noon to 1 p.m. in the MUB Alumni Lounge, Room 107C.

In the midst of an overindulgent holiday season, do you dread going into the new year with an overwhelming need to diet and exercise? Break free from that cycle and enjoy the best of the holidays nourishing the body and soul! Guilt Free! Mooi will teach you how to approach holiday feasting in a balanced way with tips and tricks to navigate a happier, healthier holiday season.

This workshop can be counted under Option No. 2 for your Husky Health checklist.

To have your event automatically appear, please submit them to the University Events Calendar.

Strength Training and High Intensity Interval Training ("HIIT")

Monday, November 22, 5:30 p.m.–6:15 p.m.

We are a group of Michigan Tech graduate students who are focused on improving the health of our community. We are contributing to the COVID-19 response by providing health...

NASA's Best Space Images

Monday, November 22, 6 p.m.

Husky Bites presents Special Guest Robert Nemiroff Professor, Physics Michigan Technological University Co-host Alice Allen Faculty Specialist in the Astronomy Department...