The Get Fit Texas! Challenge has commenced! Join your colleagues as UHD competes against similar-sized Texas state agencies for the highest number of employees who achieve 150 minutes of physical activity per week in at least six (6) out of the next 10 weeks. Everyone who signs up this January will be entered into a drawing, and we will be giving out prizes throughout the challenge to those who log their activity.
Be sure to check your email for details about a kick-off event we're planning for next week, which will include 30 minutes of activity, and other forthcoming events.
Feeling indecisive on what to grab for lunch? Want to take advantage of everything Downtown has to offer?
The UHD Dining Guide is stuffed with restaurant options on or near campus and contains details such as estimated drive time from campus, hours, and price range. As the Downtown area is ever evolving, updates to the guide will roll out in the near future.
FY 25 Policy Updates
We have created a new Policy Updates webpage inside the HR SharePoint site to support all UHD employees in engaging with the UHD Policy Statement and UHS System Administrative Memoranda review processes.
We will continue to post policy updates in this newsletter, but we encourage you to bookmark our new Policy Updates page to review policy updates as they happen.
Employee Spotlight: Dr. Raghu Venugopalan
We'd like to take a moment to give a hearty round of (metaphorical) applause to Dr. Venugopalan for his fantastic work as the new department chair of Accounting and International Business. Through his time as interim and now permanent chair, Dr. Venugopalan has gained the full confidence of his colleagues within the department.
The Employee Spotlight will be a semi-regular recurring feature. If you think of an employee who has gone above and beyond, let us know at this Employee Spotlight Nomination Form. Much like Kudos, student employees, faculty, and staff are all eligible to be featured!
Texans Spirit Friday
The Texans are in the playoffs! To celebrate and show support for the team, the UHD Staff Council is organizing Texans Spirit Friday. Join your colleagues and wear Texans gear or the team's colors (deep steel blue and battle red) this Friday to work.
Go Texans!
Benefits & Compensation Spotlight
Benefit News
Learn about how to take full advantage of your benefits by checking out the Benefits News section of the HR SharePoint site. There, we publish tips and resources for planning for your future and healthy living. This month, there's an important update about 403b and 457 retirement plan contribution limits.
Reach out to benefits@uhd.edu with any questions you may have about these resources
A New EAP Member Portal is Coming Soon!
Deer Oaks EAP is now doing business as AllOne Health, and they are launching a brand-new EAP Member Portal starting February 1, 2025.
We’ll be sharing information about how to sign up for your new EAP member portal in the coming weeks. Stay tuned!
HealthSelect Medical Deductibles Have Reset
How much is each participant’s prescription drug plan deductible?
Except for Consumer Directed HealthSelectSM (which has one deductible covering both medical services and prescription drugs), all HealthSelect prescription drug plan participants must pay a $50 annual deductible before benefits are paid. The $50 prescription drug deductible is based on a calendar year, Jan. 1 to Dec. 31. A participant enrolled in Consumer Directed HealthSelect must meet the combined medical/pharmacy deductible for the calendar year before benefits are paid.
How much is the medical plan deductible?
The Health Plans Comparison Chart PDF on the ERS website shows the deductible and coinsurance amounts for the HealthSelect plans.
Eligible in-network preventive care is always covered at 100%, no matter which plan the participant is in.
Talent Team Spotlight
2024 Hiring Data
The hiring data is in for most of 2024. From January - November of last year UHD hired 779 people out of a pool of 5,382 applicants. The University posted 375 positions up through October. Critical to those efforts, 90 employees served across 32 search committees. Thank you all who participated in the hiring process!
This is a part of our ongoing commitment to transparency. You can see other similar efforts in posts such as this Q1 report on staff promotions.
New Year, New Workshop Offerings
Kickstart your year by investing in yourself: register for one of our Gator Learning workshops today! Our next two offerings focus on tools to help you navigate workplace relationships with grace.
All past staff performance evaluations have been migrated from MyTalentSpace and are now stored in DocuWare. Please contact hrrecords@uhd.edu for support in accessing historical staff performance evaluations.
Future staff performance evaluations will be housed in the ePerformance module of PeopleSoft. This module is still in the buildout phase, and no demonstrations are available at this time. Training opportunities for staff and their supervisors will be available for all users before the rollout of the new system. Please contact talent@uhd.edu with any questions regarding the staff performance management process.
We are also working on workflows to eliminate paper processes. For access, please visit HR Forms.
Career Resources and Opportunities
UHD is committed to recruiting and retaining top tier talent—that's right, we're talking about YOU!
Learn more about your career opportunities and benefits at our careers site. You can filter openings in the three major job categories below by department and employment type:
Have you been in touch with an HR representative lately? We strive to meet the needs of employees to the best of our abilities, and we value your input. Any feedback is welcome via our quick customer satisfaction survey.
