Thursday, March 21, 2024

submitted by vachta@augsburg.edu

Augsburg University employees enrolled in Health Savings Accounts, Flexible Spending Accounts (including limited purpose), and Dependent Care Reimbursement Accounts received communications from HR Simplified Communications (health.marketing@ascensus.com) on or around March 12th about an upcoming change that will impact their account access. These communications are legitimate! Employees utilizing these accounts should review the action steps outlined in the communications. Additional details can be found in the link below.

Action items for employees with these accounts:
– Log in to your current HR Simplified account to verify that your email address, home address, and phone number are up to date so that you receive important communications about the transition.
– Stay tuned to upcoming communications from Human Resources and HR Simplified about the upcoming transition

Details on the transition can be found at https://www.wex-info.com/wex/hr-simplified-is-becoming-chard-snyder-a-wex-company/

If you have any questions about the transition please refer to the transition details page or contact the HR Simplified Participant Services at 888-318-7472.

HR Simplified Transition Details

submitted by johnso91@augsburg.edu

This year Augsburg Staff Senate will host an in-person Staff Appreciation Event on Wednesday, April 17, 2024 from 3:00-4:30 p.m. in the Hoversten Chapel, Foss Hall.

We are now accepting nominations to honor outstanding staff and outstanding newcomers at Augsburg. Here is a link to the nomination form: https://forms.gle/Ffj9PUNqx73uAbhZ8
Nominations for the Outstanding Staff and Newcomer Awards are due no later than 5:00 p.m. on March 29, 2024. Nominations are welcomed from any current member of the campus community – staff, faculty, or students.

The Staff Appreciation Program is intended to recognize staff members who have made an important contribution to the campus community over the past year. Recipients of the Outstanding Staff Award provide exceptional service to others, work collaboratively across divisions or departments, demonstrate a clear commitment to equity and inclusion, and enhance the objectives of their department and the mission of Augsburg University through creativity, innovation, and hard work.

The Newcomer Award recognizes a staff person who has made a significant impact on campus life in a short amount of time. Staff who have been at Augsburg for two years or less (as of March 1, 2024) are eligible to receive this award.
Staff Senate will award five Outstanding Staff awards and one Newcomer award during the in-person event on April 17th.

submitted by froehlic@augsburg.edu

Fluent in Spanish? Be a Debate Judge for the Spanish Debate League

The Minnesota Urban Debate League, a program of Augsburg University, is looking for Spanish-speaking adults to judge our Spanish Debate League. This program helps middle and high school students build confidence, grow their academic skills, improve their fluency, and connect with other Spanish speakers in the Twin Cities.

*NO DEBATE EXPERIENCE IS REQUIRED, BUT YOU MUST BE FLUENT IN SPANISH!*

You will earn $55 for each tournament you judge. We will provide transportation if necessary.

Tournaments will happen at the following dates and times:

Thurs. 3/28, Roosevelt HS, 4-7 PM
Thurs. 4/11, South HS(tentative location), 4-7 PM
Thurs. 4/18, Highland Park HS(tentative location), 3:30-7:30 PM

Both Championship tournaments will be held at Augsburg University in late April/early May, with undetermined dates.

Learn more and sign up here: https://mnudl.augsburg.edu/volunteer-opportunities/

Search the calendar for: Español/Spanish Debate

Need more info? Talk to our volunteer coordinator, Johan, at: fullard1@augsburg.edu. He speaks Spanish!

submitted by yangpe@augsburg.edu

As part of the Augsburg Bold initiative, the University has committed to a scholarship program for current seniors looking to continue their education in one of our designated graduate programs. To support our graduating students, Augsburg is offering a 50% tuition discount in the form of a scholarship in the designated programs below:

Master of Business Administration
Master of Arts in Leadership
Master of Arts in Teaching
Master of Arts in Education
Master of Music Therapy
Equivalency+ Master of Music Therapy

The Augsburg Bold Graduate Program Scholarship is not transferable to any other program at Augsburg University. Please email gradinfo@augsburg.edu with any questions.

Click for more details!

submitted by alexank@augsburg.edu

Calling all students! Please take the very short Textbook Affordability Survey sponsored by Augsburg’s Textbook Affordability Working Group.

We are seeking to understand how textbook and course materials costs affect students at Augsburg University. The survey is anonymous, but it does use your email address to ensure that we don’t get duplicate responses.

If you have questions about this survey or the Textbook Affordability Working Group, please contact Karen Alexander, alexank@augsburg.edu, or Sara Fillbrandt, fillbran@augsburg.edu.

Textbook Affordability Survey

submitted by fleigr@augsburg.edu

Hello Auggies! I am a graduate student seeking participants for a research study. I am exploring how one’s ability to recognize and regulate their own and others’ emotions may relate to feelings of depression and social disconnect. Participation in this study will involve completing a series of behavioral health inventories and a demographic screener that will take approximately 15 minutes to complete. These inventories will ask if you have experienced symptoms of depression or loneliness and ask how intensely you experience your everyday emotions. Following completion of these inventories, participants will complete a test online that will walk participants through a variety of different tasks, such as recognition of facial expressions and implied social meanings. This test will take approximately 45 minutes to complete. All participation in this study is done online from the comfort of your own home. Students are invited to participate in this study if you: (1) are between the ages of 18 and 31; (2) have not been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, schizophrenia, or a personality disorder; (3) have not experienced an interpersonally traumatic life event (i.e., assault by another human being); and (4) are not currently experiencing a major health concern (i.e., life threatening illness/injury or significant transplant/removal surgery).

For your time, participants will be entered into a random lottery drawing for one of three $100 Amazon gift cards!

If you have any questions or concerns regarding participation in this study, please contact me at fleigr@augsburg.edu. If you would like to participate in this study, please click the link below. You will be taken to a secure, online survey where you will be presented with a consent form followed by the demographic screener and brief inventories. Upon completion of these, you will be shown the link to the final assessment.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/7LPN7K3

Thank you!