News Briefs
Flu Vaccine Clinics To Begin
University Health Services has released its Flu Vaccine Clinic schedule for all students, faculty and staff.There are several exciting changes to the flu vaccine clinics this year. They are:
- Flu vaccine clinics are going paperless in support of the university’s sustainability efforts. Consent forms and information will be filled in electronically.
- Pre-booked appointments are available for students, faculty and staff at University Health Services.
- More clinic dates and times are available across campus for those who can’t make it to University Health Services as well as for spouse and partners of students, faculty and staff.
The vaccine cost is covered for students on the CMU Student Health Insurance plan. The cost is $19 for students on other health plans and is payable by their student account.
The university is covering the vaccine cost for all faculty and staff. The cost is $19 for spouses/partners and is payable by check only.
Find answers to all of your frequently asked questions.
Help to promote flu prevention at CMU with a bulletin board kit. Just click, print and post! Kits are available at the UHS website.
CMU Hosts Women in the Workplace Symposium, Sept. 4-5
Despite social and economic changes that have transformed the modern workplace and workforce, gender inequality continues to persist. Current studies by leading academic researchers across North America are now better defining the causes of gender inequality, demonstrating the societal effects and offering potential solutions for the marketplace.
Bringing together this vanguard of academics and research, Carnegie Mellon is hosting a symposium titled "Women in the Workplace: Navigating the Labyrinth" on Sept. 4-5.
The conference will be hosted by faculty at CMU and the University of Pittsburgh, with financial support from the Carnegie Bosch Institute at CMU and the Women's Leadership Initiative at Georgetown University.
Organizers are CMU's Laurie Weingart, senior associate dean of education and the Carnegie Bosch Professor of Organizational Behavior and Theory at the Tepper School of Business; Linda Babcock, the James M. Walton Professor of Economics at CMU's Dietrich College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and Lise Vesterlund, the Andrew W. Mellon Professor of Economics at Pitt.
Learn more.
CMU Receives $5.6M NSF Grant for Cybersecurity Education
The National Science Foundation (NSF) has awarded Carnegie Mellon a $5.6 million grant through the CyberCorps Scholarship for Service (SFS), a federal program that aims to strengthen the workforce charged with protecting the nation’s critical information infrastructure.
The SFS program has funded full-tuition scholarships and stipends for graduate students in information security at Carnegie Mellon for more than a decade through awards totaling more than $21.6 million. Eligible students must be U.S. citizens and accepted into graduate programs in information security or information security policy at either the College of Engineering or the Heinz College. The SFS scholars must commit to federal employment after graduation, typically for a period of two years.
In total, 157 SFS scholars have graduated from Carnegie Mellon and gone on to apply their technology and policy expertise in positions with the federal government, such as the Department of Defense, Department of Justice and national laboratories.
Learn more.
Swartz Fellows Application Deadline is Monday, Sept. 8
The James R. Swartz Entrepreneurial Fellows Program fast-tracks the careers of Carnegie Mellon graduate students who are passionate about entrepreneurship in the technology arena. The program, administered by the Carnegie Mellon Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, is open to all incoming and current graduate students at CMU's Pittsburgh and Silicon Valley campuses. One of the benefits of being a Swartz Fellow is a mentored summer internship with a top tier venture-backed startup within the high-tech, high-growth environment of California’s Silicon Valley. Visit the CIE website for more details.
EH&S Hosts Emergency Awareness Day, Sept. 8
The Environmental Health & Safety Department will sponsor an Emergency Awareness Day from 1 - 5 p.m., Monday, Sept. 8 as part of Safety Awareness Week. The event will be held along the sidewalk between Doherty and Baker halls and will feature representatives from Environmental Health & Safety, CMU’s Student EMS, City of Pittsburgh Emergency Management Agency, City of Pittsburgh EMS, the National Weather Service, American Red Cross, and Allegheny County Emergency Management.
The representatives of these agencies will explain what they do, answer any questions you may have regarding emergency response, and provide advice on how you can protect yourself on campus and at home should an emergency arise.
The City of Pittsburgh Police Department’s K-9 unit also will provide demonstrations on how they conduct searches and pursue a fugitive.
A mock dorm room fire will be conducted from 3-5 p.m., on Tuesday, Sept. 9 (see below).
Fire Safety Awareness: EH&S To Stage Dorm Room Fires, Sept. 9
The Environmental Health & Safety Department will conduct two mock dorm room fires between 3 and 5 p.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 9 on the College of Fine Arts lawn. The purpose of the staged fires is to inform the campus community how fast fire travels and how quickly it can be extinguished by a single sprinkler head.
The first fire will depict an example of an on-campus dorm room equipped with a sprinkler head. All on-campus residence halls are equipped with sprinkler systems. The second fire will show an example of an off-campus room without a fire suppression system.
Fire safety information will be available during the presentations. Questions should be directed to EH&S Fire Safety Manager Richard Caruso at rmcaruso@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-9404.
TIAA-CREF Presents Financial Education Workshops
TIAA-CREF is sponsoring two free financial education workshops on Friday, Sept. 12. (Employees do not need to have retirement savings with TIAA-CREF to attend.)
Inside the Money – It’s your budget – take control
10 a.m. and 3 p.m., Class of '87 Room, Cohon University Center
Everyone talks about a budget, but how many of us actually make one? Most people have some debt, but how many understand its effect on their lives and their futures? Let us show you the real impact of budgeting and debt — and how to help make your money work. The workshop leader will explain the big picture of budgeting. You'll learn:
- the importance of cash flow — and how to use it;
- to change how you look at saving and spending; and
- to identify good and bad debt — and ways to help manage it.
Paying Yourself: Income options in retirement
Noon, Class of ‘87 Room, Cohon University Center
It’s time to consider a little payback. You’ve made a lot of sacrifices in order to put away enough money to retire. When it’s finally time, do you know how to get the money back? There are lots of considerations, rules and tax implications that make these decisions very important and more complex. The workshop leader will help simplify retirement income. You will:
- learn the basic rules that govern the most common retirement accounts;
- gain perspective on when to tap into different assets; and
- discover the flexible income choices TIAA-CREF offers.
While registration is not required for these workshops, space is limited. Reserve a spot by contacting HR Help at HRHelp@andrew.cmu.edu or 412-268-2047.
IRA Opens Survey Resource Center
Institutional Research and Analysis (IRA) is now providing survey research and design support for undergraduate and graduate students. Beginning Thursday, Sept. 11, an IRA researcher will be available from 10 a.m. - 2 p.m. each Thursday in UTDC 414. No appointment is necessary.
Although the center prefers to have students engage in a thorough research process, it will work with students wherever they are in the process, for example, the center will:
- discuss how to clarify their research questions;
- help them construct survey items to answer their research questions, giving attention to instructions, item wording, measurement properties of response sets, and item order; or review an existing survey instrument, including instructions, item wording, measurement properties of response sets, and item order;
- explain how to test survey items and revise them when necessary;
- share best practices for survey administration and maintaining respondent confidentiality;
- provide guidance for analyzing collected data; and
- show examples of reporting results and findings.
The center will supplement the in-person support with a series of very brief, detailed, single-topic handouts.
The Survey Resource Center could be particularly valuable for students who choose to use surveys for course projects/theses/dissertations, but who have not had instruction on how to measure attitudes, perceptions, behaviors, etc.; how to create good instruments; or how to test survey items.
The center also will provide support to students who want to do surveys outside of coursework, for example, related to a student organization, a residence hall, student government, or for their personal interest.
Learn more about the Survey Resource Center.
ORIC Offers Responsible Research Conduct Seminar Series
CMU's Office of Research Integrity and Compliance (ORIC) is once again sponsoring the Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) Seminar Series during the fall 2014 semester to provide faculty, students and staff with an overview of topics typically covered in RCR curricula. All sessions are from 12 – 1 p.m. in the Cohon University Center. Upcoming sessions are as follows:
- Wednesday, Sept. 10: Export Control Basics;
- Wednesday, Sept. 24: Conflict of Interest;
- Wednesday, Oct. 22: Research Misconduct Lessons;
- Wednesday, Oct. 29: Using the IRB and Ethical Issues Involving Human Subjects Research;
- TUESDAY, Nov. 4: International Research Considerations: Shipping and Setting Up a New Lab;
- Wednesday, Nov. 12: Data Security; and
- Wednesday, Nov. 19: Lab Safety.
More information is available on the RCR website. Space is limited, so please register early.