myHR: September 8, 2022

Congratulations, 2021-22 Be in the Know VIPS

During the 2021-2022 Be in the Know wellness campaign, 330 faculty and staff members earned 50,000 or more points to reach the highest Be in the Know reward level and achieve Very Impressive Participant (VIP) status. Congratulations to this group of wellness winners! Be in the Know 2021-2022 VIPs will receive a commemorative backpack—perfect for carrying fitness gear, healthy groceries, or a laptop.

You can be a VIP

This year, benefits-eligible faculty and staff have a fresh opportunity to join the Be in the Know VIP ranks by completing a biometric screening and earning 50,000 or more campaign points.

Please note, biometric screenings are also required to receive Pulse Cash rewards for the points you earn between July 1, 2022 and June 30, 2023. Watch myHR and your email inbox for updates about fall, on-campus biometric screening registrations.

Ways to Earn

A simple way to get started earning points is taking the online Health Check on the Penn Virgin Pulse wellness platform. Complete this short well-being assessment to earn 1,000 points, learn more about your current choices, and see wellness goal recommendations for the year.

Other high-point activities include preventative health activities such as vaccinations, annual wellness exams, and a colorectal cancer screening. The Be in the Know campaign encourages you to take care of yourself by completing these important check-ups and public health measures.

Download the Be in the Know Ways to Earn list for more than 90 options for earning points.

The Fall into Fitness Penn Challenge

Looking for a fun way to earn points and connect with coworkers this season? Join the upcoming Fall into Fitness Penn Challenge. This virtual team activity runs Monday, September 12 through Sunday, September 25. During the two-week challenge, you and a group of your coworkers track your steps to complete a virtual autumn journey, with enlightening wellness stops along the way. For complete challenge rules and details,* log in to the Virgin Pulse platform, then go to the Challenges page under the Social tab at the top of the homepage.

Visit www.hr.upenn.edu/beintheknow for complete wellness campaign information, including the four options for earning biometric screening credit this year.

*For the Fall into Fitness Penn Challenge, the deadline to upload your steps is Wednesday, September 28 at 11:59 pm ET. Steps uploaded after this date won't be counted in the final results. Please note: The platform will only allow you to enter steps for the previous 14 days. For example, steps for September 12 must be uploaded by September 26.

Goal Setting in Workday

Goal setting is an important part of your work performance. By identifying goals, you give yourself more direction, clarity, and confidence about your work and your career. Goals help you learn, change, grow, and stay motivated during challenging times. Now you can enter your goals into the Workday Performance Management system to help you track and share your accomplishments.

By entering goals into Workday Performance Management, a function of Workday Talent, staff members can prepare for the mid-year and year-end performance reviews.

Staff or managers can create a new goal or edit existing goals in Workday at any point in the performance review cycle. When you create or edit your individual goals, your manager will receive a Workday notification to review and approve them. You can also enter goals in Workday outside of the performance review process to track objectives and primary responsibilities throughout the year.

For guidance on writing goals, visit the Effective Performance Management webpage. For step-by-step instructions on how to enter, edit, restore, and archive goals, review the Goals and Performance Management tip sheet.

Keep these details in mind when goal setting with Workday:

• Goals in effect from May 1 to October 31, 2022, will be discussed during the required mid-year review process, which launches November 1. Mid-year reviews must be completed by December 15.
• Goals in effect from May 1, 2022, to April 30, 2023, will be discussed during the required year-end process, which launches April 17 and concludes on May 15, 2023.
  

Appraisal Resources and Workshops

Penn offers additional tools to support staff and supervisors throughout the performance review process:

• The Workday Performance Management Guide – provides an overview of the Performance Management process with links to user-friendly tip sheets, policies, manager’s toolkit, and other resources.
• Participating in Performance Appraisals for Staff workshop
  September 20
  12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
  Learn about the performance appraisal process and how you can prepare to have a productive review session.
• Conducting Performance Appraisals for Supervisors workshop
  September 29
  12:30 p.m. to 1:30 p.m.
  If you are a supervisor or manager of staff, learn more about how to prepare for and conduct performance appraisals. Visit the Performance Management pages for more information.

Penn Libraries Services for You

The Penn Libraries network of 19 libraries and its digital collections not only serves students, faculty, and postdocs with research and education. They are also available to faculty and staff members for workplace projects, professional development, and personal enjoyment.

The Penn Libraries’ dedicated staff, diverse collections, and specialized services are available to the whole Penn community. Whether you need assistance locating grant sources to support your next project or census records to uncover your family’s history, the Penn Libraries can help. Maybe you’re looking for scholarly literature for a class assignment, deep financial market news, or a classic movie for weekend viewing. When you need to go beyond the popular search engine results, Penn Libraries’ specialists can connect you to the right information. They even have new bestsellers for your entertainment.

To learn more, visit one of Penn’s convenient library locations in person or visit the library online at www.library.upenn.edu.

Here’s a wide range of resources and services recommended by Penn Libraries:

Workshops

Learn the basics of Excel, boost your photo editing skills, or get a primer on citation software—keep an eye on our workshop calendar to see what’s offered each month.

Events and Exhibits

Browse online exhibits, expand your mind with an expert-led book talk or lecture, and explore the wide world of manuscripts and rare books through virtual and in-person events and exhibitions.

Rooms and Event Spaces

Find spaces to accommodate groups of 2 to 140! Penn Libraries is home to spaces suitable for planning a conference, teaching a class, or holding a team meeting.

Media Production

Library resources can help with your online presentations, video projects, and more. The Vitale Digital Media Lab and the Hechtman Recording Studio are equipped with cutting-edge equipment and technology, and staff can assist with popular media production software, including Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Audition, and iMovie.

Services for Authors

Preparing to publish a book or journal article? Penn Libraries can provide step-by-step guidance and tools to help target the publishing venue that will help you reach your particular goals as an author.

Research Assistance

Subject specialists are available to provide in-depth assistance related to specific disciplines and help you find the information you need.

Books and (So Much) More

The Penn Libraries offers an enormous selection of print and electronic books, journal and newspaper articles, videos, sound recordings, manuscripts, and more, all available to you as a University of Pennsylvania staff member. All of our resources are searchable in Franklin, the Penn Libraries’ catalog.

Bestsellers+

A rotating collection of current bestsellers is located on the first floor of Van Pelt-Dietrich Library Center. Find thrillers, mysteries, popular biography, science fiction, books on politics, sports, exploration and travel, and history. Searching online? Find what’s available by using the “Specific location filter” of Van Pelt-Bestsellers Collection in Franklin.

Videos

Browse our extensive collection of DVDs and streaming videos, including documentaries, music and theater stage works, foreign language films, animation, Hollywood feature films, and popular television shows. Search for your favorite titles in Franklin using the format filter for Video.

Music

The Otto E. Albrecht Music Library and Eugene Ormandy Music and Media Center house more than 70,000 books, 75,000 music scores, and 50,000 sound recordings and video. Find streaming music; sound recordings of classical, jazz, and traditional music of the world; and concerts, opera, jazz, ballet, and music-related documentaries.

International Collections

Our librarians maintain extensive collections covering all geographic areas of the world, including literature in Asian and Middle Eastern Scripts. The Penn Libraries also provides access to many international newspapers and periodicals, world music, and foreign language videos.

Borrowing from Partner Libraries

Not finding what you’d like in the Penn Libraries’ own collections? We’ve partnered with other libraries to give you access to additional materials from their collections—with quick delivery and generous borrowing times.

Newspaper Subscriptions

The Penn Libraries hosts subscriptions for several major newspaper website and mobile applications, including The New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, and Financial Times, at no cost to you! Access to these publications typically requires an initial website registration through PennKey authentication.

Databases, Journals, and More

Thousands of databases, ejournals, and other resources are accessible online with your PennKey. Research your family history with Ancestry Library Edition, learn practical conversation skills with Mango Languages, or get the latest national and international news through DowJones Factiva. Use Franklin to search and limit by the online filter to see databases, ebooks, ejournals, streaming options, and more.

Pickup and Delivery

Getting your library books has never been easier! When requesting items in the catalog, choose to pick your items up from the library that is most convenient for you—or if you prefer a contact-free option, try our automated lockers. You can also register for Books by Mail and request to have library materials shipped to your off-campus home address.

Find more information about these Penn Libraries resources at guides.library.upenn.edu/pennstaff.

Contact Penn Libraries at www.library.upenn.edu, library@pobox.upenn.edu, or 215-898-7555.

Email Mysteries Solved

Do your important emails seem to vanish in other people’s inboxes? Do you feel like you need to be a super detective or a spy to decode the meaning of replies to your email requests? It’s time to take the mystery out of email communication with Penn’s Influencing Other People: Purposeful Calls to Action Through Email, a free, virtual workshop on September 27, 12:00 pm to 12:45 pm.

Email may seem deceptively easy to use. After all, people sure send a lot of them. However, just because it’s easy to send multiple messages from your desktop, laptop, or phone, doesn’t mean that effective email communication happens automatically. Engaging people to complete tasks via email while keeping back-and-forth emails from clogging your inbox is an everyday challenge.

Fortunately, with this workshop, you can learn simple techniques that will help motivate people to respond to your invitations and requests for collaboration. Workshop facilitator Rafael Perez will show you how to use powerful calls to action on real-life examples of workplace emails. You and other workshop participants will practice using these prompts together to improve your electronic communications to save time, avoid frustration, and foster understanding.

Register for Influencing Other People: Purposeful Calls to Action Through Email, and prepare to take a bite out of time spent dealing with email mysteries.

For more professional development opportunities, visit the Learn & Grow web pages.

Flu Shot Options for the Season 

Getting a flu vaccination is an important public health measure. A flu shot can protect you, your family, and your community against influenza. Staff, faculty, postdocs, and students can fight the flu this fall and winter by attending Penn’s annual Flu Vaccine Clinic, offered by Wellness at Penn. The on-campus clinic will be held from Wednesday, September 28 through Friday, September 30 in Gimbel Gym at Pottruck Health and Fitness Center, 3701 Walnut Street.

The walk-in clinic is fast and free to staff, faculty, and postdocs. You do not need to register in advance. Please wear a mask and bring your PennCard. 

The clinic hours are:

September 28 and 29: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

September 30: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

You do have other options for getting a flu shot if you are not on campus during any of the Wellness at Penn Clinic dates.

You can use your medical insurance card to get a flu vaccine at in-network locations such as a physician’s office, urgent care center, or pharmacy. In accordance with the Affordable Care Act, flu vaccines are considered preventive services, so if you go to an in-network provider you will not have a copay through your medical insurance plan. If you have health insurance outside of Penn, please check with your provider for available flu vaccine options.

Faculty and staff who are enrolled in one of Penn’s health plans can also get a flu shot at their local CVS pharmacy with no copay using their CVS Caremark card.

For more information about the upcoming flu season, visit www.cdc.gov/flu.

Healthy Meals: 20-Minute Stir Fry

This 20-minute stir fry is the perfect dish for those busy nights you’re looking for something healthy, flavorful, and quick. Save even more time by prepping this the night before by slicing all the vegetables and making the sauce. When it’s time for dinner, simply put it all together in the skillet and enjoy. 

Click here to send us your healthy recipes and tips.

Ingredients:

For the stir fry:

1 cup (185 grams) quinoa, cooked

1/2 Tbsp. (7.5mL) toasted sesame oil

1-16 oz (440grams) can of chickpeas, rinsed

12oz (440grams) frozen broccoli florets (chopped)

1/2 large onion, diced

½ cup carrots

1/2 red bell pepper, roughly chopped

1 (6 oz) bag baby spinach

1 egg

1 teaspoon minced garlic

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Optional Garnish: Green onions or slivered almonds

For the sauce:

¼ cup (60mL) low sodium soy sauce

¼ cup (60mL) bone broth

1 tbsp fresh chopped ginger (or sub ¼ ground ginger)

1 gloves garlic, minced

½ tablespoon (4gram) corn starch

½ tablespoon (10 grams) honey

½ teaspoon (2.5mL) sesame seed oil

½ teaspoon (2.5mL) rice vinegar

Instructions:

In a large pan skillet, heat sesame oil over medium high heat.

Add onion, garlic, ginger, broccoli, and bell pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally until softened, about 3-4 minutes.

In a small bowl, whisk together stir fry sauce ingredients (low sodium soy sauce, bone broth, ginger, grated/minced garlic, corn starch, honey, sesame seed oil, and rice vinegar). *NOTE: You may not need entire batch for this recipe; extra sauce may be kept refrigerated in an airtight container for one week.

Add chickpeas, quinoa, spinach and the stir fry sauce to the skillet and cover, stir occasionally until spinach is wilted.

If using the egg, crack into the skillet and mix until scrambled and cooked. Plate and garnish with green onions or almonds as desired.

For more tips and nutrition support, meet with a Corporate Wellness Nutrition Registered Dietitian today!

• One-on-One, virtual sessions you can schedule at any time that works for you
• 100% covered under many insurance plans and available to spouses and dependents
• Simple Sign Up Process — Visit Penn’s Corporate Wellness Nutrition’s Sign Up page, provide your information and a customer service team member will reach out in 1-2 business days to book your appointment.

Did You Know: Free Penn Live Arts Performances

Join Penn Live Arts, the University’s home for the performing arts, for their 50^th anniversary celebration with a Community Open House at the Annenberg Center. On September 16 and 17, the Penn community can enjoy two days of free music, dance, and storytelling performances. Please register in advance for free performances and discover other special Open House discounts at pennlivearts.org. (Registration is required for timed tickets to Pilobolus Safari.)