Natalie Mireles

We are excited to share two additional upcoming Q&A with Mark meetings for faculty and staff. 

Meeting Dates & Times

• Thursday, June 25 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
  • Special Guests for this meeting include Ken Anselment, Vice President for Enrollment and Communication, and Rich Jazdzewski, Associate Dean of Students for Wellness Services. Ken and Rich look forward to answering your questions. 
  • Click the following link to join the June 25 meeting –https://lawrence.zoom.us/j/97356418174?pwd=NFd5NEo0clFEdTVDOTkrN1VYbXFsUT09

• Thursday, July 30 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
  • Future communications will include the zoom meeting link

If you are unable to attend, we will be recording the meeting and will share a link after.

Submitting your Questions

You are encouraged to submit questions ahead of the meeting here. The meeting will have an active chat function and questions can be submitted using this feature as well. We will cover as many questions as possible during the allotted time.

Thank you all for your dedication and work to support Lawrence. Please continue to take care of yourselves.

The following colleagues have been hired or rehired within the last weeks. If you see them on campus, please welcome them to Lawrence!

Tony Banick – Hydronic AC-R Technician Assistant/General Maintenance Mechanic (Facilities)

The following colleagues have recently moved to a new position within Lawrence. Please take the time to congratulate them on their new position!

Christyn Abaray – Assistant to the President and Secretary to the Board (President’s Office)

Kimberly Tatro – Director of Athletics (Athletics)

In response to COVID-19, Lawrence University has chosen to add Telehealth coverage to the medical plan with UMR. These benefits are not standard for plans to provide, but in these nonstandard times, we want to help you protect your health by keeping you safe in your homes – while still helping you get care.

This new benefit will provide access to the same Choice Plus network of doctors under Lawrence University’s current plan. It allows you to connect with your regular medical provider virtually, if they have access to live audio or video-conferencing. The regular plan cost-share will pay at plan benefits which could be a copay or deductible then coinsurance, depending on place of service as well as how the provider bills and codes the visits.  Example:  if you have a regular office visit via telehealth with your primary care physician, a $25 office visit copay would apply.  

Telehealth visits to the following providers will be covered:

• Physician (PCP and Specialists)                  
• Registered dietitian or nutrition professional
• Nurse practitioner                                                        
• Clinical psychologist 
• Physician assistant                                                      
• Clinical social worker
• Nurse-midwife                                              
• Certified registered nurse anesthetists
• Clinical nurse specialist                               
• Physical, Speech, and Occupational therapist

We are aware that, due to the pandemic, medical care through telehealth has already been received and some of these claims may have been denied. The Telehealth benefit will be retroactively added to the plan effective March 1, 2020. Any denied Telehealth claims from that date forward will be reprocessed according to the plan amendment.

In addition to Telehealth, please remember that you also have access to Teladoc services via the Teladoc app or Teladoc.com for a $5 copay. These services can help take the place of urgent care visits, as you can speak or chat with a doctor by phone or video 24/7.

We hope you will find value in these added benefits during these unprecedented times. Please contact a member of our Human Resources team for questions or further information.

For those who were unable to attend the Q&A session with Mark on Friday, May 8^th, a recording of this meeting is available. The recording is available here. Employees will be required to log in with their username@lawrence.edu username and normal password.

As the Wisconsin Safer at Home Order is coming to a conclusion, University leadership, in consultation with the COVID-19 Management Team, has been planning for non-essential staff employees to return to working on campus over the summer. As you can imagine, there are many logistics and scenarios to work through to protect and prepare our staff for a safe return.

The LU Insider last week indicated an update regarding the return of non-essential staff to campus would be shared this week. At this time we are asking for your patience as we hope to have an informative and thoughtful communication next week. A few updates we can share at this time include:

• As the Safer at Home expires, non-essential staff should continue to telecommute as they currently are until University return to work guidance is provided.
• The University will provide flexibility to staff during our transition back to campus to address personal needs and situations.
• The University will work with staff who are members of a vulnerable population or who have a household member who is a member of a vulnerable population.

Thank you for your continued patience as we navigate this unprecedented environment.

The WAICU Retirement Readiness Plan in partnership with Transamerica is pleased to offer a series of live webinars designed to help you take full advantage of everything the Retirement Readiness Plan has to offer. To register, please click on the title of the webinar and follow the on-screen prompts to register for the live webinar of your choice.

Upcoming webinars are as followed:

Security and Fraud Prevention
Date: May 20, 2020
Time: 12:00 PM CST

Addresses the growing threat from hackers and data breaches and provides actionable, preventive measures anyone can use.

Money Management Essentials
Date: August 19, 2020
Time: 12:00 PM CST

Covers the importance of saving, budgeting, and debt management. A healthy financial picture should include all of these components.

Get Ready to Retire
Date: November 18, 2020
Time: 12:00 PM CST

A review of five key areas to consider as retirement approaches: Lifestyle, Investments, Income, Healthcare, and Legacy.

We look forward to seeing you at an upcoming Q&A with Mark meeting for staff and faculty. This meeting will be focused on answering your questions, sharing information, staying connected, and providing support to colleagues during this time.

A similar meeting was held on Friday, April 24^th for members of the University staff and we would like to take this opportunity to open up the planned Friday, May 8^th meeting to both staff and faculty. 

Let me share a few of the logistics:

Meeting Date & Time

• Friday, May 8 from 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
  • Click the following link to join the May 8 meeting – https://lawrence.zoom.us/j/99393282187

If you are unable to attend, we will be recording the meeting and will send a link after.

Submitting your Questions

You are encouraged to submit questions ahead of the meeting here. The meeting will have an active chat function and questions can be submitted using this feature as well. We will cover as many questions as possible during the allotted time.

Thank you all for your dedication and work to support Lawrence. Please continue to take care of yourselves.