NewsLink, Oct. 21, 2022
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College News

Updated COVID guidance

The CDC has updated some of its COVID-19 guidance. The updates apply to all employees, trainees and students and relate to testing before returning to work or school.

• Employees and learners with symptoms consistent with COVID need a negative test before returning to work/school; there are several testing options.
• Employees and learners in close contact in the past 10 days with someone positive for COVID can continue work or school while masking for a 10-day period, while testing on days 1, 3 and 5.
• Employees and learners with a positive COVID test can return to work or school on day 8 with a negative test on day 5-7, or day 11 if the negative test on day 5-7 was still positive.
• Read more on the Return to Work and Return to Learning Guidelines

HR News

Learning G.P.S. is expanding. This online learning system offers a wide range of professional and career development courses and is now available to all benefits-eligible employees including postdocs, residents and fellows. Benefits-eligible employees have access to a comprehensive online catalog of courses, videos, books and certifications anytime, anywhere. Click here to get started. Questions? Email learning@bcm.edu.

2023 Open Enrollment Period

Open Enrollment ends Monday. There's still time to attend a virtual benefits meeting or access virtual assistance with HR representatives. Questions? Email ask-insurance@bcm.edu or call 713-798-1500.

Faculty needed for engagement and wellness project

Baylor faculty are needed to participate in a focus group on faculty engagement and wellness, with the goal of identifying actionable ways to better support the BCM community. Participation involves a time commitment of 45-60 minutes for a virtual meeting. If interested, please complete the survey here. The project is led by the Center for Innovations in Quality Effectiveness and Safety in conjunction with the Office of the Executive Vice President. Questions? Email Steve Caloudas.

IT news: Microsoft Teams phone services and more

Baylor's main telephone switch has served the College since February 1988. During that period, the switch has never gone down, not even during tropical storm Allison in 2001. After working for more than three years to select and implement a new state-of-the-art replacement solution (Microsoft Teams), the Office of Information Technology will shut the switch off on Monday, Oct. 24, for the first (and last) time. Aside from telephone services, MS Teams offers a suite of tools to make collaboration easier, seamless and more integrated. The move to MS Teams also afforded Baylor access to other enterprise tools such as PowerBI, OneDrive and security enhancements. To learn more about MS Teams, you can sign up for coaching sessions on Tuesdays at 9 a.m., Wednesdays at 7 a.m. and Thursdays at 1 p.m.

Events

White coat recycling

The annual lab coat and scrubs recycling event, sponsored by the BCM Resource Stewardship and Sustainability Program, is Oct. 24-28. Clean and uncontaminated garments will be accepted at the McNair building 1st floor mailboxes and at Main Baylor in the E hallway located between Rayzor Lounge and the courtyard at the main campus of Baylor.

Seminar on cardiometabolic disease

Baylor's Cardiovascular Research Institute and Texas Heart Institute continue the James T. Willerson, M.D., Scientific Seminar Oct. 26 with a presentation by Dr. Daniel Radar, chair of genetics at University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine. His talk is titled, "A Genome-first Approach to Cardiometabolic Disease." Log in to Zoom at noon.

DeBakey High School for Health Professions 50th Anniversary Fun Run and Walk

Join DeBakey High School for a free fun run and walk on Saturday, Oct. 29, at 7 a.m. Participants can either run or walk a route that starts at DeBakey High School and tours the Texas Medical Center. Snacks, water and a timer will be provided for those interested. Please complete the RSVP form to sign up for the Fun Walk or Fun Run.

Education Hackathon

Launch your hackathon team with us to explore radical solutions to education problems that affect all learners. The kick-off event will be held in Kleberg Auditorium on Nov. 17 from 12 - 1:30 p.m. with a keynote from active learning expert Dr. Louis Deslauriers. Teams will then work to form innovative solutions to the hackathon problem and share their ideas in a competitive "pitch" event on March 8 for the chance to win $25,000 in grant support for their idea. This second annual education hackathon is sponsored by the Department of Education, Innovation & Technology. 

Awards and Recognitions

El Sahly named Ben Qurrah Honoree

The National Arab American Medical Association Houston Chapter has named Dr. Hana El Sahly, professor of molecular virology and microbiology, the Houston Ben Qurrah Honoree for 2023, for her work during the pandemic, which affected national and global health policy and mRNA vaccines. The 12th Biennial Ben Qurrah Award gala will be Feb. 4, 2023.

Rosen honored for service to VA

Dr. Ted Rosen, professor of dermatology, recently was recognized for his 40 years of service to the Michael E. DeBakey Veterans Affairs Medical Center, receiving a certificate and pin from Chief of Staff Dr. Mark Kobelja. Rosen serves as chief of dermatology at the DeBakey VA.

Faculty in the News

Dr. Peter Hotez says new variants could bring another COVID wave to Texas this winter. Read the story in the Houston Chronicle and Baylor's other news media mentions in  Faculty in the News, and follow BCMHouston_News on Twitter to keep up with our experts in the media. Interested in science news? Read the latest in From the Labs.

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