The Resource

Open Enrollment is November 1 - 30
Pull out your calculator and worksheets! Now is a good time to review your entire benefits package to see if your current medical, dental, life, and long-term disability insurances are still the best fit for you and your family.

Changes made to your health plans during the November Open Enrollment period will become effective January 1, 2015. (Changes made to your life and LTD insurances, which are allowed at any time during the year, will be processed according to official plan documents.)

Stay informed through these resources:

Also, be aware of changes to PEBB benefits in 2015. In July, PEBB approved changes to state employees' medical plan monthly premiums and cost-sharing in 2015. Find details on PEBB’s website and in their newsletter (above); view 2015 rates here.

Attest During Open Enrollment to Avoid Spousal Surcharge
PEBB’s My Account will re-open on the first day of Open Enrollment, November 1. During November, you can make plan changes and attest to premium surcharges at the PEBB’s website.

If you currently have, or will have, a spouse or domestic partner enrolled in your medical plan next year, and you want to avoid the $50 spousal coverage premium surcharge, you must attest or re-attest during Open Enrollment. If you don’t complete the Spousal Attestation, the $50 spousal surcharge will be automatically added to your base monthly premium starting January 1, 2015.

The attestation is required because the cost of UMP Classic is changing on January 1, 2015. As such a re-comparison of UMP Classic with your spouse or domestic partner’s health plan is required to determine whether a spousal surcharge is needed starting January 1, 2015.

After open enrollment, My Account will remain open year-round for changes to premium surcharge attestations.

Benefits Fairs Are Coming!
Save the date to attend a UW Benefits Fair where you can meet plan providers and explore all the benefits available to you and your family. This year, the UW Benefits Fairs will be held on:

Tuesday, November 4 - Health Sciences Building Lobby (for health plan exhibitors) and UW Medical Center's Plaza Café (for all other exhibitors)
Wednesday, November 5 - Harborview Medical Center, Research & Training Lobby
Thursday, November 6 - Husky Union Building (HUB) Ballroom Remember, any changes to your medical and dental plans and/or additions of previously uncovered dependents must be made during Open Enrollment, November 1-30. View Benefits Fair details!

Stretch Your Dollars with a Flexible Spending Account
Are you looking for a great way to save valuable tax dollars on health expenses? Consider an IRS-approved, tax-free Flexible Spending Account (FSA) to save money on eligible medical expenses. To participate in an FSA for 2015, you must enroll during Open Enrollment for benefits to begin January 1, 2015.

Important exception: If you’re currently enrolled or planning to enroll in a Consumer-Directed Health Plan with a Health Savings Account (CDHP-HSA), you may not enroll in an FSA during the same year. If you already have an FSA for 2014 and choose a CDHP-HSA for 2015, you will be required to use all funds by the end of this year with no grace period or claims “run-out” period.

Before you enroll in a 2015 CDHP-HSA, be sure to check the CDHP-HSA site which highlights some of the restrictions for high-deductible plans.

FSA accounts allow you to contribute between $240 and $2,500 as mandated by the federal Affordable Care Act. The CDHP-HSA allows a maximum contribution of up to $3,350 for individual coverage or up to $6,650 for family coverage in 2015.

Distinguished Staff Award Nominations Open
Nominations are open for the Distinguished Staff Award! Consider nominating an extraordinary colleague or a work team of up to eight, who innovates, inspires, and whose work surpasses all expectations. Up to five individuals and/or teams will receive the honor, along with $5,000, at the annual Awards of Excellence ceremony.

All classified and professional staff who hold a 50% or greater regular appointment and have been employed at the University for a minimum of six months as of November 21 are eligible to be nominated. Visit the newly redesigned Distinguished Staff Award site to learn more and nominate.

Get a Flu Shot!
The flu can quickly put your life on hold with mild to severe illness. The best way to prevent the flu is by getting vaccinated each year. Flu shot clinics will be available at several campus locations for faculty, staff, and retirees who are covered by a PEBB health plan and to students who are covered by a GAIP or ISHIP plan.

No appointment is necessary! Just bring your health insurance card, photo ID, and completed claim form (otherwise you may pay $25 by cash or check and seek reimbursement from your health plan). Dependents covered under PEBB, GAIP, or ISHIP are welcome to attend.

View the entire flu clinic schedule or download a flyer here.

What's Your Score?
Be healthier for the people in your life! Take this 30-second Risk Quiz to find your score and see if you're at risk for diabetes. Prediabetes means you're at risk for Type 2 diabetes but it can be reversed through the “NOT ME” prevention program designed to stop prediabetes in its tracks.

NOT ME is a free benefit available to PEBB members who are 18 or over and enrolled in PEBB’s Uniform Medical Plan or Group Health. If you (or your dependent age 18+) score 9 or higher on the above risk quiz, visit your doctor or attend one of these free screening events on campus:

November 5 - Harborview Research & Training Building Auditorium, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
November 6 - HUB, Room 250, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m.
November 18 - UW Bothell, UW1 Building, Room 103, 10 a.m. - 2 p.m.

While drop-ins are welcome, scheduling an appointment is recommended. Complete this online or by calling US Wellness customer service at 866-926-6099 x326 between 5:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. (PST).

Follow-Up Sessions for Pre-Diabetics
If you recently completed a 16-week NOT ME Diabetes Prevention Program class series—either on campus or in your community—trained coaches are available to help you stay on track. Save the date to attend free monthly follow-up sessions for up to eight months after you complete your initial class series. These group support sessions also apply to adults 18+ who are on your PEBB health plan. No registration necessary, just drop-in.

Third Tuesday of each month
2:00 - 3:00 p.m.
UW Tower, Building C, Room C-107
Room located next to the Benefits Reception Desk

Join the Great American Smokeout
This year's Great American Smokeout is Thursday, November 20. This is the day when smokers everywhere are encouraged to make a personal quitting plan. If you're a smoker or know someone who is, now is a great time to enroll in a PEBB tobacco cessation program. Take advantage of this free benefit! Learn more about the Great American Smokeout from our wellness partner, the American Cancer Society.

Mammography Screenings for UMP Members
If you're a woman age 40+ who's enrolled in Uniform Medical Plan, consider scheduling your next routine mammogram at the MammoVan! The Seattle Cancer Care Alliance's MammoVan is a customized, mobile breast imaging clinic bringing the latest technology in digital mammograms to you at your workplace. Convenience, state-of-the art technology, and exceptional quality are reasons why women choose this service.

The next MammoVan visit will be Tuesday, November 4 near the Henry Art Gallery. Appointments are available to UMP members on a first-come, first-serve basis between 8:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. The average appointment time is just 15 minutes.

Access screening information and schedule an appointment.

Note: Group Health members are required to receive their mammography services directly from a Group Health Cooperative facility. Claims submitted from a non-Group Health facility such as the MammoVan will not be reimbursed.

Weight Watchers’ Open Houses: October 14-17
UW Benefits sponsors four “Weight Watchers at Work” meetings on campus to help you manage your weight and be more active. Come to one of the following Open Houses to learn more about the program:

Tuesdays, Schmitz Hall – October 14
Wednesdays, UW Tower – October 15
Thursdays, Harborview Medical Center – October 16
Fridays, UWMC/Health Sciences – October 17

Get meeting times and learn more about Weight Watchers.

UW Combined Fund Drive Campaign Begins!
Next Thursday kicks off the UW Combined Fund Drive with the Charity Fair & Silent Auction. Have you marked your calendar? Stop by the HUB ballroom any time between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on October 16, and meet representatives from more than 80 nonprofits. Support ArtsFund by bidding on auction items and filling the coin jar with your spare change. The fair is free and open to faculty, staff, students, and retirees. Enjoy refreshments, play Charity Fair Bingo, and enter to win door prizes including the grand prize: Seattle Sounders FC tickets and Sounders shirt. Stop by the sponsor table, SECUWA, and enter to win a GoPro camera! Auction items include tickets to local performances, restaurant gift certificates, wine tastings, and sports items including autographed baseballs, Seahawks-Raiders tickets, and a Russell Wilson-signed football.

HomeStreet offers free one-hour seminars to help you learn about a variety of homeownership issues related to budgeting, buying, remodeling, refinancing, and selling your home.

Access registration for any of the following seminars:

Buying a Home with Down Payment Assistance, October 21 at the UW Tower and October 23 at South Lake Union
Understanding Credit, November 18 at Seattle’s UW Tower
Seasonal Home Maintenance, November 20 at Bothell

Homeownership Counseling
Get your ducks in order before you start on the path of home ownership! Schedule a personal homeownership counseling session with an Affinity Loan Officer who can walk you through the process. These 30-minute, one-on-one sessions are free, private, and informative. Your spouse, partner, or potential co-signer is welcome to attend with you. Schedule an appointment today!

October in Focus: Dealing With Addiction
Addiction often starts as a recreational or social activity before it escalates. By the time a behavior becomes a problem, the addict may be blind to the devastating consequences, both to himself or herself and to family, friends, and coworkers.

This month, UW CareLink’s Tip Sheet looks at the warning signs and offers options for treatment once an addiction has been identified.

UW CareLink will broadcast a one-hour webinar, “Identifying Signs of Addiction in a Loved One,” on October 21 at 9 and 11 a.m. The webinar provides options for you if someone close to you is struggling. You must pre-register at least one hour before the presentation. Visit www.apshelplink.com (use “UW” as the company code) and visit the Online Seminars section. Select the presentation and then register by clicking on the first or second session option.

Lunchtime Seminars in the UW Tower Auditorium
UW CareLink presents the fall 2014 seminar series. The focus of the three sessions is common areas of concern in the workplace—building strong relationships and decoding non-verbal communication. The knowledge gained from these seminars can easily translate to handling situations in your everyday life. Please join us for one or both sessions, and feel free to bring your lunch! The location and time: UW Tower Auditorium, noon-1 p.m.

Add these to your calendar now and register online!

Strengthening our Relationships in the Workplace—Thursday, November 13
Communication Without Words: Unawareness of How We Share Information—Wednesday, December 3

Back-up Care Options for Busy Parents
Now that school’s underway, you may find yourself in need of back-up child care due to illness, school closures, or other unforeseen circumstances. If your child is mildly ill and between one and 12 years old, you can find sick child care through Tender Loving Care (TLC) at Virginia Mason Medical Center. The University underwrites the entire daily fee for UW benefits-eligible employees working .50 FTE or more and academic student employees. Families pay only a one-time registration fee of $5 per child.

UW WorkLife and Bright Horizons also offer a back-up care program for those times when your child is well but your normal plans for care fall through. Back-up care is based on availability. First, complete a one-stop registration: call 877-242-2737 or visit Bright Horizons Back-up Care Advantage. Log in with the user name UnivWA and the password 4Backup to create your personal account and find details. Log in to request care for up to one month in advance. At drop-off, bring your UW Husky Card. The cost is $100 per day, paid by the parent of the enrolled child.

Social Media & Your Child’s Financial Future - Social media can help or hurt your child’s chances of getting into college, landing a job, and gaining financial independence. Focusing on Facebook, you’ll learn effective strategies and mistakes to avoid. Presented by SECU on October 14 at Harborview.

Credit Reporting 101 - Learn why your credit scores may differ, learn five steps to a better score, and find out how to get a free report. Presented by Washington State Employees Credit Union (WSECU) on October 21 at Bothell and November 24 at South Lake Union.

Financial Yoga: Stretching Your Hard-Earned Dollars - Learn tips that will help you gain control of your finances and reduce financial stress. Presented by School Employees Credit Union (SECU) on October 28 at Tacoma and November 13 at Seattle’s UW Tower.

Access seminar registration for these events.

Meet a Planning and Guidance Consultant
Schedule a free, one-on-one retirement consultation with a Fidelity Workplace Planning and Guidance Consultant or a TIAA-CREF representative in a way that works best for you, by phone or in person.

Take advantage of this opportunity to:

Ask questions about saving for retirement
Evaluate investment choices
Create an action plan to stay on track
Review retirement income options

Get started today!

Designing Your Financial Roadmap
In this seminar you will learn how to design your financial roadmap, budget and debt management, and prioritize non-retirement goals such as college planning. Presented by Fidelity on October 23 at Tacoma and December 10 at South Lake Union. Access workshop information and free registration.

Professional & Organizational Development (POD) courses and events are open to all UW employees, subject to supervisor/budgetary approval and UW’s release time policy. Please view our policy page for additional information.

Keep on the Sunny Side
Does the grass always seem greener in the cube next door? In this one-day workshop, explore how an optimistic outlook can change your personal and professional life. Discover how to tackle life’s challenges more constructively, spot hidden negative signals, and banish negative thinking. Register for Turning Negative Emotions Into Positive Outcomes.

Shift Into High Gear
Is the daily grind wearing you down? In this one-day workshop, take an incisive look at poor-performing office processes, learn to identify the root causes of problems, and get primed to save time on everyday tasks. Register for Process Improvement Tools.

Change Your Tune
Are you sometimes tone deaf when interacting with people unlike yourself? In an interactive, nonjudgmental setting, explore the isms that can bias communication, examine various communication perspectives, and practice approaches for tackling sensitive topics productively. Register for Cultivating Cultural Competence.

Make a Lunch Date With POD
Tired of spending your lunch hour zoning out at your desk? With numerous midday offerings, POD Webinars are perfect for lunchtime learning! This fall, webinars in the 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. timeslot cover Microsoft PowerPoint, Visio, and Word, as well as organizational strategies. Register for POD Webinars.

Turn Over a New Leaf
Ready to make a fresh start? Career counseling can provide direction, focus, and momentum for a career change or occupational adjustment. Explore your career path and plan for success with one-on-one assistance through Training and Organizational Development Consultant Susan Templeton. Sessions are $95 per one-hour session if paid with a UW budget number (with supervisor approval) or $109.82 if paid with cash, check, or credit card (due to a mandatory institutional overhead fee). Learn more about career counseling.

Celebrate and Be Inspired This Fall and During The Holidays!
Who are you…really? A rocker, a soprano, an actor, or orator? A dancer, juggler, contortionist, videographer, or comedian? Get ready because on Friday, December 12 from 7 - 9 p.m. the Meany Theater stage could be yours! The Whole U is thrilled to end 2014 by hosting Ovations!—a one-night only faculty and staff performance showcase. Participation is free, but we can only take a limited number of acts. Interested? Email the wholeu@uw.edu a short video of your talent by October 13. Visit The Whole U for more details.

Free Admission to Upcoming Husky Games
Bring your family and join The Whole U for some Husky soccer and volleyball. Free general admission for UW faculty and staff and up to four guests by presenting your Husky Card at the gate. Learn more.

Staff Member Shares Cancer Journey
Joe is one of the many who has received cancer treatment at UW Medicine. Now he’s cancer-free, works for UW Environmental Health and Safety, and will be the latest featured guest in The Whole U Speaker Series. Join us Tuesday, October 28 as Joe shares his inspirational story. He will shed light on the cancer journey, how to support a loved one, and ways to give back. Register now.

Halloween Costume Contest & Thriller Break
Celebrate Halloween by learning the moves from Thriller, Michael Jackson’s 1983 music video. There will be a group dance session and costume contest on Friday, October 31 at the IMA. You don’t need to be a member to join the fun. Enjoy 30 minutes of Thriller dancing, meet like-minded zombies, and reap the benefits of physical activity on your lunch break. More details on The Whole U site.

Free Program to Minimize Stress this Holiday Season
Do the holidays stress you out? Anticipating holiday lists, gifts, parties, and plans, all while juggling work and family—regardless of your family’s personal traditions, can be daunting in this time of super-charged expectations. This year, we invite you to do things differently by joining The Whole U’s Stress Less Holiday Challenge—an 8-week program with tips, seminars, activities, and workouts to keep you balanced.

Free Hearing Screenings and Discounts on Ear Plugs
Back by popular demand! Get a free hearing screening between October 13 and December 5. Reserve your hearing screening appointment by calling the UW Speech & Hearing Clinic at 206-543-5440 or email shclinic@uw.edu. Space is limited.

Celebrate National Protect Your Hearing Month by receiving 10 percent off the listed price on custom ear plugs during October. Consider these if you’re a swimmer or musician, listen to headphones regularly, or need extra protection in noisy environments. See UW Discounts.

The One-day Sale for UW Family
The University Bookstore celebrates the UW family by offering 25% in-store or online at University Book Store on October 9, 2014. Shop at any of the nine Puget Sound locations or online with your valid UW, UWAA, or UWRA ID and get a discount on most items*.

*May not be applied to your account. Excludes gift cards, shipping services, textbooks, reference titles, short discount book titles, café items and Tech Center products. May not be combined with other discounts or special offers and applies only to stock on hand. Valid October 9, 2014 only.

Boundless Celebration on W Day and Give Back During More Purple
Join us for the UW’s birthday bash on W Day, Friday, Oct. 24! Head to Red Square between 10 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. for fun festivities, including:

Live music, starting at 11 a.m.
Giveaways*, including free purple T-shirts, UW wristbands, and sweet treats from Trophy Cupcakes
Dollars for Dawgs, grab a hot dog and Coca-Cola beverage beginning at noon for a suggested donation (donations support the Husky Pride Fund)
Homecoming activities, the Husky Marching Band, and more

Remember to wear purple or UW-licensed apparel to be eligible for W Day deals from participating stores and businesses around Seattle. Details at W Day.

In addition, you're invited to contribute to the Husky legacy through More Purple, the UW’s 48-hour online giving event. Give any time between 2 p.m. on Oct. 22 and 2 p.m. on Oct. 24. Whether you give $2 or $200, you’ll still make an impact. Visit More Purple for details.

*One per person while supplies last.

Take a Break
The University of Washington Club is hosting “Landscape After Nature,” an exhibit originally organized by professor Philip Govedare and Anne Petty (M.F.A. 2009) in conjunction with a conference titled "The Future of Environmental Humanities: Research, Pedagogies, Institutions, and Publics." Student and alumni work depict landscape in a variety of forms.

The exhibit runs now through December 12 in the Colleen Rohrbaugh Room, which is normally accessible Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. - 4 p.m. Call 206-543-0437 to inquire or visit UW School of Art’s event calendar.