For The Record

Annual Pesticide Application Notification

Physical Plant has traditionally applied fertilizer and herbicides to turf areas and landscape display beds in the general areas of campus and to invasive plants in the Lakeshore Nature Preserve. For a listing of products used on campus and the Lakeshore Nature Preserve please, see the UW–Madison Safety Web site.

The departments of Environmental Services and Lakeshore Nature Preserve are sensitive to the community’s concerns regarding the use of herbicides and fertilizers. Therefore we emphasize that their use is a tool as part of an Integrated Plant Management program. Promoting healthy turf and landscape displays minimizes pesticide use. Promoting diverse biological communities in natural areas minimizes pesticide use for weed control.

Classified Staff Scholarship Fund

Since the fall of 2002, the Classified Staff Scholarship Fund has provided childcare scholarships to classified employees. The awards were established to acknowledge the valuable contributions of our classified staff and assist in making high quality child care more accessible for our classified staff. This program benefits the child, the employee and the employer. Depending on fund availability, grants can be awarded on an emergency and annual basis to classified staff families who use regulated child care. Grants are awarded through the Office of Child Care and Family Resources (at Eagle Heights).

In December, $2,000 was granted to five families ($250, $450 or $600) to help with childcare costs. A campus committee including Gary Mitchell, Carol Noreen, Connie Wilson and Lynn Edlefson oversaw the selection process and ranked applicants on years of service and income and assets. The committee also looked for special needs situations where the scholarship could most benefit consistency and quality of care for the child. This year’s recipients include: Ann Abaresch, Anna Chapman, Karrie Meier, Danielle Lamberson Philipp and Twainesse Peavy.

Award recipient Lamberson Phillipp says, “Despite all of our research and waiting for the right time to have a child, we were shocked by the sticker price of day care. As a parent, you struggle between wanting to leave your child in the best possible care while you are work and figuring out how you are going to afford it. Therefore, we were delighted when we heard about this wonderful grant and decided to apply. We hope the support for the grant continues to grow so that other working families can have the heavy load of day care expenses lightened as well.”

The office would like to announce the availability of emergency funds for classified employees as well as annual grants to compliment the student childcare scholarship program. Visit the Office of Child Care and Family Resource to learn more.

All funds for this scholarship are raised privately. Efforts are under way continually to develop a fundraising event that will help generate financial support for this scholarship fund. If you have questions, or are interested in contributing, contact Lynn Edlefson in the Office of Child Care and Family Resources at 262-9715.

2008 Outside Activities Report required

Every year, faculty and unclassified staff members are asked to make outside activities reports. This report is required under federal and state regulations and university policy. The report identifies outside activities and financial interests related to an individual’s university work.

You must fill out a report even if you have no outside activities, income or ownership interests to report. Most faculty and staff fall into this category, and completing the convenient online form will take just a minute.

Department chairs and the appropriate dean or director review reports. Individual reports remain accessible as open records under the provisions of Wisconsin’s public records law. The deadline for filing is Wednesday, April 30.

Please access the Web page for completing the report.

If you have any questions about this process, a list of contacts is available.

It would be helpful if you would complete the report now. Doing so would save valuable administrative resources that would be used to locate missing and late reports. We thank each of you for your cooperation in meeting state and federal requirements for outside activities reports.