Working, even temporarily, from another country and within certain states is restricted. Those planning to work while traveling, either professionally or personally, should know the guidelines employees must follow due to state and country-specific employment laws.   

Please account for the following:  

Contact hrdept@ku.edu with questions about working remotely. 

The Finance Shared Service Center will host monthly virtual office hours for KU faculty, staff and students. These drop-in sessions are an opportunity for real-time, personalized support from the SSC leadership team.  

Members of the KU community can join a Microsoft Teams call to get assistance on a range of topics, including making a purchase, requesting travel reimbursements, submitting p-card receipts and navigating the Finance Service Portal.  

Upcoming sessions: 

For more information, visit the Finance SSC website. Links to the virtual office hours can be found on a SharePoint site (login required). 

Last month, the Office of Policy Administration announced four policy projects that have been newly published or completed.   

The next KU Lawrence and Edwards virtual town hall will be from 1 to 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Shelley Hooks, vice chancellor for research, will fill in to lead the discussion for Provost Barbara Bichelmeyer, who is out of the office.  

Topics include updates on research administration, federal relations and international activities affecting the university. Guests will be Associate Vice Chancellor for Federal Relations Kyle Christian and Vice Provost and Chief Internationalization Officer Charli Bankart. The program will be livestreamed and recorded for later viewing behind single sign-on. 

Members of the KU community can submit a question or comment for discussion through this online form. 

Last week, the search committee was announced for the next provost/chief academic officer for KU and executive vice chancellor of the Lawrence and Edwards campuses.

The 16-member search committee represents administrators, faculty, staff and students from across KU’s campuses. The full list of members and additional details about the process can be viewed on the Office of the Chancellor’s website.  

The application window has closed. More details about the search committee’s meeting schedule will be shared as available. 

Deadline: Dec. 1

Nominations are open until 5 p.m. Dec. 1 for the newly established Faculty Service Award.  

The Faculty Service Award recognizes high-quality and impactful service activities in a range of areas, including committee or task force work, campus-wide programming or initiatives, mentorship or professional development for colleagues, policy improvement, program creation, program evaluation, faculty governance, and support of student organizations.  

Two awards are presented annually, and each recipient will receive $2,000, less applicable taxes. Additional information about the award and the nomination process can be found on the Faculty Service Award webpage.      

Nominations are also open for the University Teaching Awards and will be accepted until 5 p.m. Feb. 2. The list of awards, criteria and nomination process can be reviewed on the Office of Faculty Affairs website.

KU employees can save time by consenting now to access W-2s electronically through the State of Kansas Employee Self-Service Center. To do so, employees should log into the self-service portal, set up their profile and give consent to access their W-2 online. Instructions are available on the Payroll Office website.   

Passwords for the self-service portal expire every 30 days, so it is important for users to set up security questions needed to reset passwords. KU cannot reset these passwords, and if the log-in is invalid, users will need to call the Kansas Service Desk to reset their password.  

In January and February, the Kansas Service Desk sees a high number of calls requesting log-in assistance and to reset passwords. Checking for password issues now means employees can avoid the longer hold times that often occur at the start of the new year.

Employees who don’t consent to electronic W-2s will have W-2s mailed to the home address on file with Human Resources. Employees should confirm or update their addresses in their HR/Pay account. 

All KU employees are invited to attend the KUMC workshop “Anchoring in Mindful Self-Compassion: From Surviving to Thriving.” The two-part workshop will be held Nov. 21 and Dec. 12 from 9 to 11 a.m. at the Spencer Center on the KUMC campus or virtually via Teams.   

Led by Janis Davis, clinical associate professor of occupational therapy, the workshop will use the latest science to help build mindful self-compassion, a powerful tool for well-being and strong relationships. Through hands-on practices, participants will learn to counter burnout and disengagement with self-acceptance and compassionate listening. They will leave with a personalized roadmap for bringing more compassion to their work, home and community. 

Additional information about part one and part two of the workshop is available online. Lawrence campus employees who plan to attend in person should email well-being@kumc.edu. 

On Nov. 26 the east end of Poplar Lane and parking spaces in Lot 3 will be blocked off to accommodate a large truck and crane that will be lifting HVAC equipment into Strong Hall.  

At 7 a.m., parking spaces adjacent to Snow and Bailey halls and from Strong Hall's covered parking area to the Mississippi Street exit will be closed, including several accessible ones. The covered parking area will remain open.

Throughout the day, Poplar Lane will have two-way traffic, with drivers entering and exiting through the westside entrance off Jayhawk Boulevard. This map shows the open area in green and the closed area in yellow.

Last week, City of Lawrence contractors reopened 19th Street at Iowa Street, returning access at that intersection to the West District's Constant Avenue.

At the same time, contractors closed access from Iowa Street to 21st Street to reconstruct the east side of that intersection. The nearby intersection at Constant Avenue and 21st Street/Becker Drive remains open.  

Traffic control on Iowa Street has not changed. The city is reconstructing Iowa Street from Irving Hill Road to 23rd Street and anticipates to fully reopen that section of the road by the end of the year. 

Your KU email account is the official channel for important university communications.

The University of Kansas prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, national origin, age, ancestry, disability, status as a veteran, sexual orientation, marital status, parental status, gender identity, gender expression, and genetic information in the university's programs and activities. Retaliation is also prohibited by university policy. The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding the nondiscrimination policies and procedures and is the Title IX Coordinator for all KU and KUMC campuses: Associate Vice Chancellor for the Office of Civil Rights and Title IX, civilrights@ku.edu, Room 1082, Dole Human Development Center, 1000 Sunnyside Avenue, Lawrence, KS 66045, 785-864-6414, 711 TTY. Reports can be submitted by contacting the Title IX Coordinator as provided herein or online and complaints can be submitted with the Title IX Coordinator or online.

The University of Kansas is a public institution governed by the Kansas Board of Regents.