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October 27, 2017

Posted by entomology.office | November 13, 2017

October 27, 2017

Department Meetings

There will be an Entomology Faculty meeting on Monday, October 30th at 11:00 AM.  The AMS dial # to come.

Seminars & Colloquium

hotalingThe October 30th Entomology Colloquium speaker will be Dr. Scott Hotaling, Postdoctoral Researcher in the WSU School of Biological Science.  His presentation is titled “Genetic Perspectives on Biodiversity in North American Alpine Streams.” For more info about Dr. Hotaling go to: For more information about Dr. Hotaling go to: https://labs.wsu.edu/genomes/people/lab-members/. The presentation begins at 2:10 PM in FSHN 354 (Entomology Classroom).  The AMS dial up number for all sites to dial for this event is 771155.

Department Announcements

Thank you for participating in the search process for the new IPM tree fruit entomologist.

Richard Zack was featured in a front page article on the Friday, October 27, 2017 edition of the WSU Daily Evergreen.  Also featured were Entomology Department graduate students Alix Whitener, Adrian Marshall and Josh Milnes and told of their experiences while on a field trip to Guatemala led by Dr. Zack.  See the attached Daily Evergreen article.

University Announcements

November 1 -31, 2017 is the open enrollment period for medical and dental plans.  This is the one time of the year you can make changes to, and enroll in certain benefits for the upcoming year. To see the medical insurance premium changes go to: https://www.hca.wa.gov/assets/pebb/50-626-2018.pdf. Wednesday, November 8th is the date for the Benefits Fair to be held in Pullman at the CUB. This will be your opportunity to talk with plan providers to help you make informed decisions about your health care benefits.  For other locations around the state go to page 6 of the attached October 2017 For Your Benefits publication.

Meet members of the WSU Honey Bees and Pollinators team, sample WSU Honey and receive a free honey stick – or two, one for you and one for your honey! Better yet, share with Dad! Learn about the WSU Honey Bee and Pollinator Research Facility, how WSU honey is produced and where the bees live during a tasting and open house noon-4 p.m. Friday, Nov. 3 at the Brelsford WSU Visitor Center. The event coincides with WSU Dad’s Weekend and Cougars football game against the Stanford Cardinals Saturday in Martin Stadium. WSU Honey is available for purchase at the visitor center. Additional event details are available at visitor.wsu.edu, visitor@wsu.edu or 509-335-4636. More information about the WSU Honey Bees and Pollinators program can be found at bees.wsu.edu.

The Activity Insight Demonstration presented by the Provosts team for our units is now available for any WSU user to view at: https://experience.wsu.edu/Calendar/Calendar.aspx – navigate to 10/25/17, and select   AnSci, ENT, & SFS Activity Insight Demonstration

WSU Business Modernization Initiative Software Demonstration: I’m excited to share some good news about the ongoing effort to modernize the way we work each day.

In response to the request for proposals (RFP) for new finance, payroll, and human resources software, two vendors, Oracle and Workday, have been invited to the WSU Pullman campus to give on-site software demonstrations to the WSU community. The demonstrations will help us evaluate which software can best meet the needs of the University. The demonstrations will be held in the CUB Auditorium on the WSU Pullman campus Monday through Thursday the weeks of November 6 and November 13. Live broadcasts to Everett, Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver will be available. Current WSU employees will also have the option to view the demonstrations via live stream (sign on with WSU credentials required).

The demonstrations are divided into sessions based on topic and functionality to be discussed. Please visit the Modernization website to view the schedules, detailed descriptions of the objectives and functionalities for each session, and additional information. After the demonstrations, we encourage you to provide your feedback via an online survey available at: https://modernization.wsu.edu/.  While we recognize that specific topics and functionalities will interest specific users, we encourage all faculty and staff to attend the “Day in the Life of” sessions scheduled the mornings of November 6 (Oracle) and November 13 (Workday). These sessions—one for faculty members and principal investigators, and one for staff, administrators, and managers—are intended to allow the software vendors to provide a high level demonstration of how the software can help with the work performed here at WSU. Please feel free to email questions to modern.initiative@wsu.edu. We look forward to seeing you at the demonstrations in November! Best, Stacy

WSU Business Modernization Initiative:

Last month the University released the request for proposals (RFP) for new finance and human resources software. The software selected through this process will be instrumental in fulfilling the overarching goals of the modernization: The successful evaluation and selection of a new software platform is dependent on strong involvement and feedback from end users and subject matter experts across the University. We look forward to broad involvement from the University community throughout this process, including the on-site vendor demonstrations.
Save the Date:  Please plan to join us at the on-site demonstrations on the WSU Pullman campus the weeks of November 6 and November 13. Live broadcast to Everett, Spokane, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver will also be available. Additional information, including location and demonstration schedules, will be shared with the WSU community in the coming weeks on the modernization website. The sessions will be cofacilitated by our independent consultants who specialize in software assessment and procurement. We invite all to attend and help us assess the software’s ability to meet University needs. Your ideas and feedback on the demonstrations will be collected through an online form, which will be reviewed by the software evaluation committee.  As a reminder, over the next few months the vendor community may become active in seeking insights and opinions from WSU employees regarding the initiative. To help avoid any confusion, delays, or process issues created by miscommunication, we request that all vendor inquiries associated with the modernization initiative and the software RFP, whether formal or informal, be referred to Eric Rogers, Director of Purchasing Services, who will route the inquiry appropriately.
Please feel free to email questions to modern.initiative@wsu.edu.

Employment Opportunities

  1. Biological Science Lab Tech, (APHIS, PPQ, S&T Labs) Dept. of Agriculture, Miami, FL
  2. Professor of Nematology, UC-Davis Dept of Entomology & Nematology), Davis, CA
  3. Postdoctoral Scholar, Williams Lab, UC-Davis
  4. Postdoc Research Scholar, North Caroline St. Univ., Raleigh, NC
  5. Extension Associate 3 (spotted Laternfly), Penn State University, University Park, PA
  6. Environmental Associate, 2 positions, Kansas Dept of Ag., Kansas City, KS and Salina, KS
  7. Extension Educator, Ag & Nat Res, Univ.  of Illinois Extension, Urbana-Champaign, IL

Important Dates and Deadlines

Immigration Roundtable:  Global Services will be offering an immigration round table to provide updates on current immigration and WSU policies impacting international students and scholars. This forum is designed for faculty and staff members who work with international students. This is a great place to learn more about the services provided by Global Services for international students and scholars, as well as to get your questions and concerns addressed. First there will be a short five-minute presentation about the International Center and the services and programming they offer.
After we will break into small groups and have International Student and Scholar Advisors provide updates on policies that impact international students and scholars, as well as answer questions from attendees.
We will also be seeking feedback and what our office can provide, in regards to programming and support, to help out other departments in their work with international students and scholars.

This session will be held Friday November 11th, 2017 between 3:30 and 5:00 pm in CUE 318.

Contact: Cody Tornow cody.tornow@wsu.edu