No matter where you are in life — just getting started or planning for retirement — a session with Melvin Ballenger, TIAA financial consultant, can help you create a unique plan for your goals. He will be on campus to visit with faculty and staff Tuesday, Feb. 7. To register for a session, sign up online at www.TIAA.org/schedulenow or call (800) 732-8353.

10SharesDr. Tim Philpot, associate professor of structural engineering in the civil, architectural and environmental engineering department, died Wednesday (Jan. 25, 2017). No immediate memorial service is planned. The family plans to hold a celebration of his life at a later date.

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to submit innovation proposals to Missouri S&T’s innovation team by Friday, Jan. 27. Proposals will be presented during the Miner Tank open forum Thursday, Feb. 2. The innovation team helps create and promote an innovative campus by empowering our university community with resources to make a difference. Get more details and submit your proposal at innovate.mst.edu.

Following cleaning efforts, the ground floor of the east side of Emerson Hall is now open, in addition to the west side of Emerson Hall, which opened for classes at the start of the spring semester. The first and second floors of the east side of Emerson Hall will remain closed until further notice.

The offices of Human Resources and Institutional Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, are excited to announce a new change to Missouri S&T’s Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA) policy. In accordance with federal law, the university provides employees with the ability to take a leave of absence for family, medical reasons, or leave for military families while maintaining job protection. Under the previous policy, leave could be taken for an employee’s illness or that of an employee’s child, spouse or parent. The new policy will now extend that coverage to include sponsored adult dependents, including the child of a sponsored adult dependent. View the new policy or read frequently asked questions and answers about FMLA.

Three policies were recently updated and are available online. They are:

• Policy memorandum II-11: Appointment, Review, and Continuation to Named or Endowed Positions
• Policy memorandum II-15: Chancellor’s Professorships
• Policy memorandum II-20: Graduate Student Registration

View all S&T policy memoranda.

Dr. Brian Scassellati, professor of computer science, cognitive science and mechanical engineering at Yale and director of the National Science Foundation Expedition on Socially Assistive Robotics, will speak at Missouri S&T in February. Scassellati will present “Building Robots That Teach” at 10 a.m. Monday, Feb. 6, in Room 209 Computer Science Building.

As part of the MAE Centennial Seminar Series, the department of mechanical and aerospace engineering will host a presentation by Tim Barefield 3:30-4:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2, in Room 199 Toomey Hall. Barefield currently serves as chief operating officer of Pershing Square. He is a 1983 mechanical engineering graduate of Missouri S&T. Get more details.