UH BCYCLEs available to UH Community  Visit one of the six bike share stations on campus and experience BCycle! While the bikes can be used for short trips across campus, they are intended to connect students, staff, faculty and visitors to the growing network of BCycle stations across the city. At UH, BCycle stations have been installed at Student Center North, Cougar Place, Technology Bridge (formerly ERP), Cougar Village I, the Fine Arts Building and the Welcome Center Student Garage/Metro Station. A map of these stations can be found online. (To see a map of all Houston BCycle stations, click here.)
UH community members and visitors can try the bikes out at the stations for $3 per 30 minutes. Unlimited memberships are available at Houston BCycle's website for $5/month or $25/semester. Members can take as many trips as they want throughout the entire Houston BCycle network (60 stations with more than 425 bicycles). Members are only charged overage fees for any rides over 60 minutes, and can track their trips and health data on the BCycle mobile app. To highlight accessible destinations close to campus, including Hermann Park, Houston Zoo and Discovery Green, Office of Sustainability staff created downloadable route maps connecting the campus to locations around the city. These maps, as well as additional information about the BCycle program, can be found online. Learn tips to stay safe while traveling  The world is full of potential risks, especially when traveling. Join Allyson McDonald and Wayne Brown from Risk Management as they share tips on how to mitigate potential dangers while travelling nationally and abroad. Bring a lunch and join them:
- Thursday, May 9, noon-1 p.m., UH Technology Bridge, Building 4, Room 110, or
- Wednesday, May 15, noon-1 p.m., M.D. Anderson Library, Elizabeth D. Rockwell Pavilion
Register here! Reach your Goals with a health coach  As a BCBSTX HealthSelect member, there are many wellness benefits available to you, including certified health coaches available by phone or secure messaging through Well onTarget.
Personalized coaching can help you reach your goals. Coaches can:
- Help you quit tobacco or get support for maintaining your tobacco-free status;
- Help you improve your physical fitness, nutrition, blood pressure or cholesterol;
- Put you in touch with a registered dietitian who can help you understand your relationship with food;
- Share ideas for making healthy eating choices;
- Design a health and wellness plan that's right for your fitness level, lifestyle and goals; and
- Find creative, healthy ways of thinking and acting that could combat stress.
Log in to your Blue Access for Members account and click Well onTarget under Quick Links. Once on the page, take your Health Assessment or click "I’ll do later" and proceed to the Well onTarget dashboard. Simply click "Set a Goal" with a coach and you’ll be on your way to positive living before you know it. Beginner yoga class set for summer  A beginner POWER UP Yoga class will be offered for faculty and staff throughout the summer semester! Beginning May 7, the class will be held every Tuesday afternoon, 5:30-6:30 p.m., in Health Building 2, Room 2216. The room is on the second floor just past the Cougar Grounds coffee shop. Room 2216 is most easily accessed via the Calhoun Road entrance of Health 2 by taking the stairs to the second floor or via the skybridge from Health 1.
No experience is necessary to participate. Participants in the "drop-in" class are encouraged to wear comfortable clothing, bring their own yoga mat (or towel) and come with an open mind. Please read and print the participation waiver. Then, complete it and bring it the first time attending the class. The sessions will be led by UH’s Dr. Minal Bhadane, a ertified yoga instructor. Enroll in The Fitness Program The Fitness Program is a flexible membership program for participants enrolled in BCBS HealthSelect of Texas and Consumer Directed HealthSelect, with access to more than 9,000 fitness centers nationwide. The monthly membership fee is $25, and there is usually a $25 one-time enrollment fee. However, by joining during May, the $25 one-time enrollment fee will be waived for all HealthSelect participants and their covered dependents 18 and older. Use code FIT4MAY during registration to have the fee waived. To enroll, employees should:
- log in to their Blue Access for Members account and click Fitness Program under Quick Links, or
- call (888) 762-BLUE (2583) toll-free, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-9 p.m.
Fitness Program benefits include:
- flexible membership with no long-term contract for $25/month;
- unlimited access to over 9,000 participating fitness centers nationwide;
- easy online enrollment;
- automatic monthly payment withdrawal;
- discounts on services from health and well-being professionals such as acupuncture, personal training, massage and more; and
- Blue Points (earned) when you enroll and track weekly visits.
To learn more about the Fitness Program and the enrollment waiver, visit the HealthSelect Fitness Program site for more details. Arts Workshops open to children  Registration is now open for children ages 6-12 for the Summer Arts Workshops being offered through the Blaffer Art Museum in June. This year’s workshop, Finding Memory: Creating and Collecting, will investigate histories and memory through objects the children create and collect. The class will tour "Amie Siegel: Medium Cool." Then, through hands-on artmaking, participants will make new relics and envision what has value from the past and in the future. Individual and group projects will be made in both two- and three-dimensional media (painting, printmaking, photography, found object sculpture and more). For additional information, contact Curator of Education Katherine Veneman at kveneman@uh.edu. To register, please click here.
President's Excellence Awards Now open  Nominate one or more colleagues to receive a President’s Excellence Award this year! President’s Excellence Awards are given to a select group of individuals whose commendable efforts and notable achievements have made an impact on the University. Every year, Administration recognizes the contributions of dedicated staff who work tirelessly to support the University, their departments and teams by bestowing these prestigious awards.
All benefits-eligible, non-teaching employees with at least three years of service at UH or in the UH System offices are eligible for this special recognition. Any UH employee, student or community member may nominate a qualifying employee for consideration. Nominations for the 2019 President's Excellence Awards will remain open through 5 p.m. Monday, May 30, giving University members the month of May to recommend colleagues for special recognition. The awards, given in several different categories to qualifying employees, include:
- President's Excellence Award
- Group Excellence Award
- Innovation Award
- Community Service Award
- McElhinney Award
To learn more and submit a nomination, visit the UH Human Resources Employee Recognition Program site or contact Ann Pino at apino@central.uh.edu. Schedule a well vision exam  Visit the University Eye Institute for a well vision exam before the long-awaited summer season. Well vision exams are being offered during the institute's Spring Intramural Clinic, which continues through Thursday, May 9. The institute accepts most major medical and vision plans, including UH medical and vision benefits, and will waive the $40 copay for faculty and staff who have a BlueCross BlueShield HealthSelect primary care provider. Those with a Kelsey Seybold primary care provider may contact them for an eye care services referral.
For more information about the Spring Intramural Clinic, visit opt.uh.edu/intramural. To learn about other ophthalmic services available to you, visit the University Eye Institute online at uei.uh.edu.
Thank you, Court Stein
HR Wellness Administrator
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