Renewal financial aid applications for the 2019-2020 academic year were due on March 1, 2019. An e-mail detailing the documents required for renewal were e-mailed to parents and students in January and are also available on the Student Financial Services website. If you intend to apply for need-based financial aid, and have not yet done so, please file the required documents as soon as possible.

There is still an opportunity to purchase Red Sox tickets. For a complete list of available games and pricing please visit the The Office of the EVP, Finance and Administration website.

Seats are in section RF box 97, row RR, seats 6 - 9. Tickets will be sold in pairs of two.

To purchase tickets please email Gail Jordan. First come, first serve.

The billing due dates for the 2019-2020 academic year will be August 2, 2019 for the fall semester and December 13, 2019 for the spring semester. Electronic bills will be sent for fall and spring via the Student Account Center (SAC) in July and November, respectively. Please note that the SAC, formerly operated in partnership with TMS, has recently been acquired by Nelnet.

The Office of Student Financial Services launched iGrad, an award-winning financial literacy platform created by financial aid professionals, in January. Its mission is to help college students prepare for their financial futures. Students can take advantage of features such as money management, budgeting tools, student loan and debt management, salary, debt-to-income, loan and payroll calculators. Sign up now to improve your financial future.

For three weeks in March, students, faculty and staff participated in the sustainability competition, Save Ohno. Aimed at increasing awareness about climate change as well as promoting sustainable practices, there were nearly double the number of participants (over 200) from last year.

Competitors were challenged to complete various actions, attend events, sign petitions and more, each time earning points. At the end of the three week period, the combined efforts of competitors across nearly one thousand actions resulted in:

• Adding 2775 signatures on petitions
• Saving 179,000 gallons of water from eating vegetarian and brushing teeth without running the faucet
• Avoiding 738 lbs of CO2 by eating vegetarian/vegan, washing clothes in cold water, recycling and turning off the lights

Congratulations to the top 3 teams, Yoko Ohno, Alpha Pi Phi, Delta Phi Epsilon.

Every semester, a portion of student fees supports the Brandeis Sustainability Fund, dedicated to projects and/or activities to improve Brandeis’ sustainability profile. Several student projects were approved by the selection committee in March, which had approximately $98,000 to allocate.

This semester’s awards include:

Compostable items at Springfest
Every spring, Brandeis hosts the music festival Springfest, which includes food vendors. Springfest organizers applied for funds to purchase compostable cups and plates for all students to promote sustainability.
Cupanion
Proposed by the Brandeis Student Union Senate Sustainability Committee, this project will provide reusable water bottles to the incoming class of 2023, as well as stickers for others on campus who already have water bottles. The program includes the Fill it Forward app, with which students can scan their bottles/stickers each time they refill their bottle, prompting Cupanion to donate water to people in need.
Water Fountains
This project will increase the number of water bottle filling stations around campus. Priority locations for the installation of fountains will be in freshman and sophomore residence halls.
Stickers
Stickers promoting tap water and reusable water bottles will be given out to members of the Brandeis community this spring and next fall.
SaveOhno
Save Ohno will be coming back for the third year in 2020 as our annual sustainability competition.

At the end of each academic year, Sustainable Brandeis holds a move-out donation program. This year, donations will benefit the Epilepsy Foundation and Grad Bag. Bins will be located in residence hall common areas. For additional details, visit The Office of Sustainability Give & Go Webpage.

The mission of the Epilepsy Foundation is to help lead the fight to overcome the challenges of living with epilepsy and help develop therapies that will stop seizures, find cures and help save lives.

Grad Bag collects, cleans, repackages and redistributes gently used college dorm supplies to soon-to-be low-income and first generation college students.

Get ready for the July 1 campus move to Workday by registering for a class today. We have updated the class schedule for April through June. You will use Workday for a variety of functions, including updating your personal information, entering your time worked, managing your absence requests, viewing your payslips and more. Courses include Workday 101 (basics), Time Tracking (entering time), Manager Self-Service (approving time), Workday HR 101 (hiring staff) and many more. Visit the Workday@Brandeis website to view the complete course catalog and to register for a class. To learn more or for questions, contact workday@brandeis.edu.

On Tuesday, April 16, the university will be conducting a TEST of the Brandeis Emergency Notification System (BENS), as well as an evacuation drill. The test and drill are being coordinated in cooperation with the Brandeis Public Safety Department, Emergency Management, Department of Community Living, Information Technology Services and the Office of Communications.

The evacuation drill will involve the activation of fire alarms in the Ridgewood resident areas, plus the testing of the telephone public-address, and text-message systems, all of which are part of BENS. Building Captains are strongly encouraged to refresh themselves on the appropriate procedures and all members of the community are encouraged to review the evacuation zones for the campus.

What you should expect:

April 16, 11:30 a.m.
You will receive an email to your Brandeis address and personal address (if registered), a short text and voice message on your Brandeis University telephone and your personal cell phone (if registered), informing you that Brandeis is testing its emergency systems. Again, this is only a TEST. In the event of a real emergency, these messages would include instructions and information.

You will be notified of the TEST on the university homepage.

April 16, between 11:30 and 11:45 a.m.
Fire alarms will sound at the Ridgewood Residences, staff from the Department of Community Living, Public Safety and Emergency Management will be on site to supervise the evacuation drill, along with members of the Waltham Police and Fire Departments. Students will be required to evacuate to Spingold Theater and once the buildings are clear, staff will inform everyone that it is now ok to re-enter the building.

In an effort to ensure that contracts and agreements for Brandeis University are properly reviewed, approved, and recorded, the University has updated the policy for contract management. Per Brandeis University by-laws, only select individuals are authorized to bind and execute agreements and contracts on behalf of the University. Procurement and Business Services will oversee the review and execution of all non-research agreements and/or contracts, including independent consultant agreements, hotel agreements and other financial documents requiring a signature by a university official.

Sponsored research agreements are and will continue to be reviewed and signed by the Office of Research Administration.

The list of all authorized signers for the University and more detailed information on the contract process is available on the Contract Management Webpage.

Admitted Students Day is scheduled for Sunday, April 14. To accommodate the arrival of more than 700 students and their families the following parking changes will be implemented:

• Resident students who normally park in the South Residence (X) and the (T) Theater parking lots will be required to move their vehicles prior to 11 p.m. on Saturday, April 13.
• All resident student vehicles must be moved to the Charles River (J) parking lot, which is located off Angleside Road. Vehicles that are not moved from the Theater and South Residence lots will be towed at the owner's expense to Charles River (J) parking lot.
• An extra shuttle van will be available during the evening of Saturday, April 13, from 6 to 11 p.m. to provide transportation from Charles River (J) lot to campus.
• Resident students may return their vehicles to South Residence (X) parking lot after 6 p.m. on Sunday evening, April 14.

For more information please visit the Department of Public Safety website.

A reception to celebrate Jim Gray’s service to Brandeis University will be held on Tuesday, April 16 in the Skylines Commons. Please stop by to wish Jim well.

In order to install a battery based energy storage system, a power shutdown is required. The Brandeis system is one of three Eversource pilot projects. The batteries for the energy storage system will be charged with clean off-peak power at night and discharge back to Brandeis electrical distribution system during peak usage periods. This eliminates Eversource’s need to procure power from its most polluting generators to meet the University's peak usage requirements.

The energy storage project is an important sustainability initiative for both Brandeis, Eversource, and Massachusetts as it helps reduce the need for the most polluting power generation sources. It is anticipated that many of these battery based storage systems will be installed across the state to lower greenhouse gas emissions.

The shutdown will occur on Saturday, April 20 from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Emergency lights in affected buildings will remain on and building exterior door card readers will remain operational during this power shutdown. Emergency power for critical Science Center equipment will remain operational. Department of Facilities Services staff including electricians and HVAC technicians will be on campus during and after the shutdown to ensure building systems restore properly.

For more information and a complete list of building impacted please visit the Facilities website.

It is once again time for annual performance reviews. Human Resources is offering a workshop for managers on how to conduct an effective performance review and a workshop for staff on how to make the most of your performance review. For more information and to register please visit the Human Resources Training and Development Webpage.

It is not too late to register. BOTM is underway but you can still join your colleagues in a fun points-based challenge that includes daily exercise and steps. Teams are composed of four employees (eligible participants are faculty, postdocs and staff). Each team will select a Team Captain to motivate and encourage. 

Registering is easy and fast. For more BOTM Challenge information visit the Office of Human Resources Webpage.