The spring tuition bill is due on Friday, Jan. 15. Balances unpaid by the due date are subject to a registration hold and a late fee. To view the various payment options, including payment plans, please visit the Office of Student Financial Services Payment Options webpage. Students can access their bill via the Student Account Center (SAC) by selecting the “View Account or Manage Payments” link in their Sage Student Center. Students can grant access to their bills to parents, or other third parties, by following the instructions on the Student Account Center webpage.

The financial aid renewal application deadline for the 2021-2022 academic year will be March 1. Students receiving need-based scholarship funds must submit the 2021-2022 CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE , the 2021-2022 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and copies of 2019 student and parent Federal Income Tax Returns. Students who wish to apply only for federal sources of financial aid need only complete the FAFSA (taxes will be requested upon receipt of this application only if necessary). An e-mail detailing the renewal process was sent to students and parents in early December. SFS is offering early morning, evening and weekend appointments for questions about completing the 2021-2022 renewal aid applications. Visit here to book a 30-minute appointment with a financial aid counselor. The Office of Student Financial Services is currently operating remotely. If you have questions about financial aid, billing or student employment/I-9's, please contact SFS at 781-736-3700 or sfs@brandeis.edu from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday. The lobby will reopen for in-person I-9 completion appointments on Jan. 25.

On Thursday, Jan. 21, ITS will enable Proofpoint for all faculty and staff accounts. Proofpoint serves as an additional layer of protection to your email account by automatically filtering spam that is identified as being potentially fraudulent. What does this mean to you? When Proofpoint identifies and flags a message as spam, you will receive a daily digest containing any message(s) that have been filtered. You can manage which message(s) and sender(s) you’d like to receive in your inbox. Join ITS for a Proofpoint: Getting Started with Email Protection webinar on Thursday, Jan. 21 from 11 a.m. - 12 p.m. to learn about the program, see a live demo of the email digest, and get answers to your questions. Please register to attend the upcoming webinar. Visit the ITS website to learn more including a getting started guide, video tutorials, and FAQs. For more information or questions, please contact security@brandeis.edu.

Brandeis community members are encouraged to provide input to the search process for Brandeis' next director of public safety/chief of police – e.g., suggestions for the job description, ideas for recruitment, recommendations for candidates, etc. – via the Search Input Form on the Search Process website.

Can you get some privacy? Jan. 28, 2021 is Data Privacy Day, an international effort to help everyone stay protected whenever and however you connect. The digital privacy of our community - their accounts and data - is important to the university. Join ITS and the Library for a security awareness workshop on Thursday, Jan. 28, 2021 from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. to learn tips for enhancing your privacy while using online services like social media and search tools. Please register to attend the upcoming webinar. A recording of the event will be posted to the ITS website for on-demand viewing for those unable to attend.

ITS also has resources on maintaining online privacy that are available on the ITS website. For questions or to learn more, contact security@brandeis.edu.

The Library has a number of exciting workshops this month on a range of topics, including Mapping Census Data with Social Explorer, Introduction to Systematic Reviews, Make the Most of Your Library Online, Learn about Brandeis History and its archives, and Researching in the Archives. Additional workshops cover tools and technology such as Stata, Unity3D, Machine Learning Resources, Atlas.ti, Matlab, Jamboard software for Teaching, and 3D scanning.

Due to an unprecedented use of Zoom and exponential growth of cloud recording storage, the retention period for Zoom cloud recordings will change starting with Spring 2021 semester. Effective Feb. 1, 2021, Zoom cloud recordings will be retained for 180 days. Any recordings older than 180 days (from the recording date) will be deleted from Zoom’s cloud storage service. The upcoming change will optimize the allotted Zoom cloud storage space for Brandeis Zoom users.

ITS is asking all Zoom users to voluntarily manage their cloud recordings to help storage space. Recordings that need to be permanently retained should be downloaded to a local hard drive or uploaded to cloud storage such as Box. Learn more about managing cloud recordings and how to download a Zoom recording.

Alternatively, users can manually upload media content to Echo360. For academic-related content, instructors can upload directly to Echo360 from within a LATTE course. Users who have an account on both Zoom and the Echo360 platform can take advantage of Zoom cloud recordings that are automatically copied to Echo360. Recordings will remain on the Echo360 platform for 18 months. Visit echo360.org to log in to your account and view recordings. While the Zoom cloud retention period is being reduced, users are encouraged to utilize Echo360 for hosting media content for an extended period of time.

ITS is working with various academic and administrative committees including IT Governance to ensure the community is aware of the upcoming change and provide assistance as needed. For questions or additional information, please contact the Technology Help Desk (help@brandeis.edu).

The financial aid renewal application deadline for the 2021-2022 academic year will be March 1, 2021. Students receiving need-based scholarship funds must submit the 2021-2022 CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE , the 2021-2022 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and copies of 2019 student and parent Federal Income Tax Returns. Students who wish to apply only for federal sources of financial aid need only complete the FAFSA (taxes will be requested upon receipt of this application only if necessary). An email detailing the renewal process was sent to students and parents in early December. SFS is offering early morning, evening and weekend appointments for questions about completing the 2021-2022 renewal aid applications. Please visit here to book a 30-minute appointment with a financial aid counselor.

Every day, there are events in the news that remind us how important it is to receive timely information about emergency situations. For those who live and work at Brandeis University, registering to receive updates from the Brandeis Emergency Notification System (BENS) is one important way to get such messages. This system is used not only to inform the Brandeis community of an emergency situation affecting campus, but also to inform the community about severe weather delays and closures.

Using the BENS system for delays and closures notifies students, faculty and staff that the university’s schedule is affected by severe weather events more quickly. As in the past, some employees may be required to report to work in severe weather. If you have questions about whether you need to report to work during a weather issue, please contact your supervisor for clarification.

University email addresses will automatically be notified in the event of an emergency or severe weather. To receive notifications via text message or a non-Brandeis email address, you must provide us with your mobile phone number, and check the box authorizing Brandeis to send texts, and personal email address. Go to go.brandeis.edu/alerts for complete information and instructions.

It may be winter, but the Workday Student project team is looking ahead to Spring 2021 with the rollout of the second milestone of course registration and advising functionality. The team completed the first of four major milestones last month with the rollout of an automated process for proposing and approving new courses, currently in use by the Registrar’s Office.

To help prepare the community for the transition from Sage to Workday Student, the team recently launched readiness workshops with a network of change liaisons comprised of faculty, staff, and student representatives from across campus to share project updates, provide system demonstrations, and address questions. Additional information and readiness materials such as Workday terminology, job aids and FAQs will be shared with the broader campus community in the upcoming months.

Visit the Workday Student project website to learn more including project overview, upcoming milestones, and functionality. Please contact us at workday@brandeis.edu with any questions.

Brandeis is working to meet the dietary, observance and community needs of students over the Passover holiday in the spring semester. Brandeis will partner with Catering By Andrew, a top Boston area kosher caterer, for kosher-for-Passover food on campus for the entire Passover holiday starting March 27 through April 4.

In order to offer students as much choice and flexibility as possible while still adhering to public health guidelines, Seder meals will be available in two ways:

• Private dining spaces will be available on campus to support groups of 10 or fewer, with appropriately-distanced seating. These will be available on a sign-up basis, with more information to come.
• Students can also pick up a Seder meal and take it back to their residence halls, or off campus apartments, with a meal kit which includes dinner and all ritual items.

For students who will keep kosher for Passover throughout the week:

• Students on meal plans will be able to sign up for kosher-for-Passover options throughout the week
• For those who wish to participate, but are not on a meal plan, can do so by ordering through Dining's E-commerce site at a future date.

The Faculty Club will be dedicated to kosher-for-Passover meal service from March 27 through April 4, serving breakfast, lunch and dinner for those who sign-up in advance.

Regular Dining Operations will continue in Usdan and Sherman.

Employees who were enrolled in a Flexible Health Care Reimbursement Account during the calendar year 2020 have until March 15, 2021 to incur expenses and have until April 30, 2021 to submit their claims for reimbursement. HealthEquity FSA, HealthEquity/WageWorks Login, FSAstore

Employees who were enrolled in Flexible Dependent Care Reimbursement Account during calendar year 2020 have until March 31, 2021 to submit their claims for reimbursement for expenses incurred Jan. 1 through Dec. 31.

For additional information regarding flexible spending accounts please visit HR Benefits webpage.

The maximum 2020 and 2021 contribution limits established by the Internal Revenue Service for employees under the age of 50 is $19,500. For anyone age 50 and older, the annual contribution limit is $26,000. There are limit restrictions in Workday that prohibit an employee from contributing more than the IRS Maximum amount allowed in our Plan.

With one-stop convenience, Fidelity Investments supports the enrollment process and provides ongoing service to retirement plan participants. – regardless of whether you invest with Fidelity or TIAA – via the university’s NetBenefits Retirement Planning website.

You may update your pre-tax deferred contribution elections on the NetBenefits Brandeis Retirement Planning website or by calling the Retirement Service Center at 800-343-0860.

The 403(b) website user guide takes you through the process screen by screen.

Brandeis is launching an online health portal through Tufts Health Plan as part of our Healthy You wellness program. The portal features a number of activities, tools and resources to help you set, track and achieve your personal goals. Additional information when available will post to Human Resources Benefits webpage.