Winter break is a crucial time for energy conservation at Brandeis. If you are leaving campus, Facilities Services requests that you power down and conserve as much energy as possible. For a list of suggestions, please visit the Facilities website.

Winter is here, and with it comes the threat of inclement weather that may affect our normal campus operations.

The safety of our students, faculty and staff is our first priority when reviewing the potential impact of weather on campus operations. Depending on the severity, we may close campus for the day, delay opening or close early.

When we decide to not open or delay the opening of campus, we will communicate this information in a timely manner, by 6 a.m. on the affected day, if not earlier. We will use the Brandeis Emergency Notification System, or BENS, to notify you by email, text and phone about any closings or delayed openings. Please take a few minutes today to review your emergency contact information in BENS to ensure it is correct, so that you are able to receive notifications by text or to a non-Brandeis email address or phone number.

Visit go.brandeis.edu/alerts for directions on how to check or update your information.

For more information, please visit the Severe Weather website.

On Thursday, November 18, a group of Brandeis students passionate about giving back to the community organized their annual fundraising day to raise money for a Waltham charity. This year, the students chose to raise money for the Waltham Jewish Family & Children Services Family Table. The Family Table provides healthy food assistance (along with Kosher food) to families regardless of religious affiliation, as well as recipes and personal hygiene products. As many food pantries see influxes of need around Thanksgiving, the Brandeis student group felt donating their proceeds to support the Family Table was a way they could help out. The students raised money by letting the Brandeis community pie them in the face, filling plates with shaving cream instead of using real pies. Around 200 Brandeis community members pied the Brandeis student group, raising close to $600. The students turned half of the proceeds into food of greatest need including stuffing, crackers, canned fish, raisins, and vegetables. The other half of the proceeds was donated directly to the Family Table to support and sustain the operation.

Please take a moment to verify your address by logging into Workday and reviewing your personal information. You can update your home address directly through Workday. We ask that you also review the spelling of your name and the social security number that we have on file. For more year-end tax information, please refer to the Payroll Year-end Memo 2021. If you have any questions, please contact the payroll department.

For those students leaving a car on campus, please move your vehicle to the South lot before leaving for break. Please see the map and park in the area outlined in yellow. Please do not park along the wood line. Charles River Apartments residents can leave vehicles in this area for the duration of the break. If you have any questions, please contact Public Safety.

Spring 2022 LATTE course shells will be provisioned with a more minimal version of the current LATTE template. This change is in response to updates in available plug-ins and is meant to help lighten the amount of work involved in setting up LATTE course pages. Faculty will still be able to opt-out of the Spring 2022 LATTE shell by importing or restoring their course from a previous semester or using a blank shell. 

Faculty who would like to continue to use the labels and pre-populated text from the Fall 2021 LATTE template can email library@brandeis.edu for support. 

Please visit the Library’s LATTE documentation for more information. 

The Office of Sponsored Programs Accounting (SPA) is excited to announce that Effort Reporting in Workday is coming soon. As a recipient of federal funding, Brandeis University is required to verify that all payroll costs charged to federal agreements correspond to actual work (effort) performed on sponsored projects. This ensures external sponsors only reimburse the university for the effort expended on projects.

Over the upcoming months, Effort Reporting in Workday will replace the current paper-based process. By transitioning to Workday, it enables the university to have an efficient and transparent effort certification process. SPA is currently partnering with the Workday Training team to develop a comprehensive library of resources to assist employees who currently have a role with Effort Reporting with a seamless transition to Workday. The team is developing step-by-step job aids, video tutorials and will be holding virtual training sessions. SPA will be reaching out directly to departmental staff and Principal Investigators with additional information.

For more information about the transition to Workday or questions, please do not hesitate to contact SPA at spa@brandeis.edu.

Faculty Workshops - Open to all members of the teaching community

• LATTE Drop-In Hour: Course Page Design, Friday, Dec. 17, 10 - 11 a.m.

January 2022

• LATTE Office Hours, Friday, Jan. 7, 10 - 11 a.m.
• LATTE Basics: Instructor Workshop, Friday, Jan. 7, 1 - 2 p.m.
• LATTE Basics: Instructor Workshop, Tuesday, Jan. 11, 1 - 2 p.m.
• LATTE Basics: Instructor Workshop, Wednesday, Jan. 12, 10 - 11 a.m.
• LATTE Basics: Instructor Workshop, Thursday, Jan. 13, 1 - 2 p.m.
• LATTE Office Hours, Friday, Jan. 14, 10 - 11 a.m.
• LATTE Basics: Instructor Workshop, Friday, Jan. 14, 1 - 2 p.m.

LATTE, the university learning management system, will undergo a system update on Tuesday, Jan. 4, 2022, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The system will be unavailable during this time. The team is evaluating system enhancements and new features that may be applied during the upgrade - more information to share in the next InBrief. For more information about the upgrade, please email help@brandeis.edu.

The Payroll Office has issued the annual memo regarding important calendar year-end paycheck and tax information for 2021. This includes requests for duplicate W-2 forms and changes in tax filing status.

The memo is available on the Payroll website, under Payroll Year-end Memo 2021. If you have any questions, please email payroll at payroll@brandeis.edu.

Students and families should have received the spring 2022 bill electronically via Nelnet earlier this week. The due date is December 15, 2021. Students should access the Nelnet Student Account Portal, using the link provided in their Student Account worklet in Workday, to view e-bills and account transactions, make payments and manage monthly payment plans.

If students have not already done so, please complete the following steps to ensure account access:

1. Set-up Nelnet account - Students should log in to the Nelnet Student Account Portal to set up their student profile. Refer to the Nelnet - Account Access job aid for detailed instructions.
2. Add parent or authorized parties access - Students who would like parents, sponsors, or other third parties, to view their student account and make payments will need to set these individuals up as Authorized Parties in Nelnet. Refer to the Nelnet – Manage Payers job aid for detailed instructions.  Students should not share their Nelnet log-in credentials with their parents. They must set up parents as Authorized Parties with their own log-in credentials.

The financial aid renewal application deadline for the 2022-2023 academic year will be March 1, 2022. Students receiving need-based scholarship funds must submit the 2022-2023 CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, the 2022-2023 Free Application for Federal Student Aid, and copies of 2020 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 will be sent to students and parents during the intersession.