The Technology Help Desk is excited to announce they will be extending support hours for all tech-related issues starting this week. You can find the team of technology support specialists at the Goldfarb Library, Level 1.

The Help Desk staff is committed to providing high-level technology support and service to the Brandeis community this fall. The team will continue to adhere to university and health guidelines to ensure the safety of both the team and the community.

The week of Aug. 22, the Technology Help Desk will be open for support at the following times:

• Starting Thur., Aug. 25, on-site each weekday from 8 a.m. - 8 p.m. (8 a.m. - 6 p.m. Fridays) for walk-up and phone/remote support.
• Starting Sat., Aug. 27, resume weekend on-site and phone support from 1 - 5 p.m.

Community members can continue to get remote support by submitting a help request, sending an email to help@brandeis.edu, or calling 781-736-4357. For more information, please visit the ITS website.

The Office of Finance and Administration will be selling tickets to the 2022-2023 Boston Bruins home games, available for purchase by faculty, staff and post-docs. For information please visit the Office of the Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration website.

It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of two long-time and treasured Campus Planning and Operations staff members over the course of the last few months. Between them, they served Brandeis University for about two decades. They will be dearly missed by all that have had the pleasure of knowing them.

Moshe Jacob worked for Facilities Services as a General Maintenance Technician. He did all types of general maintenance jobs in almost all 100 buildings throughout campus in his few years at Brandeis. Moshe was talented in his craft, a devoted family-oriented person, and had a love for philosophizing with his fellow employees and teaching them Jewish traditions, including the language. Mr. Jacob passed away on April 29, 2022. For additional information, you can view his obituary.

Dora Diaz worked for Facilities Services as a Custodian. She worked in many of the buildings on campus in her long Brandeis career, but her primary focus was to ensure Kutz was clean and disinfected daily. Dora was a kind, positive person, and she was cherished by her large extended family and devoted friends; many of whom work at Brandeis or have done so in the past. Ms. Diaz passed away on July 27, 2022. For additional information, you can view her obituary.

Procurement and Business Services in conjunction with General Counsel recently reviewed and updated the terms and conditions for several of our contract templates. Including the Independent Consultant Agreement. We ask that you please ensure you are using the most up to date template by downloading the document from our Forms Website. The Independent Consultant Agreement is listed under the Accounts Payable Forms. If you have any questions, please contact Procurement Services.

Workday is introducing a new homepage as part of their semi- annual upgrade. The new and improved homepage will be available September 7 to all Workday customers and sets the stage for future Workday improvements and growth.

The Brandeis community will notice a number of changes to the homepage including a new menu at the top-left of your screen that will house all your Workday applications, dashboards, and shortcuts and the Workday inbox which will shift to the upper right-hand corner of your screen. Workday users will also have access to their top three frequently used tasks at the top of the homepage under “quick tasks.” The new Workday homepage is more dynamic, shifting applications and messages to different areas of your screen, depending on your monitor/screen size and zoom ratio.

For more information on upcoming changes to Workday and to Watch a Preview of Workday's Homepage Enhancements, please visit the Workday@Brandeis website or email help@brandeis.edu.

The Brandeis community is rich with religious diversity. As we begin the fall semester, Hindu members of our community will celebrate Ganesh Chaturthi on August 30. The birthday of Lord Ganesh is one of the most popular Indian festivals. He is known for removing obstacles from one's path and making the impossible possible. At the end of September, the period containing four important Jewish holidays (often referred to collectively as the High Holidays) begins, starting with Rosh Hashanah, which is celebrated from the evening of September 25 through September 27. Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year, or "Head of the Year." Rosh Hashanah also marks the beginning of the Ten Days of Repentance, which conclude on Yom Kippur. Brandeis does not hold classes on Rosh Hashanah. On September 26, the Hindu observance of Navaratri, a nine day celebration of the Mother Goddess in her various forms, begins. To learn more about these holidays, visit the Center for Spiritual Life’s Guide to Religious Observances webpage. To sign up for meals for the High Holidays by September 9, visit the Brandeis Hillel website.

Media Technology Services and the Office of Communications are excited to announce the launch of the Kaltura Video Platform, which is now available to the Brandeis community. Kaltura’s user portal is called MediaSpace. Accounts are available to all current faculty, staff, and students to host and manage video content on the web.

To access your Kaltura MediaSpace, go to brandeis.mediaspace.kaltura.com. Consider bookmarking this page. A link to the Kaltura MediaSpace can also be found on the Brandeis login page. The Kaltura MediaSpace is replacing the Ensemble video platform. Videos can now be uploaded to Kaltura.

Media Technology Services (MTS) and Digital Communications will be working with users and groups to assist with this transition. If you have Ensemble videos embedded on Brandeis websites, Digital Communications will be replacing those with Kaltura videos before the end of the fall semester.

MTS will be offering a series of open Kaltura training sessions to the community. Please consider signing up for a session to learn more and ask questions.

REGISTER FOR A TRAINING SESSION

Additional information about Kaltura including a Getting Started Guide is available on the Brandeis ITS Kaltura information page. To learn more about Kaltura and browse support articles, please visit the Kaltura Knowledge Center. Please email any further questions to mts@brandeis.edu.

The Brandeis University Data Governance Policy, recently approved by the University Policy Committee, serves to officially establish the Brandeis Data Governance Program.

The program involves the overall management of the accessibility, integrity, accuracy, and security of data used at Brandeis. The program will be built incrementally, through the creation of data-related protocols and standards approved by the Data Trustees.

The policy document outlines the broader framework, roles/responsibilities, policy statements, and defining principles that will be reflected in all subsequent protocols developed for the program. The Data Stewardship Council will lead efforts over the upcoming academic year to build out additional protocols and to educate the community on our shared responsibilities for managing and protecting data.

You can learn more about the Brandeis Data Governance Program at the program’s website. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact Ian Rifkin at irifkin@brandeis.edu.