Brandeis is engaged in a collaboration between the Institute for International Education (IIE) and Education USA (U.S. Department of State) to encourage students from around the world to study in the United States. The IEE has been filming a video here over the past week in support of this mission. Intermittently on Thursday (Oct. 20) between 9 a.m. and 6 p.m., they will be using an unmanned aerial vehicle — better known as a drone — to take aerial footage of our campus to use in their video. The operator of the vehicle is licensed and highly experienced, and this filming should not cause any disruption to campus. We’re letting everyone know that this filming is taking place so that no one is surprised to see the drone overhead.

The 2023 benefits Open Enrollment period will take place this year between October 24 and November 4. This is the once-a-year opportunity for benefits-eligible employees to evaluate and make changes to benefits, absent a qualifying event. Changes made during the open enrollment period will take effect January 1, 2023.

HR is also pleased to announce that we will be hosting this year’s annual Benefits Fair in person on October 24. The event will take place in Sherman Hall, in the Hassenfeld Conference Center, from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. The Benefits Fair will include vendors from many of our benefit plans, HR representatives, refreshments and giveaways throughout the day.

During open enrollment, please click on this Job Aid and follow the instructions to make your benefit elections.

If you are not making any benefits changes for 2023, no action is required. Your 2022 medical, dental and vision benefit elections (coverage and tier) will automatically be reinstated for calendar year 2023. A key exception to this is that ACTION IS REQUIRED if you wish to renew or set up a health care or dependent care (day care) flexible spending account for 2023. Because of the pre-tax nature of these programs, regulations require that an active election be made each year and that flexible spending accounts DO NOT renew automatically.

For detailed information, visit the Open Enrollment page. The Open Enrollment link to make your 2023 benefit elections will be available on Workday on October 24, 2022.

This past August, the Biden-Harris Administration announced a plan to provide targeted student loan debt cancellation to borrowers with loans held by the Department of Education (ED). The application for this federal student loan debt relief program is now available online at https://studentaid.gov/debt-relief/application and will remain open until December 31, 2023.

President Biden has capped the loan cancellation at $10,000 for single borrowers making less than $125,000, or households earning less than $250,000, during the pandemic. The relief includes current students and borrowers who have federally-held undergraduate, graduate, and Parent PLUS loans where the first disbursement was on or before June 30, 2022. (Borrowers who were dependent students in the 2021-22 year will be eligible for relief based on parental income, rather than their own income.) Borrowers who fall under the income caps, and also received Pell Grants, will receive an extra $10,000, totaling $20,000 in forgiveness. Current Brandeis students can view their loan and Pell grant information by going to Workday and selecting Student Financial Aid and then the link for the Financial Aid Portal.

Please visit the Federal Student Aid debt relief website for more information.

University Events is leading a re-design review of Commencement in an effort to improve the student and parent experience – two proposals; Commencement ReDesign await your feedback; please take a moment to review and indicate your preference by taking this CommencementReDesign Survey. Responses are due Tuesday, October 25.

Thank you to all of you who submitted ideas on how to celebrate Brandeis’ upcoming 75th anniversary. Your contributions and creativity helped the 75th anniversary working group put together a centralized events and communications plan, which has been approved by President Liebowitz and his cabinet. Here are the key details to date:

• A visual identity system is being developed, with a special logo that will be used on a new 75th anniversary website, banners, event invitations, and more. A branding toolkit will be made available for use by the entire community.
• The celebration year will kick-off on July 1, 2023. Please begin thinking about how you may “75th-ify” your existing programming to mark this milestone year. Campus departments, units, and centers will be encouraged to use the visual identity and special logo for any programs and events that take place during the anniversary year.

Stay tuned for more information, including a community message from President Liebowitz in early 2023. If you have any questions about the 75th anniversary, please email brandeis75@brandeis.edu.

We're asking the entire Brandeis community to share suggestions for Brandeis' 75th anniversary tagline by November 1. If chosen, your tagline will be incorporated into the branding for the celebration.

Mailing lists play a crucial role in day-to-day operations at Brandeis, so it’s important that we use a service that’s modern, secure, reliable and dynamic.

Beginning Friday, November 18, extended from November 3, Listservs will no longer be available. Due to an outdated platform and security risks, ITS will retire the aging Brandeis mailing list service (lists.brandeis.edu) and transition to Google Groups.

On Tuesday, October 18, ITS created a Google Group for each Listserv list with Owners, Editors and Members automatically added. Impacted Owners and Editors were notified by email regarding this transition. Google Groups were created only for Listservs used after January 1, 2019. If you have not sent a message using a Listserv since then, but you would like to keep the list, please create it in Google Groups before November 18 when the Listserv servers are shut down.

For additional information, please visit the ITS Google Groups website or reach out to the ITS Help desk at help@brandeis.edu.

Managing at Brandeis: Nuts & Bolts Series (presented via Zoom):

• Tuesday 11/1 - 1:00 – 2:30 pm: Conducting One-On-Ones register
• Thursday 11/17 - 10:00 – 11:30 am: Intro to Leaves Policy register
• Thursday 12/8 - 1:00 – 2:30 pm: Performance Coaching and Counseling register
• Monday 12/12 - 2:00 – 3:30 pm: Legal Considerations of the Supervisor register

Virtual Workshops presented by New Directions (presented via Zoom):

• Thursday 11/3 - 10:00 – 11:00 am: Creating a Positive Work Environment register
• Tuesday 11/15 - 10:00 – 11:00 am: Essential Leadership Skills register
• Monday 12/5 - 10:00 – 11:00 am: Respect at Work register

FREE Live Webinars offered by New Directions

For more information please visit the HR Training Website or email us at farquhar@brandeis.edu.

As we have been communicating, Brandeis is implementing the Talent Advancement Program (TAP) for staff. TAP is a positive step forward in our commitment to foster a culture of engagement and to support staff professional development and career growth at Brandeis. At the core of TAP will be a robust, continuous and collaborative performance management process between staff and managers with a focus on frequent and ongoing development conversations, supported by a mid-year and annual review.

Training for staff and managers is underway. If you have not attended TAP training, please sign up for an upcoming session.

Please visit and bookmark the TAP website for more information including a TAP overview, training registration, program timing, FAQS, support resources and other useful links for managers and staff.

If you are a full-time staff or faculty member, you can choose how you want to receive Brandeis Magazine — in print, mailed to either your home address or your campus mailstop; by email, with a link to the online edition; or both in print and online. Please visit Workday to select your preferences. If you do not select your preferences, the print magazine will be sent to your campus mailstop, and a link to the online magazine to your Brandeis email address. 

Note that changes to your delivery preferences for the Winter 2023 issue of Brandeis Magazine can be made through noon on Wednesday, November 16, 2022. The magazine delivery preferences will again become available for adjustment in Workday in time to make changes for the next issue. As always, please send comments, suggestions, and story ideas to magazine@brandeis.edu.

Our Investment Office is located at 125 High Street, 2nd Floor, Oliver Tower, Boston, MA. If you are interested in using space at this location, please contact Phillip Jeudy and Pam Regan. A charge may apply depending on the space reserved.

There is still an opportunity to purchase Celtics tickets. The seats are in section LGE16, row 23. For a complete list of available games and pricing please visit the The Office of the EVP, Finance and Administration website.

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

The NEW MEMBER offer: $25/12 months for the Inner Circle Membership

Plus $10 loaded to your membership card to use on your next purchase, expires after 30 days. Please email reneerelerford@brandeis.edu for your application and flyer.

Open to all members of the Brandeis community

• Text Analysis using R, noon - 1 p.m., Wednesday, November 2
• Researching in Archives, noon - 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 25
• Teaching with Archives, 1 - 1:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 25
• The Beginnings of Brandeis: A History in Pictures, 2 - 2:30 p.m., Tuesday, October 25
• Intro to 3D Printing with Flashforge, 10 - 11:45 a.m., Tuesdays
• Introduction to Arduino Electronics Workshop, 4 - 5:30 p.m., Wednesdays
• How to build and deploy your personal website, 2:30 - 4 p.m., Wednesday, Oct. 26

The Finance and Administration leadership team will be hosting its annual town hall on Tuesday, Nov. 29 at 2 p.m. in the International Lounge and via Zoom. This is a wonderful opportunity to hear directly from some of our senior managers on a wide range of topics. Registration is required. Questions may be submitted in advanced or during the town hall. The event will be recorded and posted on the EVP for Finance & Administration website for those who are unable to attend.

This fall, the Workday team is offering new sessions to help users navigate Workday. Join us on October 26 at noon for “Academic Administrators & Department Coordinators - What to Know in Workday Student”. Additionally, we will be offering a session on “Managing Period Activity Pay” on November 9th and “Managing Academic Appointments” on November 16. Zoom information and link to suggest more topics is available on the Workday Wednesdays website.