On May 21, Brandeis will recognize and celebrate the achievements of graduates at the 72nd Commencement Exercises. The success of the day’s events relies on support from staff in all areas. Exempt staff who are not already scheduled to work at Commencement but are interested in being a volunteer, can respond on this form by March 21. Please indicate your availability for either or both the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony in the morning and the Graduate Commencement ceremony in the afternoon. Exempt staff volunteers will be eligible for a day off per ceremony worked (1 or 2 days), which should be coordinated with managers for use by the end of the calendar year. Students interested in serving as paid Commencement Ushers will find the opportunity posted in Workday.

Preliminary information regarding ceremonies, schedules, and answers to frequently asked questions is available at brandeis.edu/commencement. University Events is grateful for your support in this enormous celebratory production! Please direct any questions you have to commencement@brandeis.edu.

The Office of Finance and Administration will be selling tickets to the 2023 Boston Red Sox 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.

For emergencies, contact Public Safety at 781-736-3333 for on-campus issue or 911 for off-campus issue.

For urgent mental health concerns, contact the Brandeis Counseling Center (BCC) at 781-736-3730 (24/7 consultation available).

For other student behavior concerns, submit an I Care Form (one business day to review) for the Care Team to evaluate and coordinate resources of the university and provide necessary supports. Also, please submit an I Care Form after calling Public Safety, 911, or the BCC to ensure follow up for student wellbeing. These resources may also be helpful: Top Ten Care Practices, Care Team Tips, Campus Resources, Resilience Guide, and Campus Connection Points (updated list of ongoing, drop-in or scheduled times for students to have casual or structured connections through conversations).

For decrease in engagement in regular activity (e.g. class, club, job) with no evidence of concerning behavior, a suggestion is to outreach and ask for a reply within two business days. If no reply, try again and include if no reply may need to engage other options to ensure wellbeing. If still no engagement:

• Academic Concerns Only: for undergraduates, contact Academic Services at 781-736-3470 or submit an Academic Performance Report; for graduate students, please contact the appropriate person accordingly:
  • GSAS - Director of Graduate Studies for the department
  • Heller - Program Manager or Director
  • International Business School -  Program Advisor

• Non-academic Disengagement: connect to the manager/leader of the activity to consider next steps, including submitting an I Care Form

The IT Governance Program includes committees, processes, and communications that engage the Brandeis community. The Program ensures the appropriate Brandeis stakeholders guide IT-related decisions and investments to support institutional objectives and priorities.

The Workday Advisory Committee (WAC), led by the Workday Program Director, Val Pirri, provides oversight and direction for the Workday enterprise system — including business processes, system configuration, security roles, and changes stemming from Workday product releases.

WAC membership includes representation from University departments and schools. The Committee meets regularly to review community requests presented by its functional subcommittees for Student, Finance, and Human Resources.

For more information about WAC, to sign up for IT Governance WAC communications, or to learn about the request process or your committee representatives, please visit our updated IT Governance website.

As part of Brandeis’ ongoing commitment to enhancing employee engagement and supporting our Talent Advancement Program (TAP), we are delighted to announce the start of our annual performance review process training. Training will cover an overview of the program, performance review cycle, timeline for annual performance reviews, how to conduct the annual review, how to engage in and support a growth mindset work environment and make the most of the performance review process. The deadline for the annual review completion is May 9. To register visit the HR website: Annual Performance Review Training For Managers and Staff

Workday’s first 2023 semi-annual feature release takes place the weekend of March 11, 2023. Workday is unavailable during the weekend update — beginning Friday, March 10 at 9 p.m. through Saturday, March 11 at 9 a.m.

This release focuses mainly on back-end improvements not visible to most end-users. However, some users may notice changes to entering and updating Period Activity Pay. For more information on the upcoming changes to Workday, please visit the Workday@Brandeis website or email help@brandeis.edu.

Brandeis is rich with religious diversity. March holds important celebrations for many traditions.

Purim (Judaism) was celebrated on March 7. It commemorates the survival of the Jews of Persia in the 5th century BCE, following a plot that would have annihilated the population. Jews celebrate Purim by reading from the Book of Esther, giving tzedakah or charity, exchanging gifts, and attending festive meals.

Holi (Hinduism) was celebrated March 8. It is a major festival and celebrates the onset of spring, along with good harvests and the fertility of the land. This festival is known best for the way people throw brightly colored powder and water over each other to celebrate the advent of spring. Holi is a day that celebrates love, and commemorates the intimate loving relationship between the Divine Couple, Radha and Krishna. On this day people unite together, forgetting all types of resentments and bad feelings towards each other.

Ramadan (Islam) begins on March 22. This ninth month of the Islamic calendar is one of the most sacred times for Muslims. During this month, Muslims observe a strict daily fast from dawn until sunset. They are not allowed to eat or drink, not even water, during these daylight hours. Fasting is a private act of worship engendering nearness to God, but it is also a form of spiritual discipline and a means to empathizing with those less fortunate. The fast is broken at sundown with a meal called iftar, often shared among family and friends. Many will gather after nightfall in the mosque for special communal prayers called tarawih.

Ram Navami (Hinduism) is celebrated March 20. This festival celebrates the birth of Lord Rama who is an incarnation of Lord Vishnu, and is considered to have descended from the sun. Lord Rama became king of Ayodhya, and was known for being popular, brave, kind, just, intelligent, patient, loving, obedient and dutiful. He is celebrated across India by people of all backgrounds, who listen to stories of his life.

For more information on these and other holidays, visit the Center for Spiritual Life's Guide to Religious Observances.

Brandeis Womens' Soccer Coach, Mary Shimko is hosting a soccer camp this summer on June 20 - 23.

We are hosting the camp for girls ages 5 - 14 years old to develop soccer skills, build confidence in young female athletes, and create a fun environment to grow and enjoy the game of soccer.

For additional information and to register, please visit the webpage.

You may receive the following new alerts in Workday starting next week:

Notification to manager when a temporary staff member's end date is coming up
Subject Line: Important - Your Temporary Staff Member - Your Action is Required
Message: Your temporary staff member (Name)'s employment end date is approaching and effective on (date.) Please proceed with processing the termination action in the Workday system. If the temporary assignment requires extension, please reach out to your talent specialist in HR.

End employment for grad students
Subject Line: Important - Your Graduate Student's Employment - Your Action is Required
Message: The Student Worker reporting to you has graduated. Please end their Grad Student Worker (Stipend) job.

Employees who are missing tax election forms
Subject Line: Important - You Must Complete Your Tax Withholding Elections
Message: Please login to Workday to make sure you have completed your State and Federal Withholding Elections. There may be a task awaiting your action in your Workday inbox. If you do not have a task waiting for you, you can review your Withholding Elections by navigating to Withholding Elections and clicking Update if necessary. If you have questions about completing your tax elections in Workday please refer to the job aid or contact Human Resources@Brandeis.edu.

Experience the music, dance, theater, and artwork that will transform the Brandeis campus during the 2023 Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts, April 21 through April 30.

The Festival of the Arts honors its founder, the great American composer, conductor, and Brandeis faculty member, Leonard Bernstein, and his incredible legacy as an artist, educator, activist and humanitarian. The 2023 festival celebrates Art in the Year of Climate Action, as part of the university’s yearlong commitment to climate action.

Most of the events are free and open to the public. These are just a sampling:

• Super Sunday: an afternoon of short performances and art experiences for all ages, including Play for Change
• A production of Stupid F*cking Bird, by Aaron Posner, directed by Dmitry Troyanovsky '98 (Theater Arts), and produced by the Department of Theater Arts
• Culture X, a joyful dance, music, and spoken word showcase produced by the Intercultural Center
• New plays about climate action, produced by the Brooklyn-based new play company The Parsnip Ship (Iyvon E. ’13, artistic director)
• Concerts by the Department of Music ensembles
• Innovative public artworks created for the festival.

The festival website has a complete listing of events. The Festival of the Arts is sponsored by Brandeis Arts Engagement.

Volunteer for the Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Creative Arts and support guest performers and artists as well as students! There are volunteer opportunities before and during the Festival, which takes place April 21-30. All experience levels are welcome. More information and registration form here.

From March 13-18, MusicUnitesUS will be hosting Jomion & the Uklos, an incredible family band from Benin, made up of three brothers and the daughter of the eldest brother. Their music explores the intersection of traditional and contemporary influences, grounded in West African vòdún roots, but freely incorporating sounds from gospel, jazz, and reggae. The group members are practicing Christians, but their mission as a band is to reclaim Benin's traditional vòdún spiritual heritage, dispelling the negative reputation given by colonial powers and missionaries, and propagated to this day through Hollywood and pop culture. Experience a taste of their unique music here.

Throughout the course of the week, they will engage directly with hundreds of Brandeis students from departments across campus. They will present workshops in Music, Anthropology, African and African American Studies, CAST (Creativity, the Arts, and Social Transformation), Math, and Creative Arts. See their full residency schedule here. Jomion and the Uklos will present a workshop for four hundred local youth at Waltham High School, a performance at the Brandeis African Students Association’s Rice Wars, an informal concert in Mandel at noon on Wed 3/15, and a big public concert on Saturday 3/18 at the Slosberg Recital Hall. Tickets for the 3/18 show available here.

This seminar walks you step by step through the process of buying a home; from pre-approval through closing. Factors Considered to Qualify for a Mortgage A variety of factors, like credit score, income, assets, debts, and employment history are taken into consideration when underwriting your mortgage loan application. Learn what to expect so you can be prepared for a smooth process. Please register for this workshop.

For the full schedule of workshops offered, please visit the HR Training Website or contact us at farquhar@brandeis.edu.

Brandeis GSAS is excited to be hosting our second annual three minute dissertation competition (3MT).

The Brandeis 3MT Competition is a university-sponsored speaking competition designed to showcase GSAS student research in three-minute talks to a general audience. This is an opportunity for graduate students engaged in original research to develop communication and presentation skills while sharing their work with faculty, staff, and students across Brandeis University.

Mark your calendars for Tuesday, April 4 from 4 - 6 p.m. to see the Final Round of the 3MT Competition in the Carl J. Shapiro Theater in the SCC. Finalists will present, judges will deliberate, and prizes will be awarded.

Waltham Group Blood Drive holds three drives a year by collaborating with The American Red Cross. They were able to meet the goal of 47 units in the recent Valentine's Blood Drive.

All Brandeis community members are able to donate. Students are also able to volunteer. The donor will be checked by volunteers, complete short health history, and start the donation process if eligible. Afterward, the donor will rest for 15 minutes in the canteen area, where they can have a snack and ensure they feel okay before leaving. Participating in the blood drive by donating or volunteering is an amazing way for the community to give back. Sign up to donate blood.

New Directions is the Brandeis University Employee Assistance Program (EAP). The EAP services are free, confidential and available 24 hours a day, every day. If you need help with Mental Health Support, Community Resources, Crisis Resources, Suicide Awareness and more, they are here to help.

Please login to the New Directions website and enter the company code ‘brandeis university’ or call them directly at 800-624-5544.

Reminder your Healthcare Flexible Spending Account (FSA) has an annual grace period to spend your funds. The grace period to incur expenses runs through March 15th, 2023 for 2022 expenses. This means you have until March 15th to incur new expenses and use money left in your Healthcare and Dependent Care FSA to spend.

For reimbursements claim all receipts must be submitted by April 30, 2023. Supporting documentation must be submitted with all claim to WageWorks/Health Equity.

The Brandeis Art Exchange, located outside Usdan across from the library, encourages art making, collaboration and experimentation by the Brandeis community through the exchange of art and craft materials. Please take what inspires you. Donations of art materials and art books are welcome! Put them in the box yourself anytime. Large donations may be sent to Ingrid Schorr at MS 092, or email Ingrid for a pickup. Sponsored by Arts Engagement and the MakerLab.