The Brandeis FRESH Food Pantry, serves and supports graduate students, is currently running low on hygienic products. In the spirit of community, help us restock the pantry with their most needed items or a monetary donation. Donate new toiletry items at your office. Items needed: soap, floss, toothpaste, toothbrushes, shampoo, conditioner, menstrual pads, deodorant.

The donation drive is sponsored by BUSAC. If you have any questions, contact your BUSAC representative.

Effective immediately, all travel to Israel requires approval. Please obtain approval prior to requesting travel insurance coverage (see below).

As of January 2, 2024, Brandeis’ Travel Insurance carrier, Zurich, is requiring all travelers to Israel be pre-approved, prior to travel, in order to obtain coverage. For pre-approval, please answer the following questions and forward your answers to Bill Thomas, Risk and Insurance Manager at billthomas@brandeis.edu. Risk Management will forward your answers to Zurich. Once approved, the traveler will be covered under the Zurich Travel policy.

• Where are you planning on going within Israel? Please be as specific as possible and include city and hotel name(s).
• What is the duration of travel? What are your trip dates or estimated trip dates?
• What is the purpose of the travel? Please be as specific as possible.
• What are the safety protocols that are in place for the travel? Please be as detailed as possible.
• How many people will be traveling together at one time?
• What means of transportation within Israel will you use?
• What limitations are in place for travel in terms of areas of travel, modes of travel, etc.
• Please note: Zurich will assess additional insurance premiums for each approved traveler.

Please note: If the traveler is a citizen of Israel, and does not maintain dual citizenship in another country, the Zurich travel insurance program excludes their potential extraction services.

Please provide at least 10 days for the pre-approval process.

We are excited to share our January spotlight in our monthly ITS Spotlight Series — Media Technology Services (MTS) includes two teams — the Event Services and Digital Media & Conferencing team led by Eli Jacobson and the Classroom & Learning Space (Technology Enabled Spaces) team led by John Pizzi. These media and technology experts work with the Brandeis Community to seamlessly support our numerous campus events, meetings, and classroom learning. To read more about Eli and John and the MTS team members, including what brought them to Brandeis and how they enjoy spending time outside the office, please visit the ITS Website.

The financial aid renewal application deadline for the 2024-2025 academic year will be March 1, 2024.  Students who would like to apply for need-based scholarship funds must submit 2024-2025 CSS/Financial Aid PROFILE, the 2024-2025 Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA), and copies of 2022 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).  

Please note that the 2024-2025 FAFSA has undergone significant changes. Even though the FAFSA application became available as of 12/30/2023, the website is currently experiencing limited windows of availability due to planned and unplanned maintenance. It may be prudent to wait to file the FAFSA until the application is more reliable, hopefully in the coming weeks.  If you are able to successfully complete your FAFSA, schools will not receive FAFSA data until February 2024 at the earliest. Brandeis will not be able to update the status of the FAFSA item on your financial aid document checklist until February 2024 at the earliest. Please click here for FAQs and the most up-to-date information regarding the 2024-2025 FAFSA.

An e-mail detailing the renewal process was sent to students and parents in early January.  If you would like to meet with your financial aid counselor to discuss the renewal financial aid process, you may book a 30-minute appointment online.  

 SFS will be providing a webinar regarding the renewal financial aid application process on January 29, 2024 at 5:30 p.m. 

Undergraduate Commencement and Graduate Commencement ceremonies will be held on Sunday, May 19, 2024! The Seventy-third Commencement will build upon the success of the new model introduced in 2023 to honor and celebrate Brandeis’ newest graduates.

• The Undergraduate Ceremony will be held at 9 a.m., the Graduate Ceremony will begin at 2:45 p.m. Processionals will assemble in advance and feature graduates, faculty, and dignitaries and honored guests.
• Both ceremonies will be held in Gosman Sports and Convocation Center
• Graduates who sign up to participate in the ceremony will have their individual names called as they cross stage and receive their diploma in front of family, friends, and supporters.
• Graduates will again receive 6 guest tickets, with the possibility of additional from wait-list
• PhDs will receive their hoods as part of the ceremony in the afternoon.
• Additional details, deadlines, and information is forthcoming and will be posted on the commencement website as details are confirmed

Graduate Student Eligibility: Participation in the Seventy-third Commencement is limited to August 2023 and February and May 2024 degree recipients, Master’s students on track to complete their degree requirements for August 2024, and PhD students who have met all requirements of the degree (including dissertation defense, revision, submission, and acceptance by appropriate graduate school administrator).

University Events will be reaching out to directly to our Commencement partners and stakeholders with programming and planning deadlines starting in early January.

Please direct any questions to commencement@brandeis.edu

Sign up for one of our 30-minute, one-on-one financial literacy sessions!  We hope that you will take advantage of this great opportunity to ask questions about budgeting, managing debt, understanding your paycheck, W-2’s etc. Please click here to book an appointment today!

Looking to hone some new skills this spring? Check out the Library’s calendar! Upcoming workshops include a 4-part Python workshop series. New this semester: GIS Drop-in hours will be offered Wednesdays, 2-3:30 (unless otherwise noted).

Library Building Hours for Spring 2024

• Tuesday: 7:30 a.m. - 2 a.m.
• Wednesday: 7:30 a.m. - 2 a.m.
• Thursday: 7:30 a.m. - 2 a.m.
• Friday: 7:30 a.m. - 10 p.m.
• Saturday: 9 a.m. - 10 p.m.
• Sunday: 7:30 a.m. - 2 a.m.
• View more hours, including exceptions

Brandeis is rich with religious diversity. Holidays celebrated by the Brandeis community during January include:

• Makar Sankranti (January 15) is the only Hindu festival based on the solar calendar instead of the lunar. It celebrates the sun's journey from the Southern to the Northern Hemisphere. It is also a harvest festival thanking Mother Earth as winter begins to recede.

• Tu b'Shvat  (January 24 sundown - January 25) Jewish people celebrate Tu BiShvat on the fifteenth day of the Hebrew month of Shevat. It is also called Rosh HaShanah La'Ilanot, which translates to "New Year of the Trees." The day is celebrated as an ecological awareness day and trees are planted to mark the occasion.

For more information on these and other holidays, visit the Center for Spiritual Life's Guide to Religious Observances. Did we miss a spiritual observance that is important to you? Please reach out to slife@brandeis.edu.

The week leading up to Commencement is rich with celebration - recognizing special achievements and gathering together before the next phase of life, career, and pursuit of passions.
Following the inaugural Celebratory Reception program last year, the University Events will again coordinate the program. The options will be enhanced this year with additional flexibility based on feedback following the events of May 2023.

We have already reserved spaces to hold Celebratory Receptions across campus the week leading into Commencement and will coordinate with our university partners to ensure your event is a success. To notify University Events that your department is interested in hosting a celebratory reception please view the Commencement Celebratory Reception Planning Guide (web link coming) and then complete the Celebratory Reception request/registration form before January 26. We will collect responses through January 26 and carefully evaluate and assign spaces. In the inaugural year we were able to accommodate most programs with either their first choice for date & time or venue – many received top choice for both.

The Awards and Recognition Committee of the Alumni Board of Directors is seeking nominations for the Alumni Achievement Award. President Liebowitz makes the ultimate determination on the award recipients. For the coming year, the awards will be presented at the Alumni Weekend, in the fall of 2024. The Alumni Achievement Award recognizes alumni--both undergraduate and graduate--who have made distinguished contributions to their professions or chosen fields of endeavor. It represents the highest form of university recognition bestowed exclusively on alumni.

The ITS Workday team is seeking Brandeis Faculty feedback on the Student functionality in Workday to share with our Workday partners. We previously surveyed students on their Workday usage and provided input to Workday that they used to improve the Workday experience; we would now like to take that opportunity for faculty. Please take a couple of minutes to fill out our faculty survey. Your feedback is anonymous and much appreciated!

The Technology Help Desk is pleased to share Spring 2024 support hours for all technology-related issues. Beginning January 9, 2024, the Help Desk will be open for support at the following times:

• Mondays through Fridays, 8 a.m. - 6 p.m.
• Weekends, 1 p.m. - 5 p.m.
• Sunday, January 14, 2024 — Closed for Student Training
• Monday, January 15, 2024 — Closed for Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

The Help Desk staff is committed to providing high-level technology support and service to the Brandeis community. Our team of technology support specialists is located in the Goldfarb Library, Level 1. Community members can also get help by emailing help@brandeis.edu or calling 781-736-4357 (x6HELP). Please visit the ITS website for more information, including a detailed support schedule.

The security team enabled additional email protection in response to increased sophisticated phishing and other attacks. Proofpoint, our email security vendor, provides spam filtering and email protection. Proofpoint now provides additional visibility into phishing and other malicious email attacks by scanning incoming emails for known malicious hyperlinks. Proofpoint URL Defender automatically rewrites links in incoming email messages to evaluate whether the linked content is harmful. Users may notice that URLs associated with embedded links are now visible as text. For more information about Proofpoint URL Defender, including examples, please see the ITS website. If you have any questions or issues with information security, please email security@brandeis.com.

To ensure the highest level of service to the Brandeis community, ITS will implement TeamDynamix, a new service management solution, on January 30, 2024. TeamDynamix (TDX) will replace JIRA, our current ticketing system, allowing support teams to identify and resolve issues more efficiently with a unified ticketing architecture and new features. In addition to using help@Brandeis.edu, users can create a ticket using a Service Catalog to direct their ticket and shorten the path to resolution. 

We invite TDX technicians to attend an in-person vendor-led training session — Wednesday, January 17; Thursday, January 18; Monday, January 22; or Friday, January 26. Please register as soon as possible, as classroom space is limited. To learn more about the Service Management project, including the timeline, please visit the ITS Website or contact the project team.

Please register on the training website for the following workshops (presented virtually):

• 30 Ways to Trim Your Budget - Tuesday 1/23, 9 – 10 a.m.
• Psychology of Spending – Tuesday 2/20, 9 – 10 a.m.
• Buying a Home – Tuesday 3/26,  9 – 10 a.m.
• Identity Theft Solutions – Tuesday 4/23, 9 – 10 a.m.
• The Sandwich Generation – Tuesday 5/28, 9 - 10 a.m.

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

Coming Soon! Brandeis is offering a professional development opportunity for managers by invitation only entitled Managing at Brandeis with an opportunity to earn a Certificate for managers who attend all of the sessions. Topics covered in the program include: inclusive hiring, effective one-to-one meetings, coaching and counseling for improved performance, legal considerations and making good compensation choices. For more information, contact HR at farquhar@brandeis.edu.

Staff and Faculty are encouraged to learn more about Brandeis Online during the upcoming information sessions. Sign up to learn more:

• Jan. 23 at noon: Brandeis Online: Programs, certificates, and growth plan, RSVP

Sleep is as important for good health as diet and exercise. Good sleep improves your brain performance, mood, and health. Not getting enough quality sleep regularly raises the risk of many diseases and disorders. These range from heart disease and stroke to obesity and dementia. Learn if you've had enough sleep, sleep hygiene, medical considerations that can impact sleep, and resources to improve your sleep. Online Seminar on LinkedIn Learning

Come to an in-person Well-Being Seminar on 1/17/24 in the Shapiro Campus Center to meet with Brandeis' Occupational Health Manager and Nurse Practitioner Suzanne Raj, and learn more!

Brandeis Counseling Center (BCC) will begin offering the QPR Suicide Gatekeeper Training workshop to staff and faculty. The aim of this training is to reduce suicidal behaviors through data-driven, practical strategies. 

Similar to CPR as an emergency medical intervention that can be administered by anyone, a QPR-trained Gatekeeper will learn to recognize the warning signs of suicide, know how to offer hope, know how to get help and save a life.

This workshop will be delivered in an interactive, dynamic format by QPR-trained BCC clinicians, and usually takes about an hour. We ask that participants attend the whole session. For departments interested in additional time to practice case scenarios, we ask that you allot 90 minutes. Workshops are typically offered Mondays 1-3 p.m. and Tuesdays 10 a.m.-noon. We recommend the training be held in person, but can accommodate Zoom or hybrid. 

To request a workshop for your department or if you have questions, please contact the BCC at bcc@brandeis.edu.

We are pleased to announce that starting January 1 Brandeis will be partnering with KGA as our new Employee Assistance Program. KGA offers 24/7 access to a network of experts providing support for mental health, childcare, eldercare, legal, financial issues and more. KGA’s confidential services are available to you and your adult household members, at no cost to you. You do not need to receive benefits through Brandeis to access this resource. 

• Call 1-800-648-9557 or visit the website. Log-in password: brandeis
  
• KGA Video - Services Overview
• KGA SUMMARY OF SERVICES pdf
• KGA Mobile App

Creating a Budget, You’ll Actually Use

Planning out your spending and living within a budget, is all about freedom.  Learn how to create a budget you’ll use, so you’re prepared for the unexpected and able to pursue what’s important to you. Register now!  For more information on financial planning and webcasts visit Human Resources Employee Benefits website at Work-Life Balance/Financial

Bright Horizons provides Back-Up Care and One-On One Tutoring all year long.

To sign up and join go to Bright Horizons. For more information and details visit Human Resources Employee Benefits website at Work-Life Balance/Childcare/Adult and Elder Care.

University Events maintains a set of dates held surrounding particularly active large institutional events including Commencement, Orientation, Family Weekend, and Alumni Weekend. These dates are selected to preserve infrastructure for event support on campus from several campus partners and to ensure that adequate resources are available for all scheduled events. Scaled blackout begins May 3, 2024 and all departmental or student events will be reviewed for availability of support before confirmation. Only Commencement related activities (Celebratory Receptions, Student Engagement Events, Shabbat Dinner, and the Commencement Ceremonies) will be permitted between May 8 and May 20. Please contact University Events with any questions.  

The normal services provided by University Events, including scheduling of various university support services (dining, facilities, MTS), rental and delivery of additional furniture or materials may not be available during scaled blackout dates and will be unavailable for full blackout dates between May 8 and May 20, 2024 due to the many production tasks and Celebratory Receptions across campus.

The Department of Student Engagement (DSE) is seeking dedicated staff and faculty to volunteer as advisors to our undergraduate student clubs and organizations. DSE views the role of advisor as one of mentorship, support, relationship-building, and knowledge-sharing as students transition in and out of their leadership roles. In addition to supporting the needs of the student club or organization, an advisor should serve as an intermediary with other university departments, creating consistent, clear expectations of policies and procedures across organizations. With the help of advisors, we hope to build a more cohesive student experience and develop strong leaders in all of our student organizations. Since Spring 2022, we have paired over 20 clubs with faculty and staff advisors! 

Club advisors will have the opportunity to form meaningful relationships with students and will be able to make a lasting impact on the Brandeis community by connecting with other faculty and staff members and supporting the role of students in co-curricular activities. Additionally, club advisors will be eligible to be nominated as Advisor of the Year at the annual Prizes and Awards Ceremony. 

For more information about club advising, check out the Department of Student Engagement Advising Plan. If you are interested in possibly serving as an advisor to an undergraduate student organization, please take five minutes to complete the Club Advising Interest Form. Please note that completion of the form does not guarantee you an advisor position, it is simply a tool to gauge interest. Thank you for your participation and support.