On Tuesday, June 30, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., members of the Brandeis University Police Department, along with regional law enforcement partners, will be conducting training exercises in and around Kutz Hall and Pearlman Hall.

This training will focus on scent detection operations and will include the presence of police personnel and specialized resources. Community members should expect an increased first responder presence in the area during the exercise.

Directional signage will be posted, and every effort will be made to minimize disruptions to normal campus activities. This is a planned training event, and there is no threat to the campus community.

We appreciate your cooperation and understanding as we continue to train with our public safety partners to enhance preparedness and response capabilities.

The Fall 2026 bill will be available to students and families via the Nelnet Student Account Portal in early July with a due date of August 7, 2026. Students can access their billing details by clicking the Nelnet Student Account Portal link found within the Student Account worklet in Workday. Students who have never accessed the Nelnet Student Account Portal before will need to set up their student profile (refer to the Nelnet - Account Access job aid for detailed instructions) before they can view the bill.

In order for parents, guardians, sponsors, or another party to receive the student's tuition bill, view the student account, and make payments, the student must add them as Authorized Parties in Nelnet. Once they are set up as an Authorized Party, parents/guardians can access Nelnet directly with their own usernames and passwords; they cannot use the student's log-in credentials to access the portal.

SFS will send a notification to students and authorized parties when the information is ready in Nelnet.

On July 4, 2025, the President of the United States signed into law the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) which enacted major changes to the U.S. tax code, as well as to federal programs that receive mandatory funding, such as federal student loans. We realize many undergraduate and graduate students may have concerns about how these changes might affect their ability to pay for college after July 1, 2026. The FAQ page answers many of these questions, and will be updated as more information becomes available.

The Office of Student Financial Services invites students to 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-2s etc. Book an appointment today!

We also invite students to sign up for iGrad, a free, online financial literacy resource to help manage money and/or student loans. iGrad membership includes money management, simple budgeting tools, student loan and debt management and tracking and building credit scores All students and alumni have free access to these tools, so the account can be used after graduation.

Help build connection and attendance at summer events happening across campus by submitting your office and department events to the Brandeis Campus Calendar, the university’s central events calendar. The calendar, which is maintained by the the Office of Marketing Communications, helps inform and connect the campus community with the wide array of events happening across Brandeis. We encourage submissions for events relevant to students, faculty, staff, alumni or the broader Brandeis community. Events should be sponsored by a Brandeis entity and/or have a clear Brandeis connection. Submit your events using the online calendar submission form.

Questions? Email calendar@brandeis.edu.

Brandeis is rich with religious diversity. Upcoming holidays celebrated by the Brandeis community include Ashura (June 25-26). The day of Ashura holds special significance to Muslims from different denominations and is commemorated in different ways around the world. Many will fast from before dawn until dusk. For more information on this 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.

Open to all members of the campus community

• Digital Scholarship Lab Open Hours, 10 a.m. - 12 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2026
• Getting Started with Stata, 12-1 p.m., Monday, June 22, 2026
• Data Wrangling with Stata, 12-1 p.m., Tuesday, June 23, 2026
• Bivariate Analysis with Stata, 12-1 p.m., Wednesday, June 24, 2026
• Regression Analysis with Stata, 12-1 p.m., Thursday, June 25, 2026
• Intro to 3D Printing with Prusa Mini, 12-1:30 p.m., Friday, June 26, 2026

Effective July 1, mail services will be serviced by a new provider Ricoh. Among the improvements from this change is a new modern mail services operation to serve the university community. Some of the current mail services employees have chosen to join Ricoh and will remain on campus to ensure that the transition is a smooth one. Paul Morrison will continue to manage the mail services operation.

Changes Ahead:

• Elimination of antiquated student mailboxes and keys
• Kiosk to pre-gather mail while you are in line
• New option to have your packages shifted to a package locker location on lower campus

Watch social media and email for updates on services!

Workday will update its menu from applications to headings this July. When users log into Workday on their desktop or mobile web page, the menu will now appear on the left hand side as icons such as “Student,” “Employee Self-Service,” and “Recruiting.” Hovering over these icons will reveal the items within each menu (such as Career Hub, Request Absence, and Benefits & Pay under the Employee Self-Service icon). Any saved links or shortcuts in your menu will continue to appear even with the new icons available. Review our video to see the new Workday menu (authentication required).

Brandeis is rolling out new tap-enabled ID cards to enhance campus security. The cards support both tab and swipe access to buildings and use encrypted smart-chip technology. This initiative is led by Public Safety, the Campus Card Office, and ITS. Distribution dates for the cards will be released at a later date. Brandeis will provide lanyards for ID cards for ease of carrying. Although your ID card should be with you at all times you are on-campus, it is not required to be visible, and it will continue to be required to access certain buildings, including residence halls.

Did you know ITS has a newsletter? You can sign up for the Brandeis Technology Newsletter and follow @DeisTechNews on Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X/Twitter and LinkedIn to stay up to date with ITS Tech Talks, technology news and helpful tips and tricks to making your use of technology more helpful and productive!

Have an idea for a ITS Tech Talk for this fall? Drop us a note in our Tech Talk Survey.

• The 2026 annual pay increases for staff employees are approved. This includes employees in the Academic Research Union, other non-Union staff, and those whose salaries are 100% grant or gift funded. The approved merit pool was 2.0%. All pay increases are effective July 1, 2026.
• Your manager will be communicating your pay increase to you between June 18 and June 30.
• Non-Union employees: On July 1, you will be able to print out an Employee Annual Increase Statement in Workday. Read the Job Aid: Non Union Staff - How to Print Salary Increase Statements in Workday

• Academic Research Union employees: Your increases were processed outside of Workday so worksheets were not generated. However, you will be able to view your increases in Workday on July 1. To do this, open your Workday record and select Compensation from the blue vertical menu on the left followed by Pay Change History from the horizontal menu. Then click on each link below to view the actual changes. If an Excel print out is desired, click on the box with six dots on the right which is above the list of pay actions. This exports the data on the active screen to Excel.
• All employees: You should speak with your direct manager to understand the amount of your July 1, 2026 merit increase.
• New rates of pay will be reflected in the 7/10 weekly pay and the 7/15 semi-monthly pay.
• Other Union Staff receive increases per the terms of their Collective Bargaining Agreements. This includes those in Facilities, Library Services, and Public Safety.
• Questions should be directed to your manager.

Join fellow managers this fall for the Brandeis Manager Book Group featuring “Difficult Conversations: How to Discuss What Matters Most” by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, and Sheila Heen. This interactive leadership development experience will explore practical strategies for navigating challenging workplace conversations, providing feedback, addressing conflict, and building stronger working relationships. Participants will engage in facilitated discussion, peer learning, and applied leadership practice designed to strengthen communication, accountability, and trust.

Whether you are a new manager or an experienced leader, this program offers an opportunity to strengthen one of the most important leadership skills: having difficult conversations with confidence, empathy, and effectiveness.

Register by Sept. 18, 2026 to receive your book. A scheduling poll will be shared with participants to determine session date and time.

Sign up and access LinkedIn Learning for a free e-card using the instructions provided to access LinkedIn Learning (offers over 16,000 online courses) through the Boston Public Library. If you have any questions contact humanresources@brandeis.edu. Did you know that you will have access to certificates of completion for your records? We are spotlighting these timely and relevant courses available to faculty and staff. 

Recommend Courses for This Month:

• High-Impact Teaming: How to Lead from Any Role – 57-minute video course
  In today’s fast-changing workplace, leadership is no longer tied to a title. In this course, Keith Ferrazzi empowers every team member to act as a “leader in the work,” strengthening collaboration, accountability, and innovation across team boundaries. Join Keith and discover “Co-Elevation,” an approach for building trust, influencing without authority, and accelerating performance. With rituals like candor breaks and peer coaching, discover how to create a culture of shared accountability.

• Stay Productive in a World that Won’t Slow Down with Daniel Pink – 50-minute video course
  Five moves to reclaim your focus - Productivity isn’t about doing more, it’s about doing what matters most. So, how do you choose wisely when work isn’t calming down and expectations keep rising? In this conversation with Hello Monday host Jessi Hempel, Daniel Pink, five-time bestselling author, 2026 LinkedIn Top Voice, and one of today’s most trusted voices on motivation and performance, discusses how to stay productive when everything feels urgent.

With the start of the new Fiscal Year on July 1, 2026, the University will be adjusting the fringe benefit rates for eligible faculty, staff and post docs. These new rates are 32.3%, 35.6%, and 27.7% respectively. The new rates will be in effect for all non-grant accounts. Changes to fringe benefits for grants will not occur until the federal government opines on the rates submitted by the university. Fringe rate budgets for university operating accounts will be adjusted accordingly.

Starting this month, please use the InBrief Submission Form to submit items to InBrief. InBrief is distributed every other Thursday; content should be submitted by the Tuesday before. See the InBrief schedule. If you have questions, please contact Seamus Gallagher (gallagher@brandeis.edu). 

As the fiscal year is coming to a close, the Division of Business and Finance would like to remind budget managers and others with financial transaction responsibilities to review your departments’ financial reports. Please refer to the year-end-memo for a list of deadlines and milestones. The last day to submit any accounting entries for fiscal year 2026 is Thursday, July 16, 2026.

For questions, please contact a member of our team.