Greetings!

It is our pleasure to inform you that we are once again granting three gift days to employees who are eligible for leave benefits in the upcoming 2024-25 fiscal year. With the gift days on Tuesday, Dec. 24, Monday, Dec. 30 and Tuesday, Dec. 31, employees will be able to enjoy the period from Dec. 24 through New Year’s Day without using vacation or any other paid time off.

The Office of Human Resources presents the second annual Take Your Child to Work Day on April 25! We have a fun-filled day planned to include a dorm tour, a police demonstration, and a tour of the new E-Sports Arena. We welcome up to 20 kids aged 11-15 years old to come and join us for the afternoon, but everyone is welcome to bring their child to work outside of our planned activities.

Why are fewer people riding public transit, and what do lower farebox revenues mean for state and federal government in their oversight and support of transit agencies? In an article published last year in the Municipal Finance Journal, our research team at the Institute of Government and Public Affairs developed some hypotheses for a possibly permanent decline in commuting: many workers became accustomed to working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic and have been hesitant to return to working in the office (Funderburg et al. 2023).

This month, we’ve been focused on using plus-one thinking to improve assessments and grading practices. In order to see the fruits of your labor, you’ll likely want to take a peek at your gradebook. But does your gradebook truly reflect the work you and your students are putting into these assessments?

Microsoft has released a new version of Teams, which provides improved speed delivering up to two times faster performance while using 50% less memory.

The new Teams has been an optional upgrade since last fall and will go into full production March 31. If you are not already using the new Teams, you will be automatically upgraded on March 31.

To upgrade prior to March 31, click the toggle in the upper left corner of Teams to switch to the new Teams.