The Staff Advisory Council (S.A.C.) represents the interests of wage, classified, and administrative professional employees throughout the University of Mary Washington. We so appreciate those who have served on the Council; it is now time to elect the next group of S.A.C. members.  Thirteen of your colleagues have agreed – should they be elected – to take up the challenge to represent you as a member of the S.A.C..

Each nominee was asked to provide a brief statement about why s/he is interested in serving on the S.A.C.  Each candidate was also asked to indicate how s/he feels the S.A.C. can partner with the next UMW President.  The panel of candidates and their statements are available on the S.A.C. Website.  Once you have reviewed the information, please take a moment to vote for your colleagues:  Vote.

The 2015 Election will close at 5pm on November 16.

Thank you for your time, your support, and thoughtful consideration of nominees for the S.A.C.

Elections Committee Staff Advisory Council

The following message is from the Office of Emergency Management and Safety:

As of today, Monday, Nov. 2, the University has switched to a new and improved emergency notification provider, RAVE Safety Mobility. Shortly, you will receive an important email directly from RAVE asking you to log in to the new system. Please know that the University has sanctioned that email, and It is essential that you follow the instructions contained in that email.

As a member of the UMW community, your name and email address have been added automatically from the former system. With the new system, you will be able to choose how you prefer to be notified, and you will be able to select up to six contacts whom you would like to receive notification when an alert is sent out.

For more information, please contact Chris Cash in Emergency Management and Safety at ccash@umw.edu.

To All Commonwealth of Virginia Optional Retirement Plan for Higher Education Participants:

This is a reminder that October is Open Enrollment month for participants of the Optional Retirement Plan for Higher Education (ORPHE) and tomorrow is your last day to make the request.

The two available ORPHE providers are Fidelity Investments and TIAA-CREF.  ORPHE participants may review notice to participants at http://www.varetire.org/pdf/publications/OrpheEnrollNot.pdf  ORPHE participants may switch from one provider to the other for contributions to be effective Jan. 10, 2016.

Participants may find the provider change form at http://www.varetire.org/pdf/publications/OrpheProChngForm.pdf and ORPHE Handbook at http://www.varetire.org/pdf/publications/orphe-handbook.pdf

If you elect to change providers, you will need to complete the provider change form and forward it to Office of Human Resources on or before close of business, Friday, Oct. 30, 2015.

You may contact the TIAA-CREF Plan Center at 1-800-842-2776 and Fidelity Plan Service Center at 1-800-343-0860.

Consider reporting your donations made to a CVC listed charity between Jan. 1 2015 and Dec. 31 2015 to CVC via the Direct Giving Tool online! *

Direct Giving occurs when a donation is given to directly to a CVC listed charity and is NOT processed through any CVC channel.

Direct Giving can actually come in many forms.

Examples would be:

• Donations of clothing, musical instruments, food, vehicles, appliances, property or toys directly to the charity
• Direct monetary donations directly submitted to the charity
• Memberships to clubs or museums (YMCA, Art or Science Museums, etc.)
• Purchase of a charitable item (Girl Scout cookies, commemorative wristbands/items, etc.)
• Participation in a charity run, spaghetti meal or pancake breakfast, where money was given for a ticket or entry, etc.  (FYI – NEW THIS YEAR – For the Richmond Marathon, Monument Avenue 10k, Conquer the Cobbles and other events across the state that are run by the SportsBackers – use CVC Code 8406)

At this link:  http://survey.dhrm.virginia.gov/n/2015DGTool.aspx, fill out the basic information required so we can . . .

• document that the right CVC Charity has received a gift
• credit your Agency/University/College/Organization
• circle back if we have questions or there is an error
• collect what we require for an audit

Have ready a picture or scan or screen print or the file of your receipt or ticket ON YOUR COMPUTER OR PHONE, and the CVC Code and Name of the charity you donated to, which can be found here: http://www.cvc.virginia.gov/cvccharitysearch.html

For those wishing to maintain some anonymity, we would suggest you have your CVC Coordinator submit your Direct Giving under their information.

And it’s that simple! You’ll receive a confirmation of the information you provided via email, and your CVC coordinator will receive an updated totals report (not individual names or amounts) with an overall progress report that is sent out periodically through the campaign.

This portal will be open year-round. The cut off date and time to count towards the current giving year, 2015, will be Jan. 1, 2016 at midnight.

~CVC Staff

The following message is from the UMW Bookstore:

You Talk, We Listen, You Win

Complete this survey on your attitudes towards course materials and technology devices and be entered for a chance to win!   At least one $50 gift card winner will be awarded on each campus!  One lucky participant will win a bicycle, complements of the Pepsi Bottling Company.

Click here www.studentwatch.org to complete the survey.

Deadline: November 14, 2015.

Survey Length: 20 minutes

Your thoughts will help us serve you better!

Thank You for your time!

Kathy Sandor

UMW Bookstore

The following message is from the Office of the President: 

To the campus community:

The University of Mary Washington was recently notified that the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has opened an investigation of the complaint filed against the University on May 7, 2015, alleging discrimination on the basis of sex and retaliation.  The OCR has jurisdiction to enforce Title IX, federal law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in any educational program or activity receiving federal funds. The University intends to cooperate fully with the OCR in its investigation of the complaint.

Sexual misconduct, including sexual harassment and sexual assault, is a serious problem confronted by college students across the nation, including here at the University of Mary Washington. Last December, I appointed a President’s Task Force on Sexual Assault to proactively consider issues of campus sexual assault and sexual misconduct and make recommendations to ensure that UMW is appropriately addressing these matters. In September, I received a set of draft recommendations from the task force, many of which have been implemented, including the hiring of a full-time sexual assault prevention specialist and mandatory campus-wide sexual assault prevention training.

We will provide updates as necessary. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact me or Dr. Leah Cox, Special Assistant to the President for Diversity and Inclusion and UMW’s Title IX Coordinator.

Richard V. Hurley

President