UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Human Resources

New 100 Best Workplaces Survey

np13logo250pxThe University has been invited to participate in the annual Oregon Business magazine 100 Best Non-profits to Work For in Oregon survey. Employees have received surveys through their e-mail accounts, according to Bryn Sopko, human resources. The survey will run from Monday June 10 to Friday, June 21. For more information contact Andy Sherwood, human resources, at 8981 or sherwood@up.edu.

TIAA-CREF Counseling Sessions

University employees have a new TIAA CREF investment counselor, Yasemin Under, and there will be an increased number of dates and times for individual financial counseling sessions on campus. The summer 2013 dates will be Tuesday, June 4, Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6. To see available times and sign up, go to the HR website (http://www.up.edu/hr/) or go to www.tiaa-cref.org/ScheduleNow, or call TIAA CREF at 866-928-4221 (press 0) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Appointment times are going quickly. Be sure to sign-up today. For more information contact Andy Sherwood, human resources, at 8981 or sherwood@up.edu.

TIAA-CREF Counseling Sessions

University employees have a new TIAA CREF investment counselor, Yasemin Under, and there will be an increased number of dates and times for individual financial counseling sessions on campus. The April 2013 visits are on Tuesday, April 16, Wednesday, April 17, and Thursday, April 18. To see available times and sign up, go to the HR website (http://www.up.edu/hr/) or go to www.tiaa-cref.org/ScheduleNow, or call TIAA CREF at 866-928-4221 (press 0) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information contact Andy Sherwood, human resources, at 8981 or sherwood@up.edu.

Don’t Be Remiss

Faculty and staff applications for tuition remission will only be accepted via online forms and can be accessed through the HR website at www.up.edu/hr/, according to HR director Bryn Sopko. The HR office will no longer accept paper forms. In addition to this easier access, HR has updated the application dates for remission to match the deadline in student accounts, so please keep these dates in mind:

  • Spring term: November 15
  • Summer term: April 5
  • Fall term: July 1.

Since the April 5 deadline for summer tuition has passed, please submit remission forms as soon as possible.

Please also note that there are separate tuition remission application forms for undergraduate and graduate course work, and that any graduate level tuition remission benefits will be taxable to the employee on the value above $5,250 for attempted credits and subject to applicable withholdings, and will be reflected on the W-2 form of the tax year the remission was applied. A summary on tuition remission and links to the online forms are available at http://tinyurl.com/c8f6j2x.

For more information contact human resources at 7461 or hr@up.edu.

Curt Pederson Hired As CIO

Curt Pederson has joined the information services team as chief information officer (CIO), according to Jim Ravelli, university operations. Pederson will be responsible for the overall leadership of the IT organization including infrastructure, applications, and academic computing. He formerly was the CIO for Oregon State University and prior to that was the CIO for the state of Oregon. For more information contact Ravelli at 7540 or ravelli@up.edu.

Summer Tuition Remission

Eligible employees who intend to use their tuition remission benefit during the summer semester are encouraged to apply using the online request tool no later than Friday, April 5, according to Bryn Sopko, human resources. It is required that remission requests are approved at least 2 weeks before the first class, or late charges may be applied to an employee’s account.

There are separate application forms for undergraduate (http://tinyurl.com/42haqs2) and graduate course work tuition remission (http://tinyurl.com/7sx5zs8). Any graduate level tuition remission benefit will be taxable to the employee on the value above $5,250 for attempted credits and subject to applicable withholdings and will be reflected on the W2 of the tax year the remission was applied. Time away from an employee’s regular work day must be approved in advance by the supervisor. Tuition exchange at other universities is not available to employees. See the Tuition Remission Policy Summary at http://tinyurl.com/czyvnrb for further details.

Changes To UP Zipcar Program

Over the next few months, the University will be making changes to the UP Zipcar program. As of April 1, 2013, no new members will be added to the University account, and any user who has not used the Zipcar 4-hours personal use program over the past eight months will be removed from the account. All University-provided memberships will be closed as of June 30.

The University continues to encourage use of alternative transportation options to reduce single occupancy vehicle travel to campus. Employees can create personal Zipcar accounts and continue to have access to both on- and off-campus Zipcars. All new members signing up for a personal account will be offered a free first year membership. Zipcar Business members who intend to continue to use Zipcar for business use will need to open a new personal account with Zipcar when their University-provided membership expires on June 30. Employees with approval to use Zipcar for business travel will be asked to attach a University P-card to their Zipcar account for billing. Zipcar use for business travel will be subject to approval by an employee’s supervisor.

Personal Zipcar accounts can be set up online at www.zipcar.com/uportland, or over the phone by calling member services at 1-866-4ZIPCAR.

TIAA-CREF Counseling Sessions

University employees have a new TIAA CREF investment counselor, Yasemin Under, and there will be an increased number of dates and times for individual financial counseling sessions on campus. The spring 2013 dates will be Tuesday, March 26; Wednesday, March 27; Tuesday, April 16; Wednesday, April 17; and Thursday, April 18. To see available times and sign up, go to the HR website (http://www.up.edu/hr/) or go to www.tiaa-cref.org/ScheduleNow, or call TIAA CREF at 866-928-4221 (press 0) from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. For more information contact Andy Sherwood, human resources, at 8981 or sherwood@up.edu.

Summer Tuition Remission

Eligible employees who intend to use their tuition remission benefit during the summer semester are encouraged to apply using the online request tool no later than Friday, April 5, according to Bryn Sopko, human resources. It is required that remission requests are approved at least 2 weeks before the first class, or late charges may be applied to an employee’s account.

There are separate application forms for undergraduate (http://tinyurl.com/42haqs2) and graduate course work tuition remission (http://tinyurl.com/7sx5zs8). Any graduate level tuition remission benefit will be taxable to the employee on the value above $5,250 for attempted credits and subject to applicable withholdings and will be reflected on the W-2 of the tax year the remission was applied. Time away from an employee’s regular work day must be approved in advance by the supervisor. Tuition exchange at other universities is not available to employees. See the Tuition Remission Policy Summary at http://tinyurl.com/czyvnrb for further details.