The Open Enrollment period for UP employee benefits is happening now and will end on Friday, November 22, at 11:59 p.m. All benefited employees are required to confirm or elect changes to their healthcare benefits during this time. During open enrollment, benefited employees can elect new flexible spending amounts, add or change supplemental life insurance, as well as add or drop dependents from healthcare. Employees who use the Share the Savings plan will need to submit new forms for 2020 enrollment. Any changes made during open enrollment will go into effect January 1, 2020.
All forms can be found on the Human Resources benefits pages in Pilots UP.
The annual Silent Auction fundraiser will benefit the Tanzania and Peru Immersions in early December. The Moreau Center for Service & Justice needs faculty and staff to help them out. Donations are the backbone to the success of this fundraising event. People may donate individually or as a group. We appreciate a wide range of items, from inexpensive to expensive, purchased or handcrafted, gifts of time or services, gently used items in great condition, or gift cards large or small. We request that items be delivered to the Moreau Center office in St. Mary’s before Thanksgiving. Thank you in advance for your support.
The development office and academic technology services & innovation will offer an IGNITE Grant information session on Friday, November 22, at 11:15 a.m., in Franz Hall room 33. The event is open to any staff or faculty member (or students working with faculty of staff), and topics will include:
All UP employees are welcome to stock up on winter outdoor gear and potential Christmas presents at the Columbia Sportswear Employee Store from now until Sunday, December 1. 
Faculty, staff and students who are interested in learning more about CISGO’s diversity, inclusion, and internationalization seed grants are invited to attend their session during International Education Week. The session takes place on Tuesday, November 19, from 4 to 6 p.m., in the Terrace Room. A group of 2019-2020 grant recipients will share their projects and discuss the ways in which their funding can (or did, or will) infuse a greater sense of internationalization, diversity and inclusion into the University community. Refreshments will be served.
CISGO wants faculty to know about an exciting opportunity to develop and lead a course that includes an embedded travel component, according to CISGO chair Lisa Reed, business. The Provost Council recently approved 
During the month of November, the Catholic Church traditionally remembers our beloved departed. We pray for the souls of our family and friends and give thanks for how we were blessed by their lives. Here at UP, we celebrate a Mass of Remembrance for all deceased members of the University community, particularly those who passed away in the last year. This year’s Mass of Remembrance will be celebrated on Sunday, November 17, at 10:30 a.m., in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. May the souls of all the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace.
Tara Prestholdt, biology, won the 2019 Excellence in Teaching Award at the 63rd Annual Meeting of the Association of College and University Biology Educators (ACUBE). The award is offered annually to honor faculty who both practice and promote effective, innovative teaching in the biology classroom.