UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Human Resources

UP Benefits Open Enrollment Open Now to Nov. 22

Open Enrollment 2019The 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.

2019 Flexible Spending Accounts Information

Piggy bank with FSA

Human resources would like to remind employees who signed up for a 2019 medical or childcare flexible spending account offered by UP that services must be incurred in 2019 to be eligible for reimbursement.  You will have until March 30, 2020 to submit reimbursement requests for elgible expenses incurred in 2019 to Allegiance. In April 2020, any unused medical FSA balances between $20 and $500 will rollover into a 2020 flexible spending account. Dependent care balances are not eligible for rollover.

For more information, such as a listing of eligible expenses or plan forms, please visit the plan’s page at the UP website. If you have any questions about benefits, please contact human resources at benefits@up.edu or call x8484.

2019 Christmas Luncheon Staff Award Nominations

Staff Christmas Luncheon 2019This year’s Christmas Luncheon for staff will be held on Monday, December 16, in the Beauchamp Center. Please mark your calendars now.

If you would like to nominate a colleague for a staff recognition award, please do so by Friday, November 8, using the nomination form found here.

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

Grief Support for UP Faculty & Staff

All faculty and staff are invited to join in a conversation on how to cope with the recent loss of UP student Owen Klinger on Monday, October 28, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., in the Brian Doyle Auditorium. Co-facilitators will be Jennifer Crow, a grief and trauma specialist, and Carol Dell’Oliver, Health and Counseling Center.

Facilitators will provide a safe place to discuss personal reactions and ways to cope with grief and loss in the workplace, information and resources for getting support and caring for yourself and others, and strategies for effectively responding to grieving students.

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

Kaiser Permanente Flu Shot Clinics Open Soon

Kaiser Permanente has announced their 2019 walk-in flu shot clinics, which will take place from October 12 through 25, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The flu is a serious virus that can cause severe illness. A flu shot can help protect you against the flu, which is why Kaiser doctors recommend that everyone 6 months of age and older get a flu shot every year.

Kaiser members can visit this website to find a location near them.

For more information contact Laura Barnard, human resources, at benefits@up.edu.

Staff Professional Development Week, Oct. 14-18

The second annual Staff Professional Development Week will take place October 14-18, 2019. Although this week has been developed for staff, faculty are welcome to attend the sessions on October 14 and to sign up for other trainings and workshops as well.

All sessions on Monday, October 14 are mandatory for staff (unless they have prior approval from supervisors to be absent, or due to illness or similar matters). Please arrive at the Beauchamp Recreation Center by 9:15 a.m. Lunch will be provided.

Other workshops are available during the rest of Professional Development Week. These workshops are optional and space is limited. Please see the Staff Professional Development Week Schedule for more information.

Please RSVP for Staff Professional Development Day and any additional workshops by Tuesday, October 8, 2019, via this form. If you sign up for any optional workshops, you will receive a confirmation email from human resources.

For employees who need ADA accessibility assistance with any of the trainings and workshops, please email hrtraining@up.eduor call x8484. Please email hrtraining@up.edu with any additional questions.

TIAA Representative Visit, Sept. 23-24

A representative from TIAA, which administers the University’s retirement accounts, will be on campus on September 23-24, in the Clark Library conference room (no. 222), according to Laura Barnard, human resources. Financial counseling appointments are available during work hours on those days in the Clark library, but appointments must be scheduled at www.tiaa-cref.org/schedulenow or by calling call TIAA at 877.842.2028 (press 5 to schedule an appointment).

Human Resouces: Mandatory Professional Development Session on Oct. 14

The University will present professional development opportunities for all staff during the week of fall break (October 14-18, 2019), according to Sandy Chung, Human Resources. All sessions on Monday, October 14 are mandatory for staff. Exceptions to this requirement are as follows:

  • Certain departments due to operational necessity, as pre-approved by the University
  • Staff with a vacation day or other off-campus day, as pre-approved by the supervisor
  • Staff with an absence related to sick time related reasons or a HR-approved leave of absence.

Faculty members are welcome to attend as well.

Human resources will provide more information about the presentations on October 14, as well as other workshops available that week, via email.

Please email hr@up.edu if you have any questions. Also, an Outlook save-the-date which you can copy to your Outlook calendar is available to download at this link.

News from Human Resources: Employee Assistance Program

The UP Employee Assistance Program (EAP), Cascade Centers, offers many free services to employees, including access to exclusive savings on thousands of recreational, wellness, travel, and cultural activities locally and throughout the U.S. through their partner LifeBalance. Visit LifeBalanceProgram.com for more information about access for you and your family.

Also, log into Cascade EAP Services at www.cascadecenters.com to learn about the many supportive services they can offer you as a UP employee and your benefit eligible family members. Their services are free and confidential.  You can also call them at: 800-433-2320.

For more information contact HR at hr@up.edu.

July 4 Holiday: Offices Closed, No Classes

The Independence Day holiday will be observed for University of Portland employees on Thursday, July 4, according to the 2019 University holiday schedule. All University offices will be closed and classes will not be held.

For more information, contact human resources at x8484 or hr@up.edu. Contact the provost’s office at x7105 or staten@up.edu for more information regarding classes.