Author: Amanda Corrigan

Winter Wellness Day: Flu Shot Registration Now Open

Winter Wellness Day, an all-campus wellness event with flu shots and financial information, will be held on Thursday, October 9, 2014 in Arlington, Fairfax, and Prince William.

Flu shots are part of your wellness benefit through COVA Care, COVA HDHP, COVA HealthAware, and Kaiser Permanente. There are multiple ways to get a flu shot this season, including at on-campus clinics. For details about the on-campus clinics and how to make your appointment, please visit Flu Shot Information 2014.

If you have any questions, please call the work/life team at 3.2604.

Bicycle Commuter Choice Available for Part-Time Faculty and Staff

Parking and Transportation is excited to announce that part-time employees are now eligible to receive the Bicycle Commuter Choice benefit, a transportation fringe benefit provided by the University. All part-time employees who bike to work at least two times per week are eligible to receive a $20 voucher per month. All participants (part-time and full-time) are also eligible for two daily complimentary parking passes per month.

To find out more and to sign up, please visit http://transportation.gmu.edu/bikecommuterprogram.html.

October is National Work and Family Month: Family Weekend 10/17-10/19

Faculty and staff are invited to celebrate National Work and Family Month by participating in George Mason’s Family Weekend, October 17-19.  Registration and a complete schedule of events are located at masonfamily.gmu.edu.  Please note, registration closes on Sunday, October 5 at midnight. We hope faculty and staff will consider participating in this long-standing Mason tradition!

If you have any questions, please contact Kaitlin Cicchetti at [email protected].

A Mason staff member recently contacted the Staff Senate asking about parking rates for part-time and new employees. The question:

As a part-time wage employee, I am requesting the university consider reduced parking fees for part-time and intermittent staff. We do not occupy parking spaces as full time staff members, so it would be appropriate and fair if we had reduced parking rates!

We referred the question to Josh Cantor, Director or Parking and Transportation. Here’s his response:

Your email to the staff senate and parking was forwarded to my attention. It is a topic that has been discussed with the senior administration and budget office from time to time. Some schools do have a scale where one’s salary is a factor in parking rates. At Mason and like most universities, Parking & Transportation is a self-funded auxiliary, meaning they do not receive tuition dollars or funds from the state budget. Thus, all of our expenses, which are nearly $16 million per year when you include debt service on past construction, operations, shuttle service, CUE bus subsidy, maintenance and projects, must be paid for by revenue generate by Parking and Transportation. Each year, the aim is to price permits at the lowest level that allows us to create enough revenue to pay all the bills. In many years, the fund has had a deficit of $400,000 to $1,000,000, and we’ve drawn upon maintenance reserves to avoid raising the fees even higher. Those reserves are limited and are needed for millions of dollars in garage repairs that need to be done in the next 10 years.

When the topic of a reduced rate for part-time, wage, or lower paid classified has come up, the concern is if the price is dropped for one group, that’s lost revenue that will require another group to be charged even more. The other concern that has been voiced is that to be fair, one should really take household income into consideration when looking at one’s ability to pay (similar to how financial aid is decided for students), but we don’t want to be in the business of looking at w2’s, etc.

Our Approach is to offer an array of parking options, ranging from the West Campus permit, which is less than half the price of a general permit), the Field House permit, which is $100 less than a general permit,  to the reserved, higher priced options. We also offer free shuttles, free CUE bus rides by showing your Mason ID, and bicycling options. We know that not all options meet everyone’s needs, but the hope is that there is a solution, although one does have to make a choice and weigh his or her convenience, finance, and personal preference into making a decision.

On a similar issue, we have been asked about payroll deduction for part-time, wage, and adjunct faculty. The state sets which classifications can have payroll deductions. We have started to work with Human Resources & Payroll and Fiscal Services on a potential solution in which employees not eligible for payroll deduction could have an automated payment plan.  It would require a lot of resources, both in personnel and in financial systems, but this is something we think is worth pursuing.

Long story short, your question has been discussed but with our financial situation and the desire to hold prices down, decreasing parking rates for part-time employees would result in an increase for full-time employees and students.

Come to the Staff Senate October General meeting to hear more about parking from Josh Cantor, guest speaker.

Do you have a question for the Staff Senate?  Go to our Comments, Concerns, Ideas?  Share them! page. Then check back in future issues of this newsletter for answers.

 

For the biggest discount on meals for faculty and staff , sign up for a Byte Plan which is good for meals at five dining halls: Southside, The Bistro, Ike’s, The Globe, and Pilot House.

• 10 meals/semester for $71
• 25 meals/semester for $170
• 50 meals/semester for $319

The Bistro, a faculty and staff favorite, is open for lunch on weekdays from 11 a.m. – 2:30 p.m.  The Bistro door price is $7.50 for faculty and staff.

Southside, Ike’s, and the Globe will cost $10.50 for breakfast and $11.25 for lunch and dinner, tax included. There will be no faculty/staff discount at Southside on Fridays.

Get a Byte Plan today at the Card Office in SUB I, Lower Level. For questions, contact Mason Dining at 703-993-3407.

 

Provost David Wu and Senior Vice President for Administration and Finance J.J. Davis held an open budget discussion on Thursday, September 4. If you were unable to attend and would like to view the meeting, watch online.

 

Have you been to the Prince William Campus? There is a wealth of opportunities for staff to enjoy at Prince William. From the Hylton Performing Arts Centert to the Freedom Aquatic and Fitness Center and everything in between, there is plenty for you and your family to enjoy on the Prince William campus. Check out a listing of events below:

Oct. 2 – Nature Visions Gallery Reception at the Hylton Center

Celebrate the opening of the Nature Visions Photo Expo at the Hylton Center with a free Gallery Reception from 6-8pm. Featuring light hors’doeuvres, wines by Cana Vineyard and Winery of Middleburg, and a talk with the artists. RSVP to [email protected]

Oct. 20-26 – Community Appreciation Week at the Freedom Center

Enjoy free admission all week for Prince William County and City of Manassas Residents, a Saturday Family Fun Day, Raffles, Giveaways, a movie in the pool, and special speakers! Click here for more information!

Subway is now open!

Check out Prince William Campus’s newest dining addition, in the retail space on the first floor of Beacon Hall. Open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner!
Find out even more about what is happening in Prince William by visiting today.gmu.edu.

George Mason University ranks among the top 150 national universities in the United States, according to the latest rankings from U.S. News & World Report. Mason was listed as the 138th best university in America, according to the 2015 rankings that were officially released on Tuesday. That’s up from 141st in 2014.

Mason also placed in the top 10 “up and comers” among national universities, marking the seventh consecutive year that Mason has made that prestigious short list. Universities on that list are those making the “most promising and innovative changes in the areas of academics, faculty, student life, camps, or facilities,” the magazine notes.

Read the article in its entirety at Mason News.

Each year, Mason participates in a national earthquake drill called The Great Shakeout.  It’s designed to promote familiarity with earthquake safety procedures and general preparedness.  This year, the drill is on October 16, at 10:16AM.  That’s right, 10/16 at 10:16AM!  The date is easy to remember and so is the basic safety procedure during an earthquake: Drop, Cover, Hold On.

Let’s break that down.  When you feel the ground beneath you begin to shake, drop to the ground so you don’t fall over.  Take cover under sturdy furniture, such as a desk, table, or chair.  Finally, hold on to furniture so it doesn’t shake away and leave you exposed to things that might be falling down from above, such as books or ceiling tiles.

Mason encourages you and your coworkersto participate.  If you have students or guests visiting your office, have them participate with you.  You can tweet pictures  to #MasonReady and join the Mason Ready culture.  For more information on earthquake preparedness, you can visit ready.gmu.edu or shakeout.org.

You’ll receive a Mason Alert notifying you of the drill a few minutes before it starts.  This alert serves both as a reminder for the drill and as an annual full-load test of the Mason Alert notification system.  If you want to receive alerts on your phone, visit alert.gmu.edu and enter your information.

Staff enrolled in COVA Care, COVA HDHP, COVA Health Aware, and Kaiser Permanente may receive seasonal flu shots as part of their wellness benefits.  Save the date for this season’s Winter Wellness Day on Thursday, October 9 at the Fairfax, Arlington, and Prince William Campuses.  Health screenings and financial wellness information will also be available. Details will be posted as they become available on the Human Resources/Payroll homepage.  Contact [email protected] with questions.

The Mason Alert system was upgraded on Monday, August 18. All university employees, students, and affiliates issued a @gmu.edu or @masonlive.gmu.edu email are automatically enrolled in Mason Alert and provided with a Mason Alert account at alert.gmu.edu.

University students and employees are encouraged to log into their Mason Alert account to register their mobile phones to receive text messages. In order to ensure accurate data and user contact information, all students and employees are asked to re-register their mobile phone numbers even if they were previously registered with Mason Alert.

Community members, visitors, and guests who do not have a university email address can receive notification by registering their mobile phone and email at alert.gmu.edu.

For questions, contact [email protected]. For more information about emergency preparedness and public safety programs at Mason, visit ready.gmu.edu.

The Mason Star Newsletter is available online. Read all about the accomplishments of Mason colleagues in this yearly newsletter that highlights the various awards and recognition throughout Mason. Congratulations to all of our Mason stars!