Mason Staff Senate

From our Friends in HR

Financial Well-Being: Next Steps – Plan for Your Retirement – Wednesday, May 3

If you’re planning to retire within the next 5 years, please join HR & Payroll for the spring Next Steps: Plan for Your Retirement seminar on Wednesday, May 3 from 9:00 am – 12:30 pm in Johnson Center, Dewberry Hall South. This half-day seminar will cover Social Security, Medicare, state health insurance for retirees and information about the retirement plans; VRS, TIAA, and Fidelity. To register, please visit the Next Steps registration page. For questions, and special accommodations, please contact benefits@gmu.edu or 3-2600. Please note this year’s spring seminar will be a half-day on the technical aspects of retirement planning. They will have a more expanded, full-day seminar in the fall.

Physical and Financial Well-Being: Update on Open Enrollment for Health Benefits and Flexible Spending Accounts

Open enrollment for health benefits and flexible spending accounts runs from May 1-May 15, 2017.  A communication is sent by mail from the Commonwealth’s Department of Human Resource Management (DHRM) to your home address.  Please check the Benefits site at http://hr.gmu.edu/benefits; they will update it as open enrollment information is available.

Financial Well-Being: Get Your Competition On With TIAA’s Square Up Your Savings

Sign up to play TIAA’s “Square Up Your Savings” through May 5.  You don’t have to be a TIAA member to participate; all faculty and staff are eligible. Square Up Your Savings is an online game to build your financial knowledge with 10 missions that highlight savings education.  Did we mention that there’s a chance for faculty/staff to win a prize?  Visit the HR & Payroll homepage at http://hr.gmu.edu for details.

Community Well-Being: Westminster School/George Mason Collaboration Merit Scholarship

The Mason/Westminster School scholarship deadline has been extended to May 15 for the academic year beginning Fall 2017. In collaboration with George Mason University, Westminster School is offering a scholarship opportunity to the children/grandchildren of Mason faculty and staff. The renewable Merit Scholarship is in the amount of $8,000 per year, and is open to students entering grades 3 – 7. The potential value of the scholarship totals $48,000. Westminster School is an independent school located in Annandale, VA just minutes from the beltway. For more information please visit the Westminster Merit Scholarship page, schedule a visit to the school, or contact Nancy Schuler at admissions@westminsterschool.com.

Community Well-Being: DMV2Go in Fairfax,  May 16

Take care of your Department of Motor Vehicle needs at a convenient Mason location!  DMV2Go will be on the Fairfax campus in the Merten Hall parking lot from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm on Tuesday, May 16 (last time until August).  For the full 2017 schedule, please visit DMV2Go Mason Schedule.

Reminder – Career Well-Being: Payroll Drop-In Meetings

Whatever your payroll-related question, join HR & Payroll at their monthly Payroll Drop-In meeting.  No need to RSVP or register, just drop by Merten Hall, Room 4104 between noon and 2pm (inside the HR & Payroll office) on the dates below.

  • Friday, May 19
  • Wednesday, June 21

If you have any questions about the meetings, please contact Catalina Wheat at cwheat@gmu.edu

Who’s Walking Wednesday?

Everyone has a standing (or a walking) invitation to join your colleagues for a 30-minute campus walk every Wednesday at noon in Arlington, Fairfax, and SciTech.  It’s also an opportunity to “exercise your leadership” and sign up to be a walk leader.  Visit http://hr.gmu.edu/worklife/lunch and scroll to Who’s Walking Wednesday for details.

Share Your Thoughts: Spring into Well-Being

Spring into Well-Being 2017 ran from March 20 through April 28 and there were a host of terrific opportunities to celebrate well-being opportunities at Mason.  The planning committee welcomes your thoughts on this celebration and awareness campaign via a short (2-3 minute) survey at http://baseline.campuslabs.com/gmu/siwb2017.

Spring into Well-Being and Mason’s Well-Being University initiative are dedicated to helping faculty, staff, students, and alumni build lives of vitality, purpose, resilience, and engagement.  For more information on Mason’s Well-Being University initiative, please see wbu.gmu.edu.