Mason Staff Senate

From our Friends in Human Resources and Payroll

It’s a busy month in Human Resources and Payroll!

National Employee Wellness Month (NEWM)

Mason is a proud supporter of National Employee Wellness Month.  This June we are saying “YES!” to healthier habits!  Visit the Wellness by Mason website for wellness opportunities.

Featured Opportunity: #1: Resolution Solution Fitness Challenge – Sprint

Join MasonRec for the Resolution Solution Fitness Challenge- Sprint in honor of National Employee Wellness Month. The 4-week department challenge will begin on June 1 and run through June 29. The program is designed to encourage friendly competition between departments while providing an incentive for regular exercise. Select a team representative to register your department to competeagainst other departments of George Mason University. The team representative must send your department name, total number of participants (no more than 30) and department representative/point of contact information to Ethan Carter at ecarter8@gmu.edu.

Featured Opportunity #2:  Who’s Walking Wednesday?

Wellness by Mason is delighted to share “Who’s Walking Wednesday?,” a wellness opportunity to lead a walk on the Fairfax campus each Wednesday at noon.  Signing up to lead a walk is easy.  Visit http://mysignup.com/walkingwednesdaygmu and select an open Wednesday.  Read what you’re agreeing to, click on the “I’ll be there” box, fill out the form and you will be a leader in contributing to Mason’s well-being!

If you would like to start a “Who’s Walking Wednesday?” (or Thursday or any day!) at your campus or educational site, please email us at worklife@gmu.edu and we’ll help you get started.

Faculty and Staff Professional Development Recognition Ceremony

The Faculty and Staff Professional Development Recognition Ceremony will take place on June 19 at 10:00 am in Harris Theater. Approximately 130 employees will be recognized by HR & Payroll and President Cabrera for completing various certificate programs including the Customer Service Certificate Program: General, Advanced, and Subject Matter Expert; Administrative Professionals Certificate Program; and New SUPERvisor Series. New programs being recognized this year include the HR Liaisons Certificate Program and the Mason Advisors Certificate Program, which was created throughout a partnership between the Mason Academic Advisor Network and HR’s Learning and Professional Development team

Financial Well Being: Individual Retirement Counseling Sessions

Healthy finances are a cornerstone of your own personal well-being.  It’s always important to be saving for your longer term goals – retiring student debt, buying a car or home, saving for the kid’s or grandkid’s college education, and the big one ….. retirement.  No matter your age, retirement is one of everyone’s long term financial goals.  To help you with your plans, take advantage of individual retirement counseling sessions offered by TIAA-CREF and Fidelity on campus.  For dates and times, please visit the Benefits website.

The New Fiscal Year is Almost Here: Some Reminders

Please remind your faculty and staff that if they have a dependent care or medical Flexible Spending Account (FSA) for plan year 2013-2014, they must incur eligible expenses by June 30, 2014 to be reimbursed. Additionally, the new fiscal year may impact net paychecks due to changes in optional life insurance premiums and increases in health insurance premiums including any open enrollment changes made.

Additional information is available on the Benefits homepage.

Reminder: Mason Faculty/Staff Book Scholarship

Are your faculty or classified staff pursuing a degree at Mason? Mason is again offering a competitive $250 book scholarship created with the $25,000 endowment received from TIAA-CREF’s 2010 Raise the Rate contest. The deadline is Monday, June 16 and applying is easy. For details, please visit the Faculty/Staff Book Scholarship FAQ and the Faculty/Staff Book Scholarship Application.

Contributions to the book scholarship foundation account are always welcome. Just head out to http://giving.gmu.edu, click on the “Give Now” tab, select “Other established fund” and fill in account #160013, Raise the Rate.