New Hires, Name Hire Date Title Department Randall Maas 11/3/25 Associate Counsel Litigation OGC Robson Stewart 11/3/25 Capital Projects Manager UMBA Ryan Anderson 11/10/25 Supplier Relationship Specialist UPST, Promotions, Name Promotion Date Title Department Jacquie Kittler 11/17/25 Director, Emp/Labor Rels & Ben HR John Roy 11/17/25 Director, Recruiting/Comp HR
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DEIA Calendar, The DEIA Communications team keeps a calendar of upcoming diversity awareness months and days recognized either nationally or internationally due to their cultural, historical, or religious significance. , Date-Specific Events, Monday, December 8: Bodhi Day Saturday, December 13: National Guard Birthday Sunday, December 14 – Monday, December 22: Hanukkah Sunday, December 21: Winter Solstice Thursday, December 25: Christmas Friday, December 26 – January 1: Kwanzaa , Additional Awareness Communications this Month, The DEIA Communications team is sending out individual communications around the following awareness events this month: December 2025 Religious and Cultural Holidays National Guard Birthday
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As life events occur, both good and bad, it is important to keep your beneficiaries up to date. Consider the last time you reviewed beneficiaries for the following: Beneficiaries for your life insurance through GIC/MetLife Beneficiaries for your life insurance through ORP (if applicable) Beneficiaries for your state pension (SERS) account Beneficiaries for your 403(b) account with Fidelity or…
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End of Year Holidays (Offices Closed), Christmas Day Thursday, December 25, Offices Operate With Limited Personnel, Day before Christmas Wednesday, December 24, Personal Time for 2025 and 2026, Employees have until 1/10/2026 to use 2025 personal time. Employees will be granted personal time on 1/13/2026 for calendar year 2026. Employees may begin using 2026 personal time after 1/13/2026 for the week beginning 1/11/2026.
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GIC (Group Insurance Commission) to Discontinue Use of Online (Docusign) Forms, The GIC will be discontinuing the use of the DocuSign forms for enrollments and changes effective December 15, 2025. The only options for enrollments or making changes to GIC benefits will be to use the MyGICLink benefits portal or to complete and mail a paper enrollment form. Employees are urged to set up their MyGICLink benefits portal access if they have not already done so. The benefits…
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We launched the campusGenAI Playground pilot on August 4, 2025, and moved to a full employee rollout on October 1, 2025. In just over three months the playground has become an active experimentation environment for UMPO staff—supporting rapid prototyping, knowledge work, and safe exploration of generative AI capabilities while we scale governance and training. , Pilot launched:, 8/4/2025 |, Full employee rollout:, 10/1/2025 , Fast facts (08/04/2025–11/15/2025), Total queries: 10,144 Peak daily queries: 339 Top users: Nicholas Blinn; Amy Thompson; Andrew Buroni; Mike Durkin; Megan Momtaheni; John Andrews; Anne Zuev; Chris England; Pete O’Connell, Why this matters?, Rapid adoption shows real demand for AI-assisted work across UMPO. Early use cases (drafting, summarizing, ideation, contract reviews, training content) are boosting productivity and informing where to integrate AI safely. Top users are emerging as unit champions sharing use cases and best practices., Next steps , More hands-on lunch and learn sessions/workshops and quick start guides. Partner with Amherst for opportunities to extend data integrations., How to get involved, Try the campusGenAI playground, share a short success story, or join an AI learning opportunity in the future., Reminder, Don’t submit sensitive or personally identifiable data. Verify AI outputs and follow UMPO Acceptable Use Guidelines . Thanks to everyone who joined the pilot and early adopters — the momentum is strong. Contact AI Hub umpo_ai_hub@umassp.edu or join the Slack #umpo-campusgenai-playground to get started.
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Transforming College Teaching Evaluation: A Framework for Advancing Instructional Excellence is a newly published book by our very own President’s Office staff member, Dr. Gabriela Weaver, Assistant Vice President for Academic Affairs and Research. Gabriela joined us less than a year ago from the Amherst campus. The book is the result of her research, funded by the National Science Foundation and…
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On December 3rd, colleagues from across the University of Massachusetts gathered to honor the outstanding career of Carol Dugard, who retired after 26 years of dedicated service. The celebration was a testament to Carol’s lasting impact on the institution, bringing together representatives from the President’s Office, Administration & Finance, and each campus to share their reflections and…, Below are photos from the celebration,
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Before booking travel, please review the UMass BTE policy and standards, and the cancellation terms of your chosen vendor., In today's environment, where unexpected changes and disruptions may occur, it's especially important to understand the cancellation policies associated with your bookings. Charges resulting from cancellations due to personal reasons are not reimbursable. , A note on rental accommodations (e.g. VRBO or Airbnb)., Travelers may stay in rental accommodations if the total cost is equal to or less than that of a standard, single-occupancy hotel room. When selecting this option, travelers must provide documentation showing the cost comparison. Be aware that these accommodations are typically non-refundable, non-transferable, and may not offer credits for future travel.
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