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Dear Colleagues, I am writing to inform you that I, in consultation with the Senior Leadership Team, have decided that all Office of the President employees will be required to be vaccinated against COVID-19. I firmly believe that all 75,000 students and 24,000 employees of the University of Massachusetts need to be vaccinated. Our campuses are in active negotiations with their unionized…
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Dear UMass President’s Office Colleagues, This email is a follow up to the email you received from President Meehan (below). President’s Office employees must be fully vaccinated by September 13, 2021, which is the first day of the UMPO Hybrid Work Pilot. This vaccination requirement applies to all employees who are classified as fully on-site, regular reporting, or on-site as needed as defined…, Proof of Vaccination, The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) “COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card” that you receive when you are vaccinated will serve as proof of your vaccination. Within the next few days, we will provide direction as to how you can provide proof of vaccination in a manner that is confidential and as convenient as possible. Definition of Fully Vaccinated and Grace Period According to the CDC , a person…, Medical or Religious Exemptions, An employee may request an exemption to the vaccination requirement based on the existence of medical contraindication to vaccination. In addition, an employee may request an exemption to the vaccination requirement based on a sincere religious belief. In both cases, an employee will be required to submit documentation to support the request for an exemption. Employees who secure an exemption may…, Access to Vaccination, The COVID-19 vaccine is now widely available. Listed below is information about how and where you can access the COVID-19 vaccine. If you are not yet vaccinated and need assistance with accessing the vaccine, please contact Jacquie Kittler, who will be happy to assist you. Local Pharmacies (such as CVS, Walgreens and Rite Aid) CDC Website Mass.gov Websites The Human Resources Department will…
Type: Article
As an attorney diagnosed with autism at the age of three, author Haley Moss grew up knowing what it was like to feel unheard or unseen because of the way she communicated. Neurodiversity is a natural, valuable aspect of human diversity, yet one that too often means that people with neurocognitive differences face discrimination and exclusion. Haley's book Great Minds Think Differently:…
Type: Article
Two of the biggest gaps in digital accessibility include lack of accessibility guidelines around mental health and how to bridge the knowledge divide between advocacy and professional. In this Accessibility Talks event, Albert Kim, the founder of Accessibility NextGen and a W3C invited expert on mental health, will be discussing his digital accessibility journey and the role Accessibility NextGen…
Type: Article
Access Technology Higher Education Network (ATHEN) is hosting the first ever “ Science, Technology, Engineering, Math (STEM) Accessibility: Starting with Math ” virtual conference on February 10th and 11th, 2022. We are striving to create a diverse conference where experts can share their best practices, solutions, techniques, etc. for accessing and creating accessible STEM content in higher…
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In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month (NDEAM), Deque is teaming up with the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM) to host a 1-hour webinar on, Thursday, October 28th, 2021 at 2 pm ET. , In this webinar, join special guest Barbara Holland, SHRM-Certified Professional & Knowledge Advisor at SHRM and Patrick Sturdivant, VP and Principal Strategy Consultant at Deque, for a discussion on disability hiring, employment and accessibility. Whether you're a human resources professional, people manager, or all-around accessibility advocate, learn about how to make the applying, hiring…
Type: Article
The following content updates have been made to the Inclusive by Design site: A new Create Inclusive Social Media page has been added to the Creating an Inclusive Experience section of the site. New disability community pages have been released under the "Understanding the full range of human differences" section of the Understanding Disabilities page. Each page provides examples of conditions…
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Tuesday, Nov 30, 2021, 12:00 pm ET Do all deaf people know how to read lips? Know sign language? Can they drive? There are many misconceptions about deaf and hard of hearing (HoH) people. Meryl Evans will set the record straight on common misconceptions. Attend this A11yTalks session to get the facts about deaf and HoH people to enrich your accessibility and inclusion efforts. Access the…
Type: Article
Each year, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts provides state agencies with the opportunity to formally recognize employees for their extraordinary contributions to public service through the Performance Recognition Program (PRP). Employees at the University of Massachusetts President’s Office are asked to submit nominations for the five awards offered through the PRP, including for the…, Group Commonwealth Citations, COVID-19 On-Site Transition Team (OTT), Kelly Fucci, Executive Assistant Bill Smith, MIS Manager/Senior Director Brad Smith, Chief Information Security Officer, Effort Certification Core Team - Application Upgrade Implementation, Kristen Luiz Roger Rice Kathy Sawyer Saqib Zulfiqar, Family First Coronavirus Response Act Project Team, Zoila Altamirano Nicole Apostola Suzanne Cerrato Darpan Gokharu Susan Kong Gale Landry Lillian Leong Meghan Portmann Cynthia Szabady
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