Around Campus: Week of November 6, 2000

Memorial Service for Faculty

Members of the campus community are invited to a memorial service Friday, Nov. 10 at 10 a.m. at the Chapel and Cultural Center, to remember members of the faculty who have died in the past year. A reception will immediately follow.

Father Ed Kascergius, chaplain at Rensselaer, and Associate Professor Michael Hanna, chair of the faculty, will lead the memorial.

In past years the Faculty Senate honored deceased colleagues during the spring General Faculty meeting. "This new format allows the Rensselaer community to involve the families in a more suitable memorial service," says Hanna. "We can share with the families the accomplishments of our deceased friends."

The service will be held annually on Veteran's Day, or the Friday before.

This year's service will remember the following faculty members:

Eugene Brunelle Jr., Raymond Caravaty, Julian Cole, Peter Donzelli, Herbert Frankel, David Gisser, Richard Hahn, Howard Kaufman, Morris Koffman, Nimai Mukhopadhyay, Arthur Schultz, John Schumacher, Chi Neng Shen, Michael Skolnick, and Douglas Washburn.

Benefits Fair 2000

Rensselaer faculty, staff, and retirees are invited to the seventh annual Benefits Fair Friday, Nov. 17, from 9:30 am to 3:30 p.m. in the Heffner Alumni House. Representatives of the various plans and programs will be on hand to answer questions. The fair signals the start of the 2001 Open Enrollment period and Rensselaer's annual Wellness Program. Open enrollment continues through Dec. 15.

The open enrollment period continues through Dec. 15 for an effective date of Jan. 1, 2001. Employees will have the opportunity to:

* Enroll in a health-care or dental plan
* Switch health-care plans
* Add dependents to or remove them from health-care or dental plans
* Sign up for the Cash Incentive Program by declining health or dental coverage or both
* Open a 2001 Flexible Spending Account to set aside money for health and dependent care expenses on a pre-tax basis. All current participants in this program must re-enroll if they wish to continue participation
* Enroll in the Long-Term Disability Plan or in the voluntary buy-up option for the plan
* Enroll in the voluntary AD&D program or the AD&D supplemental insurance program
* Enroll in a Defined Contribution Retirement Program
* Change contributions to a supplemental retirement program or enroll in a supplemental retirement program; and
* Limit life-insurance coverage to $50,000 (the maximum non-taxable amount) or remove the limit.

Contact Human Resources at ext. 6302 for more information.

If you have received a parking ticket on campus since Oct. 31, 2000, you have an opportunity to have the fine reduced.

The Campus Parking Office is collecting canned goods to donate to a local food pantry for Thanksgiving. If you have a parking ticket that is less than 10 days old, bring it to the Visitors Information Center along with a canned food item Nov. 6-10 from 8:30 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. to receive your fine reduction. Donations without tickets also will be accepted!

Restrictions apply; contact the Campus Parking Office at ext. 6616 for further details.

2000 United Way Campaign Kicks Off at Rensselaer

Rensselaer's 2000 United Way Campaign has kicked off and will run through Nov. 15.

The President's Cabinet has selected a team of employees who represent each administrative and academic unit to manage the campaign. Volunteers from each campus unit contact faculty and staff for contributions.

Last year with a total of $89,741, Rensselaer was ranked sixth in the region for contributing the largest corporate and employees contributions to the United Way of Northeastern New York.

Committee coordinators are Cynthia R. McIntyre, chief of staff; Mavourneen Roy, director of administrative services in the Lally School of Management and Technology; Tanya Struzinsky, accounting manager of Disbursement Operations; and Traci Griffin, accounting coordinator in the Controller's Office.

Other committee members this year are: Rita Cairns (Institute Advancement); Bonnie Carson (Science); Barbara Dzembo (Campus Planning & Facility Design); Phylis Federici (Engineering); Betty Jean Kaufmann (Humanities and Social Sciences); Dale Masten (Architecture); Vicki Messick (President's Office); Cindy Novak (Provost's Office); Cynthia Smith (Student Life); Mindy Sorbo (Government & Community Relations); Donna Tomlinson (Engineering); and Lu Uber (Research). 10/30/00