Watercolor Wednesday Workshops

Join us on either Wednesday, April 22nd or April 29th at 4:00pm (EST) for a live virtual watercolor painting workshop! Noell Stohler’s daughter Haven, an artist currently studying at Columbia College Chicago, has graciously volunteered to lead two Bob Ross-esque painting workshops for ND Development. If you’d like to paint along with Haven, make sure you purchase or have the following supplies on hand:

-Short Handle Brush – Round, Size 12
-Short Handle Brush – Round, Size 1
-9″ X 12″ Watercolor Pad
-Watercolor Pan Set – Set of 14 Colors
-A pencil
-Tape

The specific brands Haven will be using can be found here.

On April 22nd, we will be painting the following picture (takes approximately 1 hour):

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on April 29th we be painting the following picture (takes approximately 30 minutes):

 

To join in a workshop, simply sign up using Five to Nine and get the Zoom links. Sign up for both classes if you’re feeling inspired, and feel free to include your children or other housemates!

3 Week UR Fitness Challenge

Are you finding it hard to keep up with your fitness routine during this time of working from home? Do you miss lunchtime walks with your coworkers? And do you get fueled by a little office competition? If so, we want to invite you to participate in our UR Fitness Challenge! We will randomly partner you with another member of UR and as a team you will track the number of minutes you exercise between Monday, April 13th and Friday, May 1st. Those with the most minutes will be our UR Winners! If interested, please sign up here. If you have questions, please contact Amy Plotkin.

Electronic Tax Acknowledgement Letters

The Gift Management team started sending tax acknowledgement letters to donors via email on Monday, March 23rd. In compliance with the Internal Revenue Code, emails are being sent for gifts over $250. Donors can always request a hard copy letter, which will be executed when we return to the office. Additionally, letters will be mailed for gifts below $250 when we return to the office or a cumulative letter will be mailed at the end of the calendar year. If you have any questions, please contact Gift Management at 631-5150.

Microsoft Update This Weekend

Dear Friends,

This is the first Microsoft Update weekend since working remotely. Please save any work you may have open and log off the VPN or just simply reboot (not shut down) your computer at the end of the work day today. This will ensure updates to be applied smoothly. Thank you!

-Development Help Desk

Remote Connectivity

During this time, many of us are being introduced to new remote communication tools to stay connected with our colleagues and teams. While all the channels and messaging about them may seem a bit overwhelming, we’ve created a matrix to explain what to use and when. Within the chart are links to training videos, feature descriptions and of course, Zoom virtual backgrounds.

While working with your teams you can store, share, and access team resources from anywhere in the world. This G Suite training video explains how.

In addition, the Office of Information Technologies has provided documentation on using technology to help us work remotely and is offering the following classes this month.

OIT Lunch & Learn: Tools for Working from Home

  • Wednesday, April 8, noon to 1 PM
  • Wednesday, April 15, noon to 1 PM

You can register via Endeavor.nd.edu or contact OIT Training at 631-7227 or training@nd.edu.

Registrants will receive Zoom login information the day before the session.

Remember…if you need assistance you may contact the OIT help desk at 631-8111 or at the ServiceNow portal.

 

Development April Birthdays

Happy Birthday to all our Development colleagues celebrating in the month of April! Though we won’t be able to celebrate with you in person, we hope you all have great birthdays and happy, healthy years ahead!

April 1 – Amy Plotkin
April 1 – Jessica Rizzo
April 1 – Steven Sollmann
April 1 – Tara Reilly
April 3 – Michael Connaughton
April 3 – Noell Stohler
April 6 – Austin Gammage
April 6 – Cindy Karpovs
April 6 – Conor Montijo
April 11 – Matthew Rombalski
April 12 – Joe Dietz
April 12 – Katy Orenchuk
April 15 – Amy Mason
April 18 – Dean Ernzen
April 18 – Jeff Faust
April 19 – Kristina Machalleck
April 19 – Rose Michalski
April 20 – Mark Helmke
April 22 – Darlean Vance
April 22 – Rachel Parks
April 23 – Kat Gardner
April 24 – Angie Dennig
April 27 – Katie Kerby
April 27 – Marie Labosky
April 27 – Ryan Brennan
April 27 – Sheila McMahon
April 28 – Mary Frank
April 30 – Andrew Fry

Travel Cancellations due to COVID-19

The University’s existing policy on payments/reimbursements for travel cancellations remains in effect, with one policy exception noted below due to the unusual circumstances of COVID-19.

Per existing policy, travelers who have purchased tickets or incurred expenses for travel events which are subsequently canceled are encouraged to rebook unused airfare and cancel lodging reservations and conference bookings, whenever possible. Credits from canceled flights booked through TravelND (Anthony Travel or the Concur Booking Tool) will be tracked by the University.

If an individual paid for a flight personally that was subsequently canceled due to COVID-19, reimbursement can be requested even though the flight was not taken. This policy departure is allowed for COVID-19 related cancellations with the understanding that the airline ticket will be reused for University purposes in the future. The employee and/or their department will be responsible for keeping track of the unused flight ticket and ensuring it is used at a later point in time for University purposes.

To request reimbursement for canceled travel, the traveler will file an expense report and document that the flight/conference/trip was canceled due to COVID-19 and therefore the ticket could not be used. Please fully document the issue and utilize the activity code 11019 “COVID-19 Related Costs”, which the University has established for tracking purposes.

Once the ticket credit is finally used, the employee will include the previous reimbursement when documenting the “full trip” on the future trip expense report. Any change fees associated with rebooked flights will be reimbursed, regardless of booking method.

Any remaining out of pocket expenses incurred for travel cancellations will be reimbursed at the discretion of the department. Please be sure to use activity code 11019 “COVID-19 Related Costs”, when applicable.

Note that refunds received by a traveler (in the form of credits issued or cash reimbursements) for other University prepaid travel items (e.g., conference fees), whether paid by the University directly to the vendor or via reimbursement to the employee, are to be repaid to the University when received by the traveler. If this step is not followed, the budget unit may incur double costs and the traveler receives double reimbursement.