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Dear Colleagues:

Please take note of the following important information regarding your 2024 Flexible Spending Account (FSA).

¾ÛÉ«¸ó's holiday closure for 2024 will begin Monday, Dec. 23, 2024, at 10:30 p.m. All offices will re-open on Thursday, Jan. 2, 2025. Employees not eligible for the paid leave include student employees, classified temporary staff, temporary agency staff, short-term unclassified appointments, unclassified intermittent appointments and employees in a lay-off status. More information on the holiday schedule, including how employees should report time during that period, will be available later this month.

Testing Your Faith Act (H.B. 353) was enacted in the Spring 2023 semester. In ordinance with this bill, ¾ÛÉ«¸ó created a new administrative policy for religious and spiritual accommodations. This administrative policy allows students to report up to three days of unexcused absences to participate in religious holidays or community-held events in alignment with their spirituality.

Kent businesses, with the help of Main Street Kent, have created an exclusive weekend of special offers, giveaways, discounts and raffles just for educators Friday, Nov, 17 through Sunday, Nov. 19. Simply show your school ID at time of purchase for offerings and discounts. Explore participating businesses and special offers!

At ¾ÛÉ«¸ó, we want to honor the celebration of our Native American and Indigenous culture by developing a calendar encompassing all the university events that are relevant to Native American Heritage Month. The Native American Heritage Month Planning Committee is welcoming university divisions, departments and student organizations to begin submitting their programming, activities and events to the University Events Calendar to be featured on the Native American Heritage Month Website.

Open Enrollment is from Oct. 16, through Nov. 3. Each year in the fall, benefits-eligible employees may select and make changes to their health coverage plans based on their needs and the needs of their family. Outside a qualifying life event, this will be the only window during which such changes may be made. Click to learn more, and to see how to access the Open Enrollment Portal.

¾ÛÉ«¸ó's holiday closure schedule for 2023 will begin Thursday, Dec. 21, 2023, at 10:30 p.m. All offices will re-open on Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2024.

Open Enrollment is Oct. 16 - Nov. 3. Each year in the fall, benefits-eligible employees may select and make changes to their health coverage plans based on their needs and the needs of their family. Outside a qualifying life event, this will be the only window during which such changes may be made. Note that all benefits-eligible employees are strongly encouraged to go through Open Enrollment as some benefits selections do not carry over without the employee's annual approval. Be on the lookout for your Open Enrollment postcard, which includes Open Enrollment Fair details.

Faculty, staff and graduate assistants will again eat for free once a week this semester on the Kent Campus. A meal swipe will be provided each week to your FLASHcard, now through Dec. 8, 2023. Meal swipes may be used for dine-in meals at the Eastway and Design Innovation dining halls.