Archive for March, 2021

Save the date for ISA’s annual International Food Festival on Saturday, March 20 at the World Famous Bean from 5pm – 7pm. Use your meal swipes (employee meal plan) or pay the Faculty/Staff discount (w/ ACU ID) rate at the door.

ACU’s Medical Clinic was able to receive and administer a limited supply of the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID-19 vaccines during Spring Break.  Our hope is to secure the vaccine weekly, and offer additional appointments as more vaccines become available. As with all providers, we do not know week to week which brand (Pfizer, Moderna, J&J) of vaccines we will receive. Once we are notified that we are being sent vaccines we need to quickly schedule appointments. If you, your spouse, or dependent children over 18 would like to be on the Medical Clinic’s waitlist to receive a vaccine, please submit the ACU COVID-19 Vaccine Waitlist form. Appointments will be made based on the number of vaccine doses available and prioritized by the current criteria set by the state of Texas.  ACU will use the allotted vaccines for current faculty and staff before moving to students, retirees or other household members. Once your name is reached on the waitlist, the Medical Clinic will call to schedule your appointment to receive your vaccine.

A randomized selection of 600 faculty, staff and administrators received an email over the weekend to participate in The Great Colleges to Work For survey sponsored by The Chronicle of Higher Education. The program provides administrators and academic leaders “with insights on the quality of the workplace experience for faculty and staff.”  With over 1,000 institutions participating, ACU has been recognized often. Please check your email for the survey from The Great Colleges to Work For and/or ModernThink.  Participation in this survey is greatly appreciated.

ACU students, faculty, staff and their families are invited to join us at the Abilene Zoo from 6-9 p.m. on March 27! Enjoy food and family fun with free admission to the carousel, zoo train and giraffe feeding station. Dinner is provided for the first 550 guests. Face masks are required, and we encourage physical distancing. Registration is required – Register today.

The Finance Office Cashier will be open regular business days/hours during Spring Break – Monday & Thursday from 1:30pm to 4:30pm.

Join the ACU Credit Union! We have payroll deduction for savings accounts and loan payments. Our loan rates are very competitive with other banks and credit unions. Come and visit in Room 119 of the Hardin Administration Building. Our hours are 9 to 4, Monday thru Friday.

A consultant from TIAA will be offering individual counseling sessions via phone/virtual to discuss your personal financial situation and retirement investments on June 15th. Register for an appointment online. Appointments are limited and are reserved on a first come, first serve basis.

We were able to resume employer-matching retirement contributions with the February 5, 2021 paychecks, which was two weeks earlier than anticipated. As a reminder, we also said we would match any contributions you have made, up to the maximum of 8%, retroactively back to the October 16, 2020 paychecks. We communicated that Human Resources would submit these retroactive amounts to TIAA no later than March 5, 2021. We would like to confirm that those amounts were sent to TIAA on February 24, 2021. Log in to TIAA to review your retirement account.

Are you looking for ways to better manage your relationship with technology? Or maybe trying to help your children set boundaries with technology? Check out the Tech-Wise Challenge by Barna Group. Author, Andy Crouch (The Tech-Wise Family and My Tech-Wise Life), offers practical and insightful ways to reset our relationship with technology. To sign-up for the challenge, go here.  Also look for upcoming opportunities where Family First will provide resources surrounding the conversation about managing technology.