From: HR/Payroll Department Contacts [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Janet P Walker Sent: Friday, September 05, 2014 11:30 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Instant HR/Payroll: The Mason Star, Faculty Retirement Readiness Opportunity, Happy Heart Walk Registration Open, Who's Walking Wednesday and Lactation Spaces Needed The Mason Star Newsletter The 2014 Mason Star Newsletter is available online here<http://hr.gmu.edu/awards/docs/MasonStar2014.pdf>. Read all about the accomplishments of your colleagues in this yearly newsletter that highlights the various awards and recognition throughout Mason. Congratulations to all of our Mason stars! Questions? Please contact Beth Baroody at 3.2739 or [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. Faculty Retirement Readiness Are you 9 or 12 month faculty and thinking about retiring within 5 years? Do you need information? Let us assist you as you plan ahead. We are providing a retirement readiness program which includes: an online retirement readiness assessment, two individual coaching sessions with a certified retirement coach and two informative pre-retirement seminars (one ½ day and one full day seminar). Past participants credit the program with helping them prepare for retirement. For questions, please contact Kathy Haldeman at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>. [Picture of Happy Heart Award] Introducing Valerian (above), the plush Happy Heart Happy Heart Walk Registration Open Registration for the 6th annual Happy Heart Walk is open<https://typhon.gmu.edu/HR/happyheart/>. This one-mile fun walk will be held at noon on Wednesday, September 24. Join our walk leaders: Lori Scher (Arlington), Beth Cabrera and Brad Edwards (Fairfax), and Ron Carmichael and Carrie McVicker (Prince William). At stake is the coveted Happy Heart Team Award. Bring this plush, anatomically correct heart back to your department or organization. The largest team takes home little Valerian (which means strong, healthy), the Happy Heart. Details are available on the registration page<https://typhon.gmu.edu/HR/happyheart/>. Who's Walking Wednesday? Would you like to be a walk leader? Sign up to lead a Who's Walking Wednesday?<http://mysignup.com/walkingwednesdaygmu> at noon each week in Fairfax. We meet in the Wellness Circle in front of Merten Hall. Here are the walk leaders coming up this month: September 10: Mason Academic Advisor Network September 17: J.J. Wagner Davis September 24: Happy Heart Walk - We're all in! Walking is a great opportunity to connect with colleagues, enjoy our beautiful campuses, and get a little exercise. Hold a walking meeting. Explore a part of the community you haven't seen yet, grab a cup of coffee or a drink of water. In short, take 5 and move a little. Lactation Spaces Needed As you know, federal law requires that employers provide lactation spaces that are not rest rooms. Currently in Fairfax we have Merten Hall and the Johnson Center. Mason Hall is undergoing renovation so we've lost that space. We have a lot of new mothers and we really need additional spaces in Fairfax (and the other campuses and sites too). A lactation space can be a small room (or a large one), and all it needs in it is a chair and an electrical outlet. The space needs to be private, preferably with a door that locks (but we can provide signage to post to ensure privacy). It helps if someone is willing to be the point of contact for the space to answer questions and distribute the key if needed. As you can imagine, spaces are all assigned, so it's a real challenge to find something that works. We would be so appreciative if you could discuss this with your faculty and staff and see if there are some creative solutions. Please help us support our Mason Moms and email [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]> with any suggestions or spaces you can share. Please share excerpts of Instant HR/Payrolls with your faculty and staff as appropriate. We rely on you to help us "get out the word". Thanks!