What could be better than a free candy buffet, a chance to win an iPad . . . and a photo-op with the University of New Hampshire’s founding benefactor, Benjamin Thompson?

Next Wednesday, Nov. 14, faculty, staff and students are invited to stop by the MUB Granite State Room any time between 12:30 and 3 p.m. to take part in the university’s first-ever campuswide celebration of philanthropy, A Thousand Thanks.  

Colleagues,

I am pleased to share word of our FY13 salary increase program for non-union staff, as well as the restoration of a percentage point in the standard university contribution toward retirement savings for non-union faculty and staff.

Health insurance premiums for employees covered by Harvard Pilgrim will increase 2.5 percent in 2013 while coverage with Delta Dental will go up 1.22 percent. The new rates, effective Jan. 1, 2013, can be found at http://www.usnh.edu/hr/pdf/2013-Employee-Employer-Rates.pdf.

Open enrollment ends Nov. 2. A list of frequently asked questions can be found at http://www.usnh.edu/hr/QuestionAndAnswer-2013.html.

On behalf of Lisa MacFarlane, Senior Vice Provost for Academic Affairs 

Dear Colleagues, 

The university’s strategic plan, The University of New Hampshire in 2020, envisions a more globally-engaged university with a greater emphasis on international opportunities and engagement. To achieve this in a world that is increasingly unpredictable, the President’s Panel on Internationalizing UNH called for providing our community with a comprehensive risk and emergency management program. I am pleased to announce the fulfillment of this first recommendation. 

The final version of the Campus Master Plan presented on Oct. 18 was free of the proposals that stirred controversy last spring when possible new uses for the university’s agricultural land were discussed. Instead, the updated plan emphasizes a renewed commitment to the open space.

The plan to “renovate, rehabilitate and reuse” UNH properties lists 56 potential projects with 12 considered top priorities. Details were outlined during the meeting held at Huddleston Hall. Provost John Aber called the list “a template, not an action plan.”

Transportation Services now has online capabilities for paying parking tickets with its new online service center.

To use the quick pay option you need the license plate of the car that got the ticket or the ticket number. You can pay more than one ticket at a time. Tickets on multiple vehicles might not be combined in one account and may require multiple log-ins. Pay with Visa and MasterCard or debit cards.

The UNH Office for Research Partnerships and Commercialization (ORPC) recently celebrated the success of faculty and staff members in increasing the number of innovation disclosures more than 100 percent to set a UNH annual record of 32. Mathematician Kevin Short was also awarded the university’s second annual Innovator of the Year award.

President Mark Huddleston attended the monthly meeting of the OS Council to answer questions chosen by the representatives to help them better inform their constituents.

Two questions concerned UNH’s financial position, beginning with the $38 million cut in state funding, with councilors asking what steps UNH employees could take to help get the funding restored. Huddleston suggested people write their elected officials as New Hampshire citizens, saying that would have the most direct effect.

University officials have moved the start of the campus master plan forum to 1:15 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 18, 2012. Originally scheduled to begin at 12:30 p.m., the forum was delayed to accommodate a gathering to reflect on the life of Elizabeth “Lizzi” Marriott.