October is declared Breast Cancer Awareness Month by the American Cancer Society. I invite you to join the Central Office Team for the 16th Annual Making Strides Against Breast Cancer Walk in Central Park on Sunday, October 18th. In 2008, our Central Office Team of 30 walkers raised over $4,100 in donations. This year, we aspire to reach a $5,000 goal and have more employees participate.

Since technology is the theme for October, several classes, including Personal Computer Essentials, Excel, Word, and Power Point will be offered. The Microsoft classes (Word, Power Point, Excel) are taught in a manner which makes them appropriate for 2003 and 2007 users. The cost of each class is $25.

The Civil Service Exam Unit is accepting applications for the following three open competitive positions: IT Assistant, IT Associate and IT Support Assistant. Each exam has a different filing period, closing date and filing fee. Applicants are encouraged to apply via Exams Xpress. Exams Xpress is accessible online via the following website: https://cuny.cps.ca.gov

A contractual salary increase will become effective on October 20, 2009 for the titles covered by the Professional Staff Congress Union. For the majority of our eligible full and part-time instructional staff members, the new salary rates will be reflected in the October 22 paycheck. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the Central Office HR Payroll Coordinator Miguel Lopez at 212-794-5498.

In an effort to provide in-person customer service to our employees, we will have key COHR staff members visiting the various Central Office locations on a regular basis. Please drop by to see us to address any questions that you may have regarding benefits, payroll, time and leave, or any other concerns of a human resources nature.

The annual Open Enrollment/Transfer Period for Health Plans, Flexible Spending Accounts and Welfare Fund Benefits are listed below for 2009. Please pay close attention to the dates. Changes to your health plan will become effective in January 2010.

Here are two retirement planning seminars being offered this month.
Women and Retirement presented by 457 NYS Deferred Compensation Plan
The Need For Planning in Turbulent Markets presented by Halliday Financial Group

We routinely schedule individual Plan representatives from various retirement plans to all of our locations to provide our staff with individual counseling sessions and respond to any of our concerns regarding the retirement plans and assist us in meeting our goals for retirement. Please see the following list for our plan representatives’ contacts and upcoming [...]

Trying to manage your personal and professional responsibilities can be a real challenge at times. The CUNY Work-Life Program provides a wealth of services, resources, information and support to help you manage your daily life. Here is a selection of offerings for October.

October is declared Domestic Violence Awareness Month by the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence and October 14 is designated “Go Purple” day in New York State to bring attention to the issue. The City University of New York disapproves of violence against women, men, or children in any form, whether as an act of workplace violence or in any employee’s personal life. Domestic violence can spill over into the workplace, compromising the safety of both victims and co-workers and resulting in lost productivity, increased health care costs, increased absenteeism, and increased employee turnover. CUNY is committed to full compliance of all applicable laws governing domestic violence in the workplace, to promoting the health and safety of its employees, and to making a significant and continual difference in the fight to end domestic violence.

It’s Official. Central Office Human Resources is now located on the 4th floor at 80th Street. Our telephone extensions and fax number remain the same.

The New York City Health Benefits Program will implement new health plan rates in September 2009. The rate changes will be effective the first full pay period of September.