Category: Feature

Benefits Open Enrollment runs Oct. 14–Nov. 1 

Open Enrollment for 2025 benefits will take place Oct. 14 through Nov. 1. UF’s annual Open Enrollment period is your opportunity to add, change or remove benefits enrollment elections for the next plan year. Elections made during this period will take effect on Jan. 1, 2025. 

Leave reporting after Hurricane Milton

Due to Hurricane Milton, the University of Florida closed on Wednesday, Oct. 9, and Thursday, Oct. 10. Administrative leave was granted to eligible employees who were scheduled to work during this time. Anyone who was on pre-approved leave will remain on such leave and will not be eligible to receive administrative leave.

HEO program applications due Nov. 1

The University of Florida’s Higher Education Opportunity (HEO) scholarship provides children of full-time TEAMS employees with tuition assistance for an undergraduate education. This program covers up to 132 hours towards an undergraduate degree at the University of Florida or a Florida public college.

Each eligible employee may submit one child’s name into the drawing. To be considered for this benefit, the TEAMS employee must apply for the HEO scholarship by Nov. 1, 2024. Visit the Higher Education Opportunity for additional drawing requirements for participation.

Save the date for the 2024 Benefits & Wellness Fair!

Join us on Oct. 11 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the Evans Champions Club at the Ben Hill Griffin Stadium to learn about health and wellness resources available to UF faculty and staff. Get your benefits questions answered and enter for a chance to win a giveaway from one of our sponsors! 

Benefits open enrollment begins Oct. 14 and runs through Nov. 1. Open enrollment is your opportunity to add, change or remove benefit selections for the next plan year. Make sure your email and mailing addresses are up-to-date in ONE.UF and People First to avoid missing important communications.

Post-storm recovery: Resources and assistance for the UF community

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene has left many Florida communities, including members of the UF community, in need of support. From housing repair assistance to mental health services and more, explore our list of UF, local, state and national resources to help you navigate recovery.

TEP scholarship applications due Oct. 31

The Tuition Exchange Scholarship Program, or TEP, provides dependent children of UF faculty and staff the opportunity to attend a participating Tuition Exchange college or university at a significantly reduced tuition rate. Full-time employees — except for OPS and postdocs — are eligible to apply for the program. The application deadline is Oct. 31 at 5 p.m. EST, prior to the year of desired enrollment.

UF Engaged resources available for supervisors and staff

Early this month, UF supervisors and staff received an email notifying them that it was time to complete their UF Engaged check-ins. This notification represents the official “launch” of the updated UF Engaged system, which recently underwent a comprehensive review to enhance evaluations for supervisors and staff.

Humans infecting animals infecting humans: Preventing pandemics requires protecting all species

When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020, humans had been the only species with reported cases of the disease. Less than two weeks later, a report from Belgium marked the first infection in a domestic cat – presumably by its owner.

Researchers have documented this phenomenon of human-to-animal transmission, colloquially referred to as spillback or reverse zoonotic transmission, in both domestic and wild animals. This stepping-stone effect provides new opportunities for pathogens to evolve and can radically change how they spread.

Explore opportunities to save with GatorPerks

As you settle back into the fall semester, we invite you to explore and take advantage of the various local and nationwide discounts available to you and your family through the GatorPerks program.

Congratulations to our August UF at Play winners!

We received some incredible photographs for our UF at Play photo contest this summer. 

Our winners for the month of August are UF Neurology Clinical Service Representative Raina McLeod for People’s Choice; UF/IFAS Extension Collier County Sea Grant Agent Michael Sipos for Nature; UF Psychiatry Assistant Director Kathleen Breton for Travel; and Electrical and Computer Engineering Assistant Professor Ivan Ruchkin, Ph.D., for Daily Life. 

Congratulations to our winners, and thank you to all who participated in this year’s contest! Visit our Facebook page to view all 570 submissions we received throughout the summer.