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A PUBLICATION OF THE RUTGERS STAFF RETIREES ASSOCIATION
Member of the BTRA - Big Ten Retirees Association
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2024
SPRING SEMESTER
EDITION
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A Message from the President
Flo Borsody
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The fall semester brought Silver Knights together for a variety of activities: homecoming football tailgate, women's basketball, luncheon buffet and cooking demo, and a day in Princeton. Moving into the spring semester, we've planned a few Retiree Center coffee breaks and Rutgers Club luncheons to bring Silver Knights together on campus. Check the calendar at the bottom of this newsletter and watch your email for details.
We are very excited to have President Holloway as guest speaker at our Annual Luncheon on May 9th at the Rutgers Club. Annual membership meeting will follow the presentation. Hope to see you there!
We continue to invite all members to attend our monthly meetings. Join us in planning future activities for the Silver Knights! Meetings are held at the Retiree Center, or you may join us on Zoom. Confirm future meeting dates on our website: Silver Knights.
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Annual Luncheon & Membership Meeting
May 9, 2024, 11:30 am - 2:30 pm
at The Rutgers Club - Room ABC
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Guest Speaker: Jonathan Holloway
21st President of
Rutgers University
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The luncheon will begin at 11:30 am in Room ABC, The Rutgers Club, Livingston Campus, 85 Avenue E, Piscataway, NJ 08854.
Return the registration form with your payment of $30 per person before April 22, 2024.
Please include your 2024 membership form and $15 dues if not sent in previously.
By May 3, 2024, you will receive a confirmation email with event parking information. To avoid a parking citation, you must register your vehicle for special event parking even if you have a current Rutgers parking permit.
Seats are limited; Advance registration is required; No walk-ins permitted!
Since we must provide a guarantee for Catering Services,
all payments are non-refundable.
(No printer? Write the requested information on a sheet of paper and mail with payment.)
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IT'S A WRAP! 2023 FALL SEMESTER EVENTS | |
Rutgers Club Lunch and Chef Demo
On September 27, 2023, Silver Knights enjoyed a delicious lunch buffet at the Rutgers Club. After lunch, we had a cooking demonstration on the preparation of one of the items from the buffet.
Chef Jonas was entertaining as well as informative and everyone went away with the Salmon with Chive Dijon Cream recipe to create the dish at home.
This event was a huge success, and we look forward to future events at the Rutgers Club!
Membership is not required to attend their weekday lunch buffet, but members have added benefits of attending Club hosted events, reserving private dining rooms, and enjoying adult beverages from the bar!
For more information visit: Rutgersclub.Rutgers.edu
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Parker Tailgate and Homecoming Football
Silver Knights and their guests attended the Homecoming Football game at SHI Stadium on October 14, 2023.
We started the day as guests of Parker at the Pavillion on River Road. Members were able to learn about Parker and tour the facility. We were treated to breakfast sandwiches, pastries, beverages and more!
Parker also provided a party bus to and from the game.
It was cold and rainy, but we had a blast in spite of the uncooperative weather. Rutgers scored a 27-24 win against Michigan State.
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Rutgers Women's Basketball Game
On November 18, the Silver Knights and their guests cheered on the Rutgers Women's basketball team.
We enjoyed the climate-controlled environment in Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway, and some of our members had floor seats to enjoy the game up close!
It was a great day as Rutgers beat St. Francis 80-51.
(A Homecoming Football win and then Women's Basketball, it sure looks like the Silver Knights bring good luck to the Scarlet Knights!)
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Princeton Trolley Tour
By Clare Laskoski
On December 9, 2023, members of the Silver Knights and their guests enjoyed a one-hour Princeton Trolley Tour exploring Princeton’s historical sites, the homes of prize-winning former residents, the natural beauty of the area, and Princeton University’s architecture. It was a very informative and enjoyable experience. Later in the afternoon a number of individuals chose to attend McCarter Theatre’s presentation of “A Christmas Carol.” All in all, a Great Day!
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Big Ten Retirees Association - BTRA
The Silver Knights are among the newest members of the BTRA. Members share newsletters, exchange information of mutual benefit and attend zoom meetings as well as an annual conference hosted by a member school.
Rutgers Staff Retirees Association was accepted as a member of the BTRA (Big Ten Retirees Association) during the annual conference at University of Wisconsin in July 2023. We plan to explore membership benefits with the other Big10 schools and participate in the annual meeting and conference in Ohio in July 2024.
The Executive Committee is excited to explore the potential of this new membership to enhance our association, to encourage more Rutgers retirees to join Silver Knights and to seek administrative support at Rutgers.
We welcome and encourage you to join the Executive Committee and be a part of this exciting new venture for the Silver Knights.
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SPOTLIGHT ON A SILVER KNIGHT | |
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Mary Wilk
By Jane Doolittle
[Interviewed by Jane Doolittle and Robert Fryar]
Mary Wilk is one of the original Silver Knights. She worked with the University and Administrative Assembly on the earliest conversations regarding the formation of this group. At the first executive board election in 1994, Mary was voted in as the first secretary and held the position until 2019. She recalls in the early days, so much had to be done by the committee including walking with Joan DeBoer through meadows picking greenery and grasses for the centerpieces and coming home with armloads of grasses and hundreds of mosquito bites!
Mary stated that she “loved everything about being a part of the Silver Knights” including the connections with retirees and the time spent with the other executive committee officers. She especially enjoyed the trips. She recalls trips to wineries followed by fun in Atlantic City, theater and dinner in NYC and going to Cape May for the day.
Mary was a mother of high school children working at an insurance agency when she heard about Rutgers tuition remission and decided to make that move. She started in 1968 working with Dr. Horowitz of the Sociology Department on Livingston campus. She discovered that she was not on Rutgers payroll as a benefit employee so in August of 1970 she moved to the Political Science Department with Dr. Pomfur. The faculty at this department treated her like family and she was invited to all the important family events. She enjoyed talking to the students all over the world. Her last job was as an Administrative Assistant to the Dean of FAS in the Psychology Department.
Mary’s children did not end up going to Rutgers after all so Mary enrolled herself in 1972. Mary majored in English Literature and minored in Languages. Eight years after starting Mary graduated with honors just shy of her 50th birthday. She graduated speaking 4 languages: Russian, Polish, Spanish and English. Mary related a funny story about her classes. Her advisor suggested she take a fun course and she enrolled in home economics, figuring it will be fun and easy as a mother and wife. However, after two of her muffins did not rise, she threw them in the garbage and when questioned about the missing muffins she told the professor that she didn't have enough batter. The professor ended up finding them in the garbage and she has not forgotten that embarrassment as she was always lauded as such a hard-working mother of two. She was glad she was an older student and able to laugh it off quickly. After graduating she took a trip to Russia and Poland with the blessings of her whole job department.
Working for Rutgers for 22 years was a great experience with many fond memories that Mary would not trade for anything. Her husband had a very serious heart attack and after wearing herself thin working and caring for her husband, she finally had to retire from her beloved job on July 1, 1992.
Mary Wilk is one of three current members of the Executive Committee who were Silver Knights since the inception of the Association. It is an honor to serve with her and a pleasure to talk with and share in her memories.
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Reminder! The way you submit IRMAA reimbursements has changed!
Your official IRMAA package will be sent in March. Meanwhile, it is important that you log into mynjbenefitshub and start preparing by:
- Verifying and updating your email address
- Verifying and updating your mailing address
- Adding or updating your direct deposit information
To update your information:
1. Log into the mynjbenefitshub through your myNewJersey account or log in at mynjbenefitshub.nj.gov
2. Click on Your Name in the upper right hand corner of the website and select Profile.
3. Use the blue Edit button to update your email address in the Personal Preferences section. Click Save to commit changes.
If you select email communications preference, you will receive your IRMAA package via email, NOT in a mailing to you home.
IMPORTANT: IRMAA reimbursement forms mailed directly to the State will NOT be accepted.
To ensure the fastest processing of your reimbursement, you can conveniently submit all of your forms online through your mynjbenefitshub account. If you choose to mail your forms, they must be mailed directly to MyChoice Accounts and include the completed claim form that will be sent to you in March.
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Rutgers Fun Facts
By MaryBeth Kimberlin
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1st President of Rutgers:
Jacob Rutsen Hardenbergh was a founder of Queen's College—now Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey—in 1766, and was later appointed as the college's first president.
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21st President of Rutgers: Jonathan Scott Holloway was named as the president of Rutgers University in January 2020 becoming the first person of color and first African American to be named president. | |
FROM THE OFFICE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY | |
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Dear Members of the Rutgers Community,
We are reaching out to you about an important change to ScarletMail/ScarletApps (Rutgers’ version of Google services, such as Gmail, Photos, Drive, and Docs). Google has announced new storage limits for these services at educational institutions. Due to the changes, storage for ScarletMail/ScarletApps accounts will be limited to 30 gigabytes (GB) starting on June 18, 2024.
The vast majority of ScarletApps accounts will not be impacted by this change. About 98% of ScarletApps accounts have storage falling below these new limits.
What do I need to do?
If you have a ScarletApps account, you can check your storage by logging in to your account and visiting this Google webpage. We recommend checking your account periodically to ensure that your storage falls below the 30GB limit.
What if my storage currently exceeds 30GB?
The Office of Information Technology is reaching out to individuals with accounts currently exceeding the 30GB limit to provide guidance, with an initial focus on those accounts using more than 1 terabyte of storage. If your account exceeds the 30GB limit, look for an email message from OIT in coming weeks.
Where can I find additional information on this change?
Visit the ScarletApps storage limits webpage for links to FAQs, how-to articles, and specific guidance on other storage options.
Questions?
If you have specific questions or need assistance, please contact your department’s IT staff, if applicable, or your local Office of Information Technology Help Desk.
Thank you,
OIT Help Desk
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INFORMATION FOR ALL RUTGERS RETIREES | |
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RETIREE EMAIL ACCOUNT
Retirees may establish a retiree email account through Scarletmail. To set up your retiree email account, please visit netid.rutgers.edu. On the first screen, please select Service Activation. On the next screen, please choose ScarletApps. You will be prompted to confirm your netid and password. Once netid and password have been confirmed, you will receive a message indicating that your Scarletmail account has been established. Your new email address will be your netid@scarletmail.rutgers.edu. For technical assistance in creating your scarletmail account, please contact the Rutgers OIT HelpDesk at 848-932-4357.
RETIREE PARKING
As a retiree, you may arrange for free retiree parking in any of the non-gated lots on campus. To arrange your retiree parking, please visit DOTSHELP.rutgers.edu Select GET HELP to complete your request. Please be sure to provide your vehicle information (make, model, color of vehicle and license plate number). Assistance with retiree parking is also provided by contacting Rakhi Chopra at the Rutgers Retired Faculty & Staff Center.
NOTE: In December 2023, Parking extended the expiration date of all active retiree parking permits through December 2025.
If you need to update any information related to your registered vehicle, or to arrange your retiree parking, please email: dotshelp@rutgers.edu
Be sure to provide your vehicle information (make, model, color of vehicle and license plate number). Retirees with handicapped registration should also provide an image of the handicapped placard or handicapped license plate registration.
RETIREE ID CARD
Retirees may obtain a retiree ID card in person by visiting one of the ID Card Management Locations:
· ID Offices
· Univ Human Resources 57 US Hwy 1New Brunswick, NJ
· Blumenthal Hall, 3rd Floor, 249 University Avenue, Newark, NJ
· Camden Campus Center, Main Floor-Impact Booth, 326 Penn St, Camden, NJ
In order to receive your new retiree ID card, you must present a government issued ID, such as a driver’s license or passport. You are also required to return your old ID card. The retiree ID card provides access to recreational facilities and libraries.
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Committee Meetings
at ASB II Retiree Center (and Zoom)
on the following Thursdays:
March 21, 2024, 2:30 pm - 4:15 pm
April 11, 2024, 2:30 pm - 4:15 pm
June 20, 2024, 2:30 pm - 4:15 pm
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Breaking Bread - Lunch Socials
at the Rutgers Club
March 21, 2024, 11:45 am - 1:45 pm
April 11, 2024, 11:45 am - 1:45 pm
Join us for buffet & conversation.
$30 includes buffet and gratuity.
Watch your email for details.
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Annual Luncheon & Membership Meeting at The Rutgers Club
Thursday, May 9, 2024
11:30 am - 2:30 pm
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Coffee & Chit Chat Socials
at the Retiree Center
Friday, February 23, 2024
10:30 am-12:30 pm
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
12:00 noon - 2:00 pm
Thursday, June 20, 2024
12:00 noon - 2:00 pm
Watch your email for details.
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"People are capable, at any time in their lives, of doing what they dream of." - Paulo Coelho
"Often when you think you're at the end of something, you're at the beginning of something else." - Fred Rogers
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“In retirement, I look for days off from my days off.” – Mason Cooley
What do you call a person who is happy on a Monday? Retired
When is a retiree’s bedtime? Three hours after he falls asleep on the couch.
How many retirees to change a light bulb? Only one, but it might take all day.
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