Disregard postcard about enrollment in health benefits Did you receive a health benefits postcard? Disregard it. Did you receive a postcard that looks like this? If so, disregard it.

The postcard was sent to all individuals on the State's master payroll file, which includes Graduate Assistants. The State send the notification every year to ensure individuals who may be eligible are on alert to the enrollment period. However, this does not apply to UMBC GAs because we receive our Health Benefits through the university (and Aetna) not the State. 

If you have further questions, you can reach out to a benefits specialist at UMBC: hrbenefits@umbc.edu

Here is a link to the summary of benefits and coverage for the 2017-2018 school year.
Here is a link with directions on how to use your insurance.
Here is a link to find a preferred provider (in network).

]]> Did you receive a postcard that looks like this? If so, disregard it. The postcard was sent to all individuals on the State's master payroll file, which includes Graduate Assistants. The State... Photo https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/attachments/49ca77d3dfdb590fca95f5ef5d559e51/69f14e07/news/000/070/288/7e4ddecd5564e9fe8a83e41821797ca3/Open Enrollment Post Card.jpeg?1505832843 https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/70288/guest@my.umbc.edu/8a8810a7a62f92b251abf52605a9b30e/api/pixel Graduate Assistant Advisory Council https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/gaac https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xsmall.png?1677734691 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/original.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xxlarge.png?1677734691 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xlarge.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/large.png?1677734691 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/medium.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/small.png?1677734691 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xsmall.png?1677734691 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xxsmall.png?1677734691 Graduate Assistant Advisory Council https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/070/288/f15a80d46beb9997e63448e46ac01f0e/xxlarge.jpg?1505833103 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/070/288/f15a80d46beb9997e63448e46ac01f0e/xlarge.jpg?1505833103 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/070/288/f15a80d46beb9997e63448e46ac01f0e/large.jpg?1505833103 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/070/288/f15a80d46beb9997e63448e46ac01f0e/medium.jpg?1505833103 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/070/288/f15a80d46beb9997e63448e46ac01f0e/small.jpg?1505833103 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/070/288/f15a80d46beb9997e63448e46ac01f0e/xsmall.jpg?1505833103 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/thumbnails/news/000/070/288/f15a80d46beb9997e63448e46ac01f0e/xxsmall.jpg?1505833103 0 0 true Tue, 19 Sep 2017 11:07:59 -0400 Tue, 19 Sep 2017 11:11:23 -0400 Welcome Back, Graduate Assistants!

We at the Graduate Assistant Advisory Committee (GAAC) would like to give all graduate assistants (returning and new) a warm welcome to UMBC! For those that do not know, the GAAC is the body comprised solely of UMBC graduate assistants that meets with Graduate School Administration to relay any employment concerns. We also work with administrators to amend and enact policies that benefit graduate assistants at UMBC.

Last year, our main focus was keeping an affordable Graduate Assistant health insurance plan that would adequately meet the needs of graduate assistants. Through your participation in online surveys and willingness to share your stories, we were able to convince the graduate school to keep our current plan at no cost to us. (The departmental chairs and graduate program directors played a crucial role in finding the money to pay for the continued coverage, so please thank them!) We are willing to work with a broad range of groups, but we need your input in order to determine where the need lies.

If you have a concern that you would like to bring to our attention, you may do so by sending an email to GAAC@umbc.edu. All correspondence through this email remains confidential and is only viewed by GAAC members, with all identifying information removed before bringing it to other parties should the need arise.

Also, we're always looking for new members, so feel free to send an email to GAAC@umbc.edu if you're interested in joining the GAAC.

Good luck this semester! Below are some helpful links for Graduate Assistants. Please let us know if there is anything else we can do to help.

Sincerely,

The Graduate Assistant Advisory Committee

 

Helpful Link 1: The Graduate Assistant Handbook. This contains all the policies that govern your assistantship, including vacation time, sick leave, tuition remission, and ways to address workplace complaints.

http://gradschool.umbc.edu/funding/assistantships/handbook/

 

Helpful Link 2: Link to GA Forms. These are the forms that we need to fill out periodically, such as forms for tuition remission, health insurance, and completion of duties (equivalent of the timesheet).

http://gradschool.umbc.edu/funding/assistantships/forms/

 

Helpful Link 3: The GAAC myUMBC Group. This is where we post things of importance, including our current progress on different issues.

https://my.umbc.edu/groups/gaac

]]> We at the Graduate Assistant Advisory Committee (GAAC) would like to give all graduate assistants (returning and new) a warm welcome to UMBC! For those that do not know, the GAAC is the body... https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/69945/guest@my.umbc.edu/bd085d7d07a7f469d6b0ec3e13ab0e4b/api/pixel Graduate Assistant Advisory Council https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/gaac https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xsmall.png?1677734691 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/original.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xxlarge.png?1677734691 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xlarge.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/large.png?1677734691 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/medium.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/small.png?1677734691 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xsmall.png?1677734691 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xxsmall.png?1677734691 Graduate Assistant Advisory Council 4 0 true Wed, 06 Sep 2017 08:47:54 -0400 Wed, 06 Sep 2017 08:48:06 -0400 Success! Your participation in surveys saved you money! Thanks to your feedback, GAs keep insurance at no extra cost
The Graduate Assistant Advisory (GAAC) council would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to all the Graduate Assistants (GAs) that participated in the surveys or provided feedback over the past year on cost of living and health insurance coverage. The swift information you provided in those surveys was very persuasive to the university administrators that made the decision to completely cover the $714.00 (19.2%) increase in health insurance premiums this year. 

As you may recall, the university administrators were faced with the hard decision to either purchase a cheaper health care plan that would raise the out of pocket costs if a GA visits a doctor, or to find the money to cover the increase to keep our insurance the same. One of the proposed solution was to ask GAs to pay a portion of the $714. But because of your feedback and participation, they recognized the financial and health impacts of both changing the health care policy or asking GAs to pay a portion of the increase. And so the outcome is that we will have the same insurance and the university will not ask GAs to pay for the cost increase this year.

Therefore, please continue to STAY INVOLVED with the GAAC as this issue will come up again in January. Additionally, if you have any other concerns related to your working conditions, please reach out to us at any time.
]]> The Graduate Assistant Advisory (GAAC) council would like to extend a BIG THANK YOU to all the Graduate Assistants (GAs) that participated in the surveys or provided feedback over the past year on... https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/69291/guest@my.umbc.edu/227c498a628bd4d622364aa9a6cc052d/api/pixel health insurance success Graduate Assistant Advisory Council https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/gaac https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xsmall.png?1677734691 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/original.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xxlarge.png?1677734691 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xlarge.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/large.png?1677734691 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/medium.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/small.png?1677734691 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xsmall.png?1677734691 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xxsmall.png?1677734691 Graduate Assistant Advisory Council 7 0 true Sun, 06 Aug 2017 09:41:09 -0400 Sun, 06 Aug 2017 10:50:27 -0400 Give Maryland students the right to collectively bargain Sign petition for support of HB 1250 TODAY
Dear Graduate Assistants,

A student advocacy group at College Park, the Fearless Student Employees coalition (made up of the student government and GAAC), has been working on a bill to allow all Maryland system student employees the right to collectively bargain. The bill, HB 1250, has a hearing at 3:00 pm today in Annapolis.

The purpose of HB 1250 is to remove student employees at the University System of Maryland,  Morgan State University, St. Mary’s College of Maryland, and Baltimore City Community College from the list of employees who are ineligible to engage in 6 collective bargaining. This does not mean we have to collective bargain, but opens the possibility to it. 

First, they have asked for as many supporters as possible to sign their petition in the hopes of convincing legislators to support their cause. Here is the link to the petition. They aim for 1000 signatures to present at the hearing and now have 720.

Second, if you have a story that you would like to share with legislators about why you believe this is important--even if it is just a paragraph or two of an anecdote in support--please email it to gaac@umd.edu. We will format your testimony and send it in for you. To convey the importance of this bill for our campuses all across the state, we need as many stories as possible, so please help spread the word!

We at the GAAC decided to support this bill, as it will give us additional means to address the concerns of graduate assistants in the future. We wanted to give all GAs the opportunity to support this if they wish. Below is an email from one of the bill's organizers with more information and a link to the petition.

Thank you,
The GAAC

]]> Dear Graduate Assistants, A student advocacy group at College Park, the Fearless Student Employees coalition (made up of the student government and GAAC), has been working on a bill to allow all... https://www.change.org/p/maryland-state-house-give-maryland-students-the-right-to-collectively-bargain?recruiter=443716402&utm_source=share_petition&utm_medium=copylink Flyer https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/attachments/a2413595998270a0a2a563a44839a449/69f14e07/news/000/066/159/28064c25dd52d9313583b61cac492231/i am an employee.png?1488481850 https://my3.my.umbc.edu/api/v0/pixel/news/66159/guest@my.umbc.edu/36bbf326b7682dfa605d3526009c78b9/api/pixel Graduate Assistant Advisory Council https://my3.my.umbc.edu/groups/gaac https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xsmall.png?1677734691 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/original.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xxlarge.png?1677734691 https://assets1-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xlarge.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/large.png?1677734691 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/medium.png?1677734691 https://assets4-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/small.png?1677734691 https://assets2-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xsmall.png?1677734691 https://assets3-my.umbc.edu/system/shared/avatars/groups/000/001/288/85ea9e66ee72e87130296f0b79030074/xxsmall.png?1677734691 Graduate Assistant Advisory Council 3 0 true Thu, 02 Mar 2017 14:11:23 -0500 Thu, 02 Mar 2017 14:20:57 -0500