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Camp Akeela info session Nov. 7

Camp Akeela is where quirky campers thrive!

Assistant Director and Wisconsin On-site Director David Baker will be on campus to talk about summer counseling positions with Camp Akeela in Wisconsin and Vermont. Join David for an info session from 10:30 to 11 a.m. on Nov. 7 in the Warch Campus Center, Kraemer Room.

Camp Akeela is a camp for kids that may need a little extra social support. Many campers have a diagnosis of high-functioning autism and other nonverbal learning disabilities. Some campers, however, have no diagnosis at all and just need extra support in the areas of making and sustaining friends.

Camp Akeela will be hosting students throughout the summer of 2017 on the Lawrence University campus. Camp counselors will receive free housing throughout their experience.

Reminder: Convocation next Tuesday

A reminder to the campus community: Pulitzer Prize–winning poet Natasha Trethewey will speak at next Tuesday’s Convocation at 11:10 a.m. in Memorial Chapel.

Trethewey, whose talk is entitled The Muse of History: On Poetry and Social Justice, has combined her mixed-race background and profound writing skills to convey the plight of the southern black woman. Her first collection of poems, Domestic Work (2000), detailed working-class lives and jobs and won the Cave Canem Prize for a first book by an African American poet. In 2007, Trethewey was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in Poetry for Native Guard (2006), an exploration of death and war. Other acclaimed works include Bellocq’s Ophelia (2002), a fictional narrative of prostitution in 1900s New Orleans; Beyond Katrina: A Meditation on the Mississippi (2010), a non-fiction collection; and Thrall (2012), an examination of mixed-race fathers and children.

In 2012, Trethewey was named the 19th U.S. Poet Laureate. She is the Robert W. Woodruff Professor of English and Creative Writing at Emory University and also has held teaching positions at Duke University, the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill and Yale University.

Trethewey earned a bachelor’s degree in English at the University of Georgia, a master’s degree in English and creative writing from Hollins University and a master of fine arts degree in poetry from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

An informal question-and-answer session will immediately follow the Convocation in the Chapel.

Summary of Lawrence Retirement Readiness Plan changes

As you know, Lawrence made several changes to our retirement program, effective Jan. 1, 2016. The Office of Human Resources wanted to provide you with an update on some things that have—and have not—changed, to give you an update on some of these changes and to clarify some questions about the plan.

 

What Has Changed

What Has Not Changed

Number of plans and plan name

Lawrence used to maintain two separate plans: The Lawrence University Defined Contribution Plan and The Lawrence University Tax Deferred Plan.

We have merged these plans into a single plan: renamed The Lawrence University Retirement Readiness Plan.

The retirement plan provides for Lawrence contributions on your behalf and also offers you the opportunity to save for your retirement, up to maximum amounts set by the IRS.

Record-keeper

Previously, the plan used two record-keepers: TIAA and Fidelity.

We have selected Transamerica as the sole record-keeper for the plan.

Note: Transamerica will report all assets that are still with TIAA and/or Fidelity, however have no control over TIAA and/or Fidelity funds.

Investing your contributions

Amounts you contributed before Jan. 1, 2016 remain with the investment funds you have selected. Amounts you invested with TIAA funds remain invested in the TIAA funds you selected. Amounts you invested with Fidelity funds remain invested in the Fidelity funds you selected.

All amounts contributed after Jan. 1, 2016 will go into the new plan and be invested in funds offered through Transamerica.

You may direct that amounts invested with TIAA or Fidelity be transferred to Transamerica, but this is your decision.

 

Opportunity to support the Lawrence Fund and United Way

Faculty and staff interested in donating to the Lawrence Fund and/or United Way can use this printable pledge form. The Lawrence development office would greatly appreciate any support of both campaigns by Wednesday, Nov. 23.

Thank you, in advance, for considering these giving options as a way to support our students and community. Any questions can be directed to Associate Vice President of Development Stacy Mara at stacy.j.mara@lawrence.edu or 920-832-6557.

 

Meet the FBI! Career Services info session and 1:1 Chats

Want to know if working for the FBI is like the TV show Quantico? (Hint: It’s not.) Then join Special Agent John Sokolowski on Nov. 4 to learn more about career paths and opportunities with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

There will be an info session from noon to 1 p.m. in the Warch Campus Center’s Kraemer Room. Then, from 1:30–5 p.m., John will hold 1:1 Chats with students in Career Services. Registration in LUworks for 1:1 Chats is required. Registration on LUworks for the info session is appreciated.

Graduate School Exploration Fellowship information meeting

Graduate School Exploration Fellowship (GSEF) informational meeting for freshmen and sophomores

Thursday, Nov. 3 at 4:30 p.m. in the Diversity Center in Memorial Hall

If …
1. You are from an underrepresented group, are a first-generation student and/or have taken a nontraditional pathway to college, AND
2. You are looking for a fellowship that will provide you with a robust set of mentoring, career development and summer research experience in your junior and senior year, AND
3. You want to learn more about graduate programs in the humanities, humanistic social sciences or arts, THEN…

Come to the Graduate School Exploration Fellowship (GSEF) informational meeting with Lilly Lavner from Associated Colleges of the Midwest (ACM) and Kia Thao, coordinator of pre-professional advising and major fellowships at Lawrence.