Fall has arrived on our beautiful campus—and with it comes a multitude of campus celebrations: Parents’ Weekend, Reunion, and, eventually, holiday celebrations, including our annual Turkey Toss event for employees.

Your efforts and commitment contribute to the ongoing growth and success of our institution. Your contributions are invaluable and help create a vibrant and enriching environment for our students, their families, our alumni and our colleagues.

I hope that many of you were able to attend or watch Fall Staff Assembly a few weeks ago to hear words of appreciation from Chancellor Diermeier and other campus leaders, and I wanted to take a moment to express my own appreciation for all the hard work and dedication you all continue to bring to Vanderbilt.

Please take some time to enjoy the autumnal wonders that surround us, including the vibrantly changing colors of the trees within our campus arbotetum . I look forward to witnessing the continued growth and success that the fall semester will undoubtedly bring.

The Roberts Academy and Dyslexia Center was announced on October 26, 2023 at an event on Vanderbilt’s campus that brought together government representatives, area leaders in the field and faculty to celebrate the anticipated impact on children in Middle Tennessee and around the world.

Employees also can visit the updated payroll website with FAQs, quick guides, links to training and more. You can also watch a short video on entering time through the UKG Ready mobile app. Learn more here.

There are various opportunities for staff to participate in both Family Weekend (Oct. 13-15) and Reunion (Nov. 2-5), and assignments generally range from registration check-in to scanning nametags to supporting tours and panel discussions.

Volunteer time slots are now open for Family Weekend and sign-ups for Reunion will be available soon, so mark your calendar for November 2-5.

Vanderbilt will hold a series of high-profile events Oct. 10–17 in observance of the university’s first-ever campus-wide Free Speech Week, part of Chancellor Daniel Diermeier’s recently launched Dialogue Vanderbilt initiative.

Open Enrollment begins Monday, Oct. 16, at 8 a.m. and ends on Friday, Oct. 27, at 11:59 p.m. Reminder: this is an active enrollment year! Elections are effective Jan. 1–Dec. 31, 2024. If you have questions about open enrollment, visit vu.edu/oe for additional information.