I am a Marshall Fire victim who lost her childhood home and everything inside it during the horrible Marshall Fire. I noticed a pain point for people who suffered smoke damage to their home, or whose home was destroyed, was that there were all of these resources out there but no clear organization. This meant a lot of the resources weren’t known to the people who needed them most.

When tasked with creating a website for my CU Boulder digital marketing class, I decided it was a perfect opportunity to make a comprehensive resource guide. I also noticed that people who wanted to help didn’t know how to help in effective ways and decided to integrate this into our website as well. 

In order to better manage CU Boulder’s newly limited Google storage, users of CU Boulder’s Google services are encouraged to do some file clean-up to prepare for upcoming quotas. Read more from OIT.

CU students, faculty and staff from any area of campus can participate in the program, which offers mentorship, equity-free funding and dedicated work space to help promising concepts become reality.

Benefits-eligible employees should plan for this year’s open enrollment by reviewing all of CU’s health plan options through the Basics of CU Health Plans on-demand course. Read more from Employee Services on the Work/Life blog.

This Friday, March 18, is the last day to drop a spring 2022 class and change pass/fail status. Read more.

In need of an updated LinkedIn photo, or just want to have a professional photo of yourself? 

CU's Women of Color in STEM student org is hosting a Headshot Happy Hour event where you can come get a free professional headshot. If you are interested, we will be meeting outside of the CU Book Store at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, March 16, and then will walk together to the fifth floor terrace of the UMC to take photos.

Everyone is welcome to attend this event so be sure to bring yourself and your friends.

A warning to anyone who uses popular payment apps like Venmo on their cell phones: Protect your phone and treat it like a credit or debit card. The University of Colorado Colorado Springs (UCCS) Police Department is investigating three cases of theft where victims lost hundreds of dollars each, after being convinced to hand their phones over to a stranger.

Police say it can happen anywhere (cases are also being investigated at other college campuses and cities in Colorado), and the popularity of payment apps among college students makes them especially easy targets. 

The scam goes like this: Unsuspecting victims are approached by someone claiming to have an urgent need to make a phone call. When victims hand over their phones, the person locates the Venmo app and pays themselves with the touch of a button. Police say once money is transferred, it’s nearly impossible to get it back. 

“As much as you wouldn’t hand your wallet to someone, don’t hand your phone to someone,” said Sergeant Eric Edford of the University of Colorado Boulder Police Department (CUPD). Edford recommends, if you’re feeling especially kind-hearted and decide to offer assistance, keep your phone in-hand and make the call for help yourself. 

Other tips to avoid cell phone scams: Keep security settings activated for all banking or cash apps, log out of those accounts after each use and lock your phone, keeping passcode or face ID enabled.

The Marinus Smith Award recognizes faculty and staff members who have had a particularly positive impact on our students. Honorees are nominated by those they teach, mentor, support and serve. 

The faculty and staff receiving this award embody the true meaning of Be Boulder as they inspire, educate and motivate our community through innovation and passion. The award winners leave a long lasting impact on our community. 

Deadline to nominate is March 18. Learn more and submit a nomination.

The deadline for master's and doctoral students to purchase commencement regalia online is 11:59 p.m. MDT on March 31.

• Regalia for Master's students consists of a keepsake master’s gown, hood lined with CU school colors and velvet trim denoting field of study, mortarboard cap, and a black tassel.  
  $46.22 (plus tax and shipping)
• Regalia for Doctoral students consists of a keepsake doctoral gown, hood linked with CU School colors and velvet trim denoting field of study, tam, and a gold tassel.
  $67.90 (plus tax and shipping)

Visit Jostens University of Colorado product webpage for details on additional products available.

Each summer, the Colorado Shakespeare Festival invites kids ages 9–18 to CU Boulder’s campus to study Shakespeare with CSF professionals. Working in small groups, these students learn about Shakespeare by rehearsing, staging and performing a shortened play.

Camp Shakespeare is a fabulous way for kids and teens to explore theater and Shakespeare in a creative and supportive environment. The session will culminate in free public performances on the Mary Rippon Outdoor Stage.

Camp dates and details 

July 18–Aug. 5
Monday–Friday, 9 a.m.–noon

Ages 9–11: Coriolanus
Ages 12–14: All’s Well That Ends Well
Ages 15–18: Two Gentlemen of Verona

Tuition is $750. Sign up siblings and receive $50 off the second child’s tuition.  Camp and performances take place at the University Theatre Building and Mary Rippon Outdoor Theatre.

Final performance schedule

Saturday, Aug. 6 
9 a.m. performance: Coriolanus
9:45 a.m. performance: All’s Well That Ends Well
10:30 a.m. performance: Two Gentlemen of Verona

Shakespeare’s Sprites is a playful introduction to the Bard for ages 6–9. Discover the fun of Shakespeare through pool-noodle fights, silly insults, Renaissance songs and lively scene work. Each week culminates in a final showing for family and friends. This program is the perfect way to instill a love of language and theater in your child. Students enrolled in Shakespeare’s Sprites should have basic reading skills. 

Camp details

July 11–15, 9 a.m. to noon
Final showing: Friday, 11:30 a.m. (location TBA)

Tuition is $250. Discounts are available for siblings registering for camps.

During system-wide maintenance that affects the portals, such as the maintenance scheduled for Sunday, March 13, you can directly access Canvas and some other services that are provided through the portals. Read more from OIT.

Researchers in the Neurophysiology of Movement Lab on Main Campus are conducting a study to evaluate the influence of light electrical stimulation on walking and balance capabilities in healthy adults. 

Subject requirements:

• 65–85 years of age
• Free from neurological impairments
• No recent lower body injuries 
• Ability to walk for six minutes unaided

The study consists of two visits to CU Boulder Main Campus on separate days (approximately 2.5 hours each):

• In each session, we will apply mild electrical stimulation using a TENS device and assess subjects' walking and balance capabilities.
• Compensation: $50 for the two visits

If interested, please contact Mohammed Alenazy for more information: moal4255@colorado.edu, 720-231-9767.

UROP celebrates mentorship with the Faculty Mentor Award, which recognizes campus faculty supporting undergraduates on research and creative projects. 

Students are invited to nominate their mentors regardless of program funding, and we welcome submissions from early-stage researchers and creative practitioners. 

To support their work, award recipients will have the option to award an assistantship to an eligible undergraduate of their choosing in the next grant cycle.

Submit a nomination by April 1.

Buff Bus has upgraded its Transit app with improved software designed to provide real-time bus location information based on GPS tracking, rather than predicted route schedules. The new software went live in January.

“It’s important for our riders to know when to expect the bus, and when the buses are running off-schedule,” said Tom Christian, senior operations compliance program manager for Buff Bus operations at CU Boulder. “We are trying to improve the Buff Bus experience, and this upgrade makes it easier for our riders to plan their daily schedules.”

Previously the app relied on regular schedules to predict when a particular bus was supposed to arrive, but if the buses got off schedule due to weather or traffic delays, the app didn’t offer GPS based tracking. Now, with this upgrade, the Transit app is able to feed data real-time from the bus’s GPS unit to determine its real-time location and more accurately predict how long it will take to reach the next stop.