Memo: Winter Break Impacts & timelines for grades, package delivery, research purchasing and support, and events

Dear colleagues,
 
I'm writing with anticipated impacts and timelines for support for research, teaching, and public engagement activities as the holiday closure approaches. The information shared in this email, is also saved in our knowledge base on our support portal for easy reference.
 
Grades
Submit all grades, including F/INC forms for regular classes/Independent research/senior design by 12/23/24.
With the last final scheduled for Dec. 20th, our undergrad staff will have a limited timeline to troubleshoot any grading errors or track down missing grades. Timely grade submission is critical to our staff being able to meet deadlines to, for example, clear our December graduates or verify that our 90+ affiliate forms meet our standards. Each of these critical tasks is made more difficult and time-consuming if we don't each do our part.
 
Package Delivery
 
The University has arranged with local shipping companies and USPS to suspend mail & package delivery to campus facilities while we are closed. 
  • December 23rd is the last day for mail delivery in the Upson 130 suite mailroom. Package delivery will resume January 2, 2025.
  • All U.S. mail will be held at the Warren Road Post Office. If you anticipate needing to pick up mail while the University is closed you MUST contact Tracy Peabody at Cornell Mail Services (mailservices@cornell.edu) by December 20th to obtain prior approval. The Ithaca post office will not release any mail without prior approval.
Purchasing
  • Submit all purchasing requests by noon on Wednesday, December 18 to allow for timely processing by staff. Be prepared to pay increased costs for expedited shipping for any items that will need to be received by 12/23/24.
  • Our team will not process purchasing requests after 12/18 unless they are for food deliveries
Travel Planning & Reimbursement Support
  • Now is the time to get all outstanding CONCUR reports submitted to avoid a potentially expensive tax burden for any completed trips. The University is electing to enforce the 60-day deadline for reporting taxable income to the IRS for late travel reports. It's unpleasant and expensive to deal with late travel reports when they cross calendar tax years--save yourself money and a headache by submitting all outstanding travel reports by Dec. 20th at the latest.
  • Faculty (and research employees with a workday appointment) may request assistance preparing travel reports by filling out a request ticket with the Shared Services Center
  • Students seeking travel reimbursements should plan to submit their forms to MAE's ticket portal by 12/19/24 to allow time for processing. Don't wait til the last minute to submit necessary information, as we have a large community of students and faculty to support, and a small number of operations staff to assist.
  • Students or faculty needing support with travel reservations for trips taking place immediately after break, should submit a ticket to our portal ASAP, if you haven't already.
Events support
  • Any new events support needed should be submitted in January after we reopen. Our staff will be working to finalize or update planning for our current inprogress events planned for the spring, including colloquium, visit weekend, our two KK Wang events, Advisory Council meeting, faculty search scheduling, and the Spaceflight Mechanics podcast. We will not be doing intake planning support for any new events/activities in the next week that aren't already in our queue and ask faculty to hold requests for support for new events until after January 2nd.
Finally, a reminder that our conference rooms 331, 431, and 531 Upson are closed 12/16-12/20/24 for AV upgrades.
 
Please reach out to me with any questions. I hope everyone has a restful weekend.
 

Best, 

Trisica 

 

Trisica Munroe 

Director of Administration 

Sibley School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering 

Cornell University 

133 Upson Hall, Suite 130 

607.255.5949 

Tdm68@cornell.edu 

Mae.cornell.edu 

 

“Voyager, there are no bridges, one builds them as one walks.”  

Gloria Anzaldúa 


Land Acknowledgement: Cornell University is located on the traditional homelands of the Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' (the Cayuga Nation). The Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' are members of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, an alliance of six sovereign Nations with a historic and contemporary presence on this land. The Confederacy precedes the establishment of Cornell University, New York state, and the United States of America. We acknowledge the painful history of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' dispossession and honor the ongoing connection of Gayogo̱hó꞉nǫ' people, past and present, to these lands and waters. Learn more about Cornell’s Land Acknowledgment | American Indian and Indigenous Studies Program (cornell.edu) and/or visit Gayogohó:no' Sovereignty (gayogohono.org) 

  

 

 

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