On Friday, December 29, 2023, the entire RCUH corporate staff will be off-site at an all-day staff retreat.

To ensure that East-West Center personnel are not inconvenienced, deliveries and pickups should not be attempted. While it remains a business day for us, responses to emails may be delayed until the new year. Please refer to our December 19 web announcement regarding the payment approval deadline for December 29.

For urgent matters, please call (808) 956-0503 or email [email protected].

We thank you for your understanding and wish you all the best in the coming year.

To better enforce training requirements and to make mandatory training requirements easier to find, RCUH has published a new policy, 3.270 Mandatory Training for RCUH Employees. While this policy does not result in major changes for employees, it does provide a single location for employees and their supervisors to reference. It also provides guidance on disciplinary action after 30 days of non-compliance.

If there are any questions surrounding this new policy, please email [email protected].

In alignment with the University of Hawai’i and State Offices, RCUH employees on Maui are advised to report to work on Monday, August 14 to the extent possible. Principal Investigators (PIs) and Supervisors are encouraged to allow employees who are directly affected by the wildfires to use accrued vacation leave, if available and requested. Employees may also be allowed to telework under their project’s applicable telework guidelines under UH or the State of Hawai’i.

For worksites that may not be accessible (e.g., no power, no water, impassable roadways, etc.), employees may be directed by their PI to report to another worksite as space is available.

For projects/individuals who require assistance with eTimesheets, please email [email protected] or call (808) 956-8900.

SUPPORT FOR MAUI

• Maui Foodbank
• Maui United Way – Maui Fire Relief Fund
  
  RESOURCES FOR RCUH EMPLOYEES ON MAUI

• LifeWorks – Employee Assistance Program
• If RCUH can be of further assistance, please feel free to reach out to [email protected].

It has been heartbreaking to see the devastating images coming from Maui over the past few days. Our hearts go out to the people of Maui and those who have loved ones impacted by the fires. In alignment with the University of Hawai‘i and the State of Hawai‘i, RCUH will be granting administrative leave on Thursday, August 10, 2023 through Sunday, August 13, 2023 for RCUH Employees on the island of Maui. Please see yesterday’s announcement regarding administrative leave for August 9, 2023.

Employees should not report to work on these days, and will be granted administrative leave, except for:

• Departmental Disaster/Emergency Coordinators,
• Disaster Response Workers, and
• Employees whose work involves continuing crucial operations/services.

Employees who fall into one of the above categories should report to work. If employees are unsure as to whether they fall into the categories above, they should consult with their immediate supervisor.

The following information is provided in order to clarify the work or leave status of employees:

1. Employees who were expected to work at Maui island campuses and/or offices on Thursday, August 10, through Sunday, August 13, 2023 shall be considered as having worked their normal day of work and shall not be granted equivalent time off at a later date.
2. Employees who are on their scheduled day off shall not be granted equivalent time off at a later date.
3. Employees who are on approved leaves should be continued on leave status without any adjustment to their leave records and shall not be granted equivalent time off at a later date.
4. Hourly paid employees shall not be entitled to Administrative Leave.  

SUPPORT FOR MAUI

• Maui Foodbank
• Maui United Way – Maui Fire Relief Fund
  
  RESOURCES FOR RCUH EMPLOYEES ON MAUI

• LifeWorks – Employee Assistance Program
• If RCUH can be of further assistance, please feel free to reach out to [email protected].
  

To eliminate the duplication of training for RCUH Employees working on UH Projects, RCUH will accept the University of Hawai‘i’s Title IX Training in lieu of RCUH’s EEO/Sexual Harassment Prevention course, effective August 1, 2023. In order to be compliant, individuals must upload their UH Title IX Certificate of Completion into the RCUH Training Portal and view three custom PDFs. Either course is due once every two years.

The RCUH Training on EEO/Sexual Harassment Prevention will continue to be offered in the RCUH Training Portal. If you have any questions or concerns regarding this update or the RCUH Training Portal, please feel free to call (808) 956-0504/956-0503 or email [email protected].

INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO UPLOAD YOUR CERTIFICATE:

• Log into the RCUH Training Portal
• Click “Content Library”
• In the search bar, type in “UH Title IX”
• Click on the course
• Upload your certificate
• Click to view each PDF
• RCUH will review your uploaded file before marking you as “Complete”

RCUH’s retirement plan provider TIAA has reported that a third-party vendor, Pension Benefit Information, LLC (“PBI”), was affected by the worldwide MOVEit security breach that occurred on or around May 31, 2023. PBI utilizes MOVEit to securely transfer files. Unfortunately, TIAA has confirmed that there are RCUH participants whose personal information was involved. Impacted individuals will receive a letter from PBI over the next few days that will have additional information. Although PBI is unaware of any identity theft or fraud as a result of this event at this time, PBI is offering free credit monitoring for 24 months.

Law enforcement has been notified by PBI, and TIAA Information Security experts are in close contact with the third-party vendor. TIAA stated that it is working diligently to address and remediate this incident as quickly as possible, and shared the update below:

What TIAA knows:

• This incident involves the MOVEit Transfer software owned by Progress Software and used by our vendor, Pension Benefit Information, LLC (“PBI”).
• PBI receives personal data of individual participants and clients and matches it against death notices and obituaries to assist TIAA in death claim and beneficiary processes.
• Personal information from people at your institution is part of this incident: first and last name, address, date of birth, gender and Social Security Number.
• No information was obtained from TIAA’s systems and TIAA systems are not threatened.
• We have not observed any related unusual activity from this event involving TIAA accounts.
• We have reviewed our systems and we are not susceptible to the security vulnerability associated with this security incident.
  
  

In the meantime, people should always remain attentive to the possibility of fraud and identity theft. Some of the steps that help protect online interactions include:

• Enabling multifactor authentication everywhere it is available and not automatically provided. At TIAA, we provide it automatically.
• Creating a unique password with 12 or more characters for each of their online accounts. Weak and compromised credentials are the most-used attack vector.
• When you receive an email, stop and look for red flags. The best way to defend against phishing is to assume that every email is part of a phishing attack.
• Be cautious of urgent requests. Cyberattacks are designed to catch you off guard and trigger you to click links impulsively.
• Being wary of oversharing personal information online.
• Being vigilant in spotting email and text phishing attacks, which urgently request personal information for claimed emergencies.
• Keeping personal contact information current with financial institutions and reporting unusual balance activity immediately.
• Regularly monitoring credit score and online accounts.
• Using antivirus software for all devices and updating software, hardware and applications.
• Securing home networks with unique passwords and setting up a unique PIN for mobile phone SIM cards.
• Knowing how to report identity theft and cybersecurity incidents.
• If you’d like to look into the risks and benefits of freezing your credit, visit: https://www.usa.gov/credit-freeze.
  
  

If you have additional questions, you may call TIAA at 1-800-842-2252, weekdays from 8:00 AM to 10:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time).