Lapsed membership?
If you didn’t renew your UMRA membership by September 15, you should have received an email telling you that your membership is lapsed. Don’t worry if you did get the lapse notice. You can restore your membership by simply paying your 2025–26 dues.
When your UMRA membership is in the lapsed status, you are still a member and will still get our mailings. But you will not be able to register for and attend in-person forums and other UMRA events requiring registration. And you won’t get reduced-rate parking in University public parking facilities on the Twin Cities campus, or other discounts available to UMRA members.
It will be a year before you’re dropped completely from our membership rolls.
You can pay your dues by logging in to the UMRA Member Portal at umra.wildapricot.org or by mailing a check to:
University of Minnesota Retirees Association
c/o Kristy Frost-Griep, treasurer
1305 Beechwood Place
St. Paul, MN 55116
Still not sure about your UMRA membership status? Look for the date in the upper right corner of the address label on your print newsletter. If it says 2026, you’re good. Thank you! If it says 2025, you need to renew—and we hope you will!
—Ron Matross, Membership and Communication Committee chair
News
UMRA hosted delegates from 14 of the 18 schools in the Big Ten for the 2026 Big Ten Retirees Association conference in July. It was described as “the perfect collaboration” by two delegates we invited to share a few of their key takeaways from the conference.
Developing communication skills is the focus of two programs needing volunteers this fall: the “Reader/Writer Program,” assisting students in Minneapolis Public Schools grades 7-12 to develop literacy skills; and “Partners in English,” engaging in conversation with adults for whom English is not their first language.
After being unexpectedly sidelined at the outset of her retirement, Pam Snopl now enjoys doing many of the things retirees get to do, including reconnecting in person with family and friends, going to museums and weekday Minnesota Twins games, reading, and writing.
UMRA member George Swan retired in 2021 after 30+ years at University Libraries, but still returns to campus to visit one or another of the libraries at least twice a week in his current role as a student/retiree.
UMRA’s Professional Development Grants for Retirees program is an annual competition for grants to support projects related to retirees’ research, instructional history, new scholarly or creative interests.
UMRA needs everyone to renew their membership for the coming year. Thank you if you’ve already renewed! If you haven’t, please renew right away.