Member login and event registration
Thank you to our members who have logged in to the new UMRA Member Portal to renew their membership and register for events.
If you haven’t yet logged in, renewed your membership, or updated your profile, we have more information for you here!
Logging in
Did you know all members can create their own login and profile? And we encourage you to do so. Although your spouse or partner may have logged in, please consider adding your own profile.
Log in instructions can be found here: Welcome to the new Member Portal Login. Pro tip: When you’re prompted to put in a login email and password, don’t let your browser fill in that information for you the first few times. After the first few times, your browser or password manager should recall it correctly, but it’s best to do it manually the first two or three times.
Membership renewal
UMRA members received renewal emails this past spring and summer with reminders of the July renewal date. The deadline to renew your membership before it lapsed was September 15. It’s easy to restore a lapsed membership — simply log in to our membership system at UMRA.wildapricot.org and pay the outstanding membership renewal fee in your member profile. (This process is new this year, as part of UMRA’s transition to a new member management system.)
When your membership is lapsed, you are no longer able to register for UMRA member-only events. See the Lapsed membership article for more information.
Update your profile
When you update your profile information in the portal and answer questions about your interests, we are able to better understand what you’d like from UMRA and then program and communicate accordingly.
The next time you login, please take a few minutes to make sure your information is up to date. Let us know the kinds of programming you prefer, if you participate in any interest groups, or if you’d like to be part of the UMRA planning and organizing process.
Upcoming events
The UMRA calendar is full of fall events that are open for registration. Many events require you to login to register. We’re firming up even more events for 2026; information and registration will be available soon.
Subscribe to UMN emails
A new option in our membership portal is UMN Connection. If you want to receive communications from the UMN President and other key UMN sources (perhaps one per month), you can subscribe to UMRA’s UMN Connection and we will forward them to you as we receive them. With a year ahead that looks like it could bring considerable challenges and change, you can stay in touch with events as they happen.
Help documentation
We’ve received feedback and a few questions from some of you and have updated the online help documentation to explain things that might be confusing.
For example, if you intend to take a guest to a luncheon forum, the steps for adding the guest to the registration can now be found on the Register for an Event web page.
The Frequently Asked Questions document lets you know where to find your membership card, how to pay for multiple events, how to pay by check, and more.
If you still need help, we’re here for you. Email your question(s) to [email protected].
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.