Membership renewal reminder
As summer wanes, 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. Go to the Portal at the top right of the UMRA website home page, click on the down arrow to open the dropdown menu, and then select “Renew Membership.”
If you aren’t able to renew online, you can also renew by mailing a check ($40 for individual and $60 for dual membership). Contact UMRA Treasurer Kristy Frost Griep at [email protected] for instructions.
Once you’ve renewed, you’ll receive a “Membership Renewal Complete” confirmation email from UMRA. This email will include YOUR MEMBERSHIP CARD and the QR code for the UMRA member parking discount, valid through June 30, 2027.
You should save your membership card (the email; it’s not, literally, a card)—as a screenshot or photo on your smartphone, or print it—to use the QR code to get the UMRA member parking discount, which reduces the parking rate to $1 per hour at all University public ramps, garages, and surface lots on the Twin Cities campus using automated pay machines.
Don’t delay! We have a great lineup of programs planned for this year, and you’ll need to renew your membership to sign up for them.
—Ron Matross, UMRA 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.