We need your help! The Retirees Association is seeking contributions from its members to support the technical side of our Zoom presentations. 

As you know, we have made a very successful shift from monthly in-person meetings to Zoom events in response to the pandemic. Since May, we have done 14 Zoom webinars and have been able to maintain the quality of our offerings. We have attracted robust attendance to our forums, workshops, and new UMRA A.M. with programs ranging from an update on vaccine development at the University and protecting your online presence to an analysis of the 2020 elections. Zoom has enhanced our ability to communicate with each other safely. 

This has been accomplished through the volunteer efforts of our members and the generous technical support of the University’s Office of Information Technology (OIT), which has provided their services without cost to UMRA for months. 

In late September, OIT informed us that they would begin charging for these services in December. The charge for Standard Video Event Support for a one-hour event is $400. It is our intention to continue Zoom programing three times each month until vaccines have controlled the pandemic and allow us to meet in person. We also expect to continue Zoom events after the pandemic is under control, but with less frequency. Zoom is extremely convenient, but highly impersonal.

UMRA has started an effort to recruit and train some of our members to help alleviate this cost. There is a good deal of enthusiasm, but it is difficult for volunteers to replace professional IT personnel who do this for a living. It is our hope to get some relief, but unrealistic to expect full relief.

Accordingly, the UMRA Board is asking all our members to make a voluntary contribution of $20 per person to help defray these costs and continue our monthly programming. Please go to the UMRA website to make your contribution to Support Zoom Programming. (Login required. If needed, please update your user profile, too, while you’re there.) The Board will revisit this funding issue in the spring. 

Thank you for considering a contribution. We would like to hear from you by January 30 so we can plan our financial support. 

—Bill Donohue, UMRA past president (2019–20)