Chancellor Rebecca Blank is celebrating her fifth anniversary at UW–Madison. To mark the occasion, the Chancellor has published a blog post that looks back over the past five years and describes what the university will be focusing on in the future. The post also reveals the Chancellor’s best moment in the job to date. Visit the UW–Madison Twitter page to see Bucky Badger celebrate with Chancellor Blank.

Parking offers for those who submitted a 2018–19 parking application before June 8 were emailed July 13–19. These offers must be accepted and purchased by Tuesday, Aug. 7 or the offer expires. Those who missed the first round of applications can apply from July 13–August 7. Offers for the second application period will be processed August 8–9. Bus passes and permits for motorcycle, moped, afternoon and night parking for 2018-19 go on sale August 1. To accept and purchase a parking offer, visit go.wisc.edu/s8g6tp. To apply for a parking permit in the second round of applications, visit go.wisc.edu/jfj079.

UW-Madison employees are invited to join the University Staff for a celebration of India Independence Day on Wednesday, Aug. 15 from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Varsity Hall in Union South. The event will feature remarks by Dr. Lalita du Perron and Dr. Nandini Pandey of UW–Madison. Complimentary food and beverages will be served. The event is sponsored by the Secretary of the University Staff.

The Department of Employee Trust Funds (ETF) has announced that contributions paid by Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS) employees will decrease slightly for UW–Madison employees effective Jan. 1, 2019. WRS contribution rates are set and adjusted annually. According to ETF, the 2019 rate changes are primarily due to higher favorable WRS Trust Fund investment performance. Contribution rates for UW–Madison employees are determined by WRS employment category and expressed as a percentage of salary. For general employees, the contribution rates will decrease from our current rate of 6.7 percent to 6.55 percent in 2019 for both employee and employer.