WEEKLY STAFF NEWS | 11.2.2020
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW
Open Enrollment Ends November 6
Open Enrollment closes this week on Friday, November 6. Log in to Employee Self Service (ESS) to enter and submit your 2021 elections. As a reminder, the Flexible Spending Accounts, Health Savings Account and Pre-Paid Legal elections require re-enrollment each year. No changes/elections will be accepted after November 6.
Changes are not processed until you hit the “Submit Enrollment” button. If you have not received an email with your benefit confirmation statement, those changes are not finalized in the system. Confirmation statements are generated every couple of hours, so please watch for yours in your Getty email and review it for accuracy.
As a reminder to staff considering retiring next year: To be eligible for the Retiree Medical Plan or the Retiree Medical Subsidy Plan at retirement, you/your spouse, if applicable, must be enrolled in a medical plan through the Getty as an active employee at the time of your retirement.
If you have any questions, please contact Getty Human Resources at 310-440-6523 or HR@getty.edu.
Updated Social Distancing Guidelines
Recently the CDC updated its contact tracing protocols to redefine “close contact.” Until last week, a close contact was someone who had been within six feet for 15 minutes or more in the two days before a person either began experiencing symptoms or tested positive. Anyone who met that criteria was to quarantine for 14 days.
The new protocols define a close contact as someone who was within six feet for a cumulative total of 15 minutes or more over a 24-hour period in the two days prior to either symptoms or a positive test result.
The CDC has found evidence that spending just a few minutes at a time over the course of a shift warrants a 14-day quarantine. This is an important reminder of why we must all keep an appropriate safe physical distance (six feet or more) from others outside our households, including those we work closely with, along with properly wearing a cloth face covering and regularly washing our hands with soap and water.
Internal Communications Survey
Mercer | Sirota sent out a survey to Getty staff late last week about internal communications. Responses are due by November 11; please let us know how we can improve the way we communicate internally. Results are kept completely confidential and will be reported back to Getty and its DEI Council in summary form so that an individual’s responses cannot be identified.
Financial Wellness Day Survey
Getty’s financial wellness partner, My Secure Advantage (MSA), needs your help choosing topics for the next Virtual Financial Wellness Day on December 3. Take the short survey here. The survey closes on Friday.
Box Is Still Moving to OneDrive—Your Turn Is Coming Soon!
For cost and convenience, we are now making Microsoft Office OneDrive our preferred file-sharing service. We have started moving basic Box users first, then, over the next few months, will move those with more complex files. Getty Digital will move all your files—don’t worry, we won’t migrate until we consult with you! And, if you have special requirements, let us know and you can continue using Box. You’ll hear from us when it’s your turn. Still have questions? Send an email to gettydigitalhelp@getty.edu or leave a message on the #help-getty-digital Slack channel.
GRI Digital Collections Access
Getty staff and scholars using a personal device now have access to the GRI’s Digital Collections (described in the Library Catalog as “available only to on-site readers and Getty staff”) when signed in through Getty OneConnect. Digital Collections include images and audiovisual recordings of Special Collection materials. For more information about when to use OneConnect, WebConnect, or Pulse Secure to access Library resources, consult the Getty Library at Home: Online Resources for Getty Staff and Getty Scholars guide (the guide is also available on the Library’s GettyGo page).
National Cyber Security Awareness Month
October was National Cyber Security Awareness Month. To participate, Getty Digital sent out a few resources to help you learn and stay safe, including access to two training modules (one a fun hacker game, the second a short and sweet look at working from home safely) from cyberdefense@getty.edu. In addition, we wanted to share a poster highlighting a few tips on collaborating online, which is attached here. Happy learning!
Public Gatherings for the Holidays
As we approach the holiday season, experts at the Los Angeles County Health Department remind us to avoid public gatherings with others outside our households. Recently the State and County revised guidelines to allow limited private gatherings outside with three or fewer households. Attendees should wear a cloth face covering when they are together except when they are eating or drinking, and keep at least six feet of physical distance. The duration of the gathering should be two hours or less. COVID cases in our county remain high and following these guidelines could make you and your loved ones safer.
NEWS
Getty’s Blog Gets an Update
The Getty Iris is 10, and for its birthday, it’s getting a design refresh. Updates include a spunky new header (it’s pink!), and new fonts to align with Getty’s current branding. The changes come as we continue to grow our digital news and storytelling offerings, and work toward brand-new designs as part of the website redesign project. As J. Blog Getty always said, here’s to many more years of digital content!
Fall 2020 Getty Magazine
The latest issue of Getty magazine is now out. Learn about the GRI’s project to digitize Ed Ruscha’s Sunset Boulevard archive, discover how the coronavirus pandemic is affecting the conservation of cultural heritage sites, and read Tim Potts’ exploration of the wonder that was Mesopotamia.
EVENTS
Bob Combs’ Year in Review
Staff is invited to “A Year in Review,” an update on the significant security incidents at museums, libraries, and cultural properties around the world in the past year, on Thursday, November 5, at 2 p.m. PST on Zoom (here's the Zoom link to Bob Combs' presentation, or see the attached for dial-in info).
Each year Security and Visitor Services Director Bob Combs makes a presentation at the National Museum Security Conference (hosted by the Smithsonian) reviewing the past year in the area of cultural property protection. This includes thefts, vandalism, flooding, recoveries of objects, etc. His presentation never fails to fascinate not only the international museum community but his Getty colleagues as well.
The Greek Trilogy of Luis Alfaro
The J. Paul Getty Museum is partnering with the Center Theatre Group in premiering MacArthur Fellow Luis Alfaro's Chicanx adaptations of Electricidad (available on demand beginning November 6), Oedipus El Rey (available on demand beginning November 13), and Mojada (available on demand beginning November 20) in streamed readings filmed at the Kirk Douglas Theatre over three Saturdays. Alfaro's award-winning trilogy of plays transplant themes of the ancient Greek tragedies of Electra, Oedipus the King, and Medea into the 21st-century streets of Los Angeles, giving voice to the concerns of the Chicanx and wider Latinx communities. Performed in English with Spanish captioning. Learn more about how to watch these free streamed readings.
STAFF SPOTLIGHT
Virtual Halloween Fun
The Events and A/V departments held a Halloween Zoom party on Thursday, in which staff members dressed up in costumes and enjoyed some spooky fun. Check out the attached picture to see their creative outfits and Halloween Zoom backgrounds!
Creativity Begins at Home
While spending more time at home, staff have discovered fascinating ways to entertain themselves and give back to their communities. To share how you’ve been passing the time, email internalcommunications@getty.edu.
- Erin Hauer, Museum Design: “For the past several months I've been working with others in my neighborhood doing homeless outreach as a chapter of the homeless advocacy group Street Watch LA. Every Saturday, we bring cold water, clothing, hygiene items, harm reduction supplies, batteries, tents, books, art supplies, and anywhere from 60-80 meals to our growing population of unhoused neighbors. It's been incredible to build relationships with these neighbors – I've had many meaningful, spiritual conversations, and have learned we have so much in common. Through engagement with them, we're also expanding our weekly outreach to include weekly phone/device charging stations, pop-up medic tents with First-Aid training sessions, connecting them to mental health resources, veterinary support for their animal companions, help with resume writing, and publishing a monthly zine to highlight creative works of our unhoused community. There is a growing number of outreach groups like this around this city, supporting people through community mutual aid. During such uncertain times, it's been incredibly inspiring to see this grassroots spirit of neighbors helping neighbors, and to witness just how effective this can be.”
Getty Anniversaries This Week
15 Years
- Lauren Edson, Publications, GRI
- Omar Estrada, Security Operations
- Marlon Centeno, Security Operations
20 Years
- Arlen Heginbotham, Decorative Arts Conservation, Museum
35 Years
- Jacklyn Burns, Registrar, Museum
Comings and Goings
See how the Getty community is changing—and welcome new co-workers.
From InternalCommunications | internalcommunications@getty.edu
