Open enrollment is still about three weeks away, but the UC Office of the President has already posted plenty of information — including medical plan premiums — to help you start considering your options for 2014.

It is a year of major change, as previously announced. UC is dropping four medical plans and adding two. Read about all medical plans for 2014, and learn more about the UC Davis Health System as a provider: one choice for the benefits of academic medicine.

Two meetings are scheduled at UC Davis, the first one on the Davis campus and the other one on the Sacramento campus. The Sacramento meeting will be streamed live on the Web, for anyone to watch.

• Davis campus — noon-1:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, Ballrooms A and B, Activities and Recreation Center.
• Sacramento campus — 3-4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 22, auditorium, Cancer Center, 2279 45th St. (enter from 45th Street off X Street). Webcast link.

In addition to the town halls, HR units on both campuses will soon announce their own presentations.

Open enrollment brochures are due to go in the mail in mid-October, and open enrollment is scheduled from Oct. 28 to Nov. 26 (two days before Thanksgiving).

Bicycles going up for bid

Feel left out without a bike on campus? Then get in gear at the first bike auction of the year, Saturday (Oct. 12), rain or shine, in the west entry parking garage off Hutchison Drive. Admission is free and open to the public.

More than 400 bicycles of all types and conditions will go up for bid — cruisers, mountain bikes, road bikes, BMX, even a few children's bikes — all abandoned and unclaimed. The campus runs two bike auctions year; sale prices averaged $40 to $50 at the most recent auctions.

Viewing is from 8 to 9 a.m. The auction starts at 9 and continues until about noon (until every bike has gone up for bid). Acceptable payment: cash, or check, Visa or Mastercard with proper ID.

Ombuds office presents conflict resolution workshops

The new Office of the Ombuds is inviting staff members and academics to workshops next week on “Conflict: How Did It Happen? What Can I Do About It?”

The workshops, two for staff and one for faculty and other academics, come amid Mediation Week, sponsored by the American Bar Association. And one of them comes on Conflict Resolution Day (Oct. 17), sponsored by the Association for Conflict Resolution.

Susan Kee-Young Park, UC Davis’ first ombudsperson, described the workshops as highly interactive, investigating where conflict comes from, how it develops, and what can be done to move beyond the emotional barriers and the thinking-process traps.

All three workshops are set to take place in the Hamilton Room at the Heitman Staff Learning Center, according to the following schedule:

• For staff — 1-4 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 16, and 9 a.m.-noon Friday, Oct. 18
• For faculty and other academics — 2-5 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 17

Registration is advised, as space is limited. Look for the “register online” link on this website.

Repro Graphics has New Year’s gift for you

Repro Graphics is once again offering free, personalized calendars to the campus community — but orders are being taken a little earlier this year, and they are due by Friday, Nov. 1.

Another change for calendar orders: You need a Kerberos login.

The 2014 calendars are free gifts with no strings attached, said Brian Wadell, director of Repro Graphics. “But we really encourage everybody to use Repro Graphics for all their print and design needs so we can continue to make this offer year after year.”

The free calendars demonstrate Repro Graphics’ capability in variable-data printing on Repro’s HP Indigo 5500 digital color press. It allows each calendar to be customized with an image of your choosing (from among 10 campus scenes) and highlighted dates of your choosing.

Order your calendar here. Also check with Repro Graphics for custom calendars for departments; prices start at $1 each (based on minimum quantity of 300).

A click away

Retirement savings workshops, October-December

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