Join the Office of Total Rewards on Wednesday, April 15, at 11 a.m. for a webinar designed to help you better understand your health and dental benefits. The session discusses key healthcare terms, walks through the medical and dental plan options available to you, and explains how spending accounts like FSAs and HSAs work. You’ll also learn about helpful tools and resources to make confident, informed choices during enrollment and beyond. Register now.

Fresh air and fresh goals will renew your well-being during May. Gather your teammates to register on Monday, April 20, and get warmed up for friendly competition and prizes. Watch a preview on the Well-U website.

Open to all URochester instructors, this two-semester program supports instructors (re)designing fall 2026 courses using backward design principles and evidence-based practices. Meet with Teaching Center staff and colleagues during the summer to plan and design your course, and again during the fall to debrief and troubleshoot. Fellows are awarded a $1,000 non-salary stipend. Space is limited to six instructors. Learn more and apply here.

URochester undergraduate and graduate students, faculty, and staff from all schools are invited to participate in open sessions introducing the inaugural strategic plan for University Student Life. This plan represents a transformative vision to enhance the student experience and foster a vibrant, inclusive campus community.

The Program of Dance and Movement is participating in the 2026 National Water Dance Project, which honors the Genesee River. Students, faculty, and community guests will gather to celebrate on Saturday, April 18, at 4 p.m. in Genesee Valley Park near the Round House Shelter. Find full details here.

Join the speaking fellows on Tuesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. in Barbara J. Burger iZone for a special Kohn Lecture. Amy Arbogast, the outgoing Speaking Center Coordinator and professor in the Writing, Speaking, and Argument Program, will deliver her goodbye talk, “Cultivating Courage: Finding Your Voice in Perilous Times.”  All are welcome to attend.

Learn more about SART 285: Artist as Citizen, a studio art course that combines socially engaged art-making with community volunteerism, at a lunch and learn session on Friday, April 24, at 1:30 p.m. Register to attend.

Join the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence for warm food and conversation at the next Community Dinner on Wednesday, April 29, at 6 p.m. Bring a dish if you would like; everyone is welcome.

Friends of Strong’s first painting party of the year is on May 7 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Distillery Restaurant on Winton Road. Each ticket gets two canvases in case families want a Mother’s Day experience. All supplies are provided, and 45 percent of all proceeds benefit Friends of Strong Memorial Hospital. All food orders also give 10 percent back to Friends of Strong. Tickets are $40, and only 20 seats are available.

Celebrate Spirit Friday with this month’s discounted item— a URochester Champion T-shirt—now 25 percent off at the bookstore. This special offer is available in-store only throughout April, while supplies last.

Celebrating Research Week continues today, April 15, from 5 to 7 p.m. in the Feldman Ballroom, Douglass Commons, with undergraduate research lightning talks. The event is open to all.

Undergraduate students in the School of Arts & Sciences and the Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences can attend Write-A-Thon, where the Writing Fellows will be available for 12 straight hours, from 2 p.m. Sunday, April 26, to 2 a.m. Monday, April 27, in Rush Rhees Library, Room G-122. And, they can drop it at any time during Night to Write on Monday, April 27, from 7 to 10 p.m. in the Hawkins-Carlson Room, Rush Rhees Library.

All URochester undergraduate and graduate students can join the Paul J. Burgett Intercultural Center for its LGBTQ Life nail painting party on Monday, May 4, from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. in 305 Douglass Commons. RSVP by April 30.

This year’s Debra Haring Excellence in Research Awards will be presented to Vera Gorbunova, the Doris Johns Cherry Professor in the Department of Biology, and the late Kevin Parker, previously the William F. May Professor of Engineering and dean emeritus of what was then known as the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Each year, the honor recognizes one faculty member from each school whose research has had a transformational impact on their field, or whose body of work has changed their field in positive ways.

Medical Center experts offer information on the diagnosis and treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, a rare, genetic neuromuscular disorder that affects the nerve cells in the spinal cord responsible for controlling voluntary muscle movement.

CNN, April 11

Adam Frank, the Helen F. and Fred H. Gowen Professor in the Department of Physics and Astronomy, offers insight into the recent NASA mission and what its success means for the future of space exploration.

Several events will take place on Wednesday, April 22, in honor of Earth Day, including a native garden planting, riverside cleanup, and a talk by guest speaker Trish Corcoran on Indigenous perspectives toward reciprocity. Learn more and register for these events.

Join the Sustainability Office as a Zero-Waste Ranger on Saturday, May 16, to help ensure materials are properly sorted as recyclable, compostable, or trash at departmental Commencement receptions. You can also join the Grassroots student group at its annual Dump and Run event on Sunday, May 17, to help divert reusable items from the landfill during student move-out.