A message from Cheryl Michaels, director of Safety and Security and director of emergency management: Our yearly all-campus evacuation drill will occur on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 10 a.m. The start of the drill will include an earthquake preparedness message of "drop, cover, and hold on” before the evacuation drill message is sent. The earthquake preparedness exercise is part of the annual Great Washington Shakeout, a statewide opportunity to practice how to be safer during big earthquakes. Here are the instructions for drop, cover, and hold on. 

In most situations, you will reduce your chance of injury if you:

  DROP where you are, onto your hands and knees. This position protects you from being knocked down and also allows you to stay low and crawl to shelter if nearby. 

  COVER your head and neck with one arm and hand.

• If a sturdy table or desk is nearby, crawl underneath it for shelter
• If no shelter is nearby, crawl next to an interior wall (away from windows)
• Stay on your knees; bend over to protect vital organs

  HOLD ON until shaking stops.

• Under shelter: hold on to it with one hand; be ready to move with your shelter if it shifts
• No shelter: hold on to your head and neck with both arms and hands

A message from Human Resources: SPU’s annual Open Enrollment is Monday, Oct. 23–Friday, Nov. 3, 2023. This is your opportunity to make changes to your benefit elections, including medical, dental, vision, and flexible-spending accounts for the upcoming 2024 benefit plan year. Watch for important announcements from Human Resources in the days ahead.

Join the SPU Library in celebrating International Open Access Week by participating in a workshop in the ETM offices (Library lower level) on Thursday, October 26, 12:30 p.m.–2:30 p.m. Bring your laptop and CV and either drop in or stay the entire time to work one-on-one with librarians and ETM colleagues. Learn how to upload your scholarship and contribute to the open knowledge movement, ensuring that your research, publications, and intellectual contributions reach a broader audience. In an era where knowledge dissemination is paramount, open access is a key to making your research accessible to a global community. We look forward to coming together as a community to further the work of open access.

Box lunches will be available for those that RSVP by October 24, but RSVPs are not required otherwise. Coffee, tea, and cookies will also be available. We look forward to seeing you there!

If you would prefer to meet individually online another time, email librarian Kristen Hoffman at khoffman@spu.edu to coordinate a time that works for you.

From SPU Dining Services: We'd love to hear about your dining experience! SPU Dining's annual Customer Satisfaction Survey allows our guests to rate their dining experiences, including meal plans, dining locations, and events. Participants will get the chance to win one of three $50 Visa gift cards. Find the survey online through Oct. 21.

A message from Human Resources. SPU’s annual Benefits Fair will be two days this year, Tuesday, Oct. 24 and Wednesday, Oct. 25. Come and hear from your benefits providers and enter to win multiple table prizes and give-a-ways, including $100 cash door prizes!

The latest SPU Voices podcast features Cara Wall-Scheffler, SPU professor and co-chair of biology. Her research focuses on the evolution of how men and women differ physically, particularly in the context of balancing body temperature and long-distance locomotion. She has been working on this problem for over 20 years and has published numerous papers along with her students. Her work shows very clearly how different selection pressures have acted on men and women, and that women in particular have a rare ability to work both efficiently and economically when carrying loads. Listen or read the transcript online.

The School of Education is hosting an online Edtalk on Thursday, Oct. 12, at 4:30 p.m. titled "The Impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI on Education." The presenters are Michael Paulus, dean of the library and assistant provost for educational technology, and Jim Dunnigan, member of the AI Learning Futures Collaborative at Arizona State University and an alumnus of the SPU doctoral program. The event is free. Register online.

From SPU Dining Services: During lunch and dinner on Thursday, Oct. 12, SPU Dining will welcome Chef Joaquin Suarez from Colombia as part of the Global Chef events. Chef Joaquin, senior manager of Culinary Arts for Sodexo, will bring ingredients and techniques from his homeland. Please join us on Oct. 12 in welcoming Chef Joaquin to the Gwinn Commons Dining Hall and savor Colombian cuisine.

Educational Technology and Media is offering the following workshops for faculty and staff. No registration is needed.

Collaborative learning, peer review, group work, Wednesday, Oct. 11, 10:40–11:40 a.m.

Student agency & assignment options, Wednesday, Nov. 8, 10:40–11:40 a.m.

The 10th of each month is the last day to make changes to your upcoming payroll check. Do you need to add or remove your spouse and/or children from your health care plans? If so, contact Human Resources (HR) to complete the appropriate form. Changes might include events that are expected to impact your benefits and deductions, such as your spouse or children gaining or losing coverage due to employment, birth, marriage, etc.

Additionally, any changes to your 403b account may take up to seven days to be provided to SPU for processing, so please contact Transamerica by the first of the month prior to your requested change. For changes to your 403(b) account, contact Transamerica Retirement Solutions at 1-888-676-5512 (5 a.m.–6 p.m. PST), or 1-800-755-5801. If you have any other benefits-related changes, call Cherylin Shdo in HR at 206-281-2816.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published every Monday during the academic year, or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday. The next deadline is Thursday, Oct. 12. The next issue will be published Monday, Oct. 16.

If you have information or event news, send it as soon as possible with an image or graphic to Bulletin editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu. Submissions may be edited for clarity.

A research article by Robin Henrikson, associate professor of education, titled “Preparing School Boards for Sustainable Leadership: How Does Your State's Policy Equip School Board Members?” was published in Leadership and Policy in Schools.

Professor of Psychology Paul Youngbin Kim appeared in a video produced by The Glitch, Asia Society Korea’s digital portal. The video is titled “Cultural Crossfire: The New Geopolitical Reality” and Paul was interviewed about identity and its implications from a psychologist’s perspective. (Paul’s interview begins at the 7:40 mark).

The poem, "Abraded Wings," by Jason Thornberry, office coordinator in the School of Education, has been nominated for consideration in Sundress Publications' "The Best of the Net Anthology."

As part of a panel on “Turn-of-the Century Military Reform and Development” at the 31st Pacific Northwest Historians Guild Conference in Seattle on Sept 23, Professor Emeritus of History Bill Woodward told the stories of “Frazier Boutelle and James Drain, Forgotten Founders of Washington’s Dual-Mission National Guard.” He explained not only their contributions to Washington state but also their national impact. Of further interest, Boutelle is listed among U.S. Army officers of African heritage and Drain was an amputee, in an era when those were usually disqualifiers. Bill continued his extensive speaking schedule over the summer on the 1920s and other historical episodes, traveling from Vancouver to Clarkston to Bellevue and Vashon Island with Humanities Washington and other auspices.

In September, Alberto Ferreiro, professor emeritus of history, attended and gave a paper at a symposium in Bamberg, Germany, about the upcoming 1700th anniversary of the promulgation of the Creed (325-2025). The name of the symposium was “Nicaea (325)–Ecumenical Council? The Reception of the 'Great Synod' Past and Present." Alberto’s paper, “The Reception and Diffusion of the Creed and the Filioque Before and After the Third Council of Toledo (589) in Hispania," was about the first introduction of the Filioque into the Creed in 589 in Toledo, Spain. The repercussions were profound and are still today with the Orthodox churches who never added it to the Creed. The papers will be published in the journal Annales Historiae Conciliorum.

Phillip Oakes, husband of the late dean of the School of Health Sciences Annalee Oakes, died August 15, 2023. Born on August 29, 1930 in Iowa, Phil served as a medic in the U.S. Marine Corps in Korea. After their marriage, Phil and Annalee moved to the Pacific Northwest where Phil worked in banking and Annalee pursued advanced degrees in nursing. Phil was a supportive husband as Annalee served on the SPU nursing faculty and then as dean. Their three daughters Alice, Joyce, and Ann all attended SPU. Phil always had a good story or joke to tell, but their focus as a couple was to support missionaries and international connections. Annalee passed away in 2019. 

A memorial service for Phil will be held October 14 at 10 a.m. at North Sound Church, 404 Bell St., Edmonds, WA.