A message from the Center for Career and Calling (CCC): Save the date, tell your students, and plan to come to the CCC’s fifth annual Life After College Week (January 23-27, 2017). Co-sponsored by the Center for Career and Calling, the SPU SERVE Program, and the Alumni Center, this weeklong series of workshops is intended for all class levels – and graduate students, alumni, faculty, and staff are also invited. Presentations will include job search strategies, money management, graduate school, salary negotiation, vocation stories, LinkedIn, career fashion tips, and green careers. Encourage your students to attend and join us.

More

The University reimburses employees for official travel by private automobile using the standard mileage allowance. The new standard mileage rate for 2017 is 53.5 cents per mile, down from 54 cents per mile in 2016.  The new rate is effective beginning January 1, 2017. Please update the Request for Reimbursement form templates you are using, or visit the Finance Office website to download an updated template reflecting this rate change.

More

A message from Campus Dining Services: Five Dollar Fridays are back. Every Friday, each retail dining location will have a $5 special. Here are the $5 specials for Friday, January 6.

Bertona: Cheese pizza
Falcon Grill: Thai Turkey Burger with a fountain drink
Einsteins: Egg and Cheese Bagel with a large coffee
Subway: Foot-long Reuben
C-Store: Naked Juice and a KIND bar
Cocina Del Sol: Rice bowl
Academic Perks and Common Grounds: Grande latte and a pastry

Undergraduate Admissions is hard at work recruiting next year’s class of Falcons. If you know someone who was born to be a Falcon, invite that student to apply – and you could receive a gift.

• Have the student complete the Common Application to SPU now through January 1. In the SPU member section under “Contacts,” have the student list that he or she heard about SPU from you.
• Then, go to spu.edu/referafalcon and fill out the form.

Once we verify that the student you referred has submitted a completed application to SPU, you’ll get $25 in Falcon Funds. As a bonus, the student you refer can apply to SPU for FREE during the month of December. On the Common Application, he or she just needs to select “Institutional Fee Waiver” and use the promo code SPUGift. Invite prospective students you know to apply to SPU today!

More

Falcon Home Games
For the latest information on Falcon sports, visit the website.

Thursday, January 5
Women's basketball vs Montana State Billings, Brougham Pavilion, 5:15 p.m.
Men's basketball vs Western Oregon, Brougham Pavilion, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday, January 7
Men's basketball vs Concordia-Portland, Brougham Pavilion, 7 p.m.

More

You are invited to join the SPU community this February for Homecoming and Parents Weekend. Participate in all the favorite Homecoming traditions, plus gather for a special 125th anniversary Homecoming celebration of Falcon sports at the Falcon Hall of Fame Induction Brunch and the All-Athletics Reunion. Find out more details and register online.

More

There are several ways faculty, staff, and students will be notified or can find out whether SPU will close or open late due to inclement weather. The most current information will always be provided on the Emergency Closure Hotline at 206-281-2800. Information about evening classes, Library hours, campus dining retail hours, events, and athletic games will also be updated on the SPU home page in the “News” section.

— SPU-Alert text message. You should receive a text before 6 a.m. about a closure or late start.

— Emails will be sent to all faculty, staff, and students before 6 a.m.

— The news section on the SPU homepage will also be updated before 6 a.m.

To confirm or update your SPU-Alert cell phone numbers or email addresses, access the Banner Information System and select Personal Menu and then Emergency Alert System.

The library is currently hosting a special collections exhibit in honor of SPU’s Quasquicentennial (125th anniversary). The exhibit is located on the south exterior wall just outside of the Seminar Room on the second level. The exhibit was curated by Steve Perisho, theology and philosophy librarian. Steve explains more about the exhibit:

It begins in 1865 with a few items highlighting the commitment of the new Free Methodist Church to education (e.g. the foundation of what eventually became Roberts Wesleyan in New York), and proceeds through the “war department” address delivered in the “College Church” in 1918. It does not, like the new SPU history book Rooted in Mission, tell a single coherent story, but is much more artifact-prompted and therefore episodic. I pulled published materials that I could link in some way with the early history of SPU (“Ross” or “Seattle Seminary”). Because some of the connections won’t be obvious, it will be important to view it along with the online annotations.

More

As part of its 125th anniversary celebration, SPU has set a goal of 125,000 hours of community service. We will track individual or group volunteer efforts by faculty, staff, students, alumni, and parents in their churches or communities, as well as include SPU events and organizations such as SPRINT, CityQuest, the Perkins Center, and Latreia. Track your hours and send them to us through the “Submit Volunteer Hours” webpage. Send along a photo as well and it will be included alongside the other SPU community members who are doing their part to give back to the community and reach the goal.

More

A message from Housing and Meal Plan Services: To encourage interaction among faculty, staff, and students outside the classroom, Dining Services provides five meal passes each weekday. Students can pick up a meal pass to take a faculty or staff member to a meal in Gwinn Commons (breakfast, lunch, or dinner). Tickets are available at the Office of University Services during business hours (9 a.m.-4:30 p.m.). Tickets must be picked up on the day they are to be used. (If a breakfast meeting is scheduled before the office opens, students may pick up a ticket the day before). The ticket is for the faculty or staff member; the student must use their own meal plan, Falcon Funds, or cash to enter the dining hall. Tickets are provided on a first-come, first-serve basis.

A Wesley Heritage Tour led by Mark Abbott, SPU campus pastor emeritus and former senior pastor of First Free Methodist Church, is currently accepting reservations for a trip from September 25 through October 3, 2017. An optional Ireland post-tour is also available, October 3-7. The tour will include visits to Epworth, where Samuel and Susanna Wesley raised their children; to Oxford, where John and Charles were educated; and to London, where John Wesley’s heart was “strangely warmed” on Aldersgate Street. Plus, many other cities and sites associated with John Wesley’s ministry will also be included. The tour is open to members of the SPU community. For more information, including pricing and a detailed itinerary, visit the website.

More

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year. If you have information or event news, send it as soon as possible to Bulletin editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu. Submissions may be edited for clarity. The next deadline is Thursday, January 5. The next Bulletin will be published on Monday, January 9.

Associate Professor of Counselor Education Jung Hyun and counseling graduate students were part of a 2016 Partnership School Award at Hawthorne Elementary School in Seattle. The group received the award for “excellence and progress on research-based programs of family and community engagement.” The award, given by National Network of Partnership Schools, recognized a collaborative program among students, faculty, and families to help get Chinese-speaking families more connected to their students’ education. Read more about the program and award online. Select the link for a larger image of the photo with Jung, graduate students, and Hawthorne faculty and staff.

More

The Office of Human Resources would like the SPU community to welcome the following new employees:

Chris Elliott, communications specialist, University Communications
Crystal Pulido, administrative assistant, Student Counseling Center