SPU Senior Leadership would like to extend an invitation to all employees to gather virtually on Wednesday, January 27, 11 a.m.–12 p.m. for an Employee Forum. This will be an opportunity to keep the community informed about budget and enrollment perspectives, and how employees can engage this winter and spring in conversations about the strategic direction of SPU. During this time, you will hear directly from President Martin; Craig Kispert, senior vice president for administration and finance; Nate Mouttet, vice president for enrollment management and marketing; and Laura Hartley, provost. A calendar invitation with a Zoom link will be sent to all employees by the end of this week. The session will be recorded.

The meeting will also include time to acknowledge the good work that was done during Autumn Quarter. Please email Provost Hartley at provost@spu.edu with one or more short “words of commendation” — particular ways that you saw individuals and/or offices fulfilling the SPU mission over the past few months that you think others should know.

The Office of Inclusive Excellence invites you to its second annual Diversity Lecture on Tuesday, February 2, 11 a.m.-12 p.m. We will hear from panelists Rev. Dr. Mae Elise Cannon, Rev. Dr. Grace Ji-Sun Kim, and Dr. Randy Woodley, as we explore this year's theme, "Justice and Shalom." The lecture will directly follow Chapel. Learn more about this event online. Please join us for this important conversation.

Undergraduate students will receive the Stay Smart newsletter each week during Winter Quarter. Since Autumn Quarter, the newsletter has provided students with helpful information during this hybrid academic year. The Jan. 7 Stay Smart included news about the Affordable Laptop Program, academic coaching, COVID-19 testing for residential students, the Chapel schedule, and more. Visit the archive to see the newsletter.

A message from the Eastside vanpool: Do you commute across the 520 bridge? If so, you could be saving as much as $300/month by joining our vanpool. We meet at the South Kirkland Park and Ride, Monday–Friday at 7:05 a.m., and work a 7:30 a.m.–4:30 p.m. schedule. The vanpool is completely free to SPU employees, which means the 520 toll, gas, parking, and car maintenance are all covered through the Trip Reduction Program. Can’t ride every day? Even if you can only ride part time, we’d love to talk to you. Please email Marilyn Hancock at mhancock@spu.edu. For more benefits of riding in a vanpool, visit spu.edu/vanpools.

The Office of Inclusive Excellence is implementing a three-part professional development workshop and yearlong engagement focused on racial equity and pedagogy for faculty members. The third workshop will be held Thursday, Jan. 21, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Learn more online.

Through Tuesday, Jan. 19, faculty and staff will receive two bonus meals if they purchase a Faculty-Staff Block 10 Meal Plan. That’s 12 meals for $87 (or $7.25 per meal). Limit one per person. You can use the plan in Gwinn Commons any time during service hours, or you can use it to purchase Simply to Go meals at the Corner Place Market, Academic Perks, or Common Grounds. Meals can be used for guests, too. Plans can be purchased through Banner. Meal balances roll from quarter to quarter as long as you are employed at the University. Questions? Call Housing and Meal Plan Services at 206-281-2188 or email mealplan@spu.edu.

Camp Casey is temporarily allowing the general public to rent small buildings for household groups of fewer than 11 people. Please support Camp Casey by referring your friends and family! Rates vary from $160 to $400 night, with a discount of 15% during November–February. Available lodgings are currently possible to book online anytime.

From Staff Council: Inspired by The Great British Bake Off, we are holding a baking competition for staff that will take place in your kitchen and on our brand new Instagram account — spustaff.

Between now and Friday, Jan. 15, bake up something festive, snap a photo, and share your recipe! At the end of the competition, we will award Byen Bakeri gift cards for different categories, and gather all submissions for a campuswide digital holiday cookbook. More information and the submission form can be found at this Formstack link. (Please note: we will only accept submissions via Formstack.) 

Could you be "Star Baker" of the entire SPU campus? Enter and find out!

The Office of Inclusive Excellence invites you to join us 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 14, for the workshop, Diversity 101: Exploring the What, Why, and How of Diversity at SPU. Learn more and sign up here.

All faculty and staff who come to campus must complete an online self-screening to attest that they meet certain criteria for being on campus (e.g., not exhibiting COVID-19 symptoms). SPU has developed a campuswide tool through Banner (login into Banner and select Personal Menu) to report a daily COVID-19 self-attestation for faculty and staff working on campus (including Camp Casey and Blakely Island). A link to the self-attestation form is also available on the Stay Smart website, which is now highlighted in the top banner on the SPU homepage.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year. Due to Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the next Bulletin will be published Tuesday, Jan. 19, and the deadline is Thursday, Jan. 14. 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 message from Louise Furrow, vice president for University Advancement: I am pleased to announce that Bryan Jones ‘99 has been promoted to director of endowments and gift planning for SPU, the chief gift planning officer role. Bryan is well suited for these responsibilities. He has worked for SPU for 19 years; always in a role of external facing engagement with university constituents — first, in Undergraduate Admissions where he concluded his tenure as the associate director. He joined University Advancement in 2011, first as a relationship manager for major gifts, then as the director of Alumni and Parent Relations. In 2017, he began his work in the Office of Endowments and Gift Planning. Bryan has decades of established relationships with the broad SPU community, a deep commitment to his alma mater, and three years of training and mentoring in the complex field of gift planning. To learn more about our Office of Endowments and Gift Planning and the work Bryan will be directing, visit our website legacy.spu.edu. Join me in welcoming Bryan to this new role.

A book by Peter Moe, assistant professor of English, titled Touching This Leviathan, will be published by Oregon State University Press in April 2021. The book, drawing on biology, theology, local history, literary criticism, environmental studies, and composition theory, offers a deep dive into the alluring and impalpable mysteries of Earth’s largest mammal. The book is available for pre-order. (Use the discount code SP21 for 25% off.)

In continuing his participation in Abingdon Press’ publication roll out of The Wesley One-Volume Bible Commentary (2020), co-editors Rob Wall, SPU’s Paul T. Walls Professor of Scripture and Wesleyan Studies, and Ken Collins of Asbury Seminary, authored the article, “Reading Scripture as Wesleyans” for Catalyst, a newsletter for seminarians and clergy located in and shaped by the Methodist/Wesleyan tradition. In this essay, Rob sets out the core elements of a distinctively Wesleyan reading of Scripture whose purpose is to guide the performances of Scripture in the worship, instruction, mission, and personal devotions of a “people called Methodist.” Such a theological perspective targets Methodism’s distinctive theological, moral, and practical contributions to Christ’s one holy catholic and apostolic church.

Alberto Ferreiro, professor of European history, had his article “Divine Providence, Demonic Attacks, Portents, Miracles, and Visions in Suevic-Visigothic Hispania,” accepted for publication in the peer reviewed journal HAGIOGRAPHICA, the leading journal for the study of saints’ lives published by the Italian Society of Medieval Studies in Florence, Italy. The study explores the theological role of these phenomenon in the literature written in the fourth through seventh centuries in the Iberian Peninsula. This is the second time an article by Alberto has been published in the journal.

Please join the Office of Human Resources in welcoming the following new employees:

• Bryan Brown, mental health counselor, Student Counseling Center
• Angel Chang, executive administrator to the university chaplain, University Ministries
• Alex Booker, minister of worship and community life, University Ministries

The Office of Human Resources would like to congratulate the following staff members on their new appointments:

• Bryan Jones, director of endowments and gift planning, University Advancement 
• Emily Kelly, registered nurse, Student Health Services 
• Annie Kilpatrick, human resources data coordinator, Human Resources 
• Madisynn McCombs, executive assistant, Office of Inclusive Excellence

Steve Perisho, associate professor and theology and philosophy librarian, was recently quoted in USA Today’s article, “Fact Check: Claimed Abraham Lincoln quote about ‘internal rottenness’ is fake.” USA Today reported that Steve “first identified the true origins of the quote on his blog Liber Locorum Communium.”

Jennie Warmouth, adjunct professor of education and fourth grade teacher in the Edmonds School District, was featured in The Seattle Times on Jan. 4, 2021, for her work in the classroom. The article, titled "Hydroponic kits and toys for black bears: Washington science teachers get creative during pandemic learning," showcased how area teachers are finding ways to engage students learning remotely. Jennie's teaching her students to make toys out of natural materials for orphaned bear cubs living at a local animal shelter.

For his monthly cartoon, Nate Hoover, associate director for the Center for Biblical and Theological Education, explains this month’s feature: These clocks are getting in each other’s face, probably over some minute issue. Perhaps someday I’ll make a second cartoon about arguing clocks.

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