As stated in President Martin’s email on March 1 to faculty, staff, and students and their parents, an SPU cross-departmental committee is closely monitoring the rapidly evolving information regarding the coronavirus (COVID-19). Vice President for Student Life Jeff Jordan is leading the committee, and Vice Provost for Academic Affairs Cindy Price is leading the planning and preparation for academics. This team is committed to not only tracking and following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) and the Washington State Department of Health (DOH) guidelines, but monitoring updates from Seattle-King County Public Health.

Tracking campus updates

The latest information about SPU's response can be found on the Office of Health Services website.

Prevention is key

As noted on the Health Services website, there are certain steps you can take right now to stop the spread of the virus. 

1. Avoid close contact with people who are sick.
2. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.
3. Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
4. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces.
5. Stay home when you are sick, except to get medical care.
6. Wash your hands with soap and water for at least 20 seconds.

The CDC has a very helpful poster outlining these six steps.

Routine cleaning of your work area

The CDC also recommends to routinely clean all frequently touched surfaces in the workplace, such as workstations, countertops, and doorknobs, and to use cleaning agents that are usually used in these areas by following the directions on the label. The CDC says to provide disposable wipes so that commonly used surfaces (for example, doorknobs, keyboards, remote controls, desks) can be wiped down by employees before each use, and that no additional disinfection beyond routine cleaning is recommended at this time.

If you experience symptoms

Find out the facts about this viral illness and get answers to FAQ's.

A message from University Ministries: The final chapel for Winter Quarter is Tuesday, March 3, at 11:10 a.m., in Emerson Hall. The chapel will include testimonies from members of the community and communion.

A message from Kim Cavanaugh, director of annual giving: For the upcoming SPU Giving Day, 11 new causes from around the University will join this year and seek to raise funding for special projects and programs. From scholarships and aid to academics, athletics, Christian faith formation, and much more, SPU Giving Day on Wednesday, March 4, shows the impact our global community can have. To save the date and for more information, visit givingday.spu.edu.

Want to get involved for free, plus win SPU swag and prizes? Become a social media ambassador! (e.g., share about Giving Day with your social media networks). You won’t want to miss the chance to win some great prizes this year! Sign up online, and direct questions to Devon Crouch, advancement coordinator, at devonc@spu.edu.

These upcoming Music Department concerts are free, wheelchair accessible, and will also be livestreamed.

Percussion Ensemble Concert
Tuesday, March 3, 2020

The concert features a variety of chamber ensembles from the percussion studio, ranging from multiple percussion pieces to ethnic drum ensembles. The concert, under the direction of adjunct Director of Percussion Studies Dan Adams, begins at 7:30 p.m. and will be held in First Free Methodist Church adjacent to campus. 

Chamber, Concert, and Women’s Choirs Concert
Friday, March 6, 2020

Don't miss an evening of beautiful choral music performed by three outstanding choirs. The Chamber and Concert Choirs are directed by Director of Music Ryan Ellis, and the Women's Choir is led by Instructor of Voice Beth Ann Bonnecory. The concert will be held in First Free Methodist Church adjacent to campus, beginning at 7:30 p.m.

On Thursday, March 5, 5–7 p.m., in Otto Miller Hall 109, in celebration of Parasite winning four Academy Awards (including Best Picture and Best Director for Bong Joon-ho), the Korean Student Association is sponsoring a discussion of the film with SPU’s Korean faculty members — Hee-Sun Cheon, associate professor of marriage and family therapy; Helen Chung, assistant professor of management; Minhee Lee, assistant professor of chemistry; and Bo Lim, associate professor of Old Testament. The evening will also include a time of fellowship with “ramdon” (aka jjapagouri). You are all welcome to join us and encourage your students to attend.

A message from the Office of Undergraduate Admissions: 2,936 notecards handwritten by SPU’s faculty and staff are hitting the mail this week to our admitted students! We would like to sincerely thank all of the people that wrote messages to our students, encouraging them to come to SPU and to contact them with any questions.

Between now and May 1, there will continue to be an uptick in admissions events, visits, and tours. Please continue to greet and welcome visitors as you see them on campus. A friendly greeting, be it from the coffee barista, staff member, professor, or facilities staff, goes a very long well in helping these students and their families lean toward SPU. Thanks for your partnership on this!

Bloodworks Northwest will host a blood drive on campus March 3–4, 11 a.m.–5 p.m. near the entrance of Tiffany Loop. Schedule an appointment online.

Staff Council invites you to the winter staff forum on Monday, March 9, 12:30–1:30 p.m. in Otto Miller 109. Matt Alvis, human resources benefits manager, and Gary Womelsduff, director of human resources, will share about the newly updated employee tuition discount benefit. Light snacks will be provided. RSVP and submit your questions here.

The Faculty Life Office is hosting a Spring Poetry Reading on Tuesday, April 7, 3 p.m., in Demaray 150, featuring faculty and staff who have recently published new collections. Scott Cairns, director of the MFA in Creative Writing; Emily Holt, administrator in the Faculty Life Office; Jennifer Maier, professor of English; and Mischa Willett, instructor of education, English, and writing, will read from their work. A reception will follow the event.

If you’ve been procrastinating your spring cleaning, procrastinate no more! Sigma Rho would love your donations of clothing, furniture, decor, linens, kitchen items, tools, toys, camping equipment, jewelry (real and costume), and books. (Please no large appliances or electronics — small ones are fine.) All items must be in good condition. Tell your friends and family we want their treasures, too. Drop off the donations March 13 and 14, 8 a.m.–noon, and March 19, 4–7 p.m., in the old barbershop next to Subway and across from Tiffany Loop. If you have questions, contact Pam Martin at martinp2@spu.edu. Sigma Rho is a philanthropic organization of Family and Consumer Sciences, and all proceeds will benefit SPU student scholarships.

Join us in promoting Body Appreciation Week, March 2–5, 10 a.m.–2 p.m. in Martin Square. Co-sponsored by SPU Wellness and Food & Body Freedom, Body Appreciation Week is a celebration and appreciation of body diversity and of the bodies we call home.

Please encourage your students to participate by making an announcement in class. If possible, please offer extra credit to students who attend our finale speaker event (free) with Lindsay Birchfield, MS, RD, CD, who will speak on how Health at Every Size (HAES) has opened the doors for more inclusive health care. Thank you for your support. For more information, follow us on Instagram @foodandbodyfreedom_spu and on our website.

The SPU Library is hosting the panel, “We Count: How Census 2020 Will Impact Your Life,” on Thursday, March 5, 7 p.m., in Upper Gwinn Commons. Panelists will address the importance of the 2020 Census from practical, technological, and social justice perspectives, including how our communities will be counted, what questions will and will not be asked, and census data security. They will also address why some populations tend to be undercounted, why ensuring that everyone counts matters, and what we can do in our communities to ensure a complete a fair count.

Moderated by Kathleen Braden, professor emerita of geography, the panel will include a U.S. Census Bureau specialist, as well as the director of civic engagement and advocacy for the Latino Community Fund of Washington, and SPU professors Jennifer McKinney and Dennis Vickers. This event is free, open to the public, and wheelchair accessible.

The SBGE Dean’s Speaker Series welcomes Twyla Carter, ACLU senior staff attorney for the Criminal Law Reform Project, Thursday, March 5,  9 a.m. in Otto Miller Hall, Room 109. RSVPs requested to cal@spu.edu; all are welcome but space is limited.

Calling all faculty and staff! University Advancement, Faculty Council, and Staff Council invite you to join us Wednesday, March 4, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., in Eaton Hall lobby and breezeway for a time of celebration in conjunction with SPU’s second annual Giving Day. Stop by between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. for refreshments, fellowship, and drop-in festivities as we celebrate our faculty and staff community. We hope to see you there!

Human Resources, Cigna, and Interactive Health have partnered together to offer free, confidential health and wellness screenings available to SPU employees and spouses currently enrolled in SPU’s Health Plan. On campus sessions will be held Wednesday, March 4, 7:30–11:30 a.m. and Thursday, March 5, 7:30–11:30 a.m. in Upper Gwinn, Cascade Room. You can earn points toward your wellness incentive of $75 through the myCigna Motivate ME program. Enrolled spouses can earn $25.

Your preventive health screening will take less than 20 minutes and consists of a health assessment, blood pressure screening, and a comprehensive blood test. Your results are 100% confidential and will not be shared with your employer. Both fasting and non-fasting options will be available. Please bring your Cigna medical ID card to your biometric screening. Contact Cherylin Shdo in Human Resources at shdoc@spu.edu with any questions.

Times are still available. (Walk-ins will be welcomed on a space-available basis.) To schedule your appointment:

1. Register online at www.hsscreeningreg.com. Please enter the login and password exactly how it appears below, and hit “Login.”
   • Login: seattle.pacific
   • Password: healthy
   
   If this is your first time logging in, scroll to the bottom and click on the “Create a New Account” button at the lower left of the screen. Simply provide the following information in the appropriate fields. Enter your birth date in (mmddyyyy) format. Click “Save My Account Profile.”
   

   Click the “Create New Appointment” button. This will bring up a screen that lists the available events box at the top of the page. Select your appointment location, date, and time. Confirm that the screening date and personal information on the screen are correct and select the time you wish to attend the screening from the drop down menu that appears to the right of “Appointment Times.” Now click “Save New Appointment.

2. You will need to Fast before your appointment: Please fast for 9-12 hours before your test. Drink plenty of plain water – no food or other beverages. If you are diabetic, pregnant, on medication, or have a medical condition that will prevent you from fasting 9-12 hours, please follow your doctor’s instructions regarding fasting.

The Office of Human Resources will host SPU’s annual Retirement Ready Seminar on Tuesday, March 10, 4–7:30 p.m., Upper Gwinn Commons, Queen Anne Room. It is an opportunity for faculty and staff who are making plans or preparing to retire in the near future to ask their questions to professionals in the retirement industry. A light dinner will be served. We hope that you will be able to join us. Please register here for the Retirement Ready seminar by Monday, March 2.

Questions about attending the seminar:

• Who should attend this seminar?  Those who are planning to retire within the next ten or more years.
• What should you bring? 
  • There will be some printed materials from our speakers, but the majority of the information will be presented over PowerPoint presentations.  Please come prepared to take notes. 
  •  Bring your questions! Each presenter is providing some time for questions. If you bring questions that cannot be answered, we (HR) will research and follow up.
• May I bring a guest?  Yes, you are welcome to bring a guest. Be sure this is recorded in your RSVP so we can plan accordingly.
• I am unable to attend the seminar, will the presentations be recorded?  We will not be recording the presentations, but any printed material and PowerPoint slides will be available on the HR Wiki retirement page after the seminar.

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 contract 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 (or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday) during the academic year. The next Bulletin will be published Monday, March 9. The deadline is Thursday, March 5. 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.

In recognition of her service to the SPU community, Esther Yun, social media specialist in University Communications, was nominated by her peers and selected by Staff Council as the March Staff Member of the Month. Congratulations and thank you, Esther! Learn more about Esther and nominate a colleague for recognition on the Staff Council website.

The second edition of Professor of Linguistics Katya Nemtchinova’s book, Teaching Listening, was published by TESOL Press. Originally published in 2013 as part of the English Language Teacher Development series, the book examines how research and theoretical issues associated with second-language listening inform everyday teaching and offers suggestions for classroom instruction.

This spring, Emily Holt, administrator in the Faculty Life Office, will have a collection of poems, Though the Walls Are Lit, published by Lost Horse Press and distributed by University of Washington Press. The collection considers the Irish tradition of hunger strikes and vocal lament, weaving together hymns, canticles, and blues riffs.

An article by Professor of History Alberto Ferreiro titled “De cura populorum et pauperum: Attending to the needs of the Poor in the Gallic and Hispano – Roman/Suevic - Visigothic Councils" was published in Annuarium Historiae Conciliorum 49 (2018-2019) 71-96. The paper was delivered at the conference Minorities in the Councils, Concilio e Minoranza, Konzil und Minderheit, in October 2018 in Rome.

Please join the Office of Human Resources in welcoming Allyson Rachal, undergraduate program specialist in the School of Education.

For his monthly cartoon, Nate Hoover, office manager in the School of Theology, explains this month’s feature: I’ve loved making lists since I was a kid. Now, instead of making the lists in notebooks, I keep them in spreadsheets. I have one multi-tab spreadsheet just for puns. Sometimes, when I’m looking for a cartoon idea, I look at my lists to see if something clicks. This time, I chose “Buffalone” from my Animal Puns list; this cartoon is the result. Notice any other puns? Select the link to see the cartoon.

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