The Office of Inclusive Excellence invites you to join us Thursday, March 18, 12–1 p.m., for Diversity 103: Becoming a Faith-Formed Inclusive Community. Learn more and sign up here. Whether you have previously participated in this workshop or not, we invite you to join us for this interactive workshop.

Ready to be rid of the hassle of printing, sending around, and scanning documents to get them signed? Want to manage and track the collection of signatures for documents electronically in one place? Adobe Sign can help! RSVP here for a Teams meeting link to Computer and Information Systems online training for electronic signatures via Adobe Sign on Wednesday, March 24, 10–10:45 a.m., or Thursday, March 25, 1–1:45 p.m. Contact CISTrainings@spu.edu with any questions, and find more information on the CIS Training Program.

Summer reservation requests are now being taken for the Faculty/Staff House for full-time faculty and staff. The dates of stay are June 14 through Sept. 13, 2021. Reservation requests are due by March 19, 2021, and you can request a reservation here. Summer requests are based on years of service to SPU and past summer stays at Casey. Employees are ranked by their years of service as verified by Human Resources. Once the ranking is developed, the past summer stay history is cross checked. If you have stayed at Casey during the summer, your ranking is replaced with the years it has been since your stay at Casey.

To learn more about how the lottery works or discounted rates for faculty and staff staying at Camp Casey, checkout this page on the HR Wiki (PDF). Questions about Camp Casey? Email campcasey@spu.edu.

Faith & Co. is delighted to announce their new online course, “Serving Customers.” The course is taught by Gary Karns, professor of marketing, and delivered in an online format. It incorporates the Faith & Co. Season 3 films and explores how faith shapes the way organizations engage with and serve customers. The courses starts April 5, 2021, and there are free and for-credit options available. Learn more and register.

On Wednesday, March 10, 11 a.m., Mass (in English) will be held in Alexander Chapel and on Zoom. Father Jordan Bradshaw of the University of Washington's Newman Center will officiate. To participate, contact Professor of Philosophy Patrick McDonald at mcdonp@spu.edu.

PRME? SDGs? Learn how Seattle Pacific is a key player in the United Nations “Principles of Responsible Management Education” movement as we embrace sustainable development goals in our teaching and research. It’s all in the latest issue of the Shareholders e-newsletter from the School of Business, Government, and Economics

• Lenten Stories: Follow UMin on Instagram throughout Lent for weekly Scripture readings and stories from SPU students about how they are being stretched in this season. 
• Season of Saturday: During Lent, we are curating online space for communal practices of confession, lament, repentance, and renewal. You are invited to participate through submitting your note of “declaration” for our online tree.
• View the Chapel schedule for upcoming information, subscribe to UMin YouTube for past Chapels, and view Chapel live on Tuesdays at 10:30 a.m.

The John Perkins Center is hosting this annual writing competition for students enrolling or enrolled at SPU. The Perkins Prize honors the legacy of John Perkins’ work in reconciliation and Christian community development. Entries are due by April 2, 2021. The winner will receive a $1,000 SPU tuition scholarship. Visit the Perkins Prize web page for detailed information.

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.

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. The next Bulletin will be published Monday, March 15, and the deadline is Thursday, March 11. 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 Staff Council: Do you have a colleague who lives out their Christian faith and encourages a grace-filled community at SPU? Do they demonstrate competence, skill, and initiative in their role while modeling service and leadership? Nominations for the Oral V. Hemry Non-Exempt and Exempt Staff Member of the Year awards are now open until March 19. Nominate your colleagues today!

Several School of Education faculty and staff members gave presentations at the recent annual conference of the Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for Teacher Education:

• David Denton, associate professor of education, presented “The Effects of Reflection on Middle School Learning and Perception.”
• Nalline Baliram, assistant professor of teacher education; Emily Huff, director of field placements; and Kirsten Koetje, assistant director of graduate teacher education, presented “Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) and Needs Assessment for K–12 Teaching.” Kirsten also presented, “Integrating Video Analysis as a High Impact Practice in Teacher Education.”
• Jill Heiney-Smith, assistant professor of teacher education; and Megan Hamshar, associate director of graduate programs, presented, “A Blueprint for Success: Curricular Differentiation for the Social-Emotional Wellbeing of Graduate Teacher Candidates."

Two chapters written by Paul Yost, chair and associate professor of industrial-organizational psychology, were included in the newly released The Age of Agility: Building Learning Agile Leaders and Organizations. The chapter titled, “Learning Agility, Resilience, and Successful Derailment,” discusses practices that organizations and individuals can adopt to increase their resilience, and the chapter “Stepping to the edge of one’s comfort zone,” discusses ways to develop adaptive leaders in the midst of the storm.

John Bond, professor of educational administration and supervision, and alumna Dr. Kathi Weight, EdD, had their article “Metacognition as a Mental Health Support Strategy for Students with Anxiety” published in the Journal of Education. This was based on Kathi’s dissertation research, for which John served as her committee chair.

It takes a lot of talented and dedicated people to support a university, and we want to recognize them and their good work in the Faculty/Staff Bulletin's new weekly feature, “Applause.” Give a shoutout to someone for their efforts at Seattle Pacific by sending submissions (and photos if possible) to fsb-editor@spu.edu with “Applause” in the subject line. Anonymous submissions (you can indicate if you would like to remain anonymous) will also be accepted, and submissions may be edited for clarity. If you have questions, contact Bulletin Editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu.

For his monthly cartoon, Nate Hoover, associate director for the Center for Biblical and Theological Education, explains this month’s feature: Sometimes two elements come together perfectly for a pun. Sometimes their separation is the key. To see more of my cartoons, you can find me on Instagram @hoovernathaniel.

More