The GNAC champions and No. 2 seed men’s basketball team heads to the NCAA Division II tournament on Friday, March 15. They will face No. 7 seed Chaminade in San Diego.

Campus Ministries has assembled a team of students, staff, and faculty to write a devotional for the 2019 Lenten season. Each day of Lent will include a Scripture reading, as well as a reflection written by a member of the SPU community. Download a PDF of the full Lenten resource on the Campus Ministries website (starting March 6), or follow along on Instagram (@spucampusministries). We hope you’ll join our community as we journey together through Lent and toward a celebration of Easter.

From the Office of the Provost: Our biggest desire is to make year-end high ceremony events very special for our graduating students and for those who love them.

Staff: All staff are encouraged to lend a hand to make these ceremonies run smoothly. Whether you have volunteered every year, or whether you have never done it before, we need ALL HANDS ON DECK, from all departments, to help make these ceremonies run as smoothly as possible.

• Friday, June 7: Because campus offices will be closed during the two Friday ceremonies (Ivy Cutting and Graduate Commencement ceremonies), we hope to have many folks step forward to serve that day (even an hour would be helpful!), with everything from directing guests to available parking to distributing programs. Consider volunteering with one or more colleagues from your department. Please sign up here.
• Saturday, June 8: It is the Undergraduate Commencement ceremony at Alaska Airlines Arena, where we have a very large need for assistance. It will take 60–75 volunteers to make it run smoothly. We are looking for staff to serve on that Saturday evening, 4–7 p.m., with the option to stay for a catered dinner afterward. Please sign up here.

Supervisors: Please work with your non-exempt staff to work out how to make up any Saturday hours within the following 40-hour work week. Thank you, in advance, for encouraging your staff to participate!

Faculty:  All faculty are required to participate in one of the Commencement ceremonies. Faculty should communicate with their dean to confirm which ceremony they would like to attend. Of course, faculty are also welcome to participate in both ceremonies.More information for faculty can be found on teh Commencement website in Faculty Instructions.

If you commute by bus through downtown Seattle, note that major bus route changes will begin on Saturday, March 23, due to the viaduct closure. See the following for route changes and added routes.

The Center for Career and Calling is recruiting for their 2019-20 Peer Career Advisor team and would like your recommendations. Do you know a student(s) who is team oriented, motivated to serve their fellow classmates, interested in career development, takes initiative and responsibility, communicates well, willing to go the extra mile, demonstrates strong attention to detail, and has a warm and friendly presence? If so, please encourage them to apply on Handshake or at the CCC website for this paid leadership position.

The Graduate-Selected Faculty of the Year Award will be piloted this year as a way to recognize a faculty member’s positive impact on the experience of graduate students at Seattle Pacific. Graduate students from each program will have the opportunity to nominate a deserving faculty member. A representative group of up to six graduate students from each of SPU’s graduate schools will select the Faculty of the Year from the received nominations, and the honoree will be announced at the annual spring Celebration of Service event. For more information, visit the award page on the Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development website.

Staff are invited to join a weekly meeting to talk about the book Rising Strong by Brene Brown. The group meets every Thursday in Weter Hall, 11:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m., and it’s not too late to join. If you have questions, contact Jessica Razanadrakoto, visits & events coordinator in Undergraduate Admissions, at jessicar@spu.edu.

From the Wellness Initiative: Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) as an intervention for college students is becoming more prevalent in research. Visit the Wellness blog to learn more about how ACT is being used to help college students.

Do you know a student who is energetic and outgoing? Do you know a student who enjoys helping people? Do you know a student who loves SPU? If you answered yes to these questions then you should encourage the student(s) to apply to be an Orientation Student Coordinator or Orientation Leader. Applications are on OrgSync at Orientation Student Coordinator and Orientation Leader. Email Jacob Arzaga, assistant director in the Office of Student Involvement and Leadership, at arzagaj@spu.edu for more information.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published every week 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, March 14. The next Bulletin will be published on Monday, March 18.

Kara Grey, associate professor of physics, was named a 2019 “Outstanding Referee” by the American Physical Society. The selective Outstanding Referee program annually recognizes about 150 of the roughly 71,000 currently active referees to express appreciation to all referees. Their efforts in peer review not only keep the standards of the journals at a high level, but may also help authors improve the quality and readability of their articles, even those not published by APS. Congratulations, Kara!

Jeff Jordan, vice president for student life, contributed the chapter titled “Team Stewardship: Care for the Caregiver” in the edited volume Crisis, Compassion, and Resiliency in Student Affairs: Using Triage Practices to Foster Well-Being. This book is one of two books debuting at the 2019 annual NASPA Conference in Los Angeles this March.

A paper titled "Playing the Tong Tin: Social Trust, Legal Reform, and Informal Finance in Cambodia,”
written by Brad Murg, assistant professor of political science and director of global development, and Tom Pearson of the Royal University of Law and Economics, was presented in an invited talk at Samford University on March 5. On March 6, Brad gave an invited lecture, “Russian Politics: Past, Present, and Future,” for the continuing education program at Edmonds Community College.

At the 2019 Northwest Council for Computer Education conference, David Wicks, associate professor of curriculum and instruction, received the ISTE Making IT Happen Award. The award honors outstanding educators and leaders who demonstrate extraordinary commitment, leadership, courage, and persistence in improving digital learning opportunities for students. At the same conference, School of Education alumna Lori Curtis received the 2019 NCCE Outstanding Technology Leader Award. She was honored for being “an exceptional leader and passionate educator who keenly sees the playing field and goes beyond simply getting students and teachers to use technology.” Congratulations, David and Lori!

An essay by Mischa Willett, instructor of writing, titled “Some Reservations: Thinking About Native American Spirituality” was published by Front Porch Republic.

The Office of Human Resources would like to welcome Erin Morrow, program coordinator, Center for Worship and the Arts in Theology.

Jenny Tenlen, associate professor of biology, was quoted in an article in PBS’s NOVA Next digital magazine in an article titled, “After Conquering Space, Water Bears Could Save the Global Vaccine and Water Supply” She was quoted about research looking to adapt tardigrade (water bear) proteins for use in strategies to stabilize drugs and vaccines for delivery in areas of the world without access to stable power grids and cold storage.