I am pleased to announce that SPU was recently awarded a $400,000 grant from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust for the Alexander Hall Campaign. This brings the total raised and pledged to support the renovation of SPU’s oldest building to more than $4.4 million. As you know, the recently completed restoration included a necessary seismic retrofit and a complete interior renovation. This was done while maintaining the building’s historic red-brick exterior, which was designated a City of Seattle historic landmark in 2014. With the goal of raising $6.2 million by the end of this fiscal year, June 30, 2015, the campaign is well underway. We are very grateful for the generosity of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, and to all who have contributed to the campaign so far.

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The John Perkins Center will co-host audience discussions following productions of Taproot Theatre’s Best of Enemies. The play is based on the true story of racially segregated schools in the 1970s in Durham, North Carolina. When a Ku Klux Klan member and a civil rights activist are forced to work together to solve the problem, they learn about humanity and the surprising gifts that come with change.

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Have you seen them? New SPU billboards are standing proud all over the Seattle area, and new bus advertisements are zooming up and down Seattle and Eastside streets. This campaign is intended to motivate a prospective student to decide to enroll at SPU and to enhance engagement and connection with our regional alumni. If you see one, take a picture and post it on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, and be sure to include #isawSPU. Each week for the next several weeks, one lucky photographer will win a free Seattle Pacific license plate frame or water bottle. At the end of the contest, one of those weekly winners will also win the grand prize: two tickets for a ride on the Seattle Great Wheel on the waterfront. Be ready! Those buses move fast. (Caution: Taking pictures while driving can be dangerous. Please pull over before you take pictures.)

The School of Psychology, Family, and Community is hosting a special event on Saturday, April 11, for those interested in autism spectrum disorder (ASD). This event will feature a Community Resource Fair, lectures from leading experts in the field of a ASD, and a panel discussion of older adolescents and young adults with ASD.

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A limited number of copies of Prague Winter: A Personal Story of Remembrance and War by former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright are available in University Communications. If you would like copies for personal or classroom use, contact response@spu.edu. Read about the book online.

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Summer reservation requests are now being taken for the Faculty/Staff House at SPU’s Camp Casey Conference Center on Whidbey Island. The dates of stay are June 15-September 28, 2015. 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 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. If you have questions, contact Camp Casey at 866-661-6604 or campcasey@spu.edu. Online reservation requests are due April 5, 2015.  

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On Wednesday, March 25, Subway and the Common Grounds Coffee Kiosk in Weter Hall will be closed due to a Seattle Public Utilities water line project. The Corner Place Market will be open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., and will be stocked with Simply to Go entrees, drip coffee, and pastries. Sandella’s/Jamba Go will also be open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Check out the Campus Dining Spring Break hours online. 

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If you’re looking for a place for a department retreat, don’t forget about SPU’s Camp Casey Conference Center on Whidbey Island. Department retreat rates are as low as $15 per person, and rates for a church or community organization to which a faculty or staff member belongs are $20-26 per person. If you’re looking for a place for a family event, Camp Casey also has a campground available for rent. If you are on Whidbey Island and would like a tour of the facilities, contact the Camp Casey Conference Center at 866-661-6604 or campcasey@spu.edu to set up a visit in advance.

You have until 9:59 a.m. on Tuesday, April 7, to have stationery order(s) delivered on April 17. Stationery orders are now delivered once a month. Stationery orders made after 10 a.m. on April 7 will be delivered May 15. To see deadlines and delivery dates for the remainder of the fiscal year, visit the “Create an Order” stationery page in Banner. For more information, contact Hope McPherson in University Communications at hmcpherson@spu.edu.

SPU Human Resources, Cigna, and Summit Health are offering free, confidential health and wellness screenings this month. The on-campus sessions will be held in the Library Seminar Room, 7:30 a.m.-12 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, and Thursday, March 26. Sign up online at Summit Health’s confidential site. Register as a new user, regardless if you have used this website in the past. Please arrive five to 10 minutes prior to your appointment to complete some general paperwork. Screenings will be done by highly skilled nursing staff and certified health professionals. Your personal screenings will include a brief health-risk questionnaire, as well as tests to determine height, weight, waist circumference, cholesterol levels, glucose levels, blood pressure, and body mass index. You will need to fast from food, beverages (with the exception of water), and personal medications for at least eight hours prior to your appointment. Make sure to bring your Cigna card with you to be able to process your $100 incentive through myCigna Motivate ME program. Please contact Human Resources Associate Director Nicole Custer at custern@spu.edu or 206-281-2676 with questions.

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This summer, SPRINT (Seattle Pacific Reachout International) will send eight student teams to learn and serve alongside local leaders around the world. Hire a SPRINT student to help with yardwork, cleaning projects, or other household chores. Your work project helps students raise funds for summer international service-learning and mission trips. The recommended rate is $10 per student per hour. To schedule your project, email student Maddy Petrowski at petrowskim@spu.edu. Learn more about SPRINT.

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Saturday, March 28
Track & Field; Seattle Pacific at Club Northwest Spring Break Open, West Seattle Stadium, 9 a.m.

For the latest on Falcon sports, visit the website.

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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 26. The next Bulletin will be published Monday March 30.

Chris Reed has been named the West Region women's indoor Assistant Coach of the Year by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association. Congratulations, Chris!

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John Thoburn, professor of clinical psychology, was the featured speaker at a trauma conference at the University of Tohoku in Japan in early March. John’s presentation on trauma treatment and grief was targeted to the displaced survivors of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami.

Myrna Capp, adjunct assistant professor of music, gave a presentation at the 2015 Society for Ethnomusicology Northwest Chapter meeting at the University of Washington in February. The paper was titled "Jackson Kaujeua, the Musical Voice of the 'Struggle' in Namibia, Africa." As Nelson Mendela has symbolized the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, Jackson Kaujeua has become the musical symbol for freedom and independence in Namibia.

Associate Professor of Marriage and Family Therapy Tina Schermer Sellers was the invited speaker for the annual Spring Lecture for Trinity Western’s 2015 Gender Café Series. Her talk, “You Are Beloved and Sex Is Good: What Does a New Covenant Understanding of Sexuality Look Like”?, was hosted in their Northwest Auditorium to a full house of students, faculty, and community members. Tina’s talk focused on her research on the impact of the Christian purity movement on the sexual and spiritual health of evangelical Christians. She then went on to share the many sex-positive mystic Judeo/Christian stories revealing a sacred sexual ethic that illuminates the purpose and hope in God’s gift of sexual desire and sexual communion.

Tina was also a recent speaker at SELAH, a group for mothers with one or more elementary age child, at University Presbyterian Church. Her talk “Peeking Under the Hood – How We Can Give Our Kids What They Need at Each Stage” focused on the developmental tasks of children ages 3 to 12. In this workshop she explored typical childhood tasks and behaviors at each stage. It also looked at clues to indicate where this stage may not be completed for parents in their own childhood and ways they can heal while they parent.

The Office of Human Resources would like the SPU community to join us in welcoming Nate Blaschka, campus security officer, in the Office of Safety & Security.

The Seattle Times reported on a new group of local education advocates offering free training for potential school board candidates in Seattle. The group hired Professor of Educational Administration and Supervision Thomas Alsbury to lead the training. Read the story online.

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