The Office of Undergraduate Admissions will host its biggest event of the year, Admitted Student Preview, Thursday April 7, through Friday, April 8. Hundreds of admitted students and their families will be on campus for this preview experience. Students will spend the night in the residence halls, tour campus buildings, attend information sessions, eat in Gwinn, visit classes, participate in a Majors & Extracurricular Fair, and more. Please look for these future Falcon hopefuls and make them feel welcome.

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A message from the Wellness Initiative: As faculty and staff, you are often on the frontline for dealing with students in distress. Faculty and staff are also in a position to help direct students to appropriate resources on campus. We’ve compiled a quick-tip list for best practices in talking with students — and services on campus available for the most common academic, health, and mental health concerns.

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A message from the Office of Student Employment (OSE): Our student employees are key to keeping this university running. Show your appreciation next week to your student employees, and encourage them to attend the Student Employee Appreciation Event hosted by OSE on Friday, April 15, 11 a.m.-1 p.m. in Martin Square (Weter Lounge in the event of inclement weather). Participants can enjoy fresh popcorn and students can enter to win one of many gift cards from local area businesses such as the Woodland Park Zoo, the Space Needle, Trader Joe’s, Café Ladro, Sodexo, and more. Here are some other ideas for ways to show appreciation during National Student Employment Week: take them out to lunch, throw a party hosted by your staff, give them a gift card, purchase some SPU swag from the bookstore, or write a letter thanking them for their contributions to your team.

Each year, the student prayer ministry group Relinquish organizes a service to unite the SPU community in an extended period of prayer. This year the service is on Friday, April 8, at First Free Methodist Church and is focused on intercession for the Syrian Refugee Crisis. The service begins at 7 p.m. with Steve Haas from World Vision, and will be followed by an open time for intercession. 

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The Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential historian comes to Seattle as part of SPU’s Downtown Business Breakfast. She will give a free public lecture on Thursday, April 7, at 7 p.m. in Brougham Pavilion. At this event, Goodwin will reflect on presidents from Abraham Lincoln to the Roosevelts, describing their paths to leadership. Michael Hamilton, associate professor of history, will moderate the event, as well as host a Q&A with Goodwin. There will be an opportunity to purchase books, as well as a time for Goodwin to autograph books.

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All faculty and staff are invited to the annual Career Fair, Wednesday, April 6, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. in Upper Gwinn. Encourage your students to attend, and stop by for a free headshot for your LinkedIn profile.

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"Reconciliation” has different meanings to different people. It can mean intimacy with God, or being nice to other people, or an ambiguous concept of justice. During the annual Winifred E. Weter Faculty Award Lecture for Meritorious Scholarship on Tuesday, April 12, Associate Professor of Theology, Discipleship, and Ministry Michael Langford will look at reconciliation from a theological perspective.

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Bloodworks Northwest (formerly the Puget Sound Blood Center) will host a blood drive on campus Thursday, April 7, and Friday, April 8, 11 a.m.- 5 p.m. (closed 1:30-2:30 p.m.) near the entrance of Tiffany Loop. Schedule an appointment online.

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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 you wish to make to your 403(b) account contributions must be made by the 10th of the month. 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 Mardeth Hughes in HR at 206-281-2816.

The Spanish Conversation Table will be available Spring Quarter to anyone who wants to chat with others in Spanish. Beginners are welcome. Meet your classmates and colleagues, make new friends,and improve your Spanish. If you want to get some help on vocabulary or figure out how those reflexive verbs work, come see us. You don’t have to sign up ahead of time; just bring your lunch and join us. The table meets on Fridays, 12:30-1:30 p.m. in Marston Hall 252. If you have questions, email adjunct faculty member Vilma Illanes at villanes@spu.edu.

Come to the annual biometric screening April 5 or 6. You can earn activity points toward your wellness incentive and $75 through the myCigna Motivate ME program. Human Resources, Cigna, and Summit Health are offering these free, confidential health and wellness screenings. On-campus sessions will be held Tuesday, April 5, 7:30-11:30 a.m. in the Library Seminar Room; and Wednesday, April 6, 8:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. in the Falcon Club in Brougham Pavilion. Plan on arriving five to 10 minutes prior to your appointment to complete some general paperwork.

Screenings will be done by skilled nursing staff and certified health professionals. 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 $75 incentive through myCigna Motivate ME program. Contact Alie Dorsey in Human Resources at dorseya@spu.edu with any questions. Sign up online at Summit Health Appointment’s confidential website and register as a New User, regardless of whether you have used this site in the past.

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The Falcon Gymnastics Center is excited to announce the addition of a parent and baby gymnastics program. The Baby Birds program is for toddlers between the ages of 18 months and 3 years. All children must be accompanied by one adult. The cost is $70 for each six-week program. The sessions are Tuesdays (April 19 and 26, May 3, 10, 17, and 24) 11-11:45 a.m.; and Wednesdays (April 20 and 27, May 4, 11, 18, and 25), 9-9:45 a.m. Email cbd@spu.edu for more information.

Here are the Campus Retail Dining Services promotions for April 4 through 10.

Common Grounds/Academic Perks: Grande Strawberry Mocha $3.99.

Common Grounds: All baked items are 50 cents, Monday-Friday, 7-9 p.m. or Saturday-Sunday 5-7 p.m.

Academic Perks: All baked items are 50 cents, Monday-Friday 4-6 p.m.

Medley: 5-Topping Salad for $5, or a 3-Topping Salad for $3.

Subway: 6-inch tuna sandwich for $3.99. Visit Subway for daily selections of the 6-inch Sub-of-the-Day.

Sandella’s: Limited Time Offer-Gourmet Chicken Salad Wrap for $5. Add a 21-ounce fountain drink for $1 more. Any Sandella’s Burrito $5.99. Add a 21-once fountain drink for $1 more.

Jamba Juice: 20 percent off Jamba Juice orders every Tuesday and Thursday for the month of April.

Einstein’s Bagels: 20 percent off any bowl of soup.

Grill: Bacon-Blueberry Pancakes for $2.99.

C-Store: 4-ounce Hot Pockets $1.

$5 Friday Retail Dining Promotion:

Medley: 5-Topping Salad including beef topping

Grill: 3-piece chicken strips and 21-ounce fountain drink

Einstein’s Bagels: Pepperoni Pizza Bagel

Sandellas: Any Sandella’s Grilled Flatbread

Subway: Footlong Spicy Italian Sandwich

C-Store: Any Ben and Jerry’s pint of ice cream

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly 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, April 7. The next Bulletin will be published Monday, April 11, 2016.

Janet Ward, associate vice president of Information and Data Management, recently conducted a workshop at a national conference sponsored by the American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers in Phoenix. The three-hour workshop was titled “Improve Analysis of Large Data Sets by Creating Interactive and Flexible Reporting.”

Kenman Wong, professor of business ethics, recently presented a peer-reviewed case study (co-authored with Scott Bryant from Montana State University) titled "Gravity Payments: Setting the World or Itself on Fire?" at the Western Casewriters Association conference in Portland, Oregon. The case examines the strategic human resources, employee motivation, and economic justice implications of credit card processing company Gravity Payment’s $70k per year minimum wage policy.

Professor Emeritus of English Tom Trzyna's new book, Karl Popper and Literary Theory: Critical Rationalism as a Philosophy of Literature, is forthcoming from Brill, in Leiden. The book proposes a theory of literature and applies it to authors from William Shakespeare to contemporary Holocaust novelist Jonathan Littell.

Assistant Professor of Exercise Science Dale Cannavan recently gave a presentation at the Hammer Strength Conference held at the University of Washington. The presentation was titled “Strength and Conditioning Considerations for the Youth Athlete.” Other notable speakers included the Seattle Seahawks head strength and conditioning coach.

A paper co-authored by Professor of Psychology Margaret Brown was recently presented at Campus Compact’s 30th anniversary conference in Boston. The theme of the conference was “Accelerating Change: Engagement for Impact,” and the title of her paper was “Conceptualizing and Assessing Discipline-Based Learning Outcomes.”

Associate Professor of Sociology Karen Snedker recently gave a talk to members of the sociology department at Umeå University in Sweden. She spoke about her book project, “Therapeutic Justice: Crime, Treatment Courts, and Mental Illness.” Her research is supported by SPU’s Center for Scholarship and Faculty Development.

Jeffrey Overstreet, a communications specialist in University Communications since 2003, graduated with his Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from SPU during the Winter Residency at Camp Casey Conference Center on Whidbey Island on Saturday, March 19, 2016. Overstreet studied creative nonfiction under the guidance of two mentors — authors Paula Huston and Lauren Winner. His reading and writing focused primarily on memoir and personal essays about childhood, faith, and cinema. On his website, he posted a transcript of the thank-you messages he shared during his graduation reading.

From University Archivist Adrienne Meier: Tennis was the preferred sport of Seattle Seminary students, who built and maintained the court seen here and organized spring tournaments for men and women. The photo dates from around 1910, and shows that the court was located directly behind Alexander Hall. The white building in the background was the Girl’s Hall. For more information about the Girl's Hall, visit the SPU History wiki. Select the link for a larger photo of the tennis court.

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