It’s almost here! Giving Day is this Wednesday, April 7, and we hope you’ll join this digital event. From scholarships and aid, to academics, athletics, Christian faith formation, and so much more, Giving Day shows the impact our global community can have.

And don’t forget to post a photo on social media in your SPU gear! Help spread the word about Giving Day and the collective impact that happens when #SPUfalconsgive!

College Cafe, hosted by First Free Methodist Church, is a new space for the SPU community to take a break and be served by your FFMC neighbors. Every Monday from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. at College Cafe, you can get an espresso drink — just bring your SPU ID, and, if you are able, a $2 donation would be appreciated to sustain the ministry. (The next upcoming soft launch of the College Cafe is Monday, April 12. Students will be invited to the cafe in week three.) Entrance is at First Free under the sky bridge.

A message from the Center for Applied Learning: You are invited to participate! Join us Wednesday, April 14, 2021, as the School of Business, Government, and Economics once again hosts the annual Social Venture Plan Competition. Visit spu.edu/SVPCShowcase2021 for a full schedule, and be sure to submit your vote for the People’s Choice Award!

Join Seattle Pacific University’s Center for Biblical and Theological Education, School of Theology, and Seattle Pacific Seminary for a special virtual event highlighting theology faculty authors. This event will be streamed online on Thursday, April 22, 3–4:30 p.m. (PDT). Please register.

How has learning moved ahead during the past several months, and how have students flourished in the School of Health Sciences? Read about it in the latest issue of the SHS Newsletter.

The Office of Inclusive Excellence invites you to join us Thursday, April 15, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. for Diversity 101: Exploring the What, Why, and How of Diversity at SPU. Learn more and sign up here.

The SPU Fulbright Advisory Committee is starting to recruit rising seniors and alumni to apply for the 2022–23 Fulbright U.S. Student Program. The highly competitive program operates in more than 160 countries and gives students the opportunity either to teach English, conduct research, or study in another country for a year. If you know a student who would be the perfect candidate for the program, follow the link to recommend them today.

Through Monday, April 12, faculty and staff will receive two bonus meals if they purchase a Faculty Staff Block 10 Meal Plan. That’s 12 meals for $87 (or $7.25 per meal)! (Limit one per person.) You can use the plan in Gwinn anytime during service hours. Or you can use it to purchase Simply to Go meals at the Corner Place Market, Academic Perks (SUB), or Common Grounds (Weter). Meals can be used for guests, too. Plans can be purchased through Banner. Meal balances roll from quarter to quarter as long as you are employed at the University. Questions? Call Housing and Meal Plan Services at 206-281-2188 or email mealplan@spu.edu.

The Office of Inclusive Excellence offers diversity seed grants up to $1,500 to support departmentwide initiatives that advance one or more of the University’s strategic diversity goals. Seed grants are awarded quarterly, with the spring application cycle closing May 16. Learn more and apply here, and contact OIEX at vpoie@spu.edu with any questions.

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, April 12, and the deadline is Thursday, April 8. 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.

Mark Walhout, professor of English, had his book, Arab Intellectuals and American Power: Edward Said, Charles Malik, and the U.S. in the Middle East, published by I.B. Tauris in late 2020. This dual biographical study examines the lives of the famous Palestinian American scholar and activist Edward Said and the eminent Lebanese philosopher and diplomat Charles Malik.

Katya Nemtchinova, professor of linguistics, was invited to conduct a webinar for American Council of Teachers of Russian (ACTR). In her presentation, titled “Building Intercultural Competence in a Russian Language Classroom,” she examined several models of intercultural competence, addressed the disconnect between research and instructional practice, and discussed relevant teaching and assessment issues.

An essay by Mischa Willett, assistant professor of English and writing, titled “Still Life, with Wine and Occasional Fires,” was published in Practice Magazine. It dealt with his specific process of making poems.

A review by Professor of History Alberto Ferreiro of Andrew Kurt's book Minting, State and Economy in the Visigothic Kingdom: From settlement in Aquitaine through the first decade of the Muslim conquest of Spain was published in Francia (2021) 1–3. The journal is a publication of the Deutschen Historischen Institut, Paris. Alberto has reviewed four other books for them and wrote an article in 2006. This book is the most comprehensive study to date of all of the known Visigothic coins minted in the Iberian Peninsula.

Sandra Mayo, vice provost of inclusive excellence, had her article, “Becoming Brave Witnesses,” published in the Council for Christian Colleges & University magazine. Sandra is also the chair of the CCCU’s Commission on Diversity and Inclusion.

Research by Professor of Sociology Karen Snedker and SPU students was featured in The Seattle Times on April 3 in an article titled “Tents in Seattle increased by more than 50% after COVID pandemic began, survey says.” Karen was the study’s co-author along with a colleague at the University of Washington, and SPU and UW students assisted in the research by doing two “resamples,” where they counted tents in the most tent-populated areas of the city  — in December 2019 and in July 2020.