A message from Human Resources: Open enrollment is coming Oct. 20–Nov. 5 for the benefit plan year that begins Jan. 1, 2022. This is your opportunity to make changes to your benefit elections — including medical, dental, vision, and flexible-spending accounts for the 2022 benefit plan year. To help you with your benefit decisions, Human Resources will host a Virtual Benefits Webinar Series in October and early November. This will give you an opportunity to hear from benefit providers and receive answers to your questions or concerns. Dates and times will be announced soon.

The John Perkins Center has invited Rev. Dominique Dubois Gilliard to campus in a unique opportunity for conversations on his recent book, Subversive Witness. For this autumn Perkins Series, Gilliard will speak in Chapel on Tuesday, Sept. 21, 11:10 a.m. in Upper Gwinn. He spoke during a Perkins Center Leadership Conversation event on Monday, September 20.

One of University Ministries Autumn Quarter community groups will follow the book Subversive Witness in the Monday night Bible study. Students who sign up for this study will have the opportunity for Rev. Gilliard to join the Monday night launch of this group. Gilliard is also the author of Rethinking Incarceration. For more information about these events, visit the Perkins Center website.

Seattle Pacific University recently enhanced continuing education offerings to include career accelerators specifically designed to build workplace skills. Students can extend their marketability with a variety of courses, including Project Management, Leadership in Healthcare, Financial Success and Professionalism, Foundations of Data Analytics, and more. Designed for busy professionals, you can begin developing your skillset with SPU through self-paced curriculum led by respected industry experts. Learn more and review all the career accelerator courses.

FLAGG Community Groups for People of Color

Through these FLAGG STAFF/FACULTY Community Groups, we will continue to consider how to facilitate and create spiritually formative places and spaces of connection and community. Groups will meet about three times per quarter online.

• FLAGG Asian/Asian American Community Group: Sign up.
• FLAGG Black/African American Community Group:  Sign up.
• FLAGG LatinX Community Group:  Sign up.

FLAGG Catholic Community Group

Gather together with other Catholic STAFF/FACULTY online. We will continue to consider how to facilitate and create spiritually formative places and spaces of connection and community. We know it is helpful to know there are places of support, being known and engaging with one another. This group will meet about three times per quarter.   Sign up

The Office of Inclusive Excellence invites you to join us Thursday, September 30, 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 online. This workshop is required for all new employees.

The latest SPU Voices podcast features Kevin Ticen, a staff member in University Advancement and his new book, When It Mattered Most, which tells the forgotten story of America's and Seattle's first Stanley Cup champions and the war to end all wars. Kevin is a former catcher on the University of Washington baseball team and played professionally in the Anaheim Angels Minor League system and also overseas in Austria.

The SPU Voices podcast, produced by the Office of Alumni, Parent, and Family Relations, is a monthly interview show dedicated to telling inspiring and compelling stories.

Go Birds! chronicles Seattle Pacific University sports and how they evolved over time — from the origins of men's competition in 1930s-'40s to the expansion of women's sports in the 1970s. The history is told through stories, beginning in 1950 and extending through SPU's 125th anniversary year in 2016–17. From golden goals to buzzer beaters, the pages are filled with engaging anecdotes and statistics about Falcon players, coaches, and teams. It's a book for Falcon fans, former players, and anyone who appreciates the impact SPU sports have made on the Seattle community and beyond. 

The book was compiled by John Glancy, retired staff member and former director of SPU's 125 anniversary celebration; Wes Lingren, professor emeritus of chemistry and former tennis coach; Frank MacDonald, former SPU sports information director; and Adrienne Meier, University Archivist.

Go Birds! is available on Amazon.com.

Through Monday, Sept. 27, when you purchase a Faculty/Staff Block 10 Meal Plan, you will get two bonus meals. That’s 12 meals for $91 (or $7.58 per meal). (Limit one per person.) You can use the plan in Gwinn for breakfast, lunch, or dinner — any time during their service hours. If you need a quick meal, these plans have two convenient to-go options:

• Simply to Go: This option allows you to purchase a Simply to Go meal (an entrée, a side dish or dessert, and a beverage) from the dedicated case at the Corner Place Market, Academic Perks (SUB), or Common Grounds (Weter).
• Choose to Reuse (CTR): This option allows you to purchase a reusable to-go container for a one-time $5 fee and fill it up with items from Gwinn to take with you.

Meal plans can be purchased through Banner (Employee Menu > Meal Plan Order Form). Your plan will be available at 9 a.m. the next business day. Meals can be used for guests and will roll from quarter to quarter as long as you are employed at the University. Note: If you purchased a Faculty/Staff Block 10 Meal Plan over the last two weeks, you will be grandfathered into the promotion and receive the two bonus meals. Questions? Contact Housing and Meal Plan Services at 206-281-2188 or mealplan@spu.edu. 

From Staff Council: It’s time to get SPOOKY! Come decorate a pumpkin and be entered for a chance to win a $15 gift card to Two Kick Coffee! Winners will be chosen for each category: Spooky, Cute, Falcon Spirit, and Most Creative. Staff Council will provide all art supplies as well as pumpkins while supplies last; you just need to supply that creative spirit! Join us Thursday, Sept. 30, 11 a.m.–1 p.m., in Martin Square. 

Mailing Services has returned to mail delivery/pick-up routes, leaving the Mailing Services office at 1 p.m., Monday through Friday. If your office will be closed at a particular time and day during the 1–2:30 p.m. delivery time, please notify Mailing Services so they can make alternative arrangements for delivery.

Chérie Hughes, head of vocal studies, and Dainius Vaičekonis, head of piano performance, will give a concert as part of the SPU Faculty Artist Series on Saturday, Sept. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Nickerson Studios. The program can be attended in-person and will also be live-streamed through the LIVE from SPU music webpage. 

Titled “Love, Loss, and Renewal,” the program explores the many ways love helps us connect, grieve, strengthen, and find hope. The opening work is a cycle of six songs by American composer Jonathan Leshnoff. Commissioned in memory of Monica Langhammer by her family and friends, Monica Songs explores the pain of grief and loss, the celebration of life and joy, and the healing power of love and time. The program will also include the Catalonian cycle L'amor incert by Xavier Turull; Brazilian composer Claudio Santoro’s Cançōes de amor; and Spanish composer Jesus Guridi’s Seis canciones castellanas.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year. The next deadline is Thursday, Sept. 23, and the next issue will be published Monday, Sept. 27. 

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.

Professor of Art Katie Kresser was featured on The Faith and Imagination podcast hosted by the The Humanities Center at Brigham Young University. Her talk is titled "Art as a Window onto the Divine," and she discusses art, cancer, and God’s mysterious efficiency. 

June Hyun, associate professor of counselor education, recently co-authored a paper, “Reexamining Asian American masculinity and model minority myth through a school-based counseling group,” which was published in Professional School Counseling.

An essay by Associate Professor of English and Writing Peter Moe titled "To Flense" was selected as a "Notable Essay" in the 2021 Best American Essays. The essay was originally published in Fourth Genre and later as the sixth chapter of his book Touching This Leviathan.

Works by Kayo Nakamura, adjunct instructor of art, is being featured in the solo exhibition, “Supersonica,” in the Bryan Oliver Gallery at Whitworth University through Oct. 29, 2021. The title, “Supersonica,” is a made-up word suggesting blistering speed. The work in this exhibition is the result of an experiment in Kayo’s process to do less thinking and critiquing, which yielded surprising patterns and unexpected relationships.

Please join the Office of Human Resources in welcoming the following new staff members:

• Payton Aparicio, weekday customer service coordinator, Casey Conference Center
• Timothy Campbell, special projects and events coordinator, Alumni, Parent, and Family Relations