A message from Health Services: Students and employees should contact SPU Health Services at 206-281-2231 right away if:

• They are feeling sick and experiencing any of the symptoms associated with COVID-19 (e.g., fever or chills, cough, shortness of breath or difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle aches, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea). For this purpose, fever is a temperature of 100.4°F or higher.
• You have been in close contact with a confirmed positive case of COVID-19 within the preceding 14 days. If you are unsure whether your exposure constitutes “close contact,” contact SPU Health Services to discuss. 
• If you test positive for SARS CoV2, with or without symptoms.

If you have questions, contact Health Services.

Open enrollment is coming Oct. 15–30, for the benefit plan year that begins Jan. 1, 2021. This is your opportunity to make changes to your benefit elections — including medical, dental, vision, and flexible-spending accounts for the 2021 benefit plan year. To help you with your benefit decisions and learn more about our new benefit providers, Human Resources will host a Virtual Benefits Webinar Series during the month of October. This will give you an opportunity to hear from benefit providers and receive answers to questions or concerns that you have. Dates and times will be announced soon.

The Office of Inclusive Excellence invites you to join us 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 1, for “Diversity 101: Exploring the What, Why, and How of Diversity at SPU.” Learn more about the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Workshop Series, and sign up online.

You can find five video Sitecore tutorials on the University Communications website under Website Assistance. If you need to make an update to your school, department, or office website — but it’s been awhile since you had one-on-one Sitecore training — these short videos can help. The tutorials cover getting started, updating web pages, uploading images, and more.

Computer and Information Systems has a limited supply of refurbished laptops available for students to purchase. If you know a student who needs a laptop, encourage the student to check into the Affordable Laptop Program.

A message from the Office of Inclusive Excellence: We are now on Instagram. Here, we will share resources that the OIEX offers students, staff, and faculty, and create a space for conversations about topics related to diversity, equity, and inclusion at SPU. Follow us at @spu.oiex, and say hi — we’re looking forward to connecting with you!

More than 6,600 SPU families recently received the September 2020 In the Loop parents newsletter, which included information about Tuition Reimagined, the Parents and Family Engagement webinars, the Parents Prayer Network, and more.

A message from the Center for Career and Calling: Please tell your students to join our joint Virtual Career Fair: Saint Martin's, Seattle Pacific, and University of Puget Sound, on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 12–4 p.m. PDT. Students will be able to connect with employers and find jobs, internships, volunteer opportunities and more. This virtual fair is an opportunity for your students to present themselves professionally to a potential employer, while showcasing their communication skills. Students will also have the chance to interact with the employers 1:1 and on a group basis.

For more information on how a virtual fair will look, visit the webpage on Handshake.

The Day of Common Learning (this year, known as the Days of Common Learning) is a campuswide event in which students, faculty, staff, alumni, and the outside community have the opportunity to engage in deep thought and conversation around a topic of focus, interest, and concern. This year’s event is Oct. 5–9, and the topic is “The Future of Work in the Age of a Pandemic, Sociopolitical Disruption, and Rapid Technological Change.” Monday through Thursday will have a thematic session each day led by a faculty member and an external conversational partner, who together will explore one of the themes of the day regarding the future of work. The week culminates on Friday, October 9, with a 15-minute keynote address by Andrew Yang, American entrepreneur and former presidential candidate, followed by a panel discussion with faculty who led the thematic sessions.

A message from the Office of Inclusive Excellence (formerly the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion): 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 autumn application cycle open now and closing Nov. 1. Learn more and apply online, and contact us with any questions!

From Health Services: We would like to strongly encourage all the SPU campus community to get a flu shot this fall. Unfortunately, we will not be able to provide flu shots to staff and faculty on campus this year. But Cigna health benefits cover the flu vaccine, which is widely available in many area pharmacies and walk-in clinics. Health Services will have flu vaccine available on campus for students by appointment.

A message from the Eastside vanpool riders: Do you commute across the Highway 520 bridge? If so, you could be saving as much as $300 a month by joining our vanpool. We meet at the South Kirkland Park and Ride, Monday–Friday at 7:30 a.m., and work an 8 a.m.–5 p.m. schedule. The vanpool is completely free to SPU employees which means the Highway 520 toll, gas, parking, and car maintenance are all covered through the Trip Reduction Program. Can’t ride every day? Even if you can only ride part time, we’d love to talk to you. Please email Marilyn Hancock at mhancock@spu.edu. For more benefits of riding in the van, visit spu.edu/vanpools.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year. The next Bulletin will be published Monday, Oct. 5, and the deadline is Thursday, Oct. 1. 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.

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

• Merlinda Widjaja, accounting manager, Controller’s Office 
• Lini Yuono, accounting assistant, Controller’s Office

The Office of Human Resources would like to congratulate the following staff on their new appointments:

• Annie Reed, enrollment operations coordinator II, Enrollment Operations 
• DeHeavalyn Pullium has two roles in the Student Counseling Center, administrative assistant and mental health counselor 
• Jenn Wilson, center for professional education program manager, Center for Professional Education

From University Archivist Adrienne Meier: I came across this prediction about 2020 when looking through past issues of Response magazine. This article, titled "Futures," was included in the March 1984 issue.

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