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.

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. For more information, select What’s New in 2021? Mark your calendars for two upcoming Virtual Benefits webinars about new benefits’ providers: Aetna on Oct. 14; and HSA Bank on Oct. 15. These webinars will give you opportunities to ask questions and learn more about our new benefits providers.

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.

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. Students can simply log into Handshake and register.

From University Ministries: We know that many students in our commuter and off-campus housing have food security and community connection needs. UMin is offering grab-and-go lunches, as well as sharing resources for them to get connected. This is one way we want to care for our students. Encourage your commuter, CHA, and transfer students to come through for a grab-and-go Sharpen lunch on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 12–1 p.m. in the Eaton Hall Breezeway. Remind your students to maintain 6 feet between each other and wear face coverings when they come through.

A message from Amanda Stubbert, director of Alumni and Parent Relations: This year’s Sacred Sounds of Christmas will be a virtual experience and, for one of the very cool numbers, we need 10–12 TVs by Oct. 16. It can be any model/era (the more diverse the better) and it doesn’t matter if it works or even has a screen. We can get it back to you or dispose of it after the event. If you have one or more, please contact Amanda Stubbert at amandas@spu.edu.

Whether you’ve attended all or none of CIS’s past training sessions, CIS would love to hear from you! Is there an area of technology and a brief training session you are interested in? New ideas are welcome. Which previously offered technology trainings would you like to see repeated? Please let them know by taking a few minutes to complete a brief survey indicating your interests.

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.

As you plan your campus events, please submit them to the SPU Master Calendar. There are two ways to ensure your event gets on the master calendar:

• Via Roomfinder (preferred method)
• Manual submission through Master Calendar

The SPU Wiki has step-by-step instructions for both methods. Please review these before submitting your next request in Roomfinder. If you don’t choose the appropriate settings, your event could go unnoticed by your intended audience. The documentation explains how to choose the audience that should see your event, or let the system determine it automatically. Once an event is submitted, it is still subject to approval by a calendar manager before being posted.

Now, more than ever, connections matter. A strong professional network could be the edge your students need in their professional lives. The SPU Mentor Program matches students with professionals for one-on-one mentoring relationships. Encourage your students to consider the SPU Mentor Program, where they can be paired with a hand-picked mentor in an industry or role of their choosing. Students are currently being placed with long-distance mentors.

The Office of Global Engagement invites students, staff, and faculty to submit photos from their journeys around the world in the 2020 International Photo Contest. 

• Photos must be the original work of the person submitting the photo and must have been taken in a country outside the United States. 
• Each photographer can submit one photo in each category, for a total of up to three photos. 
• Categories include People, Places, and Culture. 

Photos can be submitted Oct. 5–29. Get more information and submit a photo.

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.

During Autumn Quarter, undergraduate students will receive the Stay Smart newsletter each Thursday, highlighting information they need during this hybrid quarter. The first newsletter was sent Thursday, Oct. 1, and can be viewed online in the newsletter archives. The Stay Smart newsletter replaces the Start Smart newsletter, which went to SPU students, faculty, staff members, as well as parents and families, during summer 2020.

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!

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year. The next Bulletin will be published Monday, Oct. 12, and the deadline is Thursday, Oct. 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.

In recognition of his service to the SPU community, Frank Kinard, manager of Mailing and Copying Services, was nominated by his peers and selected by Staff Council as the October Staff Member of the Month. Congratulations and thank you, Frank! Learn more about Frank, and nominate a colleague for recognition on the Staff Council website.

Stephanie Armes, assistant professor of marriage and family therapy, presented an hour-long research symposium alongside masters students Gretchen Hoyum, Aria Hudson, and Marissa Mackey from the SPU Marriage and Family Therapy program. The symposium, titled “Recognizing secondary trauma amidst crisis work,” focused on original research conducted together with Stephanie's students, and was presented at the Washington Association of Marriage and Family Therapy 2020 annual conference on Sept. 26, 2020.

Rebecca Hughes, assistant professor of history, had her article, “‘Grandfather in the Bones’: Scientific Racism and Anglican Missionaries in Uganda, c. 1900–1930” recently published in the journal, Social Sciences and Missions.

Al Erisman, executive-in-residence emeritus, had his article, “Godly Leadership,” published in the Christian Business Review (the peer-reviewed section), Fall 2020, pp. 43–51.

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

• Justina Brown, annual giving specialist, Development
• Omar Harb Michel, graduate programs specialist, School of Education

The Office of Human Resources would like to congratulate Rebekah Johansen on her new appointment to budget and financial analyst, Financial Affairs. 

Nate Mouttet, vice president for Enrollment Management and Marketing, and Jordan Grant, associate vice president for enrollment operations and Student Finance Services, were interviewed by local media for SPU's Tuition Reimagined campaign. Both were interviewed for stories in The Seattle Times and the Puget Sound Business Journal (subscription required) on September 22. The Tuition Reimagined announcement was covered by all local TV stations (KOMO, KING, KIRO, and Q13Fox), as well as radio stations KOMO-AM, KIRO-AM, and KNKX-FM.