A message from SPU's COVID Decision Group: We suggest employees receive a booster shot and a flu shot as we enter the winter season and prepare for Winter Quarter. Our campus community has responded well with a high vaccination rate. Thank you! We know there were many departments that went above and beyond to care for our campus community to make this happen. Once again, thank you! For more information about booster shots, please visit the Centers for Disease Control website.

Join SPU this Giving Tuesday on Nov. 30, and make a difference on campus for the areas you care about. Give now and have your gift be matched dollar-for-dollar for the first $5,000 given! Visit give.spu.edu/givingtuesday to help make a difference in the lives of SPU students.

From the Office of the Provost: In fall 2021, the Theological Integration Fellows Program welcomed its third cohort, comprised of Carlos Arias (ECS), Kristen Hoffman (Psych/Library), Brittany Tausen (Psych), and Joshua Tom (Sociology). We now look forward to receiving our fourth-year cohort applications. This program and certification provides seminary training to faculty members who wish to better integrate their faith with their disciplines and professionally enhance their teaching and scholarship. If you are interested in participating in the fourth cohort of this program, starting in autumn 2022, please submit an application to the Office of the Provost no later than Monday, Dec. 13. Applications must be accompanied by a letter of approval from your dean.

Check out the latest issue of On Point, the School of Education’s e-newsletter, to learn about SPU’s new Early Childhood Education major, catch up on doctoral research, welcome new faculty, and hear what alumni have been accomplishing.

You can now buy Fort Casey Inn gift certificates online. Share a unique and adventurous present with your loved ones this holiday season! For more information, visit the Fort Casey Inn gift certificate page.

From Mailing Services: Please note our updated Thanksgiving and Christmas break hours:

• Nov. 29–Dec. 23, 8 a.m.–4 p.m., however there will be no mail deliveries to the departments. You are welcome to come in during those hours to pick up your mail and/or packages.
• Dec. 24, 8 a.m.–12 p.m.
• Dec. 27–31, 8 a.m.–12 p.m., with no counter sales. If you wish to pick up your departmental mail, please come to the back door for assistance.
• Jan. 3, 2022, Mail Services resumes normal operational hours, 8 a.m.–4 p.m., with afternoon department mail and package deliveries.

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.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year. The next deadline is Thursday, Dec. 2, and the next issue will be published Monday, Dec. 6. 

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.

On Nov. 19, Matt Bellinger, assistant professor of communication, gave a presentation at the National Communication Association’s annual convention in Seattle. His paper, co-authored with Collin Syfert of Fitchburg State University, was titled “The Rhetorical Transformation of the Green New Deal: Adapting to New Crises and New Coalitions.”

An essay by Alberto Ferreiro, professor of European history, titled ““Pacianus of Barcelona,” was published in Brill Encyclopedia of Early Christianity. The essays are required to contain the most updated research and insights by the author. It is also accompanied with a historiography essay on Pacianus, who lived in the fourth century and was bishop of Barcelona. He wrote important works on penance and baptism, and against heresy, especially Arianism. This is one of five essays that Alberto has written for the project.

On Nov. 18, Lilly Endowment awarded a $1.25 million grant to Jeff Keuss, professor of Christian ministry, and his team at Pivot Northwest, an innovation hub centered on the engagement and empowerment of young adult church leaders. The grant is intended to continue the work of Pivot Northwest through a second phase of the program titled PACE. The second phase will be focused on preparation, activism, church, and engagement. Jeff and his team will utilize the grant funding to convene annual groups of young adult leaders, host public events and innovation summits, and create a program to train PACE mentors. The central goal of Phase Two is to assist regional Christian faith communities in creating new and innovative ministries that generate spaces and opportunities for young adults to exercise their own agency in shaping experiences that nourish their faith. For more information, please visit pivotnw.org.

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

• Alayna Brauer, Title IX special investigations officer, Safety and Security
• Pierce Salave’a, assistant director, visits and events, University Recruitment and Admissions
• William Stover, program manager, Industrial-Organizational Psychology, School of Psychology, Family, and Community
• Christina Traverso, Title IX special investigations officer, Safety and Security