Behold! A Sacred Sounds of Christmas Virtual Experience is less than two weeks away! This multimedia event features music in settings as diverse as a Northwest forest, Seattle streets, and our own campus. Get to know the compelling and uncommon life stories and talent of some of our nationally renowned and musically gifted alumni. Watch the latest trailer to get a taste for what’s in store for you at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 12! Register now at spu.edu/behold.

The library building is currently closed for Christmas break and will reopen Monday, Jan. 4., 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Regular hours will resume on Tuesday, Jan 5, 2021:

• Monday–Thursday, 8 a.m.-8 p.m.
• Friday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
• Saturday, Closed
• Sunday, 1 p.m.–5 p.m.

Library faculty and staff are available online for support.

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.

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.

Contactless pickup in the SPU Library will be available Monday, Nov. 30–Thursday, Dec. 17. Items requested online for contactless pickup may be collected in the front vestibule of the Ames Library, Mondays and Thursdays, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. Use your SPU ID card to access the building.

During Christmas break from Nov. 30 to Dec. 22, Mailing Services hours of operation are 8 a.m.–4 p.m., however there will be no mail deliveries to departments. Faculty and staff are welcome to come in during those hours to pick up mail and/or packages. Between Dec. 28 and Dec. 31, Mailing Services will have limited operational hours of 8:30 a.m. to 12 p.m., with no counter sales. If you wish to pick up departmental mail during that week, come to the back door for assistance. On Monday, Jan. 4, Mailing Services resumes normal business hours, 8 a.m.–4 p.m., with afternoon department mail and package deliveries.

The Office of Inclusive Excellence is implementing a three-part professional development workshop and yearlong engagement focused on racial equity and pedagogy for faculty members. The second workshop will be held on Wednesday, Dec. 2, 10 a.m.–12 p.m., and the third workshop will be held on Thursday, Jan. 21, 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Learn more.

Join Director of Public Information Tracy Norlen and Social Media Specialist Esther Yun for an informative session on how to promote your event to faculty, staff, students, alumni, and the general public. The session will mainly cover best practices in social media, but also briefly review poster distribution, internal e-newsletters, websites, videos, local blogs, online event calendars, and more. This online session via Microsoft Teams will be offered Thursday, Dec. 3, 2–3 p.m. RSVP to Tracy at tcnorlen@spu.edu.

Important announcement from Human Resources: It’s time to transition our HSA or HRA accounts to a unified HSA Bank structured account for the 2021 plan year. What to expect:

Nov. 11: To make this go smoothly, HSA Bank has advised us not to use our existing HSA/HRA debit cards as of Wednesday, Nov. 11.

Nov. 24–30: We will experience a brief period with no access.

• Plan ahead for purchases or services that need to be paid during these dates of no access.
• After Monday, Nov. 30, your existing debit card will be reactivated for 10 more days — before it is then disabled permanently.

New HSA bank debit cards should arrive by Tuesday, Dec. 15.

More information at HSA/HRA Fund Transition to HSA Bank and New Debit Cards.

Join Computer and Information Services on Dec. 8 or 9 for a training session on Microsoft Forms, the simple solution available to all of SPU for digitizing paper forms as well as creating online surveys and polls. This training will cover a variety of electronic forms tools, but will focus primarily on Microsoft Forms. Let us know your questions and RSVP here to receive a Microsoft Teams meeting link. Contact Allison Pincus in CIS at pincusa@spu.edu with questions, and see here for more information on the CIS training program.

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 or 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, Dec. 7, and the deadline is Thursday, Dec. 3. 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.

Dale Cannavan, associate professor of health and human performance, gave a one-hour oral presentation at the Washington National Strength and Conditioning Associations conference on Nov. 21, 2020. The title of his presentation was “Training from the ground up.” This presentation discussed the implications of the foot structure on athletic performance and how foot training can improve performance.

Jeff Keuss, professor of Christian ministry, theology and culture, presented a paper titled “Disruptive Pedagogy in an Age of Protest: Paul Ricœur’s Call for Justice as a Commitment to the Literary Self” on Nov. 21, 2020, at the International Ricœur Conference 2020 hosted at Katholieke Universiteit te Leuven (Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium). The paper addresses Ricœur’s legacy of writing on hermeneutics of justice and how his work provides a helpful and holistic pathway for justice in how and what is taught and centered in classrooms for the sake of authentic identity formation as global citizens. The paper brings into conversation writers such as bell hooks, Vladimir Nabokov, Ta-Nehisi Coates, and Zadie Smith with Ricœur’s oeuvre to exemplify the vitality of disruptive pedagogies for the sake of justice and activism.

A practice-exchange article by Paul Kim, professor of psychology, titled “Teaching Korean cultural constructs to American students: Examples from a South Korea study abroad course,” was published in the most recent issue of the Psychology Teaching Review. This article provides examples of activities and excursions that were utilized during a study abroad in South Korea with SPU students.

Professor Emeritus of English Tom Trzyna’s book, New Poems, has been released by Wipf and Stock Resources Publications. Poet Ralph Skip Stevens, author of At Bunker Cove, says, "The wide variety in imagery — as in poems that honor the California oaks, or exotica like the ‘shocking crimson birds with emerald wings’ of Muscat — yields a poetry alive to and filled with respect for the natural world and the people who inhabit it." Tom says, “I wanted to be a poet from seventh grade. Now that I have finished some books on pressing issues, I made time for verse.”

Please join the Office of Human Resources in welcoming Daniel Griffin, student loan coordinator in Student Financial Services; and Carolynn Tulluck, assistant director, in the Faculty Life Office.