Behold! A Sacred Sounds of Christmas Virtual Experience is this week! 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.

University Ministries stewards a Benevolence Fund to serve undergraduate students experiencing financial hardship or emergency situations. Typically, an offering for the fund is collected at the annual Thanksgiving Chapel service, but due to the change of the academic schedule this service did not occur. As we come to the close of a particularly difficult year where the fund was in high demand, we invite the SPU community to consider a contribution of any size in support of our students. You can select the “Benevolence Fund” option through University Advancement’s website.

Do you have an unused winter coat or two taking up space at home? Downtown Emergency Services Center has a need for winter coats. If you have any spare winter coats you’d like to donate, please drop by the Center for Learning in lower Moyer Hall by Tuesday, Dec. 8. There is a bin inside the front door (use your card to gain access between 10 a.m.–4 p.m.). All sizes welcome! The donated coats will be taken to DESC’s Donation Center on Wednesday, Dec. 9.

Faith & Co. is delighted to announce the release of nine new films! The four new Season 3 films explore how business serves customers. Watch stories from India to Texas to South Africa to Seattle, and learn how Christians working in banking, building supply, financial products, and fitness are serving customers through their businesses.

In the five new Season 4 films, discover how business serves communities and creation. These stories were filmed in the Philippines, South Africa, Uganda, Central America, and Seattle, and the industries include agriculture, waste management, manufacturing, laundry services, and photo editing.

Enjoy these good news stories of how businesses are participating in God’s work in the world. Also, Faith & Co. is again offering their free online course, “Serving Employees.” The course start date is Jan. 11, 2021. Help us spread the word about this exciting opportunity!

Campus phone numbers are moving to Microsoft Teams and soon, faculty and staff members can access their phone number from the Teams app. Learn about Teams Calling, the benefits it brings, and how to use it in a Teams Orientation hosted by CIS. Sign up for a Teams Orientation session online. The first one-hour session is Wednesday, Dec. 9, 1 p.m., with other sessions in January and February. CIS will continue the rollout of Teams Calling on a department-by-department basis into the beginning of 2021.

Does your school or department website use the “Page Editor” template (sometimes called the “Marketing Template”) in Sitecore? You can now find a Sitecore tutorial to explain how to make your content updates. On the University Communications website, under Website Assistance, go to Sitecore Tutorials. You’ll find six tutorials, including a new tutorial to help schools and departments using the Page Editor template. You’ll also find tutorials about getting started, updating web pages, uploading images, and more.

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 through 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.

Mailing Services hours of operation are 8 a.m.–4 p.m. until Tuesday, Dec. 22. and there are 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.

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 and 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. 14, and the deadline is Thursday, Dec. 10. The last Bulletin for 2020 will be published Dec. 21, and the Bulletin will resume publication on Jan. 4. 

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.

Jennie Warmouth, adjunct professor of education and second grade teacher in Lynnwood, is also a Grosvenor Teacher Fellow. After a June 2019 trip to the Artic, she was recently featured in the National Geographic blog post, “How Our Cafeteria’s Plastic Sporks Sparked My Students’ Empathy for the Earth.”

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

• Greg Reffner, project manager, Leitourgia Project, School of Theology
• Trista Truemper, Title IX/Section 504 coordinator, Office of Inclusive Excellence

An op-ed by Professor Emeritus of English Tom Trzyna titled "A resolution for 2021: Reaching for resiliency" was published in the Seattle Times on Dec. 4.

For his monthly cartoon, Nate Hoover, associate director for the Center for Biblical and Theological Education, explains this month’s feature: This special spud version is the one I sing around my house.

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