A message from the Office of Facility and Project Management: During the annual Christmas closure, campus building temperatures will be lowered and maintained below normal “unoccupied” set points. This allows the University to conserve energy and reduce heating expenses for unoccupied or minimally occupied buildings. Temperature settings may be lowered prior to the closure in classroom spaces with no scheduled uses shown in EMS.

A summary of campus building temperature adjustments is available on the Facilities wiki. During the closure, heating problems will be addressed by the on-call engineer, reachable via the Office of Safety and Security. However, the on-call engineer will not adjust building temperature set points.

Nominate someone for Staff of the Month! Do you know an SPU staff member who impacts our community through their service and leadership? Nominate that individual today!

The most recent SPU Voices podcast features Amanda Heath Stubbert ’95, director of Alumni, Parent, and Family Relations, and her husband, Corbett Stubbert ’97, presenting a special Christmas episode — the personal story of Jesus Christ. There are many different readings at Christmas, including Christmas carols and concerts. One of the most loved traditional Christmas festivals is the "Nine Lessons and Carols," which is broadcast every Christmas Eve from King's College in Cambridge, England. Listen now or read the transcript.

All 2022 benefit-eligible employees and enrolled spouses can still complete their Biometric Screening for the 2022 Benefit Plan Year and earn $25 toward their Wellness Incentive.

Just go to: My.QuestForHealth.com to set up a username and password.

Enter your unique ID: Aetna WID# (from your Aetna ID card)*

Registration Key: SPU2022

From here, you will be given the option to register for a biometric screening at a local Quest Diagnostics Patient Service Center OR download a physician form to complete along with fax or upload instructions. Acceptable physician screening dates range from Jan. 1, 2022 to Dec. 31, 2022. All screening results must be uploaded or faxed to Quest Diagnostics by Dec. 31, 2022.

*Note: If you have old Quest Diagnostics credentials once used with Cigna, you will need to set up a new username and password.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly on Mondays during the academic year (or Tuesday, if Monday is a holiday). The next deadline is Thursday, Jan. 5, and the next issue will be published Monday, Jan. 9, which will be the first issue for 2023.

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.

Alice Bravo, assistant professor of teacher education, has co-authored “Supporting the inclusion and retention of autistic students: Exploring teachers’ and paraeducators’ use of evidence-based practices in public elementary schools,” which was published in Frontiers in Psychiatry.

Ben Hartley, associate professor of mission and world Christianity, had two items published in November: A chapter titled “Missions,” which analyzed 18th-century evangelical mission on three continents, was published in the Oxford Handbook of Early Evangelicalism, edited by Jonathan Yeager. His article, “The 1921 Founding of the International Missionary Council in the Life of John R. Mott,” was published in the November issue of the International Review of Mission, the scholarly journal of the World Council of Churches. This issue celebrated the 100th anniversary of the International Missionary Council, which is now called the Commission on World Mission and Evangelism of the World Council of Churches.

Mohammad Qadam Shah, assistant professor of global development, attended the International Anti-Corruption Conference 2022 in Washington, D.C., Dec. 6–10. He also co-authored a report on the Taliban’s constitution and laws (PDF), which was published by International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance.

Jason Thornberry, receptionist in the School of Education and adjunct instructor of writing, had his essay “Seventeen Seconds" published in Two Hawks Quarterly this December.