Undergraduate Admissions is hard at work recruiting next year’s new class of SPU Falcons, and they would love your help. If you know someone who was born to be a Falcon, invite him or her to apply for Winter, Spring, or Autumn 2016 quarter — then let us know. You could receive a gift! Here’s what you need to do.

First, submit the student’s name at spu.edu/referafalcon. If he or she applies and lists your name in the application, you will receive $25 in Falcon Funds.

When the student fills out the Common Application, in the SPU member section under “Contacts,” tell the student to list that he or she heard about SPU from you. Once we receive your submitted form and his or her application, you’ll get $25 in Falcon Funds. As a bonus, the student can apply for FREE in December, if he or she selects “Institutional Fee Waiver” and uses the promo code SPUGift. The deadline is February 1, so make sure to invite students to apply before then. If you have questions, contact admissions@spu.edu or call 206- 281-2021.

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Faculty, staff, and alumni are invited to attend this weeklong series of workshops beginning Monday, January 11, on topics including “Faith, Work & Community” (Jeff Keuss, professor of Christian ministry, theology, and culture); “Graduate School” (Margaret Diddams, director for the Center of Scholarship and Faculty Development); and “How to Nail the Interview” (Serena Manzo, coordinator in Multi-Ethnic Programs). Panels include young alumni working in human resources and recruiting who will share tips about getting hired, and other alumni who will talk about their experiences working internationally. Encourage your students to attend three or more workshops to receive a free leather portfolio from Alumni Relations.

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Associate Professor of Music Stephen Newby will be a guest artist in this year’s The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington concert on Saturday, December 26, 7:30 p.m. at Town Hall. This is the world’s longest running presentation of Ellington’s three sacred concerts featuring blues, gospel, and jazz pieces. The concert is presented in partnership with Earshot Jazz. 

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A message from Ruth Moon, Response magazine temporary managing editor: “Calling all coffee stories! Coffee is a signature Seattle drink. It is also a ministry outreach tool, a global commodity, and fosters a culture of connection and community. We want to tell Response readers about the ways SPU uses this beverage to engage the culture and change the world. Are you teaching a class or conducting research that involves coffee — its production, its culture, its history, or other aspects of Seattle’s signature drink? Do you know students doing innovative work with coffee production or service? Do you have former students who started their post-college lives as baristas — whether they’ve moved on or are still in the role? Do you just have a great coffee story to tell? We’re looking for student and faculty stories to feature in the upcoming issue of Response, so please send any and all ideas to response@spu.edu.”

A message from Alumni Relations: “Homecoming and Parents Weekend is the perfect time for our entire SPU community to connect with one another and parents and participate in special programming. Homecoming will feature all our Falcon fan favorites including the annual Talent Show, basketball, theatre, Homecoming Luncheon, and more. New this year will be a pre-Talent Show Tailgater (open to the entire SPU community) and Talon’s Birthday Bash, following the women’s basketball game versus Central Washington University on Saturday, January 30. Talon’s Birthday Bash will be an epic celebration sure to go down in Falcon history! The biggest change to this weekend is that all class reunions and most affinity reunions will now be a part of the all new Grand Reunion 2016 inaugural event October 7-9, 2016. (The 50-year reunion event will still take place on June 10, 2016, during Ivy Cutting.) For more information on Homecoming and Parents Weekend, visit the website."

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Thursday, December 31
Men's basketball vs Alaska Anchorage, Brougham Pavilion, 4 p.m.

Saturday, January 2
Men's basketball vs Alaska Fairbanks, Brougham Pavilion, 7 p.m.

For all the latest information about Falcon athletics, visit the Falcons online. More

Assistant Professor of New Testament Laura Holmes will introduce the Center for Biblical and Theological Education’s (CBTE) next Lectio series at a dinner seminar on Tuesday, January 5, 6-9 p.m. The next Lectio is on the Gospel of Mark. The seminar will examine common questions among believers such as “Have you ever wondered how to follow Jesus when you haven’t got it all figured out? When Jesus surprises you? Or when you need encouragement to be faithful?” The seminar is free for faculty and staff, and includes dinner. External guests can also attend for $20. To register, email Nate Hoover, CBTE interim assistant director, at hoovern@spu.edu.

You have until 9:59 a.m. on Tuesday, January 5, to have stationery order(s) delivered on January 15. Stationery orders are now delivered once a month. Orders made after 10 a.m. on January 5 will be delivered February 12. To see deadlines and delivery dates for the remainder of the fiscal year, visit the “Create an Order” stationery page in Banner. For more information, contact Hope McPherson in University Communications at hmcpherson@spu.edu.

Flu shots are now available in Health Services, located in Watson Hall. Current staff, faculty, and dependents (age 15 years and up) who have Cigna coverage through SPU may receive their annual flu shot free of charge as part of the preventive care benefit. For those not covered by Cigna, the cost is $25. Make an appointment by calling 206-281-2231.

The Faculty/Staff Bulletin is published weekly during the academic year. If you have information or event news, send it as soon as possible to Bulletin editor Tracy Norlen at fsb-editor@spu.edu. Submissions may be edited for clarity. The next deadline is Thursday, December 24. The next Bulletin will be published Monday, January 4, 2016.

The SPU Staff Council named Karen Altus in the Center for Career and Calling as the December Staff Member of the Month. Karen is the interim associate director, and helps provide student mentoring, counseling, and teaching, as well as collaborates with many campus offices to help students in the discernment and planning of their vocational calling. Congratulations, Karen!

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Jeffrey Overstreet, a communications specialist in University Communications, was invited by Vashon Island High School English teacher Steven Denlinger to teach a three-Friday workshop on film criticism and the art of writing reviews during November and December. Students from Denlinger’s English classes and journalism classes participated. They practiced taking notes during films, developed theses and outlines, wrote full-length reviews, and revised them. Four students were chosen by Denlinger and Overstreet and awarded in a special ceremony at the school. Their final reviews were published on Overstreet’s website, LookingCloser.org, in a series called “Tomorrow’s Film Critics Today.”

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Professor of Music Eric Hanson recently gave a presentation to the donors and staff of Seattle Symphony at Benaroya Hall. The hour-long presentation was titled “O’, What Might Have Been! The Saga of Mahler’s Unfinished Tenth.”

A joint paper by Joanna Poznanska, professor of international business, was published in the peer-reviewed International Journal of Sustainable Economy (Vol. 7, No.3, Inderscience Publisher, 2015.) The paper was titled "Globalization Under Oligopolistic Competition: Policy Implications From 'Strategic Trade' Model" and was co-written with Kazimierz Poznanski, professor of international studies at the University of Washington.

Julie Antilla, assistant professor for curriculum and instruction, received the 2016 Scholar Award from the Association of Independent Liberal Arts Colleges for Teacher Education (AILACTE). She will receive the award at the AILACTE annual convention in February 2016 in Las Vegas. Congratulations, Julie! 

Professor of Psychology Margaret Brown co-authored two books in 2015. The first one, published by the American Psychological Association, is titled Service Learning in Psychology: Enhancing Undergraduate Education for the Public Good. This text reviews the theory, research, and practice behind service learning, establishing it as an effective pedagogy that can help psychology departments meet each of the key learning goals outlined in the American Psychological Association's Guidelines for the Undergraduate Psychology Major.

The second book, published by Posts and Telecom Press in partnership with Taylor & Francis Group, is titled The Self (2nd ed.) This text, translated into Chinese by Dr. Kaiping Peng at U.C. Berkeley, carefully documents the changing conceptions and the value accorded the self in psychology over time. It further outlines the many alternative conceptions of this central domain in social psychology. New research and conceptions are juxtaposed with the classic and traditional, providing the reader with a comprehensive introduction to the study of the self.