A message from Bryan Jones, interim vice president for enrollment management and marketing: Each year we try to convey to incoming students the kind of learning community they will find here at SPU. An example of this has been a project that the Undergraduate Admissions team spearheads in asking faculty to write a personal note to each admitted student for the coming fall. 

Because it is an “old school” type of engagement, it is hard to quantify the rate of return on your investment of time (which we know is very valuable). Yet each year, we get unsolicited feedback at our spring events and from our admitted student research that receiving a personal note card from a college professor is a powerful message that students will be known and may begin an actual relationship with a faculty member. As you navigate these challenging times in the life of SPU, we know that you continue to juggle so much as you care for and invest in our current students. Knowing that the students who are in front of you are your top priority, we work to keep this project manageable, while still reaching out to a large, yet targeted segment, of our incoming students with personal notecards.

We ask that you either sign up for your cards to be delivered to you or that you join us for a faculty notecard writing party, where your cards will be waiting for you.

• If you are willing/able to write even just a few cards, please COMPLETE THIS BRIEF FORM (takes about 30 seconds to complete).
• Notecard writing parties: We would love for you to join us for one or both faculty notecard writing parties during lunch. Pizza and snacks will be offered at both, as well as music, prizes, and good times with colleagues. (Please RSVP via the form linked above.)
• Most faculty will write to students within their own academic disciplines, but you may still be asked to write a general note of welcome to students from outside your program’s majors or to those whom are undecided.
• All notecards will be pre-labeled and pre-stamped, and we will include suggested text for your note. (Though it’s a wonderful touch if you include one of your business cards if you have them.)

Faculty notecard writing party #1: Monday, Feb. 20, noon–2 p.m., and Faculty notecard writing party #2: Tuesday, Feb. 21, noon–2 p.m., will be held in the McKenna Hall conference room. We hope to have all notecards mailed by Monday, Feb. 27, so that our students will hear about our admitted-student events on time.

At the end of this project, we plan to award the coveted “Golden Falcon Pen-holder Award” to the faculty member who writes the most cards. We also have a LOT of SPU swag to give away and will be hosting faculty drawings among those who write cards. Again, thank you for all that you are doing for our current students, and we thank you in advance to those who are willing and able to help us with personal cards again this year!

The Faculty Diversity Committee and Faculty Life Office invite faculty and staff of color to a networking luncheon, Feb. 16, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m. in the Hendricks Falcon Club in Royal Brougham Pavilion. Please register here by Friday, Feb. 9, so that we can order the appropriate amount of food from Petra’s Mediterranean Bistro. If you have questions, email faculty member sshaban@spu.edu.

SPU’s annual biometric screenings return Feb. 21–22. Human Resources, Aetna, and Quest Diagnostics have partnered together to offer free, confidential health and wellness screenings available to SPU employees and spouses enrolled in SPU’s health plan. Participants earn $25 toward the 2023 Aetna Wellness Incentive.

On-campus sessions are available Tuesday, Feb. 21, 7 a.m.–12 p.m., Upper Gwinn, Cascade Room, or Wednesday, Feb. 22, 7:30 a.m.–12 p.m., Library Conference Room. Conducted by certified health professionals, your biometric screening will take less than 20 minutes and include a brief health assessment, blood pressure screening, and blood test. Both fasting and non-fasting options available.

Bring your Aetna medical ID card to your biometric screening. To schedule an appointment, go to My.QuestForHealth.com to set up a username and password. Note: If you have old Quest Diagnostics credentials once used with Cigna, you will need to set up a new username and password. Enter your unique ID: Aetna WID# (from your Aetna ID card); and registration key: SPU2023. Contact: Cherylin Shdo in Human Resources at shdoc@spu.edu with any questions.

The School of Education will present its monthly EdTalks event on Thursday, Feb. 16, 4–5:30 p.m. The title is “Supporting Asian American Students During the Rise in Anti-Asian Hate Crimes.” This presentation will identify how the Model Minority Myth and other biases have been weaponized against Asian American students and works against their racial identity. Our speaker, Joan King, will offer strategies and methods for educators to implement in their classrooms to better support their Asian American students with a culturally competent approach. This Zoom event is free, but you must register here to receive the link.

The Music Department welcomes composer Nansi Carroll to Seattle to celebrate her music and perform the world premiere of A Tree Telling of Orpheus, a piece commissioned by SPU. SPU musicians will also perform a choral concert in Bellevue, featuring her music with the SPU Concert Choir. All of these events are free and open to the public:

Sunday, Feb. 12, 10 a.m., St. Margaret's Episcopal Church, 4228 Factorial Blvd. SE, Bellevue: Holy Eucharist and Celebration of Nansi Carroll, with Nansi Carroll and the SPU Concert Choir.

Thursday, Feb. 16, 11 a.m., Nickerson Studios 103: “Faith and Music,” a talk with Nansi Carroll. Open to the public. In this discussion, Nancy will discuss the intersection of her faith with her music. 

Thursday, Feb. 16, 7:30 p.m., Nickerson Studios: The world premiere of A Tree Telling of Orpheus, with the SPU Chamber Singers, TORCH, and the POST-HASTE REED Duo.

In the new SPU Voices Podcast, meet author Laura Jackson (’02 grad in Christian ministries). In her new book Discovering Dyscalculia, Laura writes about her child’s struggle with numbers, their shared discovery of dyscalculia, and her family’s journey supporting their daughter in school and in life. Though Dyscalculia impacts about one in every 20 children and adults, it is not widely recognized or understood. This math learning disability not only affects individuals in educational settings, but it also impacts their everyday life when it comes to handling money, telling time, measuring quantities, and performing basic calculations. Listen now or read the transcript.

Owen Ewald, assistant professor of classics, presents “Joys of the Greek Bible" at this year’s C. May Marston Lecture on Tuesday, Feb. 7, 2 p.m. in Upper Gwinn Commons. He will share his experiences reading and teaching the Bible in ancient Greek — both the Septuagint (the Greek translation of the Hebrew Scriptures) and the New Testament, which was originally written in Greek. Despite some small differences between the Septuagint and the Hebrew Masoretic Text, the messages of Scripture to God’s people remain strong and consistent. When the New Testament authors quote the Septuagint, they carry and amplify earlier Scriptural messages to a new group of God’s people — Christians.

Jonathan Tran, Baylor University’s associate professor of philosophical theology and George W. Baines Chair of Religion, is the guest lecturer for the 2023 Palmer Lecture on Thursday, Feb. 9, 7–9 p.m. in Upper Gwinn. His lecture is titled, “The Divine Economy vs. Racial Capitalism: Identity Politics, Antiracism, and the Redemption of All Things.” With antiracism lost in a fog of identity politics, it has surrendered the work of liberation to debasing forms of class warfare. But antiracism as a mode of liberation theology narrates justice and mercy as natural to the world insofar as they are natural to God. By considering the work of local forms of Christian life invested in God’s deep economy, we see God’s redemption of the world.

The lecture is sponsored by SPU’s School of Theology and Seattle Pacific Seminary.

Luncheon: Faculty and staff members are invited to a luncheon on Feb. 10, 12–2 p.m. in Fine Center at First Free Methodist Church with the 2023 Palmer Lecture speaker Jonathan Tran, Baylor University’s associate professor of philosophical theology and George W. Baines Chair of Religion. For more information about Dr. Tran, check out his book Asian Americans and the Spirit of Racial Capitalism, which presents a novel way of thinking about and approaching racism and antiracism. RSVPs are required through EventBrite.

Documentary: The SPU community is also invited to the free documentary film screening of Far East, Deep South on Friday, Feb. 10, 7–9:30 p.m., at the Majestic Bay Theatre, 2044 NW Market St., Seattle. RSVPs for the documentary are also required through EventBrite.

Mammograms save lives! To help make these essential tests convenient for women in our community, SPU is hosting the Swedish Mobile Mammography coach on Wednesday–Thursday, Feb. 22–23. Schedule your appointment by going to Swedish Breast Center online scheduler. Bring your medical history form from the online scheduling link, your insurance card, and photo ID. Face masks required. The coach will be near Tiffany Loop on Third Ave. W. For more information, contact Cherylin Shdo, human resources benefits specialist at shdoc@spu.edu.

As of Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2023, all mail and packages must be picked up directly from SPU Mailing and Copying Services. Each department must make arrangements to collect their items on a regular basis. Departments should bring their department’s outgoing mail to Mailing Services to be processed with the blue slip prior to 3 p.m. in order for the mail to go out the same day (within reason). If you have any question or concerns, contact Mailing Services at 206-281-2077.

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 contact 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 on Mondays during the academic year (or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday). The next deadline is Thursday, Feb. 9, and the next issue will be published Monday, Feb. 13.

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.

Candace Vance, associate professor of theatre, is currently playing the title role in Oscar Wilde's play, A Woman of No Importance, at Taproot Theatre Company. Wrote Broadway World: Seattle about Candace's performance: “You will be charmed. You will be delighted. You will be entertained. Candace Vance as Mrs. Rachel Arbuthnot is the lynchpin of the show. Her fortitude is what not only allows but compels others to change. Vance draws you into her plight without playing the victim. She shares her story without asking others to fix it, and ultimately champions her own cause.”

Yuri Rodrigues, assistant professor of electrical engineering, is a member of the Seattle City Light advisory board and worked on Seattle’s 2022 Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). His work supported the development of a long-term strategy to meet anticipated customer energy needs over the next 20 years. The IRP also outlines a 10-year clean energy action plan that allows Seattle City Light to meet its goals around reliability, affordability, and environmental responsiveness while also complying with regulatory requirements and ensuring service equity.

In January 2023, at the 56th anniversary of Krida Wacana Christian University (UKRIDA) in West Jakarta, Indonesia, UKRIDA recognized the SPU School of Education with the award for “Committed Partner in Boosting Faculty Research, Publication, and Professional Development.” UKRIDA acknowledged SPU’s support — specifically the efforts of Kris Gritter, professor of curriculum and instruction; Munyi Shea, professor of counselor education; and David Wicks, associate professor of curriculum and instruction — in helping the professional growth of UKRIDA faculty.

Brittany Tausen, associate professor of psychology, and recent undergraduate alumna, Amy Funabashi, had their paper, “Faith in Action? Exploring the relationship between public and private religiosity, race, and social justice importance among Christian college students,” published in the Journal of Psychology and Theology.

Christy Barnes, an adjunct instructor and Center for Professional Education program coordinator in the School of Education, has already had three poems published in 2023. The poems include, “The Classics,” in Plume; “Late Postpartum Dream Sequence,” in Literary Mama, and “Snag,” in SWWIM. Christy is also a graduate of SPU’s MFA program.

Hannah Hinsch, an access services specialist in the SPU Library and 2020 SPU alumna, had an essay, “Dark Architecture,” published by Ekstasis Magazine, a project of Christianity Today.

Bill Woodward, professor emeritus of history, continues an active schedule of invited historical talks to civic groups, local and statewide. His most recent presentation, “Will the 2020s Roar Like the 1920s?” was given Feb. 4 at the Hoquiam Library. This particular lecture, showing startling parallels between the two eras, is sponsored by Humanities Washington. For this occasion, he added that a multi-ballot election of a house speaker last happened in, yes, 1923. Other recent topics have included “Seattle, British Columbia: The Way We Almost Were,” “The Civil War in Washington Territory,” and “Lincoln’s Gettysburg Sermon.”

Please join the Office of Human Resources in welcoming Levi Barlet, studios manager, Nickerson Street Studios, Music.

Carlene Brown, professor of music and director of the Music Therapy program, was interviewed for the KING-5 TV news story, “Bill introduced to broaden access to music therapy in Washington," on Jan. 26. The bill would expand access to music therapists in Washington by making them eligible for state licensure. Also interviewed for the story was Carlene’s former student and 2010 SPU music therapy graduate Betsy Hartman, who’s now a board-certified music therapist and founder of PNW Music Therapy.

Nate Hoover, program coordinator in the MFA-Creative Writing Program, explains his monthly cartoon: If I were in charge of naming the animals, there would be a lot more puns. Which one is your favorite? To see more of my cartoons, follow me on Instagram: @hoovernathaniel.

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