A message from Human Resources: Did you know that we have a program in place called “Perks At Work” to help you save money on things like home furnishings, tickets to local and national attractions, movies, and so much more! Visit Perks at Work at perksatwork.com and log in using your work email address. They will find you with the SPU credentials and show you discounts on events, attractions, shopping, and more. Both local and nationwide discounts are available. Check it out!

If you have an HSA, are you using it to the fullest? Did you know there are triple tax advantages to HSA accounts? Have you logged into your HSA account and set up your profile? Head over to www.hsabank.com and review your account and use it to its fullest advantage!

Did you know the Seattle Public Library will give you free passes to museums just because you work in Seattle? Get more information here.

University Communications has branded SPU digital letterhead available for faculty and staff to use when writing electronic referral letters for students. Contact your University Communications specialist for more information.

A message from Undergraduate Admissions: A huge thank you to over 80 faculty and staff who volunteered to handwrite cards to admitted students for this coming fall. Year after year, new students tell us how much they’ve appreciated this personal touch. Thanks to your help, over 1,400 students received cards! The competition was tight this year for the Golden Falcon Pen Holder Award (which goes to the faculty member who wrote the most cards) but Andrew Ryder, associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, edged out the competition when he exceeded 50 cards. Congratulations, Andrew, and thank you!

More opportunities to be involved:

1. Additional cards: We are continuing to admit qualified students (over 500 since mid-February) and would love for them to receive a card. If you have the capacity to write additional cards, please email kimward@spu.edu and let her know how many cards you would like.
2. Phone calls: Our admissions counselors and student workers are regularly reaching out to our admitted students by phone, but a personal call from a professor in their intended area of study could have a huge impact on a student’s decision to choose SPU. If you can help with phone calls, please email kimward@spu.edu and let her know how many students you would like to call. The intent is that these calls would be made the first two weeks of April.

Thank you for the many ways you are all supporting both our current and prospective students!

SPU’s annual Giving Day is just over a week away, and we hope you’ll join us online for a day to raise support for the SPU programs and areas our campus community relies on. The Center for Faithful Business, Living Well initiative, and Psyc PEERS fund are just a few of the areas you can support this year. Visit givingday.spu.edu today to check out the different areas you can support on Wednesday, April 5. One Day. One Purpose. One Incredible Impact.

If you were unable to attend the recent Palmer Lecture with Dr. Jonathan Tran from Baylor University, you can now watch his lecture online, “The Divine Economy vs. Racial Capitalism: Identity Politics, Antiracism and the Redemption of All Things.”

Summer reservation requests are now being taken for the Faculty/Staff House at SPU's Camp Casey on Whidbey Island. Full-time faculty and staff can make a reservation request for periods of stay between June 12–Sept. 11, 2023.  Reservation requests are due by April 7, 2023.

Summer requests are based on years of service to SPU and past summer stays at Casey. Employees are ranked by their years of service as verified by Human Resources. Once the ranking is developed, the past summer stay history is cross checked. If you have stayed at Casey during the summer, your ranking is replaced with the years it has been since your stay at Casey. Request a reservation here. Curious about how the lottery works, or how to stay at Camp Casey with discounted faculty and staff rates? Check out the HR wiki. Questions? Contact Camp Casey at campcasey@spu.edu.

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, March 30, and the next issue will be published Monday, April 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.

From Assistant Vice President of Finance Jen Smithwick and the Finance Office: Congratulations to Suzanne Hsu, senior accountant, who recently passed all parts of the CPA exam!

Alberto Ferreiro, professor emeritus of European history, had this article,“The First Introduction of the Cult of St. Martin of Tours in Gallaecia in Late Antiquity: Portucale, Auriense, or Dumium/Bracara Augusta?” accepted for publication. Alberto presented this originally at the conference San Martín de Tours y su proyección en la Gallaecia de época Sueva. Congreso Internacional del nacimiento de San Martín de Tours (316-2016), Patrón de Ouresne, in 2016. It will be published in Compostellanum, the official academic journal of the Archdiocese of Santiago de Compostela, Spain. For the last half century it has been dedicated to publishing studies on all aspects of the Way of St. James, or El Camino, and above all its spirituality. This paper answers the fundamental question as to where the first church dedicated to St. Martin of Tours was established in the Iberian Peninsula. It became the first pilgrimage destination in the peninsula for devotees of Martin of Tours. In the ensuing Middle Ages, literally thousands of shrines, monasteries, churches, and some cathedrals were dedicated to him in Spain and Portugal alone. Alberto has previously published a half dozen other studies on this proliferation.