The SPU women's soccer team continues into the third round of the NCAA Women's Soccer Championships where it will face No. 1 seed Point Loma in Mesa, Colorado, on Thursday, Nov. 30. For the first time in 12 years, the No. 5 seeded Falcon volleyball team is in the postseason and will head to California for the Division II West Regionals in Coussoulis Gym at Cal State San Bernardino. Catch all the playoff action online at spu.falcons.com.

The latest SPU Voices podcast features Tod Yansomboon, an international student from Thailand currently in his final quarter at SPU. Tod left his home at the age of 15 to attend high school in the U.S. in pursuit of his overarching goal: to understand business and how business can help others. After three years of high school in three different U.S. states, Tod arrived on the SPU campus to study business administration and found his dreams all coming true — until COVID hit. Forced to return home without much hope of returning, Tod turned to social media for community and support. He is now a true social media influencer with over one million subscribers, and his videos have been being viewed over 200 million times. Listen or read the podcast online.

Please join Educational Technology and Media on Wednesday, Nov. 29, 12–1 p.m. in the library seminar room for the next session of our campus conversation around generative AI tools. In this meeting, we will look at AI tools within the information landscape discussing skills, ethics, virtues. A box lunch is available. Please register by the end of the day on Monday, Nov. 27, to order your lunch. You can register using the following link: https://forms.office.com/r/FXQxvFjdik

A message from the SPU Bookstore: Get your holiday gifts at 20% off all SPU merchandise and check out the limited “End of Range” section with selected tops at $15 and T-shirts at $10. Our holiday sale at the campus bookstore will run through Friday, Dec. 15. Get your goodies while supplies last.

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 every Monday during the academic year, or Tuesday if Monday is a holiday. The next deadline is Thursday, Nov. 30, and the next issue will be published Monday, Dec. 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.

Jaeil Lee, professor and co-director in the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, received the 2023-24 WA-FCS Research Scholar of the Year Award at the Washington State AAFCS (American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences) annual conference in Vancouver, WA. She also presented "A Passion for Fashion: Five Ways to Help Your Students Succeed' at the conference. In her presentation, she gave practical ways to help students succeed in the competitive fashion industry. She gave her ideas for helping students in college preparation and selection, building a portfolio, personal brand, enhancing critical professional skills, finding internships, and exploring new and non-traditional career opportunities. Congratulations, Jaeil!

The Department of Family and Consumer Sciences was well represented at the Washington state FCS annual conference in Vancouver, WA. Jaeil Lee, professor of apparel design and merchandising, was honored as the WA-FCS Research Scholar of the Year for her extensive international work and in honor of her Fulbright work. Raedene Copeland, associate professor of apparel design and merchandising, served as a keynote speaker. Jordy Larsen, a 2017 graduate in the FCS secondary education, was awarded the WA-FCS Teacher-of-the Year for her extraordinary work at Dimmitt Middle School in Renton for elevating FCS through equity, social emotional learning, and life skills emphasis, especially through the pandemic. She is now a nominee for the national FCS Teacher of the Year Award. Emerita Professor Dr. Sharleen Kato serves as president of WA-FCS.

A series of drawings by Tucker Goodman, assistant professor of theatre, is featured in a solo exhibition titled “Family Matters” in the Kendall Center Gallery at Taproot Theatre Company. The works were selected to complement Taproot’s production of "Georgiana & Kitty: Christmas at Pemberley," playing through December 30, 2023.

Jeffrey Overstreet, assistant professor of English and writing, has an essay published as a chapter in the new anthology of film essays, Film as an Expression of Spirituality: The Arts and Faith Top 100 Films (Cambridge Scholars, 2023). The book focuses on some of the films that have been honored on a list of the top 100 "spiritually significant" films voted on and published by a community of Christian film critics once hosted by Image magazine. Jeff's essay is a close study of a 1993 film by director Krzysztof Kieślowski, "To Love and Be Loved in Return: Thirty Years of Discovering Kieślowski’s Blue." The essay includes anecdotes drawn from Jeff's SPU study abroad experience in 1993, when he and other SPU students visited the new chambers of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.

Kimberly Segall, professor of English and cultural studies, presented her paper, “Digital Icons: Celebrity and Grassroots Digital Activism by U.S. Muslim Women,” at the Middle East Studies Association Conference in Montreal as part of a panel on Arab American Studies and Interracial Solidarities.

An essay by Mischa Willett, assistant professor of English and writing, about The Merchant of Venice and "The Karate Kid" titled ”Mercy is for the Weak” was published in a special print issue of The Mockingbird and is now available online.

Please join the Office of Human Resources in welcoming the following new staff members.

Dolly Ebea, biology lab coordinator, Biology
Ian Fleshman-Cooper, technology support analyst I, Computer & Information Systems
Cheyao Guo, business systems analyst, Computer & Information Systems
Audrey Heinz, graduate program coordinator, Marriage & Family Therapy, School of Psychology, Family, and Community
Karen Isbell, administrative assistant to the Executive Offices, Executive Office
Jorge Vargas, accountant, Seattle Pacific Foundation
Jason Woolley, systems support manager, Advancement Services