It’s almost here! Giving Day is this Wednesday, April 3, and we hope you’ll join us online to support student groups and programs that make SPU so great. Visit givingday.spu.edu today.

Celebrate the books, articles, and other scholarly work of SPU faculty on Thursday, April 4, anytime between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. in the Library Reading Room.

The Faculty Life Office invites you to the 2024 Winifred E. Weter Lecture on Tuesday, April 9. Join us as Professor of Psychology Paul Youngbin Kim presents, “Redeeming Korean Constructs of Han, Nunchi, and Jeong: Lessons for Interpersonal and Communal Flourishing.” The lecture will be at 7 p.m. in Upper Gwinn Commons. The event is free and refreshments will be provided.

A message from Undergraduate Admissions: Thank you to all the faculty who participated this year in sending notecards to our admitted students. We had over 70 faculty members volunteer to write cards this year!

University Services would like to invite you to an open forum (or watch virtually) about the Falcon Advantage program on Thursday, April 4, 3:15–4:30 p.m. This event is open to faculty and staff. If you are connected to course materials or student learning in anyway or are generally interested we invite you to attend. We will share an overview of the program and services, hear directly from our partners at Akademos with updates on the work they are doing to address our ongoing feedback, see a demo of the adoptions process, and have time for Q&A.

The presentation will also be shared live via Zoom. Look for an email from Lynn Ernsting with a calendar invite to join via Zoom.

Please join us for the 21st annual Burton and Ralene Walls Distinguished Speaker Series event and luncheon on Tuesday, April 30, 12–1:30 p.m. in Upper Gwinn Commons. Romanita Hairston, chief executive officer of M.J. Murdoch Charitable Trust, will give an address on "Empowering Human Flourishing: The Importance of Tri-Sector Solutions For The Common Good." The event and lunch are free, but registration on required.

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 10–Sept. 30, 2024.  Reservation requests are due by Apr. 8, 2024.

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. If you are 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 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, April 4. The next issue will be published Monday, April 8.

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.

Brittany Tausen, associate professor of psychology, and Joshua Tom, associate professor of sociology, have been awarded Lilly Faculty Fellowships. They will participate in the two-year Lilly Faculty Fellows Program that includes four conferences in Indianapolis and Chicago. The team will also receive start-up funds of $8,000 to launch a faculty development campus project at SPU. Congratulations!

Becky Hughes, associate professor and chair of history, contributed the chapter, "Women Missionaries and the Evangelization of Women in Africa" to The Palgrave Handbook of Christianity in Africa from Apostolic Times to the Present, (Palgrave Macmillan, 2024).

Sara Koenig, professor biblical studies, recently had a chapter published in Festschrift in honor of her dissertation advisor. The chapter, “’They Did Not Turn Right or Left’: Truth and Possibility in the 1 Samuel Ark Narrative," (p. 47-61) was published in Guide Me Into Your Truth: Essays in Honor of Dennis T. Olson. (Edited by Rolf A. Jacobson, Jacqueline E. Lapsley, and Kristin R. Wendland. Eugene OR: Pickwick, 2023).

A book review by Jason Thornberry titled, "A Groupie’s Ghostwriter: On Sarah Tomlinson’s The Last Days of the Midnight Ramblers," was published by the Los Angeles Review of Books. Jason is office coordinator in the School of Education.

Mischa Willet, assistant professor of English and writing, was interviewed by Rabbit Room Poetry about writing and his journey to becoming a poet.