A message from the Workday Project Team: The Workday Project Team in Finance and Human Resources continues to test and fine tune the new system configurations and processes. Thank you for your continued patience on normal operations in these areas as staff are putting in extra hours to both keep us moving forward while still keeping normal campus operations running. This period of testing will run through the end of January in our “sandbox” environment; then we’ll start in a new environment and run testing on all those processes “end-to-end” from Feb.–May as well as prepare for end-user training to start.

You can always see the total project overview as well as the current and near-term schedule on our Project Overview wiki page.

The annual SPU Staff Christmas party will be Thursday, Dec. 12, 11 a.m.–1 p.m. in Weter Lounge, 2nd floor. Back by popular demand —  Espresso Cart with complimentary holiday drinks, not to mention Christmas activities and crafts, plenty of treats and goodies, and the joyful group of fellow staff members. Have questions? Reach out at staffcouncil@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, Jan. 2, and the next issue will be published Monday, Jan. 6.

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.

Jennifer McKinney, professor of sociology, was invited to participate in a panel for the annual meetings of the American Academy of Religion. The panel featured authors of new books in the social sciences addressing gender, race, and American Christianity. Jennifer’s book, Making Christianity Manly Again: Mark Driscoll, Mars Hill Church, and American Evangelicalism was featured for the panel.

An op-ed titled, "Unbroken Chains: The Continuity of Systemic Corruption in Afghanistan," by Mohammad Qadam Shah, assistant professor of global development, was published online Nov. 28  in The Diplomat.

Rob Wall, the Paul T. Walls Professor Emeritus of Scripture & Wesleyan Studies, attended the annual meetings of the Institute of Biblical Research (IBR) and Society of Biblical Literature (SBL) in San Diego on November 22-26. He presented a "capstone" paper to conclude the IBR's Letter to the Hebrews Seminar, “Reading Hebrews After Paul.” His paper, along with other papers, will be published by Baylor University Press in 2025. In his paper, Rob proposes a mode of theological discourse that engages these two discrete New Testament witnesses, Hebrews and Pauline, in an intra-canonical conversation that agrees with both the ancient consensus that Hebrews is a Pauline letter and the modern consensus that Hebrews is a non-Pauline non-letter.

Traynor Hansen, assistant professor of writing and director of campus writing, and three students were featured in a KING5-TV news story about AI in the classroom. In the course, "Academic Inquiry and Writing Seminar," Traynor teaches about using AI responsibly. The story, titled "Professor encourages students to use A.I," aired on December 5 and ran in newscasts during the next several days. 

Nate Hoover, program coordinator for the MFA in Creative Writing Program, explains his monthly cartoon: Turns out that Middle Earth’s Dark Lord had a favorite Christmas song. To see more of my cartoons, follow me on Instagram @hoovernathaniel.

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