The Daily Bruin

Don’t forget next week’s all-employee meeting, scheduled from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 1, in Hoover 105. Also please note that the Thursday, Dec. 15, meeting has been canceled.

For those at the university’s regional sites, the meeting will be available at this stream site. A chat room has also been set up, and a video recording of the meeting will be available for viewing in the days following the meeting at itunesu.georgefox.edu.

Come join us for the next “Let’s Learn Together” session on Tuesday, Dec. 6, from noon to 1 p.m. at various locations (click on link below for list of venues). Our own Piper Parks (IT) will be sharing about PowerPoint. For those on other campuses, the event will be available to watch on a stream site (to be provided).

Click on this link to reserve your spot for the session. We look forward to seeing you there! Please e-mail Rachel Powell (rpowell@georgefox.edu) if you have questions.

The university will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 24-25, for the Thanksgiving holiday. All offices, bookstores and libraries will be closed those two days.

The Murdock Learning Resource Center will reopen from 6 to 10 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27. All other facilities will remain closed through Sunday.

Need to contact a university employee? An updated employee phone/box list is now available as a PDF. You can print one out by visiting this page and clicking the “Employee Phone and Box List” hyperlink on the page.

Custom university cards are available this year, which you can view at this link. The cards will be printed on special iridescent paper and will cost between 75 to 96 cents each, depending on the total number ordered university-wide. A permanent marker, such as a fine-tip Sharpie, works best when writing on this paper.

If you would like to order cards, please list the quantity desired and budget number on this form by Tuesday, Nov. 22.

All women employees – faculty, administrators and staff – are welcome to a brown-bag lunch with special guest Peggy Fowler from noon to 1:15 p.m. (PST) Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Cap and Gown Room on the Newberg campus. For those at other university sites, the event will be live-streamed at this site.

Fowler retired from Portland General Electric as CEO and president in 2009. She remains on the board of directors and is on the finance committee. Peggy has 35 years of experience in the utility business and, in that time, has managed almost every major area of the company. She earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and mathematics from George Fox.

Please don’t miss this opportunity to hear from a significant woman leader as she shares her leadership journey with the women of George Fox.

The Women’s Leadership Development committee invites all women employees to join us for this event as we continue exploring leadership development. For those who attend in person, please bring your own lunch.

“Why would Chinese parents, from a secular culture, send their children to a Christian school? I thought the best way to answer this question was to ask them directly.”

So reads the latest blog entry from President Robin Baker, who recently traveled to China to meet with parents of current Chinese students. To read more, visit his blog site and check out the most recent entry posted, “Chinese parents appreciate role of faith in education.”

As calendar year-end approaches, we encourage support staff and administrators to check their vacation balances. Employees are allowed to carry up to one year of vacation accrual into the new calendar year.

To determine your accrual rates and how much you may need to use by Dec. 31, HR has prepared a chart and instructions for both support staff and administrators to be used along with the information on your Oct. 31 pay statement. Links to both can be found on the HR site.

They also provide useful information about the balances on your monthly pay statements. If you have any questions after you have reviewed your vacation balance, please contact HR for assistance.

All women employees – faculty, administrators and staff – are welcome to a brown-bag lunch with special guest Peggy Fowler from noon to 1:15 p.m. (PST) Thursday, Nov. 17, in the Cap and Gown Room on the Newberg campus. For those at other university sites, the event will be live-streamed at this site (http://stream.georgefox.edu/live/commmtg.sdp).

Fowler retired from Portland General Electric as CEO and president on March 1, 2009. She remains on the board of directors and is on the finance committee. Peggy has 35 years of experience in the utility business and, in that time, has managed almost every major area of the company. She earned bachelor’s degrees in chemistry and mathematics from George Fox.

Peggy resides in Tigard with her husband, Bob. Together, they have raised two sons. She enjoys outdoor activities, including golf and skiing, and currently serves on several boards, including the President’s Advisory Council at George Fox.

Please don’t miss this opportunity to hear from a significant woman leader as she shares her leadership journey with the women of George Fox.

The Women’s Leadership Development committee invites all women employees to join us for this event as we continue exploring leadership development. For those who attend in person, please bring your own lunch.

If you would like to nominate a colleague for November Employee of the Month, please send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg by 10 a.m. on Monday, Nov. 7. As always, please provide a summary of this person’s contributions and/or outstanding performance in the past 30 days or so.

The winner will be announced and presented with a $100 gift card to The Allison at our community meeting on Thursday, Dec. 1.

Ben Quintana, candidate for the Boise City Council, will speak at the next Boise Center Speaker Series event on Friday, Nov. 18, from 7:30 to 9 a.m. It will be held at The Courtyard by Marriott, 1789 S. Eagle Road, in Meridian. Coffee and pastries will be served, and there is no charge to attend.

Quintana’s presentation is titled “Leading forward by giving back.” Here is a synopsis:

In order to thrive in our changing world, leaders of today and tomorrow must be competent, adaptable, creative and experienced. Although many have faced layoffs, prolonged underemployment and rapidly changing work environments, some leaders continue to succeed more than others. Learn how to differentiate yourself from the crowd and discover your true potential through the art of giving. This presentation will discuss how to develop a successful career and enhance leadership skills through the practice of giving to and serving others.

Registration is now available. For more information, contact Sandi Gregory at sgregory@georgefox.edu.

It’s time once again for the faculty/staff campaign! Gifts from faculty/staff members make it possible for students to receive tremendous opportunities for spiritual formation, vocational development, and character growth.

On Tuesday, Nov. 1, please watch your in-box for a personal e-mail highlighting videos and students’ testimonies of how these types of opportunities at George Fox deepen their relationship with God and prepare them to connect Christ and culture.

Thank you so much for the difference you make in students’ lives.

If you have any questions, please contact Mandria Montplaisir at mmontplaisir@georgefox.edu.

The next all-employee meeting, originally scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 10, has been canceled and rescheduled for Thursday, Dec. 1, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Hoover 105.

In addition, the Thursday, Dec. 15, meeting has been canceled. Please make a note of these scheduling changes.

Over the past couple of years, many faculty and staff have asked me how to get their estate planning affairs in order. It’s been a joy to connect with so many people on this most important endeavor.

I thought it might be helpful to provide everyone a list of resources that can help you in this often complicated area of your life. If you click the links below, they will provide you with downloadable forms that contain several helpful pieces of information.

• Estate Planning Resource Guide
• Estate Inventory Form
• My Going Home Plan
• Distribution of Tangible Personal Property

As followers of Christ we have an obligation to be sure our affairs are in order — thinking deeply about the people and places that mean the most to us. In order to have a complete estate plan, everyone needs to consider developing the following things:

• A will or living trust
• Durable power of attorney (for finance)
• Advanced healthcare directive
• Disposition of tangible property sheet(s)
• Expression of last wishes

Again, to help get you started, click on the links above. I’m here to assist as well, so please let me know if/how I can serve you best!

Working Together,

K. Gene Christian, Estate and Gift Planning Services
George Fox University
503-936-5350/Direct Line

Faculty: If you have not yet done so, please submit your textbook requests for spring 2012 as soon as possible. The due date was Oct. 1, and we need them to obtain as many used books as possible to save students money. Please this online form to submit your order.

Thanks to all who have already placed their orders!

Bruin Directories can now be ordered online. The directories are a service to the George Fox community, created by a staff within ASC. We have worked very hard to get the book out to the community in a timely fashion, and we are pleased to say that the books are near completion.

Each Bruin Directory is $5 and the total will be charged to the provided department account number. The directories will be distributed through Mail Services. The deadline for placing orders is Friday, Nov. 4. Please place your orders online at this link.

Thank you for placing your department orders! If you have any questions, contact Carly Halverson at chalverson09@georgefox.edu.

Join IT in November and December for 30-minute webinars on FoxTALE, FoxFiles and Google Docs. View the schedule and sign up at this link. Information on how to join each webinar will be delivered via e-mail 24 hours prior to the webinar.

Do you know someone deserving of the November Employee of the Month award? If so, please submit your nomination via e-mail to Peggy Kilburg by Monday, Nov. 7. Your comments should be specific and focus mainly on noteworthy contributions made by this person in the last month or so.

The President’s Executive Leadership Team will review the nominations and select a recipient. The winner will be honored with a citation and a $100 Allison gift card at our next community meeting.

The university community is invited to attend Lisa McMinn’s faculty lecture on Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7:30 p.m. in Hoover 105. Lisa will present her research on the work and impact of local food movements.

Please join us to hear more about “The Pursuit of More: The American Dream Meets the Local Food Movement.” The lecture will be recorded and available on iTunesU in the days following the presentation.

This is a reminder that FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 8 a.m. (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, Oct. 25, for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.