The Daily Bruin

To George Fox staff:

Your Staff Development Committee knows you are one in a million … and proof will appear on your desk/workspace on Feb. 15!

Please be aware that the scholarship application for traditional undergraduates returning in 2011-12 is delayed. We are working through some technical issues with access. Please look to E-nnouncements for information when we make it live. We are sorry for the delay.

– Student Financial Services

If you know of someone whose recent contributions make him or her worthy of being named February Employee of the Month, please take a few minutes to send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg that includes a specific summary of the person’s contributions (past 30 days or so) and any other relevant information about the person.

The deadline for nominations is Thursday, Feb. 17. The President’s Executive Leadership Team will select the recipient. The award and a $100 gift card to The Allison will be presented at our community meeting on Tuesday afternoon, Feb. 22.

It’s time to order university stationery. For order instructions, go to the marketing communications website. You will continue to purchase all non-departmental stationery (including “second-sheet letterhead”) through the university’s Print Services.

Orders are due by Tuesday, Feb. 1.

W-2 forms will be available in campus boxes on Friday (except for those that normally receive their pay statements at their home addresses). Most of the information on these forms is easy to understand or explained in the tiny fine print on the reverse, but we thought it would be helpful to provide a little extra information:

• Items in Boxes 12a – 12d are required by IRS. The amount (if any) in Box12a labeled “C” is the taxable cost of your group term life insurance paid by the university in 2010. (This amount was also included in your pay as taxable income in 2010.) The amount (if any) in12b labeled “E” is the contribution you made to a supplemental retirement plan beyond the 3 percent that the university matches.

• Box 14 shows the amount of your contribution to the university-sponsored retirement plan and is labeled “TIAA” which is the IRS code/section assigned to our plan. This represents 3 percent of your pay from the time you began participation.

• Employees (and their tax preparers) often ask why the amount in Box 1 is different than the amount listed in Box 3 and 5. Because any contributions you made to the retirement plan(s) are not subject to income taxes, those amounts (shown in 12b and 14) are not included in Box 1. However, those contributions are still subject to Social Security and Medicare (FICA) taxes, so they are included in the amount shown in both Box 3 and 5. If you add the amount in Box 1 to any amounts in Boxes 12b and 14, the total will equal the amount in Box 3 and 5.

• You may find this information boring and/or confusing, but we recommend you save and keep it in a safe place, along with your W-2, so you will have both when you (or your tax preparer) files your tax return.

Finally, big kudos and many thanks to Brooke McGillivray, Melodee Powers and Karen Rathkey for their extra efforts to get these 2,400 W-2s out ahead of the legal deadline of Feb. 1.

Don’t forget Wednesday afternoon’s all-employee meeting, scheduled from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Bauman Auditorium (please note the location change).

For those at the university’s regional sites, the meeting will be available for viewing at this 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.

FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 7 a.m. (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, Feb. 1, for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

If you are a benefits-eligible employee and there is any possibility that you will use tuition remission during the 2011-12 academic year (fall, spring and/or summer semesters), whether for yourself, a spouse, and/or dependent(s), a Tuition Remission Request Form for each person needs to be submitted no later than Tuesday, Feb. 1 – one month earlier than in previous years.

Please go to this document for instructions on completing the form(s). Links to the forms themselves are contained in the instructions document. It is important to read this information before completing a form.

Please send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg by this Friday, Jan. 21, if you would like to nominate a support staff member or administrator for January Employee of the Month. Your e-mail should include a concise but specific summary of this person’s contributions to the university, its students, and/or its employees in the past 30 days or so, and any other information that you believe makes this person deserving of this award.

The winner will be announced at the community meeting in Bauman Auditorium next Wednesday, Jan. 26, and will receive a $100 gift card to The Allison.

An all-employee meeting is scheduled from 3:30 to 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 26, in Bauman Auditorium (please note the location change).

For those at the university’s regional sites, the meeting will be available for viewing at this 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.

The university is seeking to fill the position of director of academic computing, vacated with the passing of our colleague, Russ DeVore. This position is currently open only to internal applicants (employees). Please e-mail hr@georgefox.edu to ask for a copy of the job description.

To apply, please submit a completed transfer request, cover letter and resume to Human Resources no later than Friday, Jan. 21, at 5 p.m. The link to the transfer request form can be found here.

The university will close Monday, Jan. 17, to observe the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. There will be no day or evening classes or chapel at the Newberg campus, and the Portland Center, Salem Center and Boise Center will be closed. Libraries at all campuses will be closed as well.

It is time to think about nominating a colleague for the first Employee of the Month award for 2011. If you know of someone whose recent contributions make him or her worthy of this honor, please take a few minutes to send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg that includes a specific summary of the person’s contributions (past 30 days or so) and any other information that you believe makes this person deserving of this award.

The deadline for nominations is Thursday, Jan. 20. The President’s Executive Leadership Team will select the recipient from the nominations submitted. This award and a $100 gift card to The Allison will be presented at our community meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 26.

Now is the time to submit your request for business cards. Marketing Communications will be processing a business card order soon. Place your order directly with B&B Print Source by Friday, Jan. 14.

The login user ID is “gfubc” and password is “gfu123” (please save for future reference). Contact Danette Newkirk (Marketing Communications) if you have any questions.

Marketing Communications is collecting orders for name tags. For those who have regular face-to-face contact with the public and need to order a name tag, you may now submit and view your name tag requests at this link online.

Be sure to provide the name of the person for whom the name tag is needed; title or department; and the budget to be charged. Examples of title or department include: Dean of Students/Student Life and Admissions Counselor/Admissions. The next order will be placed Friday, Jan. 21.

You may want to consider using our flexible Responseware application, Poll Everywhere for your classes this semester. On the surface, Poll Everywhere is a simple text message or web voting application that works well for live audiences (your class). This is a Clicker system without the need for Clickers. People vote by sending text messages or via the web with a WiFi device to options displayed on-screen. The poll that is embedded within the presentation or web page will update in real time. Find out more at www.polleverywhere.com
Greg Smith or Gloria Doherty would be glad to send you an invitation to use Poll Everywhere.

It is university policy to reimburse employee travel at the allowable IRS rate which fluctuates from time to time.  The IRS rate is increasing to $.51/mile from $.50/mile effective January 1, 2011.  All mileage reimbursements are to be charged to account 52004.  Any mileage reimbursements for 2010 will be paid at the $.50 rate.  This change is also reflected in the online Trip Calculator which helps you determine whether renting or driving your own car is the best choice.

Effective Jan. 1, 2011, the EMPLOYEE REIMBURSEMENT form found in Common Forms has been updated.  Employees are encouraged to download the updated forms and read the instructions rather than continue to use older versions downloaded in the past.

Other changes include:
•       A widened field for account and cost center coding
•       Page 2 option with totals linked to page 1
•       Trip Calculator has been updated

Place your order online for the 2010-11 Bruin Directory. Bruin Directories are a service to the George Fox University community based on a volunteer staff within ASC.  We apologize for the tardiness this year due to unforeseen circumstances throughout the publication process. Each Bruin Directory is $4 and will be charged to the department account number mentioned in the order form.  The directories will be distributed through Mail Services.  Deadline for placing orders is Jan. 21.  Thank you for your patience. Contact Krissy Findley if you have questions.

It is time to think about nominating a colleague for the first Employee of the Month award for 2011. If you know of someone whose recent contributions make him or her worthy of this honor, please take a few minutes to send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg that includes a specific summary of the person’s contributions (past 30 days or so) and any other information that you believe makes this person deserving of this award.

The deadline for nominations is Thursday, Jan. 20. The President’s Executive Leadership Team will select the recipient from the nominations submitted. This award and a $100 gift card to The Allison will be presented at our community meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 26.

Join IT for general FoxTALE sessions and sessions on the FoxTALE-MyGFU integration.

Want an introduction to FoxTALE? Consider these sessions:

• FoxTALE Introduction, Newberg: Hoover 211, Jan. 5, 9 a.m. – noon
• FoxTALE Grade Book Workshop, Portland: PDS 210, Jan. 4, 10 a.m. – noon
• FoxTALE Grade Book Workshop, Newberg: Hoover 211, Jan. 7, 9-11 a.m.

The start of the spring 2011 term brings the full implementation of the FoxTALE-MyGFU integration. Following are sessions that cover the integration.

• FoxTALE-MyGFU Integration, Portland: PDS 210, Jan. 4, 3:30-4:30 p.m.
• FoxTALE-MyGFU Integration, Online Webinar, Jan. 5, 1:30-2 p.m.
• FoxTALE-MyGFU Integration, Newberg: Hoover 210, 211, Jan. 7, 2-3 p.m.

Read session descriptions and sign up on this R.S.V.P. form. See all of the faculty and staff development sessions IT hosts at Schedule of Events.