The Daily Bruin

Today (Monday, Sept. 15) until 5 p.m. is your last opportunity to take the four-day work week survey. The president’s executive leadership team is seeking feedback from employees so an informed decision can be made whether to offer the four-day work week during the academic year. All employees who worked this summer are encouraged to provide input — those who participated as well as those who didn’t, including supervisors. (If you did not work this summer, please do not participate in the survey.)

To provide this feedback, please take just a few minutes to complete the online, anonymous survey at this link:
surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=gVvcSaN7Pa53KPd9Vb5mRA_3d_3d.

Patrick Allen (Provost) will present a Faculty Teaching Forum, “Engaged Teaching and Learning,” from 3:40 to 4:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 18, in Hoover 104 (Hoover library). Patrick will share thoughts about how good teachers engage their students in the learning process and the benefits of doing so. Participants will be invited to enter the conversation about experiences, resources and activities that foster student learning.

Refreshments will be served. No R.S.V.P. is required. All faculty — full time, part time and adjunct — are invited to attend Faculty Teaching Forums (FTFs). Video podcasts of FTFs will be available at the “Events and Resources” link on the Center for Teaching and Learning website.

A Faculty Research Forum featuring Kerry Irish (History) is scheduled at 10:40 a.m. Friday, Sept. 19, in Hoover 105 on the Newberg campus. Kerry will speak on “Dwight Eisenhower’s Cross Cultural Leadership During WWII.” A question-and-answer session will follow, and refreshments will be provided. The event is sponsored by the Faculty Development Committee.

In an effort to become better stewards of God’s creation (one of the strategic planning initiatives) by saving on gas consumption, the university offered a trial four-day work week from June 16 through Aug. 15. This trial policy had the following guidelines:

1.    All offices needed to be covered from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
2.    Employees could choose to work four 10-hour days if coverage was approved by their supervisor.
3.    If approved, employees chose to take off either Monday or Friday, leaving Tuesday through Thursday to schedule departmental and cross-departmental meetings.)
4.    Overtime was only paid for hours worked over 40 in a week, not over eight in a day.
5.    The week of June 30 to July 4 was a standard, five-day week for all employees due to the holiday.
6.    It was noted that some days such as Genesis might necessitate more complete coverage for particular areas within the university.

It was understood that not every department or regional site would be able to participate and that participation would be up to the director or VP of each department or site, taking into consideration any potential service disruption to their customers.

The president’s executive leadership team is seeking feedback from employees so an informed decision can be made whether to offer the four-day work week during the academic year. All employees who worked this summer are encouraged to provide input — those who participated as well as those who didn’t, including supervisors. (If you did not work this summer, please do not participate in the survey.)

To provide this feedback, please take just a few minutes to complete the online, anonymous survey at the following link:
surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=gVvcSaN7Pa53KPd9Vb5mRA_3d_3d.

Thank you,
Human Resources

“Where do I Fit? Finding Your Piece of the Puzzle” is the theme of this year’s Staff Development Conference, scheduled from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, at Family Life Church in Newberg. This will be a fun-filled day of learning and serving together. All staff members are expected to attend. Watch your campus mailbox for more information.

Please take a few minutes to submit your August time sheet (support staff) or time-off report (administrators) right away. The work to ensure that the HR and payroll modules of PeopleSoft go live at the end of September is ramping up, and having these as early as possible to process will be very helpful.

As always, please be sure it is complete, accurate and signed by both you and your supervisor before sending it to HR at Box 6108. The link on the HR website for these documents is http://www.georgefox.edu/offices/hr/forms.html. If your supervisor is not available to sign it by Sept. 5, please send a copy to HR and keep the original until it has been signed.

Thank you,
Human Resources

The Graduate Department of Counseling is holding an open house on Friday, Sept. 5 from 2 to 4 p.m. with a short program at 2:30 p.m.  The George Fox community is invited to attend along with alumni and community professionals. Please join us at the Portland North Building as we celebrate our new clinic, building, and department chair.

For more information: Contact Janelle Freitag

Marketing Communications is currently collecting orders for name tags. Please submit your requests online. Provide the name of the person for whom the name tag is needed; title or department; and the budget to be charged. Examples of titles/departments include: Dean of Students/Office of Student Life, Admissions Counselor/Undergraduate Admissions. Supervisors should determine a standard for his or her area and attempt to remain consistent.

The next order will be placed Friday, Sept. 12. Communications will verify your request and the information provided and place your order with all others.

Marketing Communications is now collecting orders for business cards. Orders are due Monday, Aug. 25. Please place your orders through your department’s administrative assistant. Expected delivery is the beginning of October.

If you have not already done so, please submit your July time sheet (support staff) or time-off report (administrators) right away. Please be sure it is complete, accurate and signed by both you and your supervisor before sending it to HR at Box 6108. The link on the HR website for these documents is: georgefox.edu/offices/hr/forms.html.

If your supervisor is not available to sign it, please send a copy to HR and keep the original until it has been signed. And one last reminder for completing time sheets: Do not write any hours on the date marked holiday (July 4) unless you worked the holiday.

Thank you.

– Human Resources

The Office of Human Resources will be closed Aug. 18-22 for PeopleSoft implementation work. We will check e-mail and voice mail as much as we can between sessions, but there likely will be delays in responding to our customers. We regret the inconvenience and appreciate your understanding and patience as we attend to this necessary training and testing to ensure a successful conversion to PeopleSoft.

The office will reopen on Monday, Aug. 25.

– Human Resources

FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 18, for server maintenance and preparation for the fall semester. Please note that your online course(s) will be unavailable during this time.

Calendar (R25), Goldmine, and Blackberry service will be down for security upgrades from 6 to 7 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 18.

Foxserve, the network file sharing system that includes the “K” drive, will be down for security updates from 6 to 7 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 19.

The university’s fall community meeting is scheduled for this Friday, Aug. 15. The gathering will begin in the Klages Dining Hall with breakfast at 8 a.m. before moving to Bauman Auditorium at 8:30 a.m. for a meeting that will last until 10:30 a.m.

All employees are required to attend. (Employees working on the four-day work week schedule will have to make arrangements to accommodate their attendance at the meeting.)

FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 10 a.m. on Monday, Aug. 18, for server maintenance and preparation for the fall semester. Please note that your online course(s) will be unavailable during this time.

The beginning of the 2008-09 school year is near, which means it’s time to mark your calendars for the fall community meeting on Friday, Aug. 15. The gathering will begin in the Klages Dining Hall with breakfast at 8 a.m. At 8:30 a.m., we will move to Bauman Auditorium for a meeting that will last until 10:30 a.m.

All employees are required to attend. (Employees working on the four-day work week schedule will have to make arrangements to accommodate their attendance at the meeting.)

Please join us as we share our appreciation with Carol Green, dean of the School of Professional Studies, at 3 p.m. Monday, Aug. 11, in the Portland Center’s main lobby. If you cannot attend and would like to send a note or card, please mail those to Karlyn Fleming (Academic Affairs) at Box 6246.

Carol is heading to LeTourneau University in Longview, Texas, to serve as vice president for the School of Graduate and Professional Studies. She has been dean of the George Fox SPS program since 2005.

Thank you,
Academic Affairs

We are quickly approaching the closing of our books for 2007-08. The cut-off date for this year is Wednesday, July 23, for charging anything that is for last year’s budget.  After that time, any costs associated with 2007-08 will have to go into your 2008-09 budget.

1.    Please forward any invoices to Financial Affairs for goods and/or services that were received prior to July 1, 2008.
2.    Please review your 2007-2008 budget report and notify Financial Affairs if there are any outstanding purchase orders for goods and/or services that were not received prior to July 1 so they can be disencumbered.

Thank you for your assistance in helping with the year-end closing and the preparation for the annual external audit. Please call ext. 2160 if you have any questions.

HR is recruiting both internally and externally to fill an executive assistant I (pay range 7) vacancy in the Office of Academic Affairs. Andrea Byerley, who had held this position, is transferring to the registrar’s office to work as an enrollment counselor.

The incumbent of this position will work with Karlyn Fleming and Patrick Allen, providing support to the AAO, as well as with/for Hank Helsabeck, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences. The full position announcement is at jobs.georgefox.edu. You can e-mail hr@georgefox.edu for a transfer request if you would like to apply for this position. If you refer this position to any external applicants, please refer them to jobs.georgefox.edu.