The Daily Bruin

To be successful in the new world of work, we need to create a structure for capturing, clarifying and organizing all the forces that assail us, and to ensure time and space for thinking, reflecting and decision making.

In the New York Times article “When Office Technology Overwhelms, Get Organized,” David Allen provides five actions to help optimize focus and resources. Read the article at the Employee Council site, and while you’re there, add a comment about a remarkable employee you work with (see the “8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees” article) and read about some of the remarkable employees we have.

MyGFU will be unavailable tonight (Wednesday) at 6 p.m. through Thursday, March 22, at 7 a.m. for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you have questions, please contact the IT Service Desk.

The Bruin Bookstore, textbook annex and its online store will be closed for business to conduct its annual year-end inventory process starting this Monday, March 26, during spring break.

To strive for accuracy, we are not able to conduct any business during this closure. Phone calls, voice mail messages and e-mails will not be responded to until this procedure is completed. There will not be any money on hand to make change. Please plan ahead to get all your Bruin necessities before Monday! We truly appreciate your understanding and cooperation.

The bookstore will reopen on Monday, April 2, at 8 a.m. Thank you for supporting your Bruin Bookstore!

To benefit eligible employees: If you have considered purchasing or making changes to your Aflac supplemental insurance, now is the time. Enrollment forms must be submitted to Paul Frampton by Friday, March 30 (this is a firm deadline). See details here.

Questions? Contact Lisa Burton at lburton@georgefox.edu.

Michael’s (where you can find all things arts and crafts plus framing, floral, wall decor, scrapbooking, etc.) offers an educator discount of 15 percent on all purchases all the time. All employees of the university can take advantage of this, not just faculty members, but you must show your GFU ID card to receive the discount. There are many Michael’s stores throughout the Portland area and beyond, including in Tualatin.

The Walking Company has recently begun offering a 15 percent in-store discount to George Fox employees. There are stores at Washington Square, Pioneer Place and Clackamas Town Center. In addition to selling shoes, they provide foot scanning technology and orthotics. You must show your GFU ID card to receive this discount.

Note: These shoes are not inexpensive; but if you shop there already, you can now enjoy a 15 percent savings. UGG Australia products and gift cards are excluded from the discount.

To see a complete list of store/vendor discounts available to George Fox employees, go to this Employee Benefits, Forms and Resources page and look for the link near the bottom of the page under the heading (what else?) “Employee Discounts.”

FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 7 a.m. (Pacific Time) on both Monday, March 26, and Tuesday, March 27, for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you have questions, please contact the IT Service Desk.

If you would like to nominate a colleague for March’s Employee of the Month award, please send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, March 28, with 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, April 5.

The all-employee meeting originally scheduled for Thursday, March 15, is being moved to up to today, Tuesday, March 13, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Bauman Auditorium. The session will include a board meeting update from President Robin Baker.

For those at the university’s regional sites, the meeting will be available at a stream site that you can access from MyGFU. Simply log into MyGFU and click the “Community Meeting Link” located under “Staff Resources/Faculty Resources.” It is the bottom link in that section.

In addition, a chat room has 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.

This week, all staff will receive an e-mail asking for nominations for Staff Development Committee. The e-mail will contain a list of all staff eligible to be nominated for the committee.

Please reply to the e-mail with your nominations marked. Deadline for the nominations is this Friday, March 16, at 5 p.m.

The article “8 Qualities of Remarkable Employees” has been posted to the Employee Council website. Take a minute to read the article, then respond to our mini-survey question: Who is a remarkable employee you’ve seen at Fox, and what makes that person a remarkable employee?

Responses to the mini-survey are visible on the site, as are minutes from past meetings. You are always welcome to contact the Employee Council by e-mailing us at employeecouncil@georgefox.edu or by directly contacting an individual on the council (see the website for a list of members).

Share your “Be Known Experience” and you could win a Kindle Touch!

Tell us a story about a special way a faculty or staff member at George Fox made you feel known, in or outside of the classroom. We’ll draw five winners who will each receive a $10 Amazon gift certificate. One lucky winner will get a brand new Kindle Touch!

Current students and alumni are welcome to enter. Visit this page to submit your story. The winners will be drawn and announced on Monday, March 12. Good luck!

Questions? E-mail Eric Mortinson at emortinson@georgefox.edu.

As a reminder, the financial affairs office has implemented a new process for employee expense reimbursements.

For those who have signed up for direct deposit: If your Expense Reimbursement Form is received in the financial affairs office by Monday, your deposit will be processed on Thursday of that week. If it’s received after Monday it will be processed on Thursday of the following week. Please note that payment may take up to 48 hours to appear in your account.

For those who have not signed up or who chosen to have their reimbursements process as a check: Checks will be cut only on the first Monday of each month. If your Expense Reimbursement Form arrives in the financial affairs office by 5 p.m. on the 20th of the month your payment will be included in the next check run. If your paperwork arrives after the 20th of the month it will not be processed until the following month’s check run.

Example: If your paperwork arrives before March 20th the check will be cut on the first Monday in April. If your paperwork arrives after March 20th your check will be cut on the first Monday of May.

If you would like your reimbursements to be set up as direct deposit, you need to download, complete and submit the authorization form to the financial affairs office (Box #6029). The form can be found on the FAO’s Common Forms webpage.

If you have any questions, please contact Andy Dunn at ext. 2162.

Please consider nominating a colleague for March’s Employee of the Month award. 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 President’s Executive Leadership Team will select the recipient from the nominations submitted, and he or she will be recognized and awarded a $100 gift card to The Allison at our community meeting on April 5.

The all-employee meeting originally scheduled for Thursday, March 22, is being moved to up to Thursday, March 15, from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Hoover 105.

Future all-employee meetings are scheduled on Thursday, April 5, again in Hoover 105, and on Thursday, April 19.

Attention all GFU women employees: You are cordially invited to attend the Women’s Leadership Development Institute’s fourth brown bag lunch on Friday, March 16, from noon to 1:15 p.m. in the Cap and Gown Room on the Newberg campus. This is for all women faculty, administrators and staff!

Elisa Morgan, president of Mission: Momentum and publisher of FullFill, and a former CEO and current president emerita of MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) International, will be our speaker.

About Elisa Morgan
For 20 years, Elisa served as CEO of MOPS. Under her leadership, MOPS grew from 350 to more than 4,000 groups throughout the U.S. and in 30 other countries, impacting more than 100,000 moms every year. Currently, Elisa is an activist with ONEMom.org, lending her voice and leadership to encourage women to advocate for women throughout the world who are victims of poverty and oppression.

Elisa’s mission is to mobilize women to invest their influence in God’s purposes. During the luncheon, Elisa will unpack what it means for women to “lead real.” 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.

All Women Are Invited
The Women’s Leadership Development committee invites all women employees on the Newberg campus to join us for this event as we continue exploring leadership development. Please bring your own lunch to this event. The event will be live-streamed for all other university sites at noon (PST) at this stream site.

Questions? Contact Sheri Philips at sphilips@georgefox.edu.

Faculty: Just a friendly reminder that textbook requests for all May and summer courses are due Thursday, March 1 (fall semester orders are due April 1). Thanks to all who have already submitted their orders. Please use this link to access the forms.

FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 6:30 a.m. (Pacific Time) on Tuesday, Feb. 28, for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you have questions, please contact the IT Service Desk.

Shane Roghaar, our TIAA-CREF representative, will be on the Newberg campus between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb 28-29 in Hoover 104. You may make an appointment with him to discuss your investments by visiting this link on the HR/Benefits web page.

Employees in other locations may contact Shane to arrange a telephone consultation at 800-732-8353.

Don’t forget the all-employee meeting scheduled for this afternoon (Thursday) from 3:30 to 5 p.m. in Hoover 105. 

For those at the university’s regional sites, the meeting will be available at a stream site that you can access from MyGFU. Simply log into MyGFU and click the “Community Meeting Link” located under “Staff Resources/Faculty Resources.” It is the bottom link in that section.

In addition, a chat room has 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.

Mark your calendar and plan to join us for the University Day of Prayer, scheduled for Saturday, March 10, from 9 a.m. to noon. Let’s join together – parents, students, alumni, employees and friends of the university – in a unified voice as we pray together for George Fox University. In addition to prayer time scheduled on the Newberg campus, we will have regional prayer sites in Oregon, Washington, California and Idaho.

For more information, contact Nancy Almquist, director of Parent Relations, at nalmquist@georgefox.edu or 503-554-2114.