The Daily Bruin

Our financial aid office is here to serve students throughout the current COVID-19 situation. While we are not available in person, we are ready to meet needs in a variety of ways:

• Schedule a phone appointment here (or video by request)
• Email or call our office or your financial aid counselor directly. If your counselor is unavailable, leave a message and we will return your call.
• Submit documents online, by email (finaid@georgefox.edu), fax or mail
• We are available to answer questions related to family financial changes and the 2020-21 academic year
• The Department of Education also has a helpful FAQ for students, parents and borrowers.

Don’t hesitate to reach out to us if you have any questions. We are here to help!

What are your worries? Where is your hope? Professor Nijay Gupta reflects on Matthew 6 in the Portland Seminary’s newest “Hope in the Midst of Crisis” devotional series episode. You can watch it here.

Be encouraged and be well.

Campus Public Safety will be rounding up any bicycles left behind on Monday, March 30, as we want to give students the chance to take them home first.

Because of the unprecedented circumstances, bicycles will not be donated this summer. Instead, we will store them until your return in the fall. If you would like us to store it beforehand, please call and give us a description and location of your bike.

Also, if it has a combination we will unlock it if you give us the combination. If it has a key the lock will be cut so we may store the bike. 

Questions? please call 503-554-2090. 

Oregon’s governor yesterday issued a statewide order for citizens to stay home except when traveling for essential work, buying food and similar critical supplies, or returning to their own homes. 

As part of the “Stay Home, Save Lives” campaign, the governor issued the following guidelines …

Do:

• Stay home as much as possible (kids, too)
• Stay at least six feet away from others
• Go out only for essentials (groceries, medical care)
• Exercise outside (hiking, biking) only if you can be six feet apart from others
• Have video and phone chats
• Drop food off to neighbors who can’t go out

Don’t:

• Gather in groups
• Get together with friends (no drinks or dinners)
• Have play dates for kids
• Make unnecessary trips

In anticipation of a temporary reduction in campus services and staff working remotely due to the COVID-19 pandemic, finance and purchasing are asking for your help to cut or defer all spending that is not critical to the operation of the university. 

To assist with this goal, all purchases over $1,000 must have an authorized purchase order. Please limit all office supply orders to only include items that are critical to operate.

We are currently reviewing changes to credit card limits and availability, and we will communicate with affected departments/employees once those changes are finalized no later than Wednesday, March 25, 2020. 

For help, please contact:

Matt Hammar, mhammar@georgefox.edu or extension 2006 for purchase order help and information.

Kathi Becker, kbecker@georgefox.edu or extension 2166 for Visa and Concur help and information.

Amidst the ever-changing response to our current health crisis, the IDEA Center is now serving George Fox students remotely and will continue conducting operations as normally as possible. 

• CAP Coaches and Career Coaches will continue conducting appointments with students by phone call or virtually on Zoom.
• Our phone lines will continue to be managed by our team.
• Students are still able to request career and academic-related appointments through Handshake or contact us for assistance.
• Faculty: If you would like an online presentation done for one of your courses, please contact the IDEA Center staff member of your choice.

Please be patient with us during this time, as our responses may be slower than usual. We will answer all emails, phone calls, and other online requests, in the order they were received, as quickly as possible.

If you have any questions or concerns, please reach out to us at 503-554-2331 or idea@georgefox.edu.

Wishing you the best of health during this time.
– The IDEA Center Team

In his latest blog post, President Robin Baker chronicles the events of the past two weeks, reflecting on the rapid developments in society as we coped with the spread of the coronavirus.

You can read the piece here. Toward the end, Robin offers a word of encouragement in a short video.

Good news: APA is offering free access to the 7th edition manual and other resources during the COVID-19 pandemic. You can access it here.

If you need online writing assistance, the Portland Writing Center is open for all graduate and degree completion students: wc.georgefox.edu. Contact Jennie Harrop (jharrop@georgefox.edu) with any questions.

Take a two-minute break each day this week to listen to the contributions of five of our faculty during George Fox University’s takeover week of the Academic Minute podcast (available at academicminute.org). Each will discuss an aspect of their teaching or scholarship.

Sharing will be (in the order they will appear, Monday through Friday) Tricia Hornback (College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences), Nate Peach (College of Business), Debby Thomas (College of Business), Lorretta Krautscheid (College of Behavioral and Health Sciences) and Nathan Slegers (College of Engineering).

Questions? Contact Laura Hartley at lhartley@georgefox.edu.

The School of Physical Therapy’s banquet and auction fundraiser, originally scheduled for Saturday, April 11, has been postponed amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus. We will be sure to let you know when it’s been rescheduled.

Contact Linda Dallof (ldallof@georgefox.edu) with questions.

The Bruin Store will be closed this week (March 23-27). Please contact Paige Jacobs at pjacobs@georgefox.edu with any questions.

Amidst the tumult of the coronavirus, the Portland Seminary faculty has created a video devotional series, “Hope in the Midst of Crisis,” we hope will comfort you.

First up is the seminary dean, Roger Nam, who reflects on the comforting role of God’s sovereignty in the Exodus plague narratives. You can listen here.

Unfortunately, in light of recent events, the School of Physical Therapy regretfully reports we have canceled the skin screening volunteer session originally scheduled for Wednesday, April 8. We apologize for the inconvenience and look forward to offering this event at a future date.

Questions? Contact Linda Dallof at ldallof@georgefox.edu.

During these uncertain times, we have found that more students are using the food bank in the Roberts Center. Many of our students work in food service and their hours are getting cut.

Please consider purchasing one or more of the following items when you go to the store:

• Boxed meals like Tuna Helper and Hamburger Helper (we have a lot of both hamburger and tuna)
• Spaghetti sauce in cans (students often put their food in a backpack, and glass jars are not easy to transport in this fashion)
• Cereal
• Oatmeal
• Canned fruit
• Peanut butter
• Jelly
• Gluten-free items
• Non-dairy beverages for cereal and coffee

Please bring your donations to the student life office. Thank you for helping our students during this difficult time. For more information, contact bruincommunitypantry@georgefox.edu.

Throughout the year, the Office of Spiritual Life has been studying the Gospel of John in Vespers. To continue our study, our office is offering daily readings from John on our social media platforms @gfuspil on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.

Questions? Contact Stephanie Lopez at slopez@georgefox.edu.

Students remaining in Newberg will be able to access the food bank in the Roberts Center. Volunteers will let one person at a time into the pantry area. Please wash your hands before coming into the lounge area and signing in.

Until further notice, the leftovers program and the hospitality tables are closed. However, if you need assistance, contact Jere Witherspoon at bruincommunitypantry@georgefox.edu.

Please remember that you are not alone; we are all in this together. Please let us know how we can help you. Updated information will be on our website.

A website designed for George Fox veterans has gone live on the student life site. It provides the latest information for veterans’ education benefits, community events, and links to local, state and federal organizations.

If you have any questions, please contact the faculty advisor for the Veterans United Association, Wendy Flint, at wflint@georgefox.edu.

Most buildings will be locked during spring break next week. Please be sure to bring your keys and ID card with you to work next week so that you will have access to the buildings you work in.

Questions? Call 503-554-2090 or email Elrike Shaw at eshaw@georgefox.edu.

The Title IX panel event scheduled for Monday, March 30, has been canceled.

Questions? Contact Victoria Coscarelli at vcoscarelli17@georgefox.edu.

The Mail Services courier will be reducing delivery between campuses to one day only: Friday. All items going to the Portland Center must be dropped off at Mail Services by 10:15 a.m on Friday. We will not be offering a delivery tomorrow, however.

Next week, as Friday, March 27, is a spring holiday, the service will be offered on Thursday, March 26, and on Fridays thereafter until further notice.

Please contact Richard Silver (rsilver@georgefox.edu) if you have any questions.