The Daily Bruin

More than 250 students will receive undergraduate and graduate diplomas at the university’s midyear commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 19, in the Wheeler Sports Center. Seating begins at 10 a.m., and the ceremony will start at 11 a.m.

Tickets are not required; however, seating is limited to 10 guests per graduate. At 10:45 a.m., a live broadcast of the ceremony will be available to watch at this link.

George Fox alumnus Jeff Greene, a vice president and portfolio manager at First Republic Private Wealth Management with more than 10 years of experience in the wealth management business, will be the commencement speaker. The title of his presentation is “A Passion to Serve.”

The library’s intra-campus faculty courier service will be suspended during Christmas break. The service will resume on Jan. 11, 2016.

Questions? Contact Patty Vanier at pvanier@georgefox.edu.

Faculty, please submit requests for spring semester course reserves as soon as possible. Materials are processed in the order received and can take up to five days to complete.

Please fill out and submit the form located at this link. If you have any questions, please contact Patty Vanier at pvanier@georgefox.edu or ext. 2425.

Still need a Christmas tree? The music department is making available some trees from last week’s Christmas concert. Feel free to drop by the front of Bauman Auditorium and pick one up for only $10.

Payment can be made with Debbie Hawblitzel (dhawblit@georgefox.edu) in the Ross Center.

At 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, George Fox will host the Oregon Symphony for its 29th appearance in Bauman Auditorium. The concert is free to George Fox employees – a gift from George Fox honorary board member Ken Austin, who cofounded A-dec with his late wife Joan.

The university has been provided with a limited number of tickets for its employees. These tickets are separate from those to be issued by the Newberg Area Chamber of Commerce to the general public.

George Fox employees (halftime and over) may pick up their tickets – limit two per employee – on a first-come, first-served basis starting today (Thursday) at 9 a.m. in the advancement office, located at 215 N. Meridian St. (across the street from the SpiL House). Phone reservations (503-554-2134) will not be taken except for employees at the Portland Center.

On Monday, Jan. 4, beginning at 9 a.m., any remaining tickets (again, a limit of two per person) will be available – also on a first-come, first-served basis – to those who sign up on a waiting list. If you find you will not be able to attend the concert, please return your tickets for another employee to use.

Questions? Contact Mary Monahan at mmonahan@georgefox.edu.

This time of year especially, gift certificates and gift cards may be purchased from university funds for employees and student employees. Because the IRS considers these cash equivalents, they are subject to tax if the recipient is an employee.

All you need to do is specify the full name of the recipient and the dollar amount of each certificate or card purchased when filling out your expense reimbursement request.

Finance will provide human resources with a copy of the form so the amount of the gift can be added for tax purposes on the next payroll. This applies to all employee types, including regular, adjunct, temporary and student employees.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact Katie Sol at 503-554-2181.

IT will be staffed and available over the Christmas break. On Tuesday and Wednesday, Dec. 29 and 30, computer hardware repair services will be limited so our staff can enjoy the holidays with their families and be ready to serve you in the new year.

Newberg hours will be 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the days the university is open for business during the break. We will close for lunch from noon to 1 p.m. until Monday, Jan. 4.

Questions? Contact Josh Nauman at jnauman@georgefox.edu.

At 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, George Fox will host the Oregon Symphony for its 29th appearance in Bauman Auditorium. The concert is free to George Fox employees – a gift from George Fox honorary board member Ken Austin, who cofounded A-dec with his late wife Joan.

The university has been provided with a limited number of tickets for its employees. These tickets are separate from those to be issued by the Newberg Area Chamber of Commerce to the general public.

George Fox employees (halftime and over) may pick up their tickets – limit two per employee – on a first-come, first-served basis starting Thursday, Dec. 17, at 9 a.m. in the advancement office, located at 215 N. Meridian St. (across the street from the SpiL House). Phone reservations (503-554-2134) will not be taken except for employees at the Portland Center.

On Monday, Jan. 4, beginning at 9 a.m., any remaining tickets (again, a limit of two per person) will be available – also on a first-come, first-served basis – to those who sign up on a waiting list. If you find you will not be able to attend the concert, please return your tickets for another employee to use.

Questions? Contact Mary Monahan at mmonahan@georgefox.edu.

Following are Christmas break hours for University Mail Services, located in the North Street Annex:

• Open: Dec. 21-23 (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.); Dec. 29-30 (8 a.m. to 1 p.m.); Jan. 4-8 (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
• Closed: Dec. 24-28; Dec. 29-30 (1 to 4:30 p.m.); Dec. 31 and Jan. 1

Christmas break hours for University Print Services:

• Open: Dec. 21-23 (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.); Jan. 4-8 (8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.)
• Closed: Dec. 24 – Jan. 1

Questions? Contact Linda Sartwell at lsartwel@georgefox.edu.

We will serve our annual Christmas buffet to all of our meal-plan students today (Wednesday) from 5 to 7:30 p.m., and we’d like to invite employees and commuter students to join in our celebration.

We will have a carving station, a variety of salads and side dishes, and some holiday desserts and beverages, all for just $10 per person ($8 children).

– Bon Appetit

If you used the FoxTALE grade book for any of your FoxTALE course sites, back up your 2015 fall grade book to a spreadsheet that is saved outside of FoxTALE. Here are instructions for backing up grades. You will want to keep an archive of your course grades that cover the last five years.

Use your new, empty 2016 spring sites as the sites in which you will teach. You may import content from another course site. See the quick guide here: FoxTALE Import Course Content.

The 2016 spring sites are currently hidden from student view. When you are ready, you can share the sites with your students. Here is a quick guide on how to make the courses available: FoxTALE Making Courses Visible to Students.

If your course site is set to “Weekly” format, your course might show incorrect dates. To adjust the dates, go to Administration>Edit settings on the course home page. Scroll down to the course start date and change it to the first day of your 2016 spring course. Scroll to the bottom of the page and click “Save changes.”

Visit the Schedule of Events page to see webinars and open labs offered for December and spring semester starting the week of Jan. 4.

Your Educational Technology Team
servicedesk@georgefox.edu

With the holidays quickly approaching, the finance department would like to bring to your attention the schedule for processing check requests and expense reimbursements to accommodate the short holiday weeks.

Please click this link to view the holiday check run schedule posted on the “Forms” page of the finance department’s website. Please check this webpage periodically for any changes to the current schedule. If you have questions, contact Jen Klapp at jklapp@georgefox.edu.

Please note that the finance department will be closed from Thursday, Dec. 24, through Friday, Jan. 1, so no checks will be available from accounts payable during this time.

Thank you and Happy Holidays!

– The Finance Department

At 8 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 9, George Fox will host the Oregon Symphony for its 29th appearance in Bauman Auditorium. The concert is free to George Fox employees – a gift from George Fox honorary board member Ken Austin, who cofounded A-dec with his late wife Joan.

The university has been provided with a limited number of tickets for its employees. These tickets are separate from those to be issued by the Newberg Area Chamber of Commerce to the general public.

George Fox employees (halftime and over) may pick up their tickets – limit two per employee – on a first-come, first-served basis starting Thursday, Dec. 17, at 9 a.m. in the advancement office. Phone reservations (503-554-2134) will not be taken except for employees at the Portland Center.

On Monday, Jan. 4, beginning at 9 a.m., any remaining tickets (again, a limit of two per person) will be available – also on a first-come, first-served basis – to those who sign up on a waiting list. If you find you will not be able to attend the concert, please return your tickets for another employee to use.

Questions? Contact Mary Monahan at mmonahan@georgefox.edu.

Advent is the beginning of the church year, beginning on the fourth Sunday before Christmas and ending on Christmas Eve. It is the season of remembering the long-awaited Messiah and anticipating the second coming of Jesus, culminating in the celebration of the birth of Jesus on Christmas Day.

This year’s Advent readings are available from the Office for Spiritual and Intercultural Life (SpIL). If you would like a copy of the Advent readings, please email the office with your school mailbox number at spirituallife@georgefox.edu.

Merry Christmas,
SpIL

Stop by the International House between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Wednesday through Friday (Dec. 16-18) to take your picture at our first holiday photo booth. We have a festive backdrop and lots of props!

Come alone and take a selfie or bring your friends or a whole department and take a funny photo! (Please bring your own camera.)

Questions? Contact Jennifer Farland at jfarland@georgefox.edu.

Join the Christmas celebration at the library’s annual Wassail Party today (Monday) from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Please take a break on “Dead Day” and join us in the MLRC multi-purpose room for snacks, wassail and coffee.

It’s our treat to you!

Do you love to serve? Does volunteering for the larger vision of Martin Luther King Jr. inspire you? How about in Portland?

Your chance to get involved with our neighboring community is finally here, with the opportunity to be a part of MLK Day of Service in Portland!

MLK Day of Service is a day we are able to live into this vision Dr. King had for serving and justice. Though one day of service is never enough to fully celebrate him or what he stood for, we hope you are able to join us for this day of service and recognition of Dr. King.

MLK Day of Service takes place on Monday, Jan. 18. You can register and find more information about what the day will look like here.

If you have any questions or concerns, please email spirituallife@georgefox.edu.

Stop by the Bruin Den today (Monday) between 11:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. to buy gift bags of coffee to support the four George Fox nursing students going to Kenya over Christmas break. The coffee will also be available for sale in the nursing office (on the second floor of Hoover) during finals week.

These will make great Christmas gifts, and proceeds will support medical missions work and health education in Kenya!

Questions? Contact Stephanie Fisher at sfisher@georgefox.edu.

Monday, Dec. 14, 6 p.m. – Women’s basketball vs. Southern Virginia, Wheeler Sports Center

For more information, contact the sports information office at ext. 2926 or visit the George Fox sports website at gfubruins.com.

Attention Resident East students: Beginning Monday, Jan. 11, the Roberts Center lots on the east side of the building fronting Villa Street and on the south side of the building fronting Sherman Street will be for commuters, staff and visitors only.

If you currently park in either of those two lots, beginning next semester, you will need to park in the HMS lots and in the Le Shana lot should the HMS lots be full.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation with this parking change.

Questions? Contact Nadine Kincaid at nkincaid@georgefox.edu.