The Daily Bruin

Just a reminder … The Bruin Bookstore’s web address has changed. You can find us online at gfubookstore.com.

Friday is the last chance to submit your best photos for our contest. Enter our senior business capstone photo contest and help support a great cause!

Cards of Hope is being organized to create photo greeting cards to support The Garden of Hope, which works to protect vulnerable and at-risk children and teenage women from abuse and exploitation in Thailand. You can help Cards of Hope by sending in your best picture of places, nature and local landmarks.

The best submission will receive a grand prize of $30 cash!

How to Enter
Each entry consists of a single image and the required information: your name, telephone number, e-mail address and photo location. There is a limit of six entries per person. Photographs must be in digital JPEG or JPG format. E-mail your entry to cardsofhopegfu@gmail.com.

All rights to use of the photo are waived with submission for the contest and a chance at the prize. See terms and details in the information section of our Facebook page.

Questions? Contact Hilary Sarjent at cardsofhopegfu@gmail.com.

It’s good to know you’re covered when the flu bug hits and you can’t work. Regular university employees, half time and above, have sick leave and vacation to provide continued pay during an employee’s own illness or that of a dependent child, spouse, parent or parent-in-law who requires care.

If that flu bug should lead to pneumonia, and you are off work more than five consecutive days or hospitalized, you will need to bring a doctor’s note releasing you to return to work. If you or a family member has a serious illness, you may be eligible for federal or Oregon family leave. In that case, you or your supervisor should contact HR to request this FMLA/OFLA leave.

These leave laws don’t pay you while you are off work – your sick leave and/or vacation will do that – but they do protect your job, usually for up to 12 weeks. Even if you have plenty of paid time off, if your leave meets the requirements for FMLA/OFLA leave, the university is required to offer it to you, so it’s always important to contact HR.

But that’s not all!

If your pneumonia lasts at least six days and longer than your sick leave and vacation, you may be eligible for short-term disability salary continuance. This benefit is available to employees who have worked for George Fox at three-quarters time for at least a year, and it pays 60 percent of your regular wages after sick leave and vacation are used up for up to six months from the onset of your illness. Medical certification is required, along with periodic updates and a release to return to work.

But wait, there’s more!

If you have an illness that lasts longer than six months, you’re still covered. Our long-term disability insurance would continue your pay at 60 percent until you are back at work, until you receive other benefits that exceed the value of your disability, or until you retire.

While these are great benefits to have if you need them, we hope you won’t! Stay well this winter (and read the details in the employee handbook online, pages 39-47).

– HR

To simplify the process of preparing for a new semester, IT will automatically create a FoxTALE site for all of your spring and summer 2012 courses that are listed in MyGFU. You will no longer need to log into MyGFU to activate FoxTALE course sites. Each FoxTALE site will automatically enroll students, but the sites are hidden from students. You have control over when, or even if, you make a site available (visible) to the students.

We estimate that the spring 2012 FoxTALE course sites will be created by Dec. 21. Watch employee e-nnouncements for a confirmation.

See the FoxTALE for Faculty web page for more details.

We have 2012 Entertainment® Books available through this Friday, Dec. 16! These make great gifts at the discounted employee price of $20 (Costco price is $35). Enjoy $30 in bonus savings cards with each edition.

Choose your book – either Portland or Greater Oregon– and purchase it at the Information Desk in the Stevens Center (or contact Barbi Doran to send one to you).

A group of students are collaborating with the university’s Center for Peace and Justice and Center for Global Studies to run a book drive in partnership with Better World Books to raise money for Invisible Children, an organization dedicated to bettering the lives of children in Central Africa through advocacy and education.

The book drive has begun and ends this Friday, Dec. 16. Books can be dropped in one of four donation bins on campus: in the Stevens Center lobby, Bruin Den, EHS Atrium and outside the bookstore.

The Rationale
Through this book drive, unwanted books become the means to rebuild
 schools and provide scholarships to students in northern Uganda.

On college campuses,
 many
 thousands of
 amazing
 books are
 thrown out every year at the end of the semester. Because books
 change edition
s so frequently, there are always many books that the bookstore buys
 back for pennies, or
 not at all. These are the books we want you to donate. Some
 of you will
 even
 donate books
 you can sell back because
 you want to support the
 cause.

Which Books to Donate
Textbooks are
 the
 best
, but
 any book
 coming from our campus will
 do, including everything from classical
 fiction to a
 book on microwave
 cooking.

Students, staff, faculty and administrators: Don’t hesitate to donate as many books as you can. If they can’t be sold by Better World Books, at least they will be recycled instead of filling landfills.

If you have specific questions about which books qualify, please e-mail Melanie Newell at mnewell@georgefox.edu or visit this link.

Student supervisors, please be sure to collect your student employees’ time sheets before they leave for winter break. Please submit these time sheets to Human Resources right away. If they will be working over the winter break, turn them in when they are done for the month.

While we would like the time sheets as early as possible, all December time sheets must be turned in to Human Resources by Wednesday, Jan. 4, by noon. The earlier due date is required because pay day will be Jan. 13 (since Monday, Jan. 16, is a holiday).

Please be sure the student’s name, ID number and cost center number is legible on each one. Total them. Sign them and be sure the students did as well. (If the student is not available to sign it, please send it without the signature, and HR will contact the student.) Please do not send students to HR to sign their time sheets.

Federal Work Study regulations require that students delivering their own time sheets must have them in a sealed envelope.

New students? If you have hired students for December, please hand-deliver their paperwork right away. We need to set up students in the system before the time sheets arrive.

If you have hired students to start in January, please submit their paperwork as soon as possible. Thanks very much.

– HR

Students and employees will be able to get information on class cancellations and/or school closings in any of the following ways:

1. By listening to their local radio or television station – kgw.com, koin.com, kptv.com, katu.com, columbian.com, oregonlive.com
2. By checking e-mail
3. By calling Newsline, the university’s recorded source of information, at 503-554-EVNT (3868)
4. By calling the George Fox switchboard (503-538-8383)
5. By visiting the websites for Portland-area media
6. By visiting georgefox.edu

Please remember to water your Christmas trees and, in the case of students and those leaving over the holidays, remove them before you leave for break. Thank you and Merry Christmas!

– Plant Services

Plant Services has some ink cartridges that we would like to give away.

Here’s the list:

• Epson Cartridges:
  S020189/S020108 (3)
  T017 201 (3)
  T013 201 (5)
  T029 201 (2)
  T0445 20 (1)
  T0325 20 (2)
  T028 201 (3)
  T014 201 (2)
  T044220 (1)
  T044420 (1)
• Lexmark Cartridges:
  70 (1)
  60 (1)
• NEC Cartridge:
  100c 150c (1)

If interested, contact Debby O’Kelley at dokelley@georgefox.edu.

The faculty courier service on the Newberg campus will be suspended over the Christmas break and will resume on Monday, Jan. 9, 2012.

Questions? Contact Gina Braden at ext. 2425 or rbraden@georgefox.edu.

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

For all requests, please fill out and submit this form. If you have any questions, please contact Gina Braden at ext. 2425 or rbraden@georgefox.edu.

As part of the diversity education workshop series, the Office of Transitions and Inclusion is hosting a workshop on working with international students. The workshop will be facilitated by Alex Pia and Diana McIntyre and take place on Monday, Dec. 12, from 3 to 5 p.m. in Stevens 209.

If you would like to attend, you must R.S.V.P. by 5 p.m. today (Friday) to either Joel Perez (jperez@georgefox.edu) or Abby Burgess (aburgess@georgefox.edu).

The end of the year is quickly approaching!

Gifts from George Fox employees make it possible for students to receive tremendous opportunities for spiritual formation, vocational development and character growth.

To see videos and students’ testimonies of how these types of opportunities at George Fox deepen their relationship with God and prepare them to transform culture, please go to giving.georgefox.edu.

For an easy way to give via payroll deduction, please follow this link.

If you want to receive 2011 tax credit, please make sure your donation meets the following deadlines:

• Checks must be postmarked no later than Dec. 31.
• Online donations must be processed no later than Dec. 31 at midnight (Pacific time).
• Credit card payments must be processed in our office no later than Dec. 30 at 5 p.m. (Pacific time). To reach us on Dec. 30, please call Kristi Hagen at 503-554-2111.

Many thanks to those who have already responded! You make such a difference in students’ lives.

Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

If you have any questions, please contact Mandria Montplaisir, director of annual giving, at mmontplaisir@georgefox.edu.

Join the psychology department and Psychology Club as they host their annual Christmas cookie decorating event today (Thursday) from noon to 1:10 p.m. in the Cap and Gown Room.

Questions? Contact Kris Kays at kkays@georgefox.edu.

The Employee Council has been considering two topics specifically related to supervisors: employee recognition and readings/resources for those who oversee employees. Go to the Employee Council website to see comments about the employee recognition survey responses.

Supervisors are also encouraged to take a look at the “Readings and Resources for Managers and Supervisors.” Several short readings and a YouTube video on employee motivation have been posted thus far, and we’ll periodically add additional resources.

You can subscribe to new postings on the readings list or to other sections of the site by following these instructions. E-mail employeecouncil@georgefox.edu to suggest readings, to share stories of appreciation, or to bring a proposal to the Employee Council.

Following are Fitness Center hours over Christmas break:

• Friday, Dec. 16: Closes at 5 p.m.
• Saturday & Sunday, Dec. 17-18: Closed
• Monday-Thursday, Dec. 19-22: Open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Friday-Tuesday, Dec. 23-27: Closed
• Wednesday-Friday, Dec. 28-30: Open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Saturday-Monday, Dec. 31-Jan. 2: Closed
• Tuesday-Friday, Jan. 3-6: Open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.
• Saturday & Sunday, Jan. 7-8: Closed
• Monday, Jan. 9: Open at 6 a.m.

Questions? Contact Patty Findley at ext. 2910 or pfindley@georgefox.edu.

Join us for an evening of slam poetry in the Foxhole on Friday, Dec. 9, at 8 p.m.! Students will be performing original work and the proceeds will go to Alpha Psi Omega, the theatre honor society, and help send students to compete at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival in Fort Collins, Colo., in February. We look forward to seeing you there!

$1 from every drink will be donated to Alpha Psi Omega, and donations will be gratefully accepted.

Questions? Contact Hannah Irish at hannahelizabeth89@gmail.com.

Come to our final Spanish chapel of the semester on Friday, Dec. 9, from 10:40 to 11:30 a.m. in Hoover 105. We’ll have a Christmas theme! Worship and hear a message in Spanish. Chapel credit provided.

Come observe Advent in chapel this morning (Wednesday). There will be Christmas music, candy and time to hang out with friends! Our very own Robin Baker will share a short message as our community enters into the Christmas season.

Join us at 10:40 a.m. in Bauman Auditorium.