The Daily Bruin

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

An employee accidentally ordered decaf instead of regular Dark Magic Extra Bold K-cups. They can’t be returned, so are any offices in the Bruin community interested in purchasing or trading for regular coffee? They cost $13.57 for a box of 24 (x4).

Contact Vicki Tschan at vtschan@georgefox.edu if you are interested in purchasing or trading.

With many George Fox employees working remotely, it is important to continue to maintain a high standard for protecting the data of our students and employees. This fact sheet provides a good foundation for building best practices for working remotely in a secure manner.

Please contact the service desk (servicedesk@georgefox.edu) with any questions about working remotely.

Mail Services will be operating during its regular business hours Monday through Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you have any questions, contact Richard Silver at rsilver@georgefox.edu.

The Portland Writing Center remains open this spring, with Zoom, email and phone appointments for graduate and degree completion students.

For more information about the services we provide or to schedule an appointment, visit our website. Questions? Contact Jennie Harrop at jharrop@georgefox.edu.

Beginning tomorrow (Thursday), the university’s libraries will pivot to fully online; however, the Murdock Library’s 24/7 space will remain open via card access.

If you need to check out a Chromebook or other physical items, please come by today. If you are unable to come today, send an email to circadmin@georgefox.edu to make arrangements to get the items you need.

Due dates for all items are automatically being extended through at least May 1. Updates and more information about services are available on our webpage.

Following is a summary of library hours beginning Thursday:

• Murdock Library: Closed
• Murdock Library 24/7 Space: Open to university students/faculty/staff via card access
• Portland Center Library Service Desk: Closed
• Portland Center Library Space: Open based on Portland Center hours

Questions? Contact Ryan Ingersoll at ringersoll@georgefox.edu.

The School of Physical Therapy’s Glow for Africa 5K Run is postponed. The new date will be announced in the coming weeks.

We apologize for any inconvenience. Questions? Contact Linda Dallof at ldallof@georgefox.edu.

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

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

Due to the uncertainty of the current travel situation, please use Egencia for all approved travel arrangements (air, hotel, rental car). Payments should be made through the George Fox Egencia account and paid directly by George Fox. The cancellation policy when using Egencia is much more beneficial to the university. 

If you have any questions, contact Kathi Becker at ext. 2166 or kbecker@georgefox.edu.

In light of recent events, the accounting department will be canceling its remaining free tax preparation and e-filing assistance sessions for the George Fox community. The original dates scheduled were March 19, April 4, and April 9.

This decision comes as a result of the fact student volunteers will not be on campus as they take precautions associated with the coronavirus. We apologize for any inconvenience.

If you have questions, contact Seth Sikkema at 503-554-2813.

Join the Staff Development Committee for our March staff lunch for hourly staff employees on Thursday, March 19. Gather in Canyon Commons 101 from 12:30 to 1:30 p.m. for food, fun and fellowship!

Be sure to RSVP by the end of today. Questions? Contact Audrey Lichten at alichten@georgefox.edu.

The all-employee meeting originally scheduled for Thursday, March 19, has been canceled. The next all-employee meeting will be Thursday, April 23.