The Daily Bruin

The Office of Financial Affairs is updating its process for employee expense reimbursements. As you know, employee expense reimbursements have always been by check, but starting Feb. 6 employees will now have the option of receiving reimbursements via direct deposit or by paper check.

The new guidelines are as follows:

Effective Feb. 6

• For those who sign up for direct deposit: If your Expense Reimbursement Form is received in the Office of Financial Affairs 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.

Effective March 1

• For those who choose to have reimbursements processed as a check: Checks will be cut only on the first Monday of each month. If your Expense Reimbursement Form arrives in the Office of Financial Affairs 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 Feb. 20, the check will be cut on the first Monday in March. If your paperwork arrives after Feb. 20, your check will be cut on the first Monday of April.)

If you want your reimbursements to be set up as direct deposit you’ll need to download, complete and submit the authorization form to the financial affairs office. The form can be found on the FAO’s Common Forms webpage.

If you have any questions, please contact Andy Dunn at adunn@georgefox.edu or ext. 2162.

At 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 3, George Fox will host the Oregon Symphony in Bauman Auditorium for its 25th appearance in Newberg. The concert is free to George Fox employees – a gift from George Fox board member Ken Austin and his wife, Joan, founders of A-dec.

The Austins have provided the university 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 Monday, Jan. 23, at 9 a.m. at the first-floor Information Center in the Stevens Center.

Phone reservations will not be taken except for employees at the Portland and Salem centers.

On Friday, Jan. 27, 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.

For more information, contact Vangie Pattison at ext. 2121 or epattison@georgefox.edu.

Greetings from Human Resources!

Your W-2 (tax document) will go out in campus mail by Tuesday, Jan. 31.

Since these are also being transmitted to the IRS, please make sure that your home address is correct in PeopleSoft. Please go to mygfu.georgefox.edu. Log in and click “Self-Service” in the menu at the left. Choose “Campus Personal Information” and then “Addresses” to update your home address if necessary.

Questions? Contact Melodee Powers at mpowers@georgefox.edu.

Thank you!

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.

Mail Services experienced a problem with our tracking system and was unable to input all of the packages from the holiday weekend. We are processing them as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience as we work diligently to get your packages ready for you. If you receive an e-mail today from “Mail Tracker” with the subject line, “GFU Mail Services Package Notification,” you have a package in Mail Services.

If you stopped by on Tuesday and we could not locate your package, please print off the e-mail notification with the package number, bring it to our customer service window, and we will be able to deliver your package to you. We apologize that we were unable to look up packages or search through all the incoming packages to locate your individual package when you were at the window yesterday.

Again, we thank you for your patience with us as we progress through the large number of packages.

The university’s School of Business will host a free presentation, “The Spirit of Servant Leadership,” featuring guest Larry Spears, from 7:30 to 9:30 a.m. Friday, Jan. 27, at the Portland Center.

Spears, president and CEO of the Larry C. Spears Center for Servant-Leadership of Indianapolis and a servant-leadership scholar at Gonzaga University, will speak on the theme of the spirit of servant leadership – a practice adopted by some of the world’s top corporations over the past five decades.

In fact, in recent years, more than a dozen Fortune 500 “Best Companies to Work For” have actively practiced servant leadership, including Starbucks, Southwest Air, Men’s Wearhouse and Synovus Financial. Spears will speak on the personal and organizational elements of servant leadership that have stood the test of time, such as listening, foresight, awareness and building community.

Interested parties should R.S.V.P. to this link by Friday, Jan. 20. Coffee and tea will be served at the event. Questions? Contact Darla Norgren at ext. 6176 or dnorgren@georgefox.edu.

If you would like to nominate a colleague for the first Employee of the Month award for 2012, please send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg (pkilburg@georgefox.edu) by noon on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 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 this Thursday, Jan. 19.

Request from Marketing Communications: If you see a George Fox advertisement online, please do not click it. Each click on an ad costs the university money, in some cases as much as $15 per click.

In most cases, an online ad that is viewed – but not clicked on – does not cost the university any money. Help us be good stewards of our limited advertising dollars.

Thank you,
Marketing Communications

Reminder: Regalia rental requests are due eight weeks prior to commencement. In the case of this spring, no later than March 5. There is a link to the form on the Bruin Bookstore’s main website (gfubookstore.com). The link is located at the bottom of each web page.

Questions? Contact John Stewart at jstewart@georgefox.edu.

The next all-employee meeting is scheduled from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, in Hoover 105.

For those at the university’s regional sites, the meeting will be available at a stream site (to be provided in an announcement prior to the meeting). A chat room has also 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.

FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 8 a.m. (Pacific Time) on Monday, Jan. 23, for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience. If you have questions, please contact the IT Service Desk.

The Bruin Bookstore, as well as the textbook annex, will be closed on Monday, Jan. 16, for Martin Luther King, Jr. day.

In a follow-up to last year’s Celebration of William Stafford event, George Fox will host authors Ursula K. Le Guin and Eleanor Berry from 2 to 4 p.m. this Saturday, Jan. 14, in Hoover 105. There is no charge to attend.

About Ursula K. Le Guin

Le Guin’s books have been finalists for the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. She writes both poetry and prose in various modes, including realistic fiction, science fiction, fantasy, young children’s books, books for young adults, screenplays, essays, verbal texts for musicians, and voice texts. She has published seven books of poetry, 22 novels, more than 100 short stories (collected in 11 volumes), four collections of essays, 12 books for children, and four volumes of translation. She has received many awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, and others.

About Eleanor Berry

Berry, a former teacher of writing and literature at Willamette University, organizes poetry events in nearby Stayton, is a member of the committee that oversees the Oregon Poetry Collection at the Oregon State Library, and serves on the boards of the Marion Cultural Development Corporation and the Oregon State Poetry Association. Her poetry and essays on poetry have been widely published in journals and anthologies. Green November, a book of poems derived from her acclimation to western Oregon, was published in 2007.

In Honor of Stafford

The authors will read poetry and interact with attendees. The event is held in honor of Stafford, the former U.S. poet laureate and Oregon poet laureate whose life and works exemplified a quest for peace and truth. It is being hosted by the university’s Center for Peace and Justice in collaboration with the Friends of William Stafford and two of that organization’s board members, Dennis and Helen Schmidling.

Questions? Contact Melanie Newell at ext. 2686 or mnewell@georgefox.edu.

The 2011-2012 Bruin Directory is almost here! The tentative date for distribution is Friday, Jan. 13. Once the books arrive on campus they will be sent out through campus mail to each department and each book will be charged to the interdepartmental account.

Please contact Carly Halverson at chalverson09@georgefox.edu with any questions.

This Saturday is Bruin Madness 2! You don’t want to miss the Indoor Tailgate Party dinner with KidZone or the two games against Puget Sound. As an employee, you can get a discount on your tickets to the tailgate party dinner: $9 ($4 discount) for adult tickets and $6 for children under 10.

Come to the Pennington House Tuesday or Wednesday this week to get your tickets. Visit bruinmadness.georgefox.edu for more information on this event.

Questions? Contact Anna Philipsen at ext. 2131 or aphilipsen@georgefox.edu.

Your name tag and business card requests should be placed no later than 5 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 12, to guarantee they are included in this week’s order. If you have questions, contact Danette Newkirk at dnewkirk@georgefox.edu.

Thank you.

George Fox will celebrate World Religions Day by hosting “Sacred Journey: Perspectives on Lived Faith,” featuring a panel of faith leaders from the Portland area. Guests will engage in conversation from 3 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15, in the Cap and Gown Room on the Newberg campus. The event is part of the university’s engagement with the President’s Interfaith and Community Service Campus Challenge.

Panelists expected include Rabbi Daniel Isaak from Congregation Neveh Shalom (southwest Portland); Shahriar Ahmed, president of Bilal Masjid (Beaverton); Abbot Kyogen Carlson, from the Dharma Rain Zen Center (southeast Portland); and Sarah Thomas Baldwin, George Fox’s campus pastor and dean of spiritual life.

This time is meant to celebrate the particularity as well as the interconnectivity of lived belief. It is a time meant to learn about each other and to enjoy the company of one another, according to Clint Baldwin (Center for Peace and Justice).

To learn more, visit the Peace and Justice site. Questions? Contact Melanie Newell at ext. 2686 or mnewell@georgefox.edu.

In a follow-up to last year’s Celebration of William Stafford event, George Fox will host authors Ursula K. Le Guin and Eleanor Berry from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 14, in Hoover 105. There is no charge to attend.

About Ursula K. Le Guin

Le Guin’s books have been finalists for the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize. She writes both poetry and prose in various modes, including realistic fiction, science fiction, fantasy, young children’s books, books for young adults, screenplays, essays, verbal texts for musicians, and voice texts. She has published seven books of poetry, 22 novels, more than 100 short stories (collected in 11 volumes), four collections of essays, 12 books for children, and four volumes of translation. She has received many awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, National Book Award, PEN-Malamud, and others.

About Eleanor Berry

Berry, a former teacher of writing and literature at Willamette University, organizes poetry events in nearby Stayton, is a member of the committee that oversees the Oregon Poetry Collection at the Oregon State Library, and serves on the boards of the Marion Cultural Development Corporation and the Oregon State Poetry Association. Her poetry and essays on poetry have been widely published in journals and anthologies. Green November, a book of poems derived from her acclimation to western Oregon, was published in 2007.

In Honor of Stafford

The authors will read poetry and interact with attendees. The event is held in honor of Stafford, the former U.S. poet laureate and Oregon poet laureate whose life and works exemplified a quest for peace and truth. It is being hosted by the university’s Center for Peace and Justice in collaboration with the Friends of William Stafford and two of that organization’s board members, Dennis and Helen Schmidling.

Questions? Contact Melanie Newell at ext. 2686 or mnewell@georgefox.edu.

The George Fox basketball programs have always had incredible fans. So we’ve created Bruin Madness to bring all our fans together to cheer our teams on to victory! The second “Madness” event is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 14.

Bring your family and join alumni, students, parents, community members and other fans for amazingly delicious tailgate fare and exciting activities at the Indoor Tailgate Party Dinner and KidZone. Then head off to Miller Gymnasium to cheer on the Bruins as they take on Puget Sound in a doubleheader. After the game, young alumni (those from the past 10 years) are invited to head over to Abby’s Pizza to continue the celebration.

Don’t miss your best chance to catch this year’s Bruin basketball teams in action, all while you connect with hundreds of other George Fox alumni, parents and students.

Schedule

4 p.m. – Indoor Tailgate Party Dinner & KidZone
6 p.m. – Women’s Basketball Game
8 p.m. – Men’s Basketball Game
10 p.m. – Young Alumni Night at Abby’s

Visit alumni.georgefox.edu or call ext. 2131 for more information and to purchase tickets.

As security has been patrolling campus, we have noticed some very unusual white staff hangtag parking permits being “hung” in some unusual ways! If your white hangtag is broken, please bring the pieces to the security office and we can update your registration on the spot and issue you a new permit. If you have LOST your permit, or need one for a second or third vehicle, the cost is only $5 each (cash only), and they can be purchased in the security office.

Portland employees: If you come to the Newberg campus frequently, please go on MyGFU and register your vehicle, and a gratis staff/faculty or adjunct hangtag will be mailed to your Portland campus mailbox.

If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to call ext. 2090 during office hours.