The Daily Bruin

More than 200 students will receive undergraduate and graduate diplomas at the university’s midyear commencement ceremony on Saturday, Dec. 17, in the Wheeler Sports Center. Seating begins at 1 p.m., and the ceremony will start at 2 p.m.

Tickets are not required; however, seating is limited to 10 guests per graduate. At 1:45 p.m., a live broadcast of the ceremony will be available to watch at this link.

Chris Skaggs, who graduated from George Fox with a bachelor’s degree in history in 1999, will serve as commencement speaker. He is a 12-year veteran of the Web and mobile software industry and founder of Soma Games, a video gaming company with a Christian worldview.

Temporary employees and supervisors of temps: Time sheets should be submitted on the 16th as always (for hours worked from Nov. 16 – Dec. 15), but this month it is especially critical that these time sheets reach HR before noon on Monday, Dec. 19. This is due to the shortened payroll processing time as a result of the three Christmas holidays (Dec. 23, 26 and 27).

As always, information should be complete, accurate and legible – and the time sheet should be signed by the employee and the supervisor. They can be sent to HR at Box 6108 on Friday or dropped off Monday morning.

Many thanks,
HR

The university has free tickets to the 2012 Build, Remodel & Landscape Show, scheduled Jan. 6-8 at the Oregon Convention Center. The event is an opportunity to get started on your home improvement plans (and you wondered what you would do with all of your free time after the holiday season . . .).

The show will feature displays and exhibits by kitchen and bath remodelers; window, siding and roofing companies; landscaping consultants; and many other vendors. Hours of the show are Friday, noon to 8 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.; and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Newberg employees, please stop by the Information Desk in Stevens Center to pick up your free tickets (normally $6 each); limit two per employee. Portland and Salem employees, you can request yours by phone or e-mail (pkilburg@georgefox.edu), and we will send them to you in campus mail.

– HR

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.

Staff and students: Here is a list of helpful links to check road conditions before you start out on that trip home or to visit friends and relatives for Christmas:

• California: dot.ca.gov/cgi-bin/roads.cgi
• Washington: wsdot.com/traffic/
• Oregon: tripcheck.com/Pages/RCmap.asp?curRegion=0&mainNav=RoadConditions
• Idaho: 511.idaho.gov/default.asp?display=cams

Security Services wishes you a safe trip and a wonderful Christmas break!

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

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

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.

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.

Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the library’s annual Christmas celebration!

We will host our annual wassail party this Monday, Dec. 12, between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Please take a break on Dead Day and join us in the MLRC multi-purpose room for snacks, wassail and coffee. Contact Sue Mills (smills@georgefox.edu) for more information.

It’s our treat to you!

FoxTALE will be unavailable from 6 to 7 a.m. (Pacific Time) on Wednesday, Dec. 28, for scheduled maintenance. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Please note changes in courier service during the holiday season.

Courier service to the Salem campus will be on the following days: Thursday, Dec. 8; Monday, Dec. 12; and Thursday, Dec. 15. There will be no courier service to Salem Dec. 16 through Jan. 6. Normal Monday and Thursday delivery to Salem will resume on Jan. 9, 2012.

Service to the Portland Center will be every day, Monday through Friday, except during university holidays. There will be no service on Dec. 23, 26 and 27, and no service on Monday, Jan 2, 2012.

Questions or concerns? Please contact Sherrie Frost at ext. 2556.

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. on Friday, Dec. 9, to either Joel Perez (jperez@georgefox.edu) or Abby Burgess (aburgess@georgefox.edu).

Now that December is underway, it is time to think about whether someone you know is deserving of the December Employee of the Month award. If so, please submit your nomination via e-mail to Peggy Kilburg by Tuesday, Jan. 2. Please share about the qualities this person has demonstrated and provide specific examples of his or her contributions in the last month or so.

The President’s Executive Leadership Team will review the nominations and select a recipient. The winner will be honored with a citation and a $100 Allison gift card at our next community meeting early in 2012.

Don’t forget our next “Let’s Learn Together” session on PowerPoint is happening tomorrow (Tuesday) from noon to 1 p.m. If you haven’t signed up yet, there are still spots available. Please do so with the link below. The event will be available to watch on a stream site (to be provided tomorrow morning).

Click on this link to reserve your spot for the session. We look forward to seeing you there! Please e-mail Rachel Powell (rpowell@georgefox.edu) if you have questions.