Looking for some quality classical music? Kenn Willson (Performing Arts) can help. His CD, “Encounters with Beethoven – The Live Recording Project,” is available in the music office on the Newberg campus and on his website.
George Fox University will host the Oregon Symphony in its 24th appearance in Bauman Auditorium at 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 21. 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 Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 9 a.m. at the first-floor Information Center in Stevens Center. Phone reservations will not be taken except for employees at the Portland and Salem centers.
On Tuesday, Jan. 18, beginning at 9 a.m., any remaining tickets (again, a limit of two per employee) will be available – also on a first-come, first-served basis – to those who sign up on a waiting list. If you find that you are not able to attend the concert, please return your tickets for another employee to use.
For ticket information please contact Barbi Doran at bdoran@georgefox.edu or call ext. 2099.
Nasser Abufarha, a Palestinian-American scholar and social entrepreneur, will present a free lecture, “Insisting on Life: Martyrdom and Fair Trade in Palestine,” on campus Wednesday, Jan. 19. A guest of the university’s Center for Peace and Justice, Abufarha will speak from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Hoover 105.
Abufarha is the founder of the Palestine Fair Trade Association and Canaan Fair Trade, which is bringing Palestinian olive oil and other traditional foods to mainstream American and European markets, while also improving economic conditions for more than 1,700 farmers in the West Bank. Canaan Fair Trade today is the largest exporter of certified fair trade and organic Palestinian olive oil to America and Europe.
Abufarha is the author of The Making of a Human Bomb: An Ethnography of Palestinian Resistance. The book, described as “required reading” by the American Journal of Sociology, explains how geographic separation of Palestinians and mimetic actions to Israeli state repression will continue to be a source of violence until Palestinians can experience actual rootedness in their land and start to explore alternative exchanges between themselves and Israelis.
The university’s Center for Peace and Justice has collaborated with the Friends of William Stafford to bring several notable poets, including the current and former poet laureates of Oregon, a documentary film maker, and our very own Ed Higgins to the Newberg campus Thursday, Jan. 13, to honor the life and work of this beloved Oregon poet who strove to promote peace and justice through his creativity.
Thursday’s events are free and open to the public. There is no registration required. The day begins with a screening of Haydn Reiss’s new documentary on Stafford, Every War has Two Losers, featuring a discussion with Reiss himself afterward. The event closes at the Coffee Cottage with a musical performance by Bill Joliff and Seth Martin.
Event details and itinerary can be found at this link.
Snow and icy conditions are in the forecast for this week. We caution you to walk carefully on icy sidewalks and to avoid walking beneath trees whose branches may fall due to snow.
In case of a weather-related campus closure, we want to make sure you have the information you need.
Weather Closure Policy
On rare occasions, classes may need to be canceled and offices closed due to adverse weather conditions or for other emergency reasons.
The provost decides if conditions warrant canceling classes or closing offices for the Newberg campus and the Portland and Salem centers. (Closure decisions in Boise and Redmond are made by local administrators.)
Major considerations are road conditions, ice, utility service disruption, and how long the severe weather or emergency is likely to last. Decisions on day classes are announced by 6:15 a.m., if possible. Most decisions on evening classes are posted by 2:15 p.m..
In no circumstances should employees or students put themselves in danger in an attempt to get to campus.
To find out if a closure decision has been made when bad weather occurs:
* Listen to local radio and television stations
* Call Newsline, the university’s recorded announcements, at 503-554-3868
* Call the George Fox switchboard at 503-538-8383
* Check television and newspaper Web sites:
o kgw.com
o koin.com
o kptv.com
o katu.com
o columbian.com
o oregonlive.com
o flashalert.net
Now is the time to submit your request for business cards. Marketing Communications will be processing a business card order soon. Place your order directly with B&B Print Source by Friday, Jan. 14.
The login user ID is “gfubc†and password is “gfu123†(please save for future reference). Contact Danette Newkirk (Marketing Communications) if you have any questions.
Marketing Communications is collecting orders for name tags. For those who have regular face-to-face contact with the public and need to order a name tag, you may now submit and view your name tag requests at this link online.
Be sure to provide the name of the person for whom the name tag is needed; title or department; and the budget to be charged. Examples of title or department include: Dean of Students/Student Life and Admissions Counselor/Admissions. The next order will be placed Friday, Jan. 21.
You may want to consider using our flexible Responseware application, Poll Everywhere for your classes this semester. On the surface, Poll Everywhere is a simple text message or web voting application that works well for live audiences (your class). This is a Clicker system without the need for Clickers. People vote by sending text messages or via the web with a WiFi device to options displayed on-screen. The poll that is embedded within the presentation or web page will update in real time. Find out more at www.polleverywhere.com
Greg Smith or Gloria Doherty would be glad to send you an invitation to use Poll Everywhere.
It is university policy to reimburse employee travel at the allowable IRS rate which fluctuates from time to time. Â The IRS rate is increasing to $.51/mile from $.50/mile effective January 1, 2011. Â All mileage reimbursements are to be charged to account 52004. Â Any mileage reimbursements for 2010 will be paid at the $.50 rate. Â This change is also reflected in the online Trip Calculator which helps you determine whether renting or driving your own car is the best choice.
Effective Jan. 1, 2011, the EMPLOYEE REIMBURSEMENT form found in Common Forms has been updated. Â Employees are encouraged to download the updated forms and read the instructions rather than continue to use older versions downloaded in the past.
Other changes include:
•    A widened field for account and cost center coding
•    Page 2 option with totals linked to page 1
•    Trip Calculator has been updated
Oregon Symphony Ushers are needed for the 8 p.m., Friday, Jan. 21 performance in Bauman Auditorium. Â Responsibilities include helping greet guests, taking tickets, and assisting with special seating needs. Â If you are interested in volunteering to usher for the concert, please contact Evangeline Pattison, 503-554-2121 or epattison@georgefox.edu.
George Fox University will host the Oregon Symphony in its 24th appearance in Newberg on Friday, Jan. 21 at 8 p.m. and employees (halftime and above) can receive up to two free tickets.
Tickets are available on a first-come first-serve basis starting Wednesday, Jan. 12 at 9 a.m. at the first floor Information Center in Stevens Center. Â Phone reservations will only be taken for employees at the Portland and Salem centers.
On Tuesday, Jan. 18, beginning at 9 a.m., any remaining tickets (again, a limit of 2 per employee) will be available – also on a first-come first-serve basis – to those who sign up on a wait list.  If you find that you are not able to attend the concert, please return your tickets for another employee to use.
The concert is a gift from George Fox board member Ken Austin and his wife, Joan, founders of A-dec, to the Newberg community. The Austins have provided the university with a limited number of tickets for its employees. Â These tickets are separate from those to be issued by the Newberg Area Chamber of Commerce to the general public.
Contact Amy Lorenz (alorenz@georgefox.edu) if you have questions.
Place your order online for the 2010-11 Bruin Directory. Bruin Directories are a service to the George Fox University community based on a volunteer staff within ASC.  We apologize for the tardiness this year due to unforeseen circumstances throughout the publication process. Each Bruin Directory is $4 and will be charged to the department account number mentioned in the order form.  The directories will be distributed through Mail Services.  Deadline for placing orders is Jan. 21. Thank you for your patience. Contact Krissy Findley if you have questions.
It is time to think about nominating a colleague for the first Employee of the Month award for 2011. If you know of someone whose recent contributions make him or her worthy of this honor, please take a few minutes to send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg that includes a specific summary of the person’s contributions (past 30 days or so) and any other information that you believe makes this person deserving of this award.
The deadline for nominations is Thursday, Jan. 20. The President’s Executive Leadership Team will select the recipient from the nominations submitted. This award and a $100 gift card to The Allison will be presented at our community meeting on Wednesday afternoon, Jan. 26.
Join IT for general FoxTALE sessions and sessions on the FoxTALE-MyGFU integration.
Want an introduction to FoxTALE? Consider these sessions:
The start of the spring 2011 term brings the full implementation of the FoxTALE-MyGFU integration. Following are sessions that cover the integration.
Read session descriptions and sign up on this R.S.V.P. form. See all of the faculty and staff development sessions IT hosts at Schedule of Events.
MyGFU will be unavailable due to scheduled maintenance beginning Wednesday, Dec. 29. at 5:30 p.m. through Sunday afternoon, Jan. 2, 2011.
The online “No Hassle Buyback” has been re-activated on our website. Simply go to www.store.georgefox.edu click on the “Textbooks” tab, then select “Sell Books”. Enter your ISBN numbers and the system will give you a buy price for each book. Just follow the online instructions. When completed, the system will produce a receipt and a pre-paid label for shipping your books. You should receive payment with 5 business days. If you need help, please refer to the contact information at the No Hassle Buyback.
Student supervisors, please submit the rest of your students’ December time sheets to HR right away — by noon on Tuesday, Jan. 4.
Please be sure the student’s name, ID number and cost center number is legible on each one. Please 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.
If you happen to still have any paperwork to submit on a student hired in December, please hand-deliver it right away — no later than Monday, Jan 3. We need to set up students in the system before the time sheets arrive.
Thanks very much.
HR
HR has free tickets to the Build, Remodel and Landscape Show in Portland, scheduled Friday through Sunday, Jan. 7-9, at the Oregon Convention Center.
The event will feature hundreds of exhibits about – you guessed it – building, remodeling and landscaping. If you would like to attend this show, you can request two tickets by e-mailing HR@georgefox.edu. Order yours while supplies last.
The Office of University Relations still has red Christmas poinsettias for sale. The last day to buy them is Wednesday, Dec. 22, so stop by the Pennington House and check out the 6-inch potted plants. “Deals will be made.”
Contact Evangeline Pattison (ext. 2121 or epattison@georgefox.edu) to schedule a pick-up or to reserve.
On Friday, Dec. 17, the $5,250 tax break for tuition assistance from employers was extended for another two years. Section 127 of the U. S. tax code allows George Fox employees to exclude from income up to this amount each year in tuition remission they receive for graduate courses. (This exclusion does not apply to graduate tuition remission for spouses.) This exclusion would have expired on Dec. 31, 2010, had Congress not acted to extend it.
Please note: All undergraduate tuition remission to employees, spouses and dependents is excluded from income under Section 117 of the tax code, which applies to employees of educational institutions.
