The Daily Bruin

The university’s diversity committee would like to invite you to a feedback session to be held prior to the Thursday, March 18, all-employee meeting. Join us at 3 p.m. in Hoover 105 to offer insights and ask any questions you might have pertaining to the Blueprint for Diversity. For those on the Portland, Boise, Salem and Redmond campuses, we will have the technology in place to facilitate comments and questions via the chat room.

The committee has been hard at work re-conceptualizing the Blueprint, and this past weekend, the board of trustees approved the conceptual framework of the document. We have already been meeting with several groups to gather feedback about the Blueprint and to provide ideas into how to put the Blueprint into action as we move forward.

Contact Jere Witherspoon (jwithers@georgefox.edu) if you would like a copy of the Blueprint.

Please join the women of George Fox for pizza and a movie on Tuesday, March 30, in Hoover 105. Dinner will be served at 5:30 p.m., and the movie Lars and the Real Girl begins at 6:30 p.m. Please R.S.V.P. to Lori Allen at allen.redpants@gmail.com by Monday, March 29. Thank you and see you there!

A George Fox surplus inventory sale will take place in the back section of the Villa Academic Complex on Tuesday and Wednesday, March 23-24, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. both days. Some items available for purchase will be: lighting fixtures, laminate, desks, student tablet desks, bookshelf units, couches, chairs, office chairs, office supplies, soap dispensers, sound panel doors, cubicle panels and more. Cash or checks only.

Gary Tandy (English) will present “Responding Effectively and Efficiently to Student Writing” at a Faculty Teaching Forum session from noon to 1:20 p.m. Thursday, March 18, in the Cap and Gown Room.

Since grading papers and essay exams is one of the most time-consuming and challenging tasks for teachers, this session will provide guidelines and suggestions for both the process and product of responding to student writing. Questions to be addressed include: “How can I make my grading process more efficient?”, “How can I use grading rubrics effectively?” and “What grammatical and mechanical errors should I mark?”

To reserve a lunch, e-mail Jere Witherspoon (jwithers@georgefox.edu) by 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 16. Everyone is welcome to attend the session, whether bringing a lunch or reserving a lunch.

All faculty — full time, part time, and adjunct — are invited to attend Faculty Teaching Forums (FTFs). The schedule of upcoming sessions is available online. Video podcasts of FTFs will be available on iTunesU.

On Monday, April 12, several from the George Fox community are headed to the Rose Garden to watch the Portland Trail Blazers take on the Oklahoma City Thunder (formerly the Seattle SuperSonics) at 7 p.m. Put on a George Fox T-shirt or hat and bring your family and friends to the game. It will be a great way to connect with other alumni, parents, employees, students and friends. As a member of the George Fox community, you can purchase $15 discounted tickets, saving $4 per ticket.

Click on this link for more information and to order tickets. Contact Alumni Relations at ext. 2131 or alumni@georgefox.edu with questions.

The university’s science departments will host an open house on Tuesday, March 16. George Fox employees and their families are invited to a fun-filled evening full of science interactive displays, thrilling demonstrations and a child-friendly dinner.

The open house will run from 5 to 7 p.m. in EHS and Wood-Mar. We hope you can come!

George Fox will host the Oregon Symphony for its 23rd appearance in Newberg at 8 p.m. Saturday, March 13, in Bauman Auditorium. If you have already picked up your tickets and are no longer going to use them, please return them to Barbi Doran (ext. 2099). There is a waiting list of people who would like the tickets and would love to have yours if you are unable to attend.

The concert is free to George Fox employees – a gift from retired university board member Ken Austin and his wife, Joan, founders of A-dec. The Austins provided the university with a limited number of tickets for its employees.

On Saturday, April 10, 9 am to noon in Room 285b, the School of Professional Studies is sponsoring a Career Management Seminar.

The Career Management Seminar is an event which will help you understand and assess your God given talents, apply interests, talents and values to tangible work positions, and be exposed to public and private job vacancies.  The speaker, Peter DePaoli, is an adjunct professor at GFU with over 30 years of career development experience.  He has work experience in higher education, business, and in the professional sector, and has also helped adult learners transform their educational experience into practical career callings.

The cost of the event is $50.

For more information please contact Jack Lyda at lydaj@georgefox.edu or 503.554.6188.

Marketing Communications will hold staff/faculty portrait sessions from 1 to 7:30 p.m. on Monday, April 12 and Tuesday, April 20, in the Portland Center Prayer Chapel. We are updating everyone’s photo for the website.

Call or e-mail Danette Newkirk to set up an appointment at ext. 2125 or dnewkirk@georgefox.edu

An all-employee meeting is set from 3:40 to 5 p.m. Thursday, March 18, in Hoover 105. As part of the meeting, President Robin Baker will give a report of the March 12-13 board of trustees meeting.

For those at the university’s regional sites, the meeting will be available for viewing at stream.georgefox.edu/live/commmtg.sdp. For best results, use Mozilla Firefox for your web browser, and your computer must have QuickTime Player installed. Simply copy the link into the address bar of your browser. If you have any problems, contact the Service Desk at ext. 2569.

In addition, a chat room has been set up to allow for interaction. A video recording of the meeting will be available for viewing the following day at itunesu.georgefox.edu.

If you haven’t yet turned in your yellow benefit election form, the time is now! Please turn it in by Monday, March 15. If you’ve lost it, you can print another from the Benefits web page, along with any needed plan enrollment/change forms.

Remember, flexible spending accounts do not automatically renew; you must complete a new form every year. Have you looked at the list of medical costs that can be reimbursed through Flex? (The list is on your envelope.) Weight loss program costs can be covered if you have a medical diagnosis and prescription from a physician (special food not included). Alternative care, prescription sunglasses, infertility treatments (and then childbirth classes) are all reimbursable.

If you have already submitted your Flex form and want to change the amount you have set aside, please complete a new form and send it to Box 6108 with a note that says it’s an update.

The university’s women’s basketball team is back in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III tournament, and like last year, the campus community will gather together to cheer on the Bruins.

Join us at 3 p.m. this Friday, March 12, in the Wheeler Sports Center gym to watch a telecast of the Bruins taking on Carthage College in a sectional game at Washington University in St. Louis. There is no admission charge, and concessions will be available for sale during the game.

Should the Bruins win, they will play again at 5 p.m. Saturday, March 13, against either Washington University or Mount Union College. That game also will be telecast in the Wheeler gym, and concessions will be served.

A spring blood drive is scheduled between 8 a.m. and 7 p.m. this Thursday, March 11, in the Ron Gregory Atrium in EHS. Please visit givelife.org to confirm your appointment time. If you have not signed up, visit the givelife website and enter the sponsor code “georgefox” to sign up for one of our last appointment slots. Walk-ins are always welcome.

This Friday, March 12, is the last day to submit nominations for March Employee of the Month. The President’s Executive Leadership Team will then select the Employee(s) of the Month from the nominations submitted. The winner of both the February and March Employees of the Month will be announced at the all-employee meeting on Thursday, March 18, and each will receive a $100 gift card to The Allison.

Submit nominations to Peggy Kilburg (HR) at pkilburg@georgefox.edu.

In just 24 hours, George Fox students will write, rehearse, produce and perform four short plays. Catch the final performances at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 13, in Wood-Mar Auditorium. Admission is free.

Join us for this unique, family-friendly evening of original theatre! The event is sponsored by Alpha Psi Omega, the university’s theatre honor society.

Supervisors: Please post your open positions soon! The summer procedures guide and JobConnect instructions are on the supervisor web page: georgefox.edu/offices/hr/studentemployment/index.html. Budgets will be the same as last summer.

The summer student application has been posted on the student employment page and students are ready to apply.

Dave Sherrill, Bon Appetit’s executive chef at George Fox the past 11 years, has accepted a promotion and will be leaving to open and manage the kitchen for Bon Appetit’s newest location, Amazon.com world headquarters in Seattle. A going-away party for him is scheduled from 2 to 3 p.m. Sunday, March 7, in the Cap and Gown Room. All are welcome to drop by and say goodbye. His last day will be Friday, March 12.

Michael Gillespie, the chef at Friendsview Retirement Community, will replace Sherrill. Gillespie has worked for Bon Appetit for more than 10 years and, along with his restaurant and country club experience, “brings a wealth of talent and skills to us and we look forward to welcoming him,” said Denny Lawrence.

Marketing Communications will hold staff/faculty portrait sessions from 9 a.m. to noon and from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 18, and Wednesday, March 31, in our Le Shana Hall studio. We are updating everyone’s photo for the Web site.

Call or e-mail Danette Newkirk to set up an appointment at ext. 2125 or dnewkirk@georgefox.edu.

On Wednesday, March 3, Holocaust survivor Ursula Bacon will speak at 7 p.m. in Hoover 103. Ursula fled Nazi Germany with her parents in 1939 and landed in Shanghai, China, along with more than 18,000 other Middle European Jews. The family spent most of the war years in a Japanese-controlled “Designated Area,” often referred to as the “Shanghai Ghetto.”

She has written a book about her experiences, Shanghai Diary, A Young Girl’s Journey from Hitler’s Hate to War-torn China. For more information, contact Caitlin Corning (History) at ext. 2673 or Clint Baldwin (Center for Peace and Justice) at ext. 2685.

Calling all women! The community has spoken, and it is reflected in the university’s strategic plan, so plans are being made for a program that will nurture and develop the leadership potential of George Fox University women.

If you aspire to develop your experience, style and skills as a leader, plan to join us for the Portland Center March kickoff event from 3:30 to 5 p.m. Wednesday, March 3, in Portland Center Room 155A. During this time together, led by President Robin Baker, you will have an opportunity to hear about the significance of the women’s leadership development initiative within the university’s strategic plan, the steps that have been made to carry the conversation to this point, and our vision for the future development of leadership among women at George Fox University. At the event, your questions and insights will be valued.

If you have any questions, please contact Sheri Philips at ext. 2114 or sphilips@georgefox.edu.