Join us on Wednesday, Dec. 2 between 2 to 4 p.m. at Kam’s Coffee House on the second floor of the Portland Center’s south building. There will be free samples, live music and a short Grand Opening ribbon cutting ceremony around 2:30 p.m.
Come celebrate this wonderful addition to the George Fox University family.
The university community is invited to see five short original works written, directed and performed by George Fox students at a New Playwrights Festival this Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4-5, in Wood-Mar Auditorium. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m.
Take a break from work duties and studying to enjoy grandly eclectic stories about people from all walks of life. Contact Cyndi Kimmel at ckimmel05@georgefox.edu for more information.
What do grades represent? Are they an objective measure of knowledge? Do they show growth in understanding? Do grades give evidence of subject mastery? A recent Chronicle of Higher Education article (tinyurl.com/GFUgrades)Â challenges professors to reconsider the purpose of grades and the manner in which grades are used.
Join a conversation about accuracy, fairness and effectiveness of grading practices. Should you choose to read ahead of time, look over the comments below the article. You will need your university library card number to access the article from off campus; the link should take you directly to the article if you are on campus.
The session will be held from noon to 1:20 p.m. Thursday, Dec. 3, in Cap & Gown A (note the different location than on academic calendar).
To reserve a lunch, e-mail Jere Witherspoon (jwithers@georgefox.edu) by 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 1. Everyone is welcome to attend the session, whether bringing a lunch or reserving a lunch. Please have your lunch ready so we can begin the conversation at noon.
All faculty — full time, part time, and adjunct — are invited to attend Faculty Teaching Forums (FTFs). Video podcasts of FTFs will be available on iTunesU.
Tickets are now on sale for the university’s Christmas Concert, “All is Calm, All is Bright,” presented by the Department of Performing Arts Friday through Sunday, Dec. 11-13. This year’s concert features more than 150 musicians from five ensembles in the main-stage performance, and preconcert music featuring 10 of the university’s chamber ensembles.
Three presentations are scheduled:
Additional information about the concert program or the performing arts department is available by contacting Debbie Hawblitzel (Performing Arts) at ext. 2620. Questions regarding tickets can be directed to the University Box Office at ext. 3844.
Tickets may be purchased online now at music.georgefox.edu, or (two weeks prior to the event) at the box office by calling ext. 3844. Tickets are $10 for adults; $8 for seniors and George Fox alumni; and $6 for students and children. All faculty, students and staff receive one free ticket (to the on-campus performances only), available for pick-up in the Bruin Bookstore. The concert on campus features reserved seating, so if you have a favorite seat, make sure you save it now! Seating will be open for Sunday’s matinee performance.
Come wish Kendra Irons well as she finishes her final semester at George Fox and completes her move to Texas. As an associate professor, Kendra has been an important part of our Religious Studies Department for the past six and a half years.
A farewell reception is scheduled from 4:30 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 2, in the Hoover Lounge (Hoover 250). Both colleagues and students will miss her.
Please send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg (HR) if you would like to nominate a support staff member or administrator for Employee of the Month for December. Your e-mail should include the person’s name, job title, a concise but specific summary of this person’s recent contributions (past 30 days or so) to the university, its students, and/or its employees (what was done, who was impacted, etc.), and any other information that you believe makes this person deserving of this award.
Please submit your nomination by Friday, Dec. 11. The President’s Executive Leadership Team will then select the Employee(s) of the Month from the nominations submitted. The winner(s) will be announced at the all-employee meeting on Wednesday, Dec. 16, and will receive a $100 gift card to The Allison.
The university will be closed Thursday and Friday, Nov. 26-27, for the Thanksgiving holiday. All offices, bookstores and libraries will be closed those two days.
The Baker family invites you and your family to their third annual Christmas Open House from 6 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 13, at the Edwards House, 402 S. College St., in Newberg. Join us for light appetizers and holiday sweets as we celebrate the Christmas season together!
The Portland Center Bookstore will be closed for the Thanksgiving Holiday from Wed., November 25 through Fri., November 27. We will resume regular store hours on Monday, November 30.
Everyone is encouraged to come to the Bruin Basketball games this Friday, but if you are unable to attend in person, watching on the Internet should be a better experience this year. Stretch Internet is the host that will be delivering our video stream. We are excited because the quality should be better thanks to more bandwidth and better production software.
Check out the schedule by clicking this Stretch Internet link. The first games to be broadcast will be Friday’s (Nov. 20) home openers.
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The university’s Symphonic Band will host the Oregon State University Wind Ensemble in concert this Thursday, Nov. 19, at 7:30 p.m., with a performance by the university’s percussion ensemble as well.
Selections include Auite of Old American Dances by Robert Russell Bennet; Red Cape Tango by Michael Daugherty; Mercury Rising by Michael Daugherty; Millenium Cannons by Kevin Puts and arranged by Mark Spede; Irish Tune from County Derry by Percy Grainger; Bells for Stokowski by Michael Daugherty; and The Circus Bee by Henry Filmore.
The concert will be held in Bauman Auditorium. Admission is free.
If a balance of more than one year of vacation accrual remains after December time sheets and time-off reports are processed (in January), the employee will lose the portion that exceeds one year’s accrual.
To determine your accrual rates and how much you may need to use by Dec. 31, HR has prepared a chart and instructions for support staff and a chart and instructions for administrators to be used along with the information on your Oct. 30 pay statement. Links to both can be found at georgefox.edu/offices/hr/EmployeeBenefits/beneforms.html.
They also provide useful information about the balances on your monthly pay statements. If you have any questions after you have reviewed your vacation balance, please contact HR for assistance.
The Office of University Relations, along with ASC, will host the university’s annual campus Christmas celebration on Saturday, Dec. 5. Christmas carols and a candlelight devotional service will begin at 6:15 p.m. at the Centennial Tower. Various other activities and live entertainment will be held in Stevens Center atrium, Hoover atrium and Ron Gregory Atrium from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m.
In addition, the event will include a live Nativity with a petting arena, plus horse-drawn wagons for scenic rides around campus. Students and employees (along with their families) are encouraged to join in the fun as we kick off the holiday season.
Questions? Contact Danya Ochsner (University Relations) at ext. 2121 or at dochsner@georgefox.edu.
Thanksgiving is drawing close and I know that many of you are looking forward to the time you spend with family. This Thursday, Nov. 19, we will host our monthly all-employee meeting in Hoover 105, and I wanted you to know that I will be available for general questions from 3 to 4 p.m. on that day. We will then provide formal reports on various areas on the institution from 4 to 5 p.m.
I would be happy to dialogue with you regarding the current discussions regarding football, physical therapy, future growth, or any topic you wish to discuss. We will have coffee and treats available at 3 p.m. so I would encourage you to come and ask questions. See you then.
Robin Baker,
President
P.S. For those at our regional sites, the meeting will be available for viewing at stream.georgefox.edu/live/commmtg.sdp. 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.
This is a reminder that on Friday, Nov. 13, the university’s Apple campus rep is hosting a clinic to show faculty, staff and students some of the new features of the new Mac OSX Snow Leopard. This will be a short clinic with a 20- to 30-minute Q & A following.
The session is scheduled at 10:40 a.m. in Stevens 208 on the Newberg campus.
Students enter our classrooms with a range of motivations and abilities. In an upcoming Faculty Teaching Forum session, “Call Me Coach: Lessons From the World of Coaching,” we will discuss strategies and techniques from coaching that can inform our ability to draw out the best in our students. Neal Ninteman (Engineering) will be our presenter.
The session will be held from 12:40 to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 18, in Cap & Gown A (note the different location than on academic calendar).
To reserve a lunch, e-mail Jere Witherspoon (jwithers@georgefox.edu) by 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 17. Everyone is welcome to attend the session, whether bringing a lunch or reserving a lunch. Please have your lunch ready so we can begin the conversation on time.
All faculty — full time, part time, and adjunct — are invited to attend Faculty Teaching Forums (FTFs). Video podcasts of FTFs will be available on iTunesU.
The Portland Center Bookstore server software is being updated on Friday, Nov. 13, 2009 to enhance credit card security. This update requires us to be closed all day on Friday. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.
George Fox women (including wives of university employees) are invited to join Ruth Baker for a walk at Champoeg Park this Saturday morning, Nov. 14. This event is the first extended walk for the Women’s Walking Club formed earlier this semester.
The event will begin in the Stevens Center parking lot at 9:45 a.m. for carpooling, and participants will arrive back at the parking lot at about noon. Questions about the event can be directed to Ruth via e-mail at rbaker@georgefox.edu.
Monday is last day to submit nominations for November Employee of the Month.
Please send an e-mail to Peggy Kilburg (HR) if you would like to nominate a support staff member or administrator for Employee of the Month. Your e-mail should include the person’s name, job title, a concise but specific summary of this person’s contribution(s) to the university, its students, and/or its employees in the past 30 days or so (what was done, who was impacted, etc.), and any other information that you believe makes this person deserving of this award.
Please submit your nomination by Monday, Nov. 16. The President’s Executive Leadership Team will then select the Employee(s) of the Month from the nominations submitted. The winner(s) will be announced at the all-employee meeting on Thursday, Nov. 19, and will receive a $100 gift certificate to the Jory Restaurant at the new Allison Inn & Spa in Newberg.
This Friday, Nov. 13, the university’s Apple campus rep will put on a clinic to show faculty, staff and students some of the new features that the new Mac OSX Snow Leopard has to offer. This will be a short clinic with a 20- to 30-minute Q & A following.
The session is scheduled at 10:40 a.m. in Stevens 208 on the Newberg campus.
