The Daily Bruin

Do you have questions regarding mortgages and loan programs? An upcoming Canopy webinar will cover several related topics, including:

• A summary of the approval process
• Key criteria sought by lenders
• An overview of diverse loan programs and their specific qualification requirements
• Guidance on initial steps if you believe you do not meet requirements
• An explanation of how your employee homeownership program can offer support

The webinar will take place on Thursday, Sept. 12, from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Register today at this link. Contact Miriam Lacy at mlacy@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

A Canopy “Home Buying and Financing 101” seminar is set from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. on Tuesday, Sept. 17.

The free seminar will cover these valuable subjects and more:

• The pros and cons of owning a home
• An overview of the home-buying process
• How to prepare to purchase a home
• Types of zero- and low-down loan programs

Register today at this link. Contact Miriam Lacy at mlacy@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

Today (Wednesday) is the day to receive personalized guidance from Providence experts! Stop by Canyon Commons between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. to ask any questions about your health plan. Do not miss this opportunity. Walk-ins are welcome!

Contact Miriam Lacy at mlacy@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

Some more hot days are headed our way. Starting Wednesday, Sept. 4, temperatures will rise to 90 degrees and higher. Thursday and Friday may reach over 100.

As per the George Fox heat protocol, please follow these steps:

• Stay hydrated by drinking water every 20 minutes.
• Schedule more strenuous work in the cooler parts of the day, such as the morning.
• Move to an air-conditioned building (Canyon Commons, Klages Center,and Murdock Library) if your building is too warm.
• Between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m., check on fellow employees and classmates every one to two hours.
• Know the symptoms of heat-related illnesses, which can be found at this link.

If you have any questions about best practices during high heat, please contact Kim Knoernschild, our environmental health and safety specialist, at kknoernschild@georgefox.edu.

To schedule an appointment with the Virtual Learning Center (VLC) via Zoom or Asynchronous, please go to traccloud.georgefox.edu.

If you have any questions, please reach out to us at vlc@georgefox.edu or call 503-554-2449, Monday through Friday, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Bruinpalooza, our annual party on the quad during Homecoming, is happening on Saturday, Oct. 12, from 2 to 4 p.m.! This event is a fantastic opportunity to showcase your department, have fun, and engage with alumni, students, and others in our community.

We’d love for you to participate by hosting a booth at Bruinpalooza. To find out more details and sign up, please fill out this form by this Thursday, Sept. 5.

Reach out to Britnee Ely in Alumni Relations at bely@georgefox.edu or 503-554-2110 with any questions.

The university’s Safety Committee will be conducting Evacutrack training in the third-floor stairwell of the Edwards-Holman Science Center (EHS) tomorrow (Wednesday) at 4 p.m. This essential training will equip you with the skills to efficiently evacuate individuals with mobility impairments during emergencies, ensuring their safety and compliance with safety regulations.

If you work in EHS or Stevens, we invite you to join us for this important session to be prepared and safeguard everyone in our buildings.

If you have any questions, please reach out to Kim Knoernschild, our environmental health and safety specialist, at kknoernschild@georgefox.edu.

When it’s time to transition to Medicare, there can be several important and sometimes confusing details to consider.

To help ensure you have the correct information when making decisions, George Fox has partnered with Hilary Starnes and Jasmyn Sprague from Providence Health Assurance to provide Medicare 101 seminars. These virtual seminars, scheduled Wednesday and Thursday, Sept. 18-19, will help you understand the basics of Medicare in an easy-to-understand overview.

Seminar topics:

• What is Medicare and why it is important?
• Addressing the different parts of Medicare (the A, B, C & D’s of Medicare)
• What are the differences between Original Medicare, Medicare Advantage and Medicare Supplement?
• When you should consider enrolling into Medicare, and what is the process
• What are the costs to be enrolled in Medicare?
• What to consider if you are planning to continue to work past age 65
• Learn how to avoid late enrollment penalties
• How to transition from an employer group plan to a Medicare plan
• Understand how to manage a Health Savings Account (HSA)

This seminar is purely educational, and there will be no discussion about specific carrier plan information. The only purpose of this seminar is to provide George Fox employees with valuable Medicare information. We hope this helps you and your loved ones as you plan for the eventual transition to Medicare.

You do not need to be eligible for Medicare to attend this seminar. The presentation will take approximately one hour, but we will have additional time at the end of the presentation to answer any questions that you may have.

We hope you will join if you are able! Spouses and parents are welcome to join. You can register for the 6 p.m. Wednesday, Sept. 18, seminar here and the Thursday, Sept. 19, noon meeting here.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.

Questions? Contact Aga Kasprzyk at akasprzyk@georgefox.edu.

This October, the English Department will be putting on the first of our Eclectic Texts Conferences (ETC). This one is all about Taylor Swift. Are you interested in her influence on pop culture? Wondering how her songwriting intersects with literary, political, and religious academia? Do you love classic literature and pop music?

Join us for the “Taylor Swift: The Voice of an Age” conference Friday and Saturday, Oct. 25-26, where both faculty and students will present papers and engage in discussions about the literary and cultural impact of Taylor Swift.

Registration is available now for only $5. Registrants are encouraged to submit a paper for participation in one of our conference panels. For more information and instructions for submissions, visit our ETC web page. Final submissions are due on Friday, Sept. 13.

Sound like fun? Spread the word! The deadline for registration is Oct. 13. If you have any questions, please reach out to gfu-english@georgefox.edu. We hope to see you there!

Join us for Quaker open worship tomorrow (Wednesday) in Hoover 250 from 11:15 to 11:45 a.m. We will worship, listen to God’s Spirit, and seek to discern God’s truth together. Nathanael Ankeny will be hosting. Chapel credit will be offered.

Please reach out to Nathanael at nankeny@georgefox.edu with any questions.

As part of our “thriving student initiative,” we are encouraging all employees to use FOX360 to alert the Student Support Network when a student may be in need of additional support.

If you or your department would like a presentation about this program, please schedule a 30-minute training session with Jere Witherspoon using this link.

Note: The presentation can also take place during your regularly scheduled department meeting or one-on-one in your office.

Please contact Jere at jwitherspoon@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

Are you a Providence member struggling to find a healthcare provider? Do you want to start using your vision or massage therapy benefits? How about travel assistance or identity theft?

If you have questions, come to Canyon Commons tomorrow (Wednesday) any time between 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. The Providence Bridge Team will be on site and available for drop-in visits. The team can help with scheduling a visit with a provider, getting medical records transferred, prescriptions refilled, and ordering labs or imaging.

This is a unique opportunity to receive customized assistance and expert advice about your health benefits right here in Newberg. Find out more here and put it on your calendar today!

Questions? Contact Aga Kasprzyk at akasprzyk@georgefox.edu.

Please join Linda Samek, Scot Headley and Debby Espinor on a research study on Artificial Intelligence (AI). This survey will be part of Dr. Espinor’s fall sabbatical work, and will be the basis for an article as we explore the connections between AI and spirituality and social and security concerns. Please use this link to participate.

The rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) promises incredible advancements, but its integration into our lives raises numerous concerns regarding human-AI interactions. This survey is part of a research study at George Fox that considers faculty members’ thoughts and concerns in three areas: academic concerns; social, privacy, and security concerns surrounding AI; and spiritual, wisdom, and ethical concerns.

The survey IRB is 2233008. It will take less than 10 minutes to complete. It is an anonymous survey, and you are free to opt out at any time.

Please email  despinor@georgefox.edu if you have any questions.

We know it is a busy semester, so we appreciate your thoughts on this work.

Got aches and pains? Physical therapy appointments are available at the Medical Sciences Building (448 Werth Boulevard in Newberg) for employees, students and the local community. Appointments are an hour long and are available Monday through Friday at various times. The cost is $25 for those associated with George Fox, and $35 for those who are not.

Please fill out the attached form if you’re interested.

If you have any questions, feel free to directly reach out to physicaltherapy@georgefox.edu. We look forward to treating you!

Join us in sending off Tim Goodfellow into his next adventure. Tim is an alumnus who has served our community for 19 years.

Drop by IT this Thursday, Sept. 5, between 1:30 and 3 p.m. to give him your well wishes and “See ya Laters.”

The Office for Spiritual Life is again hosting Life Groups this fall (Sept. 16 through Oct. 28)! Life Groups are small groups of undergraduate students who meet together for prayer, Bible study and fellowship.

Groups meet weekly (for eight weeks) for 60 to 90 minutes. Life Groups through the Office for Spiritual Life will also be SpiL-credit eligible. To sign up, please fill out this form by Thursday, Sept. 12.

Feel free to check out our Instagram for more information. If you have additional questions, please do not hesitate to contact the spiritual life office at spirituallife@georgefox.edu.

Join us for a show reception for Jeffrey Cameron’s solo exhibition in Lindgren Gallery. “Color Fields and Hard Edges” will be on display through mid-October, and will be open for First Friday Art Walk in both September and October.

Our show reception for Cameron’s exhibition will align with Newberg’s First Friday Art Walk event this Friday, Sept. 6, starting at 5 p.m. Light refreshments will be provided.

Feel free to contact Chandler Brutscher at cbrutscher@georgefox.edu with any questions.

Numerade is a virtual learning platform specializing in STEM education. The system offers video lessons for selected textbook questions, custom video answers from educators, several study tools, and Ace, an AI tutor built on ChatGPT Plus. Although the textbooks are primarily for STEM subjects, Ace can be used for any subject.

Undergraduate students can create a free account by going to numerade.com, clicking “Sign up now,” and using their George Fox email address to create their account. The AI for Learning web page has guidance on appropriate use of AI to support student learning; more resources will be added in the near future.

All faculty currently have access to Numerade. If your STEM course textbook isn’t listed, let us know and we can request that it be added; other disciplines might be supported in the future. We are working with Numerade to refine their tools to further support our students’ learning.

Feel free to contact Rick Muthiah, director of Learning Support Services, with feedback or questions at rmuthiah@georgefox.edu.

Numerade is a virtual learning platform specializing in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math) education. The system offers video lessons for selected textbook questions, custom video answers from educators, several study tools, and Ace, an AI tutor built on ChatGPT Plus. Although the textbooks are primarily for STEM subjects, Ace can be used for any subject.

Undergraduate students can create a free account by going to numerade.com, clicking “Sign up now,” and using your George Fox email address to create your account. Review the AI for Learning web page for guidance on appropriate use of AI to support your learning; more resources will be added in the near future.

Contact Rick Muthiah, director of Learning Support Services, with feedback or questions at rmuthiah@georgefox.edu.

A reminder to all students on a meal plan for the fall 2024 semester: The deadline for all declining meal plan changes is today (Friday, Aug. 30) at 5 p.m. No declining meal plan changes will be allowed after this date.

Questions can be answered on the Meal Plan page.