Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Meet Your Colleague: A Q&A with Alan Jacob, Associate Director of Housing

Name: Alan B. Jacob (The “B.” is there because of long, funny story that involves the police.)

Job title: Associate Director of Housing

Department: Student Life

How long have you worked at Whitworth? 6 wonderful years

What do you like best about your job? The best part is working with a bunch of crazy people…I fit right in. And having a coffee shop on the floor below has been great.

In what ways do your gifts and abilities help meet the needs of the campus community you serve? My job is unique in that it combines a ton of data, computer, and nitty-gritty detail work, but at the same time requires me to be a good “people person,” seeing each question as unique, each person as an individual, and every interaction as a chance to help a person, be it student, staff or faculty member. I’d like to think I’m good at seeing the forest amongst the trees, the trees among the forest, and even the crazy squirrels running around them all.

Favorite book: Anything by James Herriot, the author of the All Creatures Great and Small series

Favorite movie: “Snatch.” Admittedly it has enough swear words that you’ll never get all the soapy taste out of your mouth, but the characters in the movie are spot-on and hilarious.

Favorite food: Any and all food, morning, noon, or night. I don’t think there’s ever been any odd or unusual food offered to me that I haven’t tried.

Favorite quote: “Consider the daffodil. And while you’re doing that, I’ll be over here, looking through your stuff.” Jack Handy

Favorite music: Anything from Ben Folds

Favorite animal: I have two dogs, but I wouldn’t mind getting a dog that won’t “do its business” in my backyard. It doesn’t exist yet, but I hear top scientists are working on it.

Guilty pleasure: There’s never been a dark-chocolate candy bar that I cannot finish in one sitting.

Hobbies: I’ve been known to throw my leg over a bicycle from time to time.

Best vacation ever: 10 days in Playa del Carmen, 85 degrees, endless beaches, and coconut-scented sunscreen. June 2001

Birthplace: I tell people it’s Rhinelander, Wisconsin, only because I’ve never learned to spell Millwawkee.

We’d be surprised to know that…I have a subscription to and read Scientific American cover to cover. Not because I understand any of it – genome splicing, string theory, and almost always something about photon torpedoes? – but because it reminds me that I don’t EVER want to go into the sciences.

I collect…sarcastic comments and save them up to unleash in a biting torrent. (But don’t worry, I only save them for people I love.)

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? To the center of the earth. If I do it right, I think I would be weightless. But very hot. I’d have to check Scientific American for that one.

What cartoon character best describes you? Is there a character that eats a lot, drinks too much coffee, and has the attention span of a five-year-old? What’s the question?

If you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt? No joke: rally car driver

What is your favorite sound? The rear derailleur of a bicycle while shifting gears

What is your life motto? “It could be worse.”

If the whole world was listening, what would you say? “Never think that you’re so high and mighty that others couldn’t knock you down a notch, and never think that you’re too lowly and worthless for others to help you up a bit.”

Favorite childhood book: The Jungle Book. To a small boy, the idea of hanging out all day with a bunch of talking animals in the jungle AND never having take a bath is amazing.

Favorite childhood TV show: “National Geographic,” but only because Mom and Dad wouldn’t let us watch anything unless it was on PBS.

Least favorite word: “Nuclear,” only because everyone keeps telling me I’m saying it wrong but I can’t figure out how to say it right!

Best high school class subject: I did pretty well in my art classes, but looking back at the “art” I made, the word definitely deserves quote marks around it.

APS Balance: Tips for Recognizing the Signs and Symptoms of Depression

For tips on recognizing the signs and symptoms of depression, please visit the Employee Assistance Program's APS Balance Tips. The EAP is for Whitworth benefits-eligible employees and their household members. The program provides professional support services to help you and your household members with personal and career related concerns. Services are confidential and accessible 24 hours a day at no out-of-pocket cost.

To speak with an EAP professional or to a schedule an appointment, please call 800.999.1077. The Human Resource Services website provides a link to the Employee Assistance Program. To access the EAP website you will be asked for a company code. The code is EAPNOW.

Recording Memorial Day Holiday Hours for Non-exempt Hourly Staff

If applicable to your position, please remember to record the Memorial Day holiday observed on Monday, May 30, under “Other Time Hours” on your time card, choosing “Holiday” from the drop-down menu under “Other Time Types.” If you did work on May 30, please note in the comments section of your timecard that you worked on the holiday.

Although students are not eligible for holiday hours, if they did work on the holiday, please make the corresponding note in their timecard comments section.

Thank you for ensuring that these hours are recorded correctly for yourself and the employees you supervise.


Thank you,

Payroll Services

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Meet Your Colleague: A Q&A with Program Assistant Julie Shanholtzer

Name: Julie Shanholtzer

Job title: Program Assistant - Psychology Department, Speakers & Artists, and Core 350

Department: Psychology Department

How long have you worked at Whitworth? Just finished my fourth year here

What do you like best about your job? Definitely the people! I work with wonderful faculty and students. They are the reason I love coming to work every day.

In what ways do your gifts and abilities help meet the needs of the campus community you serve? My passion is helping people. There is nothing more gratifying than helping someone and knowing that I have made a difference in their life. I believe my past business experience and training have enabled me to serve Whitworth and its students well.

Favorite book: The Call of the Wild – Jack London

Favorite movie: “The Wizard of Oz”

Favorite food: Turkey with all of the trimmings

Favorite quote: “The world needs dreamers and doers, but above all the world needs dreamers that do” - Sarah Ban Breathnach

Favorite music: 80s music. I also love Coldplay and Supertramp.

Favorite animal: Grizzly bear

Guilty pleasure: Applebee’s appetizers

Hobbies: Watching my girls play softball and basketball; spending time at our lake cabin; lots of camping

Best vacation ever: An Alaskan cruise with my husband and our five girls and some extended family – it was beautiful and a blast!

Birthplace: Newport, Wash.

We’d be surprised to know that…I am a sports fanatic and I love riding my motorcycle.

I collect…memories.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Ireland

What cartoon character best describes you? Speedy Gonzales – always running, minus the “speedy” part

If you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt? Travel around the world

What is your favorite sound? My kids’ laughter and the ocean waves

What is your life motto? Life is what you make it.

If the whole world was listening, what would you say? “Show compassion and love for one another – we all need it!”

Favorite childhood book: Nancy Drew mysteries

Favorite childhood TV show: “The Waltons”

Least favorite word: Can’t

If you could go on a road trip with anyone (from the past or present), who would you choose and where would you go? Lewis and Clark – exploring the beautiful Northwest

Best high school class subject: English

Whitworth Featured in Chronicle of Higher Education Article; Campus Community Can Access Chronicle Content Online

This week’s Chronicle of Higher Education includes an article featuring Whitworth’s decision to stabilize traditional undergraduate enrollment to preserve and enhance the quality of the student learning experience. To read the article, visit http://chronicle.com/article/In-Tough-Times-Some-Colleges/127594/.

This article provides a great opportunity to inform the campus community that, courtesy of the Whitworth Library, there is now campus-wide online access to the Chronicle. This includes “premium content,” which is restricted to subscribers and not accessible to the world at large through the Chronicle’s public website. This week’s Whitworth story is an example of premium content available to the campus community.

An institutional online subscription makes the Chronicle readily available to all Whitworth faculty, staff, and students. It also makes it easy to share a particular story with others – the entire campus, a specific sub-population, or an individual – by simply e-mailing them the link.

How can you access the institutional subscription? As long as you’re on the campus network, you can go directly to the Chronicle’s home page – Google it, for example, or use this link, which you may want to bookmark: http://chronicle.com/section/Home/5.

If you’re not connected to the campus network (traveling, working from home, etc.), you can still access it by way of the library’s website, http://www.whitworth.edu/library/. Just select the “Databases and Indexes” page, then select the alphabetical list, find the Chronicle of Higher Education entry, and click on the “Off Campus” button next to it.

The institutional subscription gives direct access to any news story, editorial, commentary, job listing, and most other content. A few rubrics, such as participation in online forums, require a personal registration, which is free.

Please report any difficulties you may experience with the institutional Chronicle access to Hans Bynagle (x4482, hbynagle@whitworth.edu) or Nancy Bunker (x4481, nbunker@whitworth.edu).

Signature Card Form for All Employees to Sign Will Be E-mailed May 25

While many of Whitworth’s business-affairs processes and forms are online (including the Designation of Authority, Conflict of Interest, etc.), there are still a number of signed hard-copy documents that employees send to the business affairs office and human resource services, including purchasing card log sheets, reimbursement requests, honorariums, stipends, adjunct and overload contracts.

On Wednesday, May 25, the business affairs office will e-mail a signature card form to all Whitworth employees, requesting that all faculty and staff sign and return the form, which we will keep on file, only so we can compare your signature on the card with your signature on documents such contracts, purchasing card logs, honorarium requests and invoices that we receive in the business affairs or human resource services offices. 

Please watch for the e-mailed form, which you will receive on Wednesday, May 25. Please print out the form and sign on the signature line. You can e-mail the signed form to accountpay@whitworth.edu or send it through campus mail to the business affairs office.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Kris Zimbelman
Senior Accountant, Operations & Budget
Business Affairs
 

Please Stay Off the Newly Seeded Areas on Campus

Please help keep our campus green and beautiful; foot and golf-cart traffic on the newly seeded areas on campus prevent growth, and we need to give the grass a fighting chance to take root.

There are currently newly seeded areas in front of Warren Hall and in front of the Eric Johnston Science Center. Please observe the signs and stay on the sidewalks.

Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Suzanne Sherman
Office Manager, Facilities Services
ssherman@whitworth.edu

Parking Lot Cleanup May 24-27

Grounds will sweep campus parking lots throughout the summer, as weather and workload permit. The following lots are scheduled for this week (May 24-27); they will be closed the evening before cleaning, so please watch for the orange cones and be prepared to park elsewhere.

There isn’t a set schedule at this point, but if you are concerned about having advance notice, please let us know and we will try to give you a heads up the afternoon prior to closure.

- HUB (B1)
- Warren/Dixon/Auditorium (K2)
- Graves (G3, G1)
- Fieldhouse (G2)
- Hawthorne (HH1 & HH2)

Thank you!

The Facilities Services Office, x3254

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

View President Taylor's Graduate Commencement Address

The Whitworth community and special guests came together for the 2011 Whitworth Graduate Commencement ceremony on Saturday, March 14. Whitworth President Beck A. Taylor delivered the address, "Be Still," to an audience including nearly 130 graduates receiving master's degrees in education, teaching, counseling, business administration, international management, and theology. To watch the ceremony, including President Taylor's graduate commencement address, please visit 2011 Graduate Commencement. 

Meet Your Colleague: A Q&A with Professor Jack Burns

Name: Jack Burns                    

Job title: Professor

Department: Leadership Studies

How long have you worked at Whitworth? Finishing my 14th year

What do you like best about your job? The opportunity to build deep, Christ-focused relationships with students

In what ways do your gifts and abilities help meet the needs of the campus community you serve? Beginning as an undergraduate at WSU, and for a total of nine years, I was a volunteer Young Life leader at Pullman High School. My gifts seemed to match the Young Life approach to ministry: building relationships with kids so that the gospel can be shared. A Whitworth faculty colleague (who was my Young Life leader when he was a Whitworth student) once told me (I think he meant it as a compliment) that my faculty position at Whitworth was simply a vehicle to allow me to be a Young Life leader for Whitworth students.  I have been blessed to do a lot of things over these last 14 years at Whitworth, but the ministry to students has been where my gifts and talents line up most consistently.

Favorite book: So many, but East of Eden and Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck are right up there

Favorite movie: I'm not much of a movie person. I go when forced.

Favorite food: I've never met a Thai dish that I haven't liked.

Favorite music: Classical – starts with Bach and ends with Bach, but lots of others in between

Favorite animal: Dog

Guilty pleasure: A glass of fine merlot, a good book, a fire in the fireplace, a Bach concerto playing in the background, a thick steak cooking on the grill, and my dog sleeping at my feet.

Hobbies: Skiing, running, fishing, reading, writing

Best vacation ever: Family ski trips to Mt. Bachelor

Birthplace: Missoula, Montana

We'd be surprised to know that...I have beaten every level of "Angry Birds" and have earned three stars on each level.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Greece and Turkey

If you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt? I'd either be a NASCAR driver or a biblical scholar proficient in all of the biblical languages.

What is your favorite sound? Grandkids laughing

Favorite childhood TV show: "Rin Tin Tin"

If you could go on a road trip with anyone (from the past or present), who would you choose and where would you go? I'd go with my wife, Kristi. First, we'd go to Norway and sail around in the areas where her family is from, then we'd go through Scotland and trace my roots. We'd end the trip sailing and seeing biblical sights in and around Greece, Turkey, and Israel.

Best high school class subject: Lunch

Laura Bloxham's Summer 2011 Reading List


Laura Bloxham’s
Recommended Reading for Summer 2011
and Other Mental Vacations (35th edition)

“Wear the old coat and buy the new book.”
--Austin Phelps

THE ALL-STAR TEAM
  • Laura Hillenbrand, Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption (biography of Louis Zamperini; one of my two favorite books—Peace Like a River is the other—of the past ten years)
  • Louise Penny, Bury Your Dead (French Canadian mystery; start the series with Still Life)
  • Marilynne Robinson, Home (even better a second time; sequel to Gilead)
  • George Eliot, Middlemarch (a privilege to re-read)
  • Carol Shields, The Stone Diaries (Pulitzer Prize; National Book Critics Award about 15 years ago)
  • Abraham Verghese, Cutting for Stone (Ethiopia; doctors)
  • Jo Walton, Farthing (mystery in revisionist post-WWII setting)
  • Elizabeth Jenkins, The Tortoise and the Hare (odd, but worth reading)

“She is too fond of books, and it has turned her brain.”
--Louisa May Alcott

OTHER FICTION
  • Bohumil Hrabal, Too Loud a Solitude (one of Vic Bobb’s favorite books; Czech author of Closely Watched Trains)
  • Robert Louis Stevenson, Kidnapped
  • Jan Karon, In the Company of Others (Father Tim series)
  • Nick Hornby, How to be Good (coarse, but hilarious and thought-provoking)
  • Tatiana de Rosnay, Sarah’s Key (Holocaust/France)
  • Tom Rachman, The Imperfectionists (English language newspaper in Rome)
  • Sherley Anne Williams, Dessa Rose (19thc. slave uprising from the perspective of two women; explicit)
  • Anne Lamott, Imperfect Birds (sequel to Rosie; raw)
  • Baroness Orczy, The Scarlet Pimpernel (French Revolution; one of my childhood favorites)

“Nothing was truly unbearable if you had something to read.”
--Amy Gallup, a character in Jincy Willett’s The Writing Class

MYSTERIES
  • Joanne Dobson, Death without Tenure (Karen Pelletier, English Professor)
  • Jacqueline Winspear, The Mapping of Love and Death; A Lesson in Secrets (Maisie Dobbs, WW I nurse)
  • Alan Bradley, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie (young girl chemist-detective)
  • Julia Spencer-Fleming, One Was a Soldier (Rev. Clare Fergusson)
  • Alexander McCall Smith, The Double Comfort Safari Club (#1 Ladies Detective)
  • P.D. James, The Private Patient (Adam Dalgliesh)
  • Janet Evanovich, Sizzling Sixteen
  • Joe Gores, Spade & Archer: The Prequel to The Maltese Falcon
  • Jeffery Deaver, The Cool Moon; The Broken Window (Lincoln Rhyme)
  • Mark Schweizer, The Organist Wore Pumps: A Liturgical Mystery (hilarious series)
  • James Brady, Further Lane (Beecher Stowe/Alix Dunraven in the Hamptons)
  • Jincy Willett, The Writing Class
  • Margaret Maron, Christmas Mourning (Judge Deborah Knott)
  • Carlos Ruiz Zafon, The Shadow of the Wind (Spain)
  • Charles Finch, A Beautiful Blue Death (Charles Lenox/Victorian)
  • Karin Fossum, The Indian Bride (Inspector Sejer; Norway)
  • Barbara Nadel, The Ottoman Cage (2nd Inspector Ikmen mystery)

“Everywhere I have sought rest and not found it, except sitting in a corner by myself with a book.”
--Thomas a Kempis, cited by Jan Karon, In the Company of Others

NON-FICTION
  • Raymond E. Brown, A Coming Christ in Advent (commentary on Matthew 1 and Luke 1)
  • James C. Cobb, Away Down South: A History of Southern Identity
  • Michael Ferber, Romanticism: A Very Short Introduction
  • Donald Miller, Blue Like Jazz (fresh look at the church)

POETRY
  • Cynthia Rylant, God Went to Beauty School

(Sans Serif font in honor of Father Tim, a character in Jan Karon’s Home to Holly Springs)

Internal Search to Fill Academic Program Assistant Position

Have you always wanted to work with Corliss, Raja and Dale? The history and sociology departments invite applications from internal candidates for the position of academic program assistant. The person in this position will report to the chairs of each department and will work six hours a day for nine months, with a few approved hours in the summer. Responsibilities and related duties include:
  • Office management
  • Faculty and program support
  • Specific department support
  • Fulfillment of other related duties as assigned by the department chairs
This is a Grade 8 position and will be opened to the public on Friday, May 20, if it has not been filled by an internal candidate. To view the full position description and apply for this position, please visit www.whitworth.edu/jobs and click on “Current Job Openings.” You will find the position under “Staff and Faculty Openings – Current Employees Only.”

Following are other open positions at Whitworth. Please spread the word to people you know who may be qualified:
  • Visiting Assistant Professor in American Politics
  • Visiting Instructor/Assistant Professor Education
  • Director of Athletics
  • Purchasing and Warehouse Manager
  • Security Officer
  • Admissions Counselor or Assistant Director
  • General Trades Maintenance and Repair Staff
  • ARNP – Advanced Registered Nurse Practitioner
  • Academic Program Assistant
  • Assistant Women’s Basketball Coach
  • Head Softball Coach

Mary Alberts
Employment Manager
Human Resource Services
777.4280
malberts@whitworth.edu

Human Resource Services: Summer hours; APS newsletter; Whitworth welcomes two new employees

Summer Hours Will Begin on Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Business hours for the campus will be 8 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday, with a 30-minute lunch break. The change in hours may impact departments in different ways. Please discuss with your supervisor the best way for your department to accommodate the summer schedule with department needs for coverage. Departments that work a modified schedule to meet campus needs may continue to do so with their cabinet officer’s approval.

We will return to our regular schedule on Monday, Sept. 5: Monday-Friday, 8 a.m.-5 p.m., with a one-hour lunch break.


APS Balance Newsletter

For tips on improving your life at home and at work, visit APS Balance Newsletter May 2011.
The employee assistance program is for Whitworth benefit-eligible employees and their household members. Our employee assistance program provides professional support services to help you and your household members with personal and career related concerns. Services are confidential and accessible 24 hours a day at no out-of-pocket cost.

To speak with an EAP professional or to a schedule an appointment, please call 800.999.1077. The Human Resource Services website provides a link to the Employee Assistance Program. To access the EAP website you will be asked for a company code. The code is EAPNOW.


Whitworth Welcomes Irina Horner and Jack Downs

Name: Irina Horner

Job title: Database Administrator/Systems Analyst

Department: Information Systems

Previous employer/position: Database Administrator at Spokane Mental Health

“We are excited to welcome Irina Horner to the Whitworth Information Systems team, where she will support Whitworth’s Data Warehouse and database systems environments. As the number of applications and systems have grown, and with our ever-increasing dependence on the Data Warehouse, it was important that we bring on board a person with rich database and analysis experience to ensure reliability and high performance of those systems.”
                                                         Ken Brown, Director of Information Systems


Name: Jack Downs

Job title: Visiting Assistant Professor/Interim Writing Center Director

Department: English

Previous employer/position: Assistant Professor/Writing Center Director at Northwest University

“We’re fortunate to find someone as qualified and as experienced as Jack for this position.
Jack recently completed his Ph.D. in rhetoric and composition at Texas Christian University. He knows Spokane well, having completed his M.A. in English at Gonzaga. Jack and his family hope to move to Spokane in July, and he’ll begin working at Whitworth in August. We look forward to getting to know him and his family.”       Doug Sugano, Professor of English

Facilities Services’ Summer Schedule

During the summer (mid-May through August) Facilities Services operates on a modified schedule, from 7 a.m. – 3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. The office will still be open until 4:30 p.m., but please be aware when calling with work requests that tradespeople will only be called back to campus after closing for true emergencies (the kind that threaten your health or well-being).

Please let us know about any urgent work requests as early in the day as possible – it’s always a good idea to call us at x3254 and alert us, just to be sure that we know there’s an issue.

And, as always, please remember that Facilities Services typically has a 1-2 week turnaround time on work-order completion. Since we are especially busy during the summer months, make sure to allow as much lead time as possible on your requests in order to ensure that they are completed in a timely manner.

If you have any questions or concerns, please call the office at x3254 or Suzanne Sherman at x4202. Thank you.

Friday, May 13, 2011

Student and Adjunct Faculty Keys Must Be Returned by May 17

Keys that were checked out for the school year must be returned to the Facilities Service office by Tuesday, May 17, in order to avoid a key replacement fine and/or a lock re-keying charge. If you have a key checked out, please return it as soon as possible. The May 17 due date also applies to ALL students (lab assistants, TAs, ASWU staff, etc.) regardless of whether they’re working over the summer, so please remind your student workers to hand in their keys promptly.

If you are unsure of when your key is due, please contact the Facilities Services office at x3254 and we’ll be happy to look it up for you. Thanks in advance for your cooperation with our campus security policy.

Facilities Services

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Business Office Training May 17

Subject to campus interest, the Whitworth Business Office is planning to host a training session on Tuesday, May 17, from 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. We will discuss topics including forms to use, when to use them and where to find them, understanding budget reports, understanding purchase-card procedures, and various policies.

If you would like to participate, please let us know by contacting Leslie Watkins at lwatkins@whitworth.edu. We plan to host a similar meeting at the end of August or the beginning of September, depending on campus preference. We hope you can participate in one of these meetings.

Join Us for May 11 Reception, Tea Honoring Rich Schatz & Ginny Whitehouse

Join Us for May 11 Retirement Reception Honoring Rich Schatz

Please join us for a reception honoring Professor of Economics & Business Rich Schatz, who is retiring after 22 years of service to Whitworth. To view the invitation, please visit Rich Schatz Retirement Reception.

Wednesday, May 11, from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Intercultural Student Center
Hendrick Hall


Farewell Tea for Ginny Whitehouse May 11

Please join us for a farewell tea for Associate Professor of Communication Studies Ginny
Whitehouse.

Location: HUB Conference Rooms
Wednesday, May 11, at 3:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Kathy Fechter by e-mailing kfechter@whitworth.edu or calling 509.777.4738.

Meet Your Colleague: A Q&A with Lynn Noland, Director of Sponsored Programs

Name: Lynn Noland

Job title: Director of Sponsored Programs

Department: Academic Affairs

How long have you worked at Whitworth? 13 years

What do you like best about your job? Working with faculty and helping them advance their research, as well as helping develop new programs here on campus

In what ways do your gifts and abilities help meet the needs of the campus community you serve? By providing knowledge of very complicated and always-changing grant systems – every funder and every federal agency has different rules – and by making sure the university is in compliance with all the federal regulations tied to receiving federal money

Favorite book: Usually the one I am reading at the moment, so The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Favorite movie: "The Power of One"

Favorite food: Pasta

Favorite quote: “Do you know what I want? I want justice – oceans of it. I want fairness – rivers of it.  That’s what I want, that’s all I want.” Amos 5

Favorite music: Jazz

Favorite animal: Dog

Guilty pleasure: Ice cream

Hobbies: Quilting, gardening, cross-stitch, knitting and reading

Best vacation ever: Two weeks in Provence

Birthplace: San Francisco, CA

We’d be surprised to know that…I play the piano.

I collect…bells.

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? To the village of Hoffnungstal, in Ukraine, where my grandparents and great-grandparents were born

If you could try anything and not fail, what dream would you attempt? Write a novel

What is your favorite sound? Rain falling on the cabin roof at Lake Coeur d’Alene

What is your life motto? “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken” – Oscar Wilde

If the whole world was listening, what would you say? “War is not the answer.”

Favorite childhood book: Nancy Drew Mystery Stories

Favorite childhood TV shows: “Sky King,” “Cisco Kid,” “The Man from U.N.C.L.E.”

Least favorite word: Can’t

If you could go on a road trip with anyone (from the past or present), who would you choose and where would you go? My three kids, wherever they wanted to go

Best high school class subject: History

Deadline to Submit Fiscal Year 2010-11 Publication Requests Is May 16

Campus Community –

If you plan to produce a publication and charge it to your department budget for the current fiscal year, please submit your publication request to the university communications office no later than Monday, May 16. (In order for a publication to be charged to a 2010-11 budget, the job must be completed by June 30.) Publication preparation, including printing, takes four to six weeks, depending on our schedule and the complexity of your job. We cannot begin work on your project until we receive complete text from you.

To submit a publication request, please use the intranet form at http://web2.whitworth.edu/publicationsrequest/index.aspx.

Given the volume of project requests our office receives this time of year, we’ll need to strictly adhere to the May 16 deadline in order to be sure to complete the job by June 30. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Garrett Riddle
University Communications Office

Student and Adjunct Faculty Keys Must Be Returned by May 17

Keys that were checked out for the school year must be returned to the Facilities Service office by Tuesday, May 17, in order to avoid a key replacement fine and/or a lock re-keying charge. If you have a key checked out, please return it as soon as possible. The May 17 due date also applies to ALL students (lab assistants, TAs, ASWU staff, etc.) regardless of whether they’re working over the summer, so please remind your student workers to hand in their keys promptly.

If you are unsure of when your key is due, please contact the Facilities Services office at x3254 and we’ll be happy to look it up for you. Thanks in advance for your cooperation with our campus security policy.

Facilities Services

Human Resource Services: Employee Wellness newsletter, article; Whitworth welcomes Debbie Harvey

Employee Wellness Newsletter and Article on Tips for Personal Growth

Human Resource Services regularly shares information provided to us by recognized organizations who promote health and wellness. Below is the Wellness Newsletter for May from Spokane Regional Health District and an article featuring tips for personal growth, from APS Healthcare.

Employee Wellness Newsletter, May 2011

Tips for Personal Growth

The employee assistance program is for Whitworth benefits-eligible employees and their household members. Our employee assistance program provides professional support services to help you and your household members with personal and career related concerns. Services are confidential and accessible 24 hours a day at no out-of-pocket cost. To speak with an EAP professional or to a schedule an appointment, please call 800.999.1077. Human Resource Services has provided a link from our website to the Employee Assistance Program. To access the EAP website you will be asked for a company code. The code is EAPNOW.


Whitworth Welcomes Debbie Harvey Back to Admissions Office

Name: Debbie Harvey
Job title: Transfer Specialist Counselor
Department: Admissions
Previous employer/position: Willamette University/Whitworth University

“We’re thrilled to have Debbie back on campus. Her contributions to Whitworth during her 14 years on the admissions staff were so valuable and effective. Now, after five years at Willamette University, Debbie has returned to Whitworth (as of May 2). She will work 20 hours per week and will focus her efforts on prospective transfer students. This will free up Celeste Lewis to concentrate her efforts and time on vitally important technology-related issues and challenges that have an ever-increasing role in our admissions operations.” Fred Pfursich, Vice President for Admissions and Financial Aid

Sunday, May 8, 2011

Join Us for May 16 Faculty/Staff Celebration: Deadline to R.S.V.P. Is Today, May 10

Come celebrate your co-workers' years of service to and retirement from Whitworth!
Deadline to R.S.V.P.: Today, May 10.

Monday, May 16, 2011
HUB Multipurpose Room
Appetizers at 5:15 p.m.
Program at 6 p.m.
Join us for a dessert buffet following the program.

Due to limited seating, it is important for us to know whether or not you will be attending or bringing a guest. R.S.V.P. via the SharePoint links below by Tuesday, May 10, 2011.

1. Click here if on campus OR click here if off campus

2. If prompted to log-in, enter your user name and password in the following format:
  • User name: ADMIN\username (note back-slash)
  • Password: network password
3. Select an attendance option, then click Finish (you will be returned to the survey home page)

4. Close site


Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Staff and Faculty Salary Increase Effective July 1, 2011

Thanks to careful budgeting of resources, the president’s cabinet was able to approve a salary increase for all Whitworth staff and faculty next year, including lecturers and adjuncts. The overall salary pool has increased by just over 3 percent for the coming year, effective July 1, 2011. Faculty contracts were distributed last Friday and salaries increased between 1.8 percent and 3.7 percent, depending on rank and proximity to the minimum and maximum for each rank.

Staff salary increases will be finalized in the coming weeks by Human Resource Services in collaboration with area vice presidents and supervisors. We anticipate a 3 percent across-the-board increase for all staff, although individual positions and grades will also be evaluated in relation to the university’s market benchmarks.

More information will be provided to staff as details of the salary increase become available. The administration is grateful for the collaborative efforts of staff and faculty representatives through the Staff Salary & Benefits Committee and the FEW.

May 16 Deadline for Fiscal Year 2010-11 Publication Requests

Campus Community –

If you plan to produce a publication and charge it to your department budget for the current fiscal year, please submit your publication request to the university communications office no later than Monday, May 16. (In order for a publication to be charged to a 2010-11 budget, the job must be completed by June 30.) Publication preparation, including printing, takes four to six weeks, depending on our schedule and the complexity of your job. We cannot begin work on your project until we receive complete text from you.

To submit a publication request, please use the intranet form at http://web2.whitworth.edu/publicationsrequest/index.aspx.

Given the volume of project requests our office receives this time of year, we’ll need to strictly adhere to the May 16 deadline in order to be sure to complete the job by June 30. Thanks in advance for your cooperation.

Garrett Riddle
University Communications Office

Human Resources Services: Open enrollment for benefits-eligible employees; CTR survey

Open Enrollment Period for Benefits Eligible Employees Is May 2-9

Open enrollment for our benefits plans is May 2-9. There is very good news about the premiums for all of our plans. Our healthcare plans with Group Health will have a small increase for this next year of only 4.4 percent above this year’s rates. We are also improving the healthcare plan by making approved preventative care services no longer subject to co-pays or the deductible. This change takes place beginning June 1, 2011, with the start of the new plan year.

Dental and life insurance rates are remaining the same. Additionally, you will now be able to purchase $10,000 to $40,000 in additional voluntary life insurance, whether you are currently waiving this voluntary coverage, or even if you are at the benefit maximum of $200,000 in voluntary coverage. This increase is available without the need for providing proof of good health.

You will receive your benefit packets by campus mail. If you have specific questions about your benefits or your benefits elections, please contact JoAnn Fox at 777-4413.

Annual Commute Trip Reduction Survey

Thank you to everyone who participated in the annual Commute Trip Reduction survey last week. Due to a breakdown in the state-wide survey server, we were given an extension to complete the survey. If you have not yet completed the online survey, please log in and complete the survey this week.

To take the survey:

1. Log into http://www.ctrsurvey.org/ and enter your e-mail address.
2. Select your worksite from the dropdown box.
3. Complete and submit your survey.

All employees who complete the survey will be entered in our grand-prize drawing. In next week’s Whitworth Weekly we will announce the winners of the prize drawings.

Please give JoAnn Fox a call at x4413 or e-mail jfox@whitworth.edu if you have questions about the survey process.

May 3 SGCM Strategic Planning Meeting for Whitworth Faculty & Staff

The School of Global Commerce & Management cordially invites all Whitworth faculty and staff to participate in the 2011 SGCM Strategic Planning Initiative. The purpose of this meeting is to give you the opportunity to provide insights and recommendations for the future direction of the business school.

Tuesday, May 3, from 3:45-5 p.m.
Weyerhaeuser Hall, Room 303
Cookies and punch will be served

If you are planning to attend, R.S.V.P. to Ruth Pells at rpells@whitworth.edu or 509.777.4585. We look forward to seeing you there!

R.S.V.P. for the May 16 Faculty & Staff Awards & Retirement Celebration

Monday, May 16, 2011
HUB Multipurpose Room
Appetizers at 5:15 p.m.
Program at 6 p.m.
Join us for a dessert buffet following the program.

Due to limited seating, it is important for us to know whether or not you will be attending or bringing a guest. R.S.V.P. via the SharePoint links below by Monday, May 9, 2011.

1. Click here if on campus OR click here if off campus

2. If prompted to log-in, enter your user name and password in the following format:
  • User name: ADMIN\username (note back-slash)
  • Password: network password
3. Select an attendance option, then click Finish (you will be returned to the survey home page)

4. Close site


Recording Holiday Hours for Non-Exempt Hourly Staff

If applicable to your position, please remember to record the Good Friday holiday observed on April 22 under “Other Time Hours,” choosing “Holiday” from the drop-down menu under “Other Time Types.”

Thank you for ensuring that these hours are recorded correctly for yourself and the employees you may supervise. Please note that student workers are not eligible for holiday hours.

Thank you,

Payroll Services

Student and Adjunct Faculty Keys Must Be Returned by May 17

Keys that are checked out for the school year must be returned to the Facilities Service office by Tuesday, May 17, in order to avoid a key replacement fine and/or a lock re-keying charge. If you have a key checked out, please return it as soon as possible. The May 17 due date also applies to ALL students (lab assistants, TAs, ASWU staff, etc.) regardless of whether they’re working over the summer, so please remind your student workers to hand in their keys promptly.

If you are unsure of when your key is due, please contact the Facilities Services office at x3254 and we’ll be happy to look it up for you. Thanks in advance for your cooperation with our campus security policy.

Facilities Services

“A Look at Life in the President’s Office” with Beck Taylor May 9

Are you curious how President Beck Taylor balances spending time with donors and external constituents, faculty and staff, students and family, and if he ever sleeps? Are you wondering how the Taylor family survived their first Spokane winter and what Beck’s impressions of Whitworth are after a full academic year on campus? Do you want to know what you can do to advance the Whitworth 2021 vision and strategic plan?

These questions and many others will be answered by Beck at a brown-bag discussion on Monday, May 9, from 11:45 a.m.-12:45 p.m., in the HUB meetings rooms ABC.

The May 9 event will conclude for this academic year the new monthly series of brown-bag dialogues, during which cabinet members provide an overview of their areas of responsibility and then invite questions and discussion. All staff and faculty members are invited to bring their lunches and join in the dialogue.

Beck encourages Whitworth employees to take advantage of this opportunity to learn more about areas of the university that may be unfamiliar to them. “As our community has grown, it has become harder to stay in touch with our colleagues across campus and what they are doing on a daily basis to advance our mission,” he says. “We need to work harder to be accessible and transparent, and we hope this monthly brown-bag dialogue can help in that process.”

In the fall, the “A Look at Life in…” series will continue with dialogues led by Vice President for Institutional Advancement Scott McQuilkin, Assistant Vice President for Intercultural Relations Larry Burnley, Assistant Vice President for Human Resources Dolores Humiston, and Dean of Spiritual Life Terry McGonigal.

Join Us for Receptions Honoring Rick Hornor, Rich Schatz, and Ginny Whitehouse

Join Us for May 6 “Broadway Unbound” Performance and Farewell for Rick Hornor

As Whitworth Theatre closes the curtains on its 2010-11 season, we will say farewell to our dear colleague, Rick Hornor, who is retiring after 26 years in the theatre department.

Please join us to enjoy “Broadway Unbound,” our final show of the season, and to honor Rick and say good-bye.

Broadway Unbound
Cowles Auditorium
Friday, May 6
7 p.m.
$3 Admission

Refreshments will be served following the performance.


Join Us for May 11 Retirement Reception Honoring Rich Schatz

Please join us for a reception honoring Professor of Economics & Business Rich Schatz, who is retiring after 22 years of service to Whitworth. To view the invitation, please visit Rich Schatz Retirement Reception.

Wednesday, May 11, from 2:30-4:30 p.m.
Intercultural Student Center
Hendrick Hall


Farewell Tea for Ginny Whitehouse May 11

Please join us for a farewell tea for Associate Professor of Communication Studies Ginny
Whitehouse.

Location: HUB Conference Rooms
Wednesday, May 11, at 3:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Kathy Fechter by e-mailing kfechter@whitworth.edu or calling 509.777.4738.

Meet Your Colleague: A Q&A with Nathan Moyer, Assistant Professor of Math & Computer Science

Name: Nathan Moyer

Job title: Assistant Professor

Department: Math & Computer Science

How long have you worked at Whitworth? 3 years

What do you like best about your job? The interactions I have with students both inside and outside the classroom. I love challenging them with new ideas and concepts and seeing them grow through the learning process.  

In what ways do your gifts and abilities help meet the needs of the campus community you serve? I seek to instill a passion for learning in my students that goes beyond their time at Whitworth. I am always looking for new and fresh ways to do this in the classroom.

Favorite food: homemade pizza…made from scratch

Favorite quote: "The greatness of God rouses fear within us, but His goodness encourages us not to be afraid of Him. To fear and not be afraid - that is the paradox of faith." – A.W. Tozer

Favorite music: contemporary Christian

Favorite animal: My cats Oscar and Morris

Hobbies: Searching out the genealogy of my family. I’ve been able to trace my dad’s line all the way back to the early 1700’s in New England.

Best vacation ever: Lake Louise, Canada in August 2007. Lots of hiking and beautiful scenery.

Birth place: Little Rock, Arkansas

We’d be surprised to know that…Eight member of my extended family have attended Whitworth (including my three siblings).

If you could travel anywhere in the world, where would you go? Australia and New Zealand

What is your favorite sound? The laughter of my two-year old son

What is your life motto? Colossians 3:17

If the whole world was listening, what would you say? "Stop listening to me. I’d like a little privacy."

Favorite childhood book: Where’s Waldo?

Favorite childhood TV show: "Pinky and the Brain"

Least favorite word: Anything that requires a (bleep)

Best high school class subject: Math (with English a close second)