• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

  • Home
  • Academics
  • Athletics
  • Campus Services
  • Events
  • Human Resources
  • University Relations

08-17-2020

Find COVID-19 Prevention Resources and Information on the Pilots Prevent Website

September 4, 2020

wellness icons including handwashing, physical distancing,face mask, thermometer, tissues, and cleaning solution

Pilots Prevent is the University’s health initiative that provides resources and information to keep our campus community healthy and safe. Visit the new Pilots Prevent website to learn more about COVID-19 related health and safety practices, find out tips for optimizing health, access downloadable resources, and discover how we can all do our part to care for the health of our communities. “Together, as Pilots, we share the responsibility to help cultivate safe and healthy environments on our campus and in our communities,” says Megan Cohara, health center.

For more information, contact the Office of Wellness & Prevention, wellness@up.edu.

Filed Under: 08-17-2020, 08-24-2020, 08-31-2020, 09-07-2020, Health Center Tagged With: Coronavirus Outbreak, Pilots Prevent

Writing Center Ready to Help Writers Online This Fall

August 28, 2020

Student typing on laptopAfter a successful test run in the spring, the Writing Center is gearing up for a fully remote fall, and the center is counting on UP faculty to get the word out that writing assistants (WAs) are ready and able to help UP writers throughout the term. WAs can help writers from all disciplines, at all levels, and at any stage of the process, including brainstorming ideas, understanding assignments, outlining, and revising.

Online appointments can be made through the appointment scheduler. When it’s time for the meeting, students simply click on “Meet online” and the 30- or 60-minute appointment will happen over Zoom. Students can also email writing@up.edu to request an appointment time outside of regularly scheduled available times.

New this year, the center is offering a limited number of “dedicated writing assistants” to work directly with writing-intensive courses. If you’re interested in having a writing assistant assigned to your course (to introduce the Writing Center to your students, meet with you to talk over assignments and expectations, and serve as the go-to writing assistant for any student from your class), please reach out to Writing Center Director Molly Hiro (hiro@up.edu) for more details.

One of the best means of getting students to bring their work-in-progress to the Writing Center is for faculty themselves to encourage them to do so (some professors require at least one visit; some give extra credit to students for using our services). When talking to your students about the UP Writing Center, you might keep in mind the following:

  • The center’s goal is not just to inspire better papers, but create better writers. This means writing assistants don’t “fix” papers; they work with students to improve their overall writing skills for this and future tasks.
  • Writing assistance isn’t just for students with major grammar or mechanical problems. Instead, the focus is on higher-order concepts such as argument, organization, development, and other areas. Even accomplished writers can make progress on their work in a half-hour session.
  • While writing assistants represent most majors as well as the professional schools, they are trained in a semester-long course to work with students from any discipline.
  • You may have found that your students weren’t able to find appointment times in past semesters, especially in early fall as we await the newly trained writing assistants to come on staff. That problem has been fixed this semester; the new writing assistants are prepared to begin working earlier in the term—so reassure students that if they want writing help, they should be able to get it!
  • When a student meets with a writing assistant to discuss a paper for your course, you’ll get a copy of the conference report—a brief summary of what the student and writing assistant worked on (this is an easy way of keeping track of who visited the WC for assigning extra credit).
  • An effective way to familiarize your students with the Writing Center and to demonstrate your support for the center’s services is to invite a writing assistant to drop in to your online classroom to give a 5-10 minute presentation during the first few weeks of the semester. Email writing@up.edu with the day and time of the class you’d like a writing assistant to visit and the center will get back to you shortly.
  • Lastly, remember that all Moodle pages have a link to the Writing Center—see the top left corner, under “Learning Resources.”

To foster student writing integrity at UP (i.e., find cases of plagiarism when they occur), consider using the Turnitin function through your class Moodle page. Instructions for using this paper-authentication software can be found 0n the Learning Commons website.

All of your students should possess a common writing handbook—The Pocket Cengage Handbook—as it’s required in their two writing-embedded courses. The Cengage Handbook helps keep our campus on the same page when it comes to grammar, punctuation, citation styles, and basic expectations for essay writing across the university. If you need a desk copy of this reference, please contact the Writing Center director by the second week of the semester.

“As the director of the Writing Program and the Writing Center, I am happy to be a point of contact on all writing-related matters this semester,” says Molly Hiro, English. “Need insight on crafting better writing prompts? Resources for integrating writing instruction into your class-time? Help with language to use when evaluating student writing? I may not have all the answers, but feel free to try me!”

Contact Hiro at hiro@up.edu.

Filed Under: 08-17-2020, 08-24-2020, 08-31-2020, Writing Center Tagged With: Molly Hiro, Writing Center

Please Return Library Materials

August 21, 2020

stack of booksThe book drop is ready and waiting! As the beginning of fall semester nears, Clark Library asks that materials be returned so they can be used by others for their coursework. No fines were charged through spring and summer, but overdue books now need to be returned. If you still require a book, please renew online or contact Clark Library for assistance, library@up.edu or 503.943.7111.

If you are not returning to campus this fall, please contact library@up.edu for mailing instructions. If necessary, they can send you a prepaid mailing label; if you would like to request one, please include the address from which you will be shipping the materials and the weight of the package you will be sending.

Filed Under: 08-17-2020, 08-24-2020, Library

New P-Card Coordinator

August 14, 2020

Please NoteAmeneh Ameripour has joined the Office of the Controller as the new purchasing card coordinator replacing Theresa Knott. Ameneh has previous higher education experience and is excited to meet and work with everyone. Please direct your P-card questions to Ameneh at ameripou@up.edu or pcard@up.edu. Theresa didn’t go far! She remains at UP and has recently joined the Office of Human Resources as the benefits coordinator.

For more information, contact Lori Watson, controller’s office, 7337 or watson@up.edu.

Filed Under: 08-17-2020, Controller Tagged With: Controller's Office, Human Resources

Degree Works Offline

August 14, 2020

offlineDegree Works, the web-based tool that University of Portland students and advisors use to monitor a student’s academic progress toward completing degree requirements, will be unavailable on Wednesday, August 19, 2020, due to a scheduled upgrade.

Please contact registrar@up.edu with any questions or concerns.

Filed Under: 08-17-2020, Registrar's Office

Tools for Faculty: Document Cameras Available to Borrow

August 14, 2020

document cameraDocument cameras are available for faculty to borrow for the entire semester and utilize for remote instruction, according to Regina Galbick, AV services. The document camera can be connected to your computer via USB, and software for the document camera can also be installed to permit you to annotate or record.

Please contact AV Services, av@up.edu, for more information or to request a document camera for fall semester.

Filed Under: 08-17-2020, Information Services

Themes of Mission

August 14, 2020

Bird's eye view of campusAs we prepare for the new term under new conditions, the campus is less traveled. The colorful banners on the lamp posts welcome fewer visitors these days. Changes. But whether instruction is in-person or remote learning, the values and purposes of the University are these, affirmed in the opening pages of the University Bulletin and Course Catalog. Follow this link to see our most recent post on the Museum and Archives blog: https://sites.up.edu/museum/from-the-university-bulletin-themes-of-mission-and-value/.

For more information, contact Carolyn Connolly, museum coordinator, at piatz@up.edu.

Filed Under: 08-17-2020, Archives & Artifacts

Primary Sidebar

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • RSS
  • YouTube

News Categories

UpDate

Anita Gooding, social work, was selected as a 2020-2021 Field Research Scholar by the Transforming Field Education Landscape (TFEL) program at the University of Calgary in Alberta, Canada. Scholars attend regular seminars and present their own research related to strengthening field education in social work.

Ösel Plante, development, has a debut collection of poetry titled Waveland set for publication by Black Lawrence Press in April 2021. Please use this link to learn more.

Aziz Inan, Shiley School of Engineering. recently shared some of his work on palindrome dates with the staff of Farmers’ Almanac which lead to an articled titled “2021: A Special Year For Palindrome Dates, Starting This Month!” See the article using this link.

Bob Butler, professor emeritus of environmental studies; Jenda Johnson, Earth Sciences Animated; and Nic Zentner, Central Washington University, published an animation titled “Ghost Forests: Evidence for a Giant Earthquake & Tsunami in the Pacific Northwest.” This animation explores how Native American oral history, geology of ghost forests in coastal Washington and Oregon, and written accounts of a tsunami that flooded Japanese Pacific Coast villages converge to document the most recent Cascadia subduction zone megathrust earthquake on January 26, 1700 at about 9 p.m. The Ghost Forest animation can be found on the IRIS website at: https://www.iris.edu/hq/inclass/animation/740 or on YouTube at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4xPbt8iiDRo&feature=youtu.be.

Steven Kolmes, environmental studies, wrote an editorial on “Sustainability and the Role of Higher Education” in Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, Vol. 62, , pp. 2-3. See the article at this link. He also contributed “On a ‘Just’ Transition, Environment” in Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 63:1, 29-31, DOI: 10.1080/00139157.2021.1842715.. See the article using this link.

Amber Vermeesch, nursing, received an Opus Prize Foundation Grant Sabbatical Support, Opus Prize Foundation, $5,000, on November 12, 2020.

Update Archive

About

UPbeat is a newsletter for University of Portland faculty and staff published through the marketing & communications office; submit information to Marc Covert, upbeat editor, at 8132 or upbeat@up.edu. Submission deadline is noon the Thursday prior to publication. Submissions may be edited for clarity, consistency, brevity, or style.

Copyright © 2021 · University of Portland