Start your summer with some new skills! Sign up for the Clark Library’s introductory Zoom workshops covering iMovie, Podcasting, Graphic Design, Canva, Microsoft Sway, and Lightworks. Workshops run from June 14 through June 25 and are free and open to current students, faculty, and staff. Visit the Digital Lab’s site to see the full schedule and registration links.
Academics
2021-2022 University Bulletin Online
The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce that the 2021-2022 online University Bulletin is now available. You may access the current Bulletin on the registrar’s website, or directly at University Bulletin. Smartphone users can also access the Bulletin using its mobile site.
For more information contact Jericho Knight, associate provost’s office, at knight@up.edu.
University Singers Invited to American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Conference
The University Singers have been invited to participate in a combined collegiate choir that will perform at the American Choral Directors Association (ACDA) Conference in Spokane in March of 2022, according to David De Lyser, performing & fine arts. UP is one of seven college and university choirs chosen from the six-state Northwest region (AK, WA, OR, ID, MT, WY). Up to 20 UP singers will work with internationally-renowned composer and National Medal of Arts winner Morten Lauridsen, and conductor Edith Copley. The combined choir, along with professional orchestra, will perform Lauridsen’s masterwork “Lux Aeterna” on Wednesday, March 9, 2022 at the Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center.
University of Portland Board of Regents Announces Provost Dr. Herbert A. Medina As Acting President Beginning July 1
The UP Board of Regents has chosen Provost Dr. Herbert A. Medina as Acting President effective July 1, succeeding Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., who announced in February that he would conclude his tenure at UP after 10 years on campus – the last seven as UP’s 20th president.
Consistent with University bylaws, the appointment of Provost Medina as Acting President reaches within UP’s internal ranks while plans are developed for a national search to hire a permanent successor to Fr. Poorman.
“We are grateful that Dr. Medina has accepted this acting presidency as enthusiastically prepare to resume an active campus life and a normal academic year this fall,” said Tom Arndorfer, Board of Regents chair. “Dr. Medina is an exemplary scholar, teacher, administrator and chief academic officer for our UP community. He will be a superb leader of the UP mission.”
“I am humbled and excited that the Board trusts me to lead the University in this crucial transition phase,” said Dr. Medina. “I will continue to listen to our community and follow our Catholic and Holy Cross mission. There’s much work to do as we come out of the pandemic, and I am looking forward to collaborating with students, staff, faculty, university leadership and Board members to make sure we emerge a stronger institution from these very challenging times.”
Dr. Medina’s appointment as Provost began July 1, 2020, after serving as Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences (CAS) and as Professor of Mathematics since 2018. His leadership of CAS was driven by a devotion to student wellbeing and success; dedication to faculty support and development; and unwavering commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives. These same attributes have also become foundational underpinnings to Dr. Medina’s service as provost and chief academic officer. In addition to guiding UP’s Academic Division through the pandemic ensuring that students are able to thrive and graduate in a modified academic environment, he has been a champion of continued experiential learning opportunities, and has played an important role in ensuring that issues of diversity, equity and inclusion are front and center in faculty and staff searches at the University.
An exemplary teacher-scholar, Dr. Medina has earned widespread recognition for his research in functional analysis, wavelets, and polynomial approximations as well as his work in diversifying and broadening access in STEM. He is deeply committed to the University’s Catholic and Holy Cross mission and its call for community members to be engaged in the work of social justice, radical hospitality, and advancement of the Catholic intellectual tradition. As an academic leader and a colleague, Dr. Medina’s style is communicative, transparent, collaborative, compassionate, passionate and humbly confident.
Prior to joining UP, Dr. Medina enjoyed a highly successful 26-year career as a professor and administrative leader at Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles. He was Associate Dean of LMU’s Frank R. Seaver College of Science and Engineering before his appointment as CAS Dean at UP. He holds a B.S. in Mathematics/Computer Science from the University of California, Los Angeles, and a M.A. and Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley.
Dr. Medina was born in El Salvador; came to the United States at the age of eight along with his family; and is a proud first-generation college student. He is passionate about increasing higher education participation among underrepresented groups. Among his many accomplishments and awards, Dr. Medina was recognized by the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science with the 2014 Distinguished Undergraduate Institution Mentor Award.
New “New to The Bluff” Section!
Introducing the “New to The Bluff” section of UPbeat! Send over information about your new hires to upbeat@up.edu to introduce your new teammate to the University community.
In your “New to The Bluff” email, please include information:
- Person’s Name
- Their new role and department
- Their previous employment before joining UP
- Submitted photo for the post
Questions? Send an email to upbeat@up.edu.
Early Arrivals Requests Due June 21
All departments that will be sponsoring students to arrive on campus prior to the standard move-in dates (August 17 for sophomores, August 19 for first-year/new students, and August 21 for returning students) are asked to complete a Department Early Arrival Request, according to Ezequiel Delgado-Cervantes, housing coordinator for residence life. For departments who need an excel template to submit their request, please email Ezequiel at delgadoc@up.edu. Departments will be billed $55 per person per night unless it is specified that the students’ accounts should be charged.
For more information, contact Ezequiel at delgadoc@up.edu.
Creating Inclusive Classroom Spaces in Which Students Thrive Webinar, June 9
Academic Technology Services and Innovation (ATSI), in partnership with Accessible Education Services (AES), invites faculty to participate in a June 9 webinar focused on digital accessibility in higher education, and presented through a collaboration of the Orbis Cascade Alliance and Northwest Academic Computing Consortium.
Faculty are invited to join this webinar presented by Kathryn (Kathy) Oleson, Dean of the Faculty and Professor of Psychology at Reed College.
The Creating Inclusive Classroom Spaces in Which Students Thrive Webinar will be held on Wednesday, June 9 at 11 a.m. via Zoom. This webinar focuses on ways to support faculty and students’ classroom experiences in higher education. Dr. Oleson considers students’ backgrounds, including class, race, disability, and gender, and center primary needs (competence, autonomy, belonging) and concerns (e.g., self doubt about ability, impostor feelings, and stereotype threat) that students bring to the classroom. She then draws on universally-designed learning in combination with educational design rooted in social justice and multiculturalism to describe ways to design in-person and online spaces in which students flourish academically. Dr. Oleson encourages webinar participants to reflect on their own approaches and think through how these ideas are most productively applied to their institutions.
Register now for the Zoom webinar.
Please visit the NW HEAT website for additional information about the NW Higher Education Technology Group.
Business and Ethics series: Habits, Values and Virtues, June 16 at 4 p.m.
This interactive experience will engage participants in conversations about personal values and strengths, focusing on the habits and behaviors that guide us through the challenges of ethical decision making in the workplace.
Register at this link for this Zoom session.
Kate Regan Faculty Development Awards
The Kate Regan Faculty Development Selection Committee has awarded Giannina Reyes-Giardiello, and Brandy Daniels with next year’s Kate Regan Faculty Development awards.
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- Giannina Reyes-Giardiello, international languages, has been awarded $10,000 for her project “Decolonizing “Queer Latin America”: In Search of the Other’s Other Voices.” Her research will take her to Colombia, Brazil, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico and be used for development of course curriculum and sharing with various academic units both internal to the university as well externally.
- Brandy Daniels, theology, has been awarded $10,000 for her project “Political Theology Without Men? German and global collaboration & Brazilian theo-political analysis.” Her research will take her to Brazil, be used for publication of an upcoming article, be the foundation of her second book as well as be used for curriculum in a current course and the development a new course for the school of theology.
Writing Assistance Available for Summer Classes
Summer faculty who assign writing: the virtual Writing Center is open and ready to help your students with their papers-in-process. Rather than using our online scheduler, in the summer, students can email writing@up.edu to book appointments, which will be held on Zoom.
Please visit the Writing Center website for more information and for online writing resources, or email Writing Center director Molly Hiro, hiro@up.edu, with any questions.