UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

Academics

Laura McLary: Thank You and Congratulations!

After 22 years of service at University of Portland, interim dean of the College of Arts & Sciences Laura McLary has accepted the position of Nora Kizer Bell Provost at Hollins University in Roanoke, Virginia, effective July 1. According to Herbert Medina, provost, “This announcement is both joyful and somewhat unhappy for all of us at UP, especially those who have had the privilege of working with Laurie throughout the years. While we are saddened by her departure, we offer her our heartfelt congratulations as she takes on this new and exciting leadership position.”
A prolific scholar of Austrian literature and culture and celebrated professor of German, Laurie has achieved many successes at UP. She established the German studies program; mentored dozens of students as they prepared Fulbright dossiers; was recognized in 2015 as Oregon Professor of the Year by the national Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching; engaged in numerous service roles including the Collaborative for International Studies & Global Outreach (CISGO) and the Strategic Planning Committee; served as academic associate dean; and most recently served as interim dean of CAS. 
Medina will appoint a new interim dean for CAS and, as planned, we will continue a national search for a permanent dean in the fall.

UP Branded Virtual Backgrounds: Add Some Zip to Your Zoom

UP branded virtual backgrounds are available for download in ShareUP, according to Chris Long, marketing and communications. The virtual backgrounds create an appealing, brand-focused backdrop that you may use in virtual meetings on Zoom (or for other virtual platforms). To navigate to the virtual background files please visit ShareUP using this link, then select “ShareUP Login.” On the home page, select “Brand” then “Virtual Backgrounds.”

Directions on downloading the files and enabling the assets in Zoom are available on the virtual backgrounds page in ShareUP. Please reach out to Long (longc@up.edu) with any questions or technical issues.

 

2021 Public Research Fellows Showcase, April 29

The Public Research Fellows will host a showcase of the program’s 20-21 work, and all members of the UP community and the general public are invited to attend. The interactive showcase will happen at this Zoom link on Thursday, April 29 at 7 p.m. Student and faculty fellows will unveil their projects and be on hand to guide attendees through a variety of lenses for thinking about our theme, Displacement and Justice. From a podcast that explores displacement through the experience of first-generation students, to an interactive map that uses Portland African American literature to tell local stories of displacement, to a virtual performance that thinks through displacement with music—the PRF teams have created a range of exciting projects that use innovative, accessible forms to expand our ideas of what research can look like. Join us for this interactive event to get inspired about the possibilities in your own work and learn more about how displacement manifests in local contexts and beyond.

For more information, please go to the Public Research Fellows site.

2021 Retiring Faculty: Thank You for Decades of Service!

The following long-serving faculty members have announced their retirement at the conclusion of the spring 2021 semester, according to Kathleen Staten, provost’s office:

  • Ellyn Arwood, Professor of Education
  • Ronda Bard, Lecturer of Chemistry
  • Elena Bernard, Associate Professor of Business
  • Barbara Braband, Associate Professor of Nursing
  • Todd Easton, Associate Professor of Business
  • Gary Malecha, Interim Dean of Business, Professor of Political Science
  • Dann Pierce, Associate Professor of Communication Studies
  • Peter Osterberg, Associate Professor of Engineering

This year’s retirees will be formally celebrated in the online Faculty Gala Ceremony to take place the afternoon of Tuesday, May 11. A Zoom link and more information will be coming soon from the Provost’s Office.

For further information contact Staten, staten@up.edu.

Welcome Ryan Ingersoll, New Director of ATSI

Information services is pleased to welcome Ryan Ingersoll as director of academic technology and innovation. In this position he will oversee development of classroom and on-line academic technology, with an eye on innovation and digital literacy among our faculty. In addition, post COVID he will have the opportunity to re-imagine the student-run On The Bluff Studio.

Ryan comes to us from George Fox University where he led several Ed Tech projects. He holds a master in education from Seattle Pacific in digital education leadership. Please join the information services team in congratulating and welcoming Ryan to our community.

Please Load Scholarly Activity On The Portal

Faculty members are reminded to load their scholarly activity on the portal in PilotsUP by May 31, 2021. Data obtained through the portal will be used to populate A Community of Scholars, published by the provost’s office. Faculty members use their school’s report on the home tab of the Scholarly Activity Portal to send the data to their respective deans as a part of annual self-evaluation.

You can find the link to the Scholarly Activity Portal in the Academic menu of PilotsUP or you can go directly to this link.

For any questions about uses of the portal, please contact John Orr (orr@up.edu); for questions about how to use the tool, please contact Michele Leasor (leasor@up.edu).

Four Top Spots in Mark of Excellence Competition: “Beacon” Shines Again

The Beacon has won four First Place awards in the 2021 regional Mark of Excellence competition sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ). The contest involved college media outlets from five states: Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana and Alaska. The following now advance to the national SPJ Mark of Excellence competition.

Find about about all awards at this link.

 

 

 

Amazing Tech is Everywhere – Let’s Keep IT Secure! April 29 via Zoom

Travis Luckey, CIO for the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, will lead this Learning Labs session where IT security concepts and terminology will be covered. Learn about security implications of emerging technologies and wrap up with an exploration of some great low- and no-cost IT security resources that businesses and individuals can begin using right away. Register at – https://bit.ly/2OGVTvF

For more information contact Lillia Grundy, Pamplin School, at grundy@up.edu.