News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.
The Diversity and Inclusion Programs will team with Portland Magazine to bring New York Times writer and UP alumnus Walter Thompson-Hernández to campus through a virtual presentation on Thursday, October 8, from 5 to 6:30 p.m. The event will consist of an hour-long presentation, followed by a 30-minute Q&A session. The talk will be free and open to faculty, staff, students, and the public. Members of the public can register using this link.
The Volunteer Tax Assistance Program sponsored by MFS/CashOregon (https://cashoregon.org/) provides UP students the opportunity to give back to their community consistent with the UP mission to “pursue teaching and learning, faith and formation, service and leadership in the classroom, residence halls, and the world.”
Students volunteer at Cash Oregon, local organizer of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) & Tax Counseling for the Elderly (TCE) Programs. VITA and TCE are IRS-sponsored programs that provide free filing assistance in underserved communities for low-to-moderate income families, the elderly, the disabled, and those who speak very little English.
All UP students as well as faculty and staff are welcome to train to become volunteers. Next week Cash Oregon will be coming to speak at a virtual meeting of UP’s chapter of Beta Alpha Psi (International Honor Society for Accounting, Finance, and Information System Students). We would like to extend an invitation to the entire UP community to learn more about this service opportunity during the information session on Tuesday, September 22, at 6 p.m. using this link.
Last year we had 24 student volunteers. Participants commit to volunteering 4 hours a week. For additional information, please contact Teri Grimmer, Pamplin School of Business, at grimmer@up.edu.
Never has it been so important to get your flu shot! Employees who are covered by the University’s medical plans through Kaiser may get a flu shot through the human resources sponsored Kaiser flu shot clinic on Wednesday, October 7, 10:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.
Flu shots will be available on a reservation basis. Please click on this link and select a timeslot that fits your schedule. There are two slots available for each 5 minute increment. The link is a shared worksheet. Please enter in your name and e-mail address next to the time you would like to receive your shot and then close, you do not need to save the document. If you are not comfortable with adding your name to the list for confidentiality reasons please e-mail benefits@up.edu with your preferred time and we will add it to the schedule.
The clinic will be held in outdoor tents on the University of Portland campus. Covid-19 precautions will be in place and all attendees will be required to wear a mask and maintain 6 ft. distance between others. The nurses administering the shots will thoroughly clean each station between attendees. A confirmation email will be sent closer to the clinic date which will contain specific information regarding location, arrival times and required paperwork.
If the onsite clinic date does not work with your schedule, please note that Kaiser will begin offering flu shot clinics starting October 3 and will run through October 31. More information can be found on Kaiser’s website here.
Questions? Please contact benefits@up.edu.
Each year on September 15, the Holy Cross US Province of Priests and Brothers names recipients of the Spirit of Holy Cross Award. UP’s own Brenda Greiner was among the eleven people named for this award this year. The Spirit of Holy Cross Award acknowledges the critical importance lay collaborators play in living out the vision and mission of Holy Cross founder Blessed Basil Moreau to make God known, loved, and served through education, parish and mission settings. The annual announcement of the recipients of this award happens on the Feast Day of Our Lady of Sorrows – the patronal feast day for all members of the Congregation of Holy Cross.
The press release naming Brenda as an award recipient noted: “Woven through all that she has done is Brenda’s willingness to bring her wit, intensity and care to bear on helping students engage fully the opportunities that UP presents, and helping them to navigate the many challenges that come up along the way. Brenda cares deeply for the good of the students and the whole of the UP community and in this has become a key contributor to the mission of the University of Portland.”
Please congratulate Brenda on her most well-deserved award!
University of Portland faculty and staff are invited to take advantage of exclusive access to the Columbia Sportswear Employee Store from Friday, September 4 through Sunday, September 27. A pass for this offer is available at this link.
The safety of store employees and shoppers is their number one priority. Below are some of the precautions being taken to ensure safety while in our store:
The employee store offers its customers the Columbia Sportswear employee discount of 40 to 50 percent off retail pricing on all the latest products such as SOREL, Mountain Hardware prAna, and Columbia Sportswear. Click here to view September promotions.
Please bring the UP invite, printed or shown on mobile phone; work ID and personal photo ID. The offer is valid for employees and four guests; employee must be present. The offer is not valid for online purchases.
Find store location and hours here or on the invite.
Faculty and staff who would like to use the University’s tuition exchange benefit (TES or CCCTE) for dependent children for the fall 2021 semester need to visit the HR website and fill out a request for approval, according to Jason McDonald, Dean of Admissions. The deadline is December 1.
For more information contact Jason at x7751 or mcdonaja@up.edu.
All faculty and staff members are invited to join the Academic Mental Health Network (AMHN), which strives to provide faculty and staff with the knowledge, skills, and confidence to recognize, approach, and refer students and colleagues in crisis to mental health support services, according to Sarina Saturn, psychological sciences.
On October 2, from 3:15-4:30 p..m, the Health and Counseling Center is offering a QPR suicide prevention workshop to navigate ways to help others in crisis during these challenging times of remote instruction and advising. Whether you have already been a part of the AMHN or hope to become a new member, please click this link to fill out avery brief survey to indicate your interest in joining this school year and/or to sign up for a QPR training.
If you have any questions, please email saturns@up.edu.
The Health & Counseling Center and UP School of Nursing will be hosting a flu shot clinic for students on Tuesday, September 29, from 1-4 p.m. on the Quad outside of Buckley Hall. Flu shots cost $20 or are free for students with coverage under Pacific Source student health insurance. Students can pay cash or charge the amount to their student accounts.
Ryan Benedetti, lead web developer in information services, will be leaving UP to start a new position at Med Savvy (a startup owned by Cambia) on September 28, according to Lisel Stancil, information services. Ryan has given so much of himself to UP over the years, and we are so grateful for the time he spent here. Ryan demonstrated his commitment to the mission of UP in his work efforts and in the humanity that he brought to his position. It’s challenging to summarize all of the work and contributions from Ryan’s 11 years at UP, but here are some highlights from the larger initiatives:
Ryan has provided fantastic technical leadership to the web team, been a strategic leader for web projects, and shown his dedicated support for UP colleagues over the years. Please wish Ryan best of luck in his next adventure. For more information please email stancil@up.edu.
The Office of International Education, Diversity, and Inclusion (with diversity and inclusion programs) will offer free DEI workshops and trainings for students (Racial Healing, Identity/Bias, LGBTQIA+ inclusivity, etc.) this semester. To sign up and see what will be offered please use this link. While many of the workshops are currently open only to QTBIPOC student leaders and student workers, any QTBIPOC student is invited to attend Resiliency and Restoration: Collectively Healing from Our Racialized Experiences and can RSVP via Engage.
For more information contact Rebecca Seibert, International Education, Diversity, and Inclusion, at x7838 or seibert@up.edu.