UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

03-12-2018

Pilots Give 24-Hour Day of Giving, April 4-5

Mark your calendars for April 4-5 for UP’s first Day of Giving. Join University relations as we launch a 24-hour, online campaign focused on building resources for UP. Throughout the 24-hour period, there will be several on-campus hosted events including the Franz Grilled Cheese Machine, happy hour in the Pilot House, Portside with Pilots, Thankful for Donors Donuts, and more.

Pilots Give is our opportunity to reach out to Pilots near and far and reconnect them to campus. By encouraging philanthropy from those who have benefitted from a UP education, we can strengthen our programs at UP. The difference between a good school and a great school is giving. By creating an annual tradition through Pilots Give, we can continue to transform education for UP students today and tomorrow.

Everyone on campus can do something to help us reach our goal of 1,000 gifts in 24 hours. To learn more or volunteer, use this link or please contact Amy Eaton, development, at x8551 or eatona@up.edu.

Lenten Visio Divina, March 28

Campus Ministry and the Garaventa Center invite you to join with others from the UP community for Lenten Visio Divina during Holy Week on Wednesday, March 28, at 12:35 p.m., following noon Mass. Visio Divina is an ancient form of Christian prayer in which we allow our hearts and imaginations to enter into a sacred image, in silence, to see what God might have to say to us. Our meditation will focus on an illumination from The Saint John’s Bible. All are welcome. For ADA accommodations or more information: garaventa@up.edu or x7702.

2018 Holy Week, Good Friday Observance

University offices will be closed and no classes will be held on Friday, March 30, in observance of Good Friday, according to Tom Greene, provost. The closing actually begins at 4 p.m. on Thursday, March 29; no classes should continue beyond that time, and other events, apart from those connected with the religious observance of Holy Week, should not be scheduled from that time through Monday, April 2.

Even though classes are not scheduled for Easter Monday, University offices will be open as usual.

The early closing on Holy Thursday is intended to allow students, faculty, and staff to attend the Evening Mass of the Lord’s Supper, which will be celebrated in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher at 4:30 p.m.

The University’s custom of closing on Good Friday is in acknowledgment of the special religious character of the day. In Catholic tradition, Good Friday has always been recognized as one of three important days (the Sacred Triduum) of religious observance: Holy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter Sunday.

For more information contact the provost’s office at 7105 or staten@up.edu.

Summer and Fall Book Orders Due March 29

Summer and fall book orders are due by Thursday, March 29, according to Erin Cave, bookstore. Orders can be placed via the web at www.uportland.bncollege.com and select “Faculty Resources.” They can also be emailed to cave@up.edu. To make the process even easier, just say “Same as Last Year!” Orders can also be phoned in at x7125. Questions? Please contact Cave at x7125.

HR Policy and Process Reminders: Please Review Now

Sandy Chung, associate vice president for human resources, sent an email on March 1 to all exempt and non-exempt staff regarding policy and process reminders from human resources. HR is requesting everyone take some time to review these policies. The following links can be used:

If you have any questions or need assistance, please contact human resources at hr@up.edu or x8484.

Ron Smit Memorial Mass, March 22

Ronald “Ron” Smit, who retired from the mathematics faculty in May 2005, passed away on February 20, 2018, in Vancouver, Washington, at the age of 77. Please join the University community at his Memorial Mass on Thursday, March 22 at 4:30 p.m., in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. For questions, please contact campus ministry at x7131 or ministry@up.edu.

Ron joined the UP faculty as an instructor in 1965 and was an assistant professor from 1969 to 1972, when he achieved the rank of associate professor. He earned the University’s highest faculty honor, the Culligan Award, in 1971. From 1970 to 1972 Ron was chair of the Academic Senate, and he served as chair of the mathematics department from 1974 to 1979. In 2009 the Ron Smit Senior Award in Mathematics was established by the mathematics department, awarded annually to a math major who makes a major contribution to UP’s mathematical community.

Ron Smit was an unfailingly congenial but sometimes curt man who expected nothing short of excellence (or at least earnest effort) from his students. He was renowned as a crack shot in the classroom, able to deliver a hunk of chalk to within centimeters of a sleeping or daydreaming student’s cranium with great precision. He loved the University wholeheartedly and was revered by his mathematics students. When he taught his final class in 2005, over 100 current and former students packed into his classroom, all wearing shirts with “Smittisms” printed on them: “Well, cover me in buttermilk,” or “Use a pencil. The last person who didn’t make a mistake lived 2,000 years ago,” or “Oh, nice of you to show up,” or “That’s a social sciences answer. Math is not a spectator sport.”

He is survived by his wife, Marti; sons Nick and Jeff, daughter Kathy, and 11 grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Our prayers and condolences to the family.

42nd Annual UP Hawaii Club Luau, March 24 

The University of Portland Hawaii Club’s annual Lū’au will take place on Saturday, March 24, from 5 p.m. to 9 p.m., in the Chiles Center. Every year the University’s Hawaiian community offers authentic aloha hospitality with kalua pig, shoyu chicken, poi, and other Hawaiian delicacies plus traditional dancers and decor.
For tickets please click on this link. People may also pick up and pay for tickets on the day of March 24 at will call. If you have any questions please email upluau@gmail.com.

TIAA Representative Visiting Campus April 12-13: Make Appointments Now

A representative from TIAA, which administers the University’s retirement accounts, will be on campus for appointments on Thursday, April 12, and Friday, April 13, in the Career Center located in Orrico Hall lower level, according to Laura Barnard, human resources. Financial counseling appointments with Rebecca Rohleder (pictured) are available from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Schedule your appointment today at www.tiaa-cref.org/schedulenow or by calling call TIAA at 877.842.2028 (press 5 to schedule an appointment).

Please email benefits@up.edu with questions.

Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group: Friday, March 23

The next meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group will be on Friday, March 23,  from 3:30-5 p.m., in the Murphy Room. The group will be discussing “Reflections on the Cosmic Perspective” excerpted from Neil deGrasse Tyson’s 2017 book Astrophysics for People in a Hurry and the poem “The Brain is Wider Than the Sky” by Emily Dickinson. Readings are available on the Garaventa Center website. All faculty and staff are welcome. Refreshments will be served.
For more information contact Norah Martin, philosophy, at martinn@up.edu.

Hesburgh Lecture on Islam and the Catholic Church, March 21

Gabriel Said Reynolds will present the annual Hesburgh Lecture, “Islam, the Catholic Church, and the Future of the World,” on Wednesday, March 21, at 7:15 p.m., in Franz Hall room 120. The lecture is free and open to all. In his talk, Reynolds will examine how Islam challenges Christian beliefs, reflect on how the Catholic Church should respond to these challenges, and offer a vision of how Muslims and Christians might work together to counter religious extremism. Reynolds researches the Qur’ān and Muslim/Christian relations as professor of islamic studies and theology in the Department of Theology at Notre Dame. This event is co-sponsored by the Garaventa Center and the Notre Dame Club of Portland. For ADA accommodations or more information, visit the Garaventa Center events page or contact x7702 or garaventa@up.edu.