UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

05-04-2020

Plans Underway For Fall 2020 Term

Though many key restrictions across the state of Oregon in response to the COVID-19 pandemic are currently still in place, the University of Portland is planning for an in-person start to the fall 2020 term, according to University president Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C. In a video message distributed to faculty, staff, and current students, Fr. Poorman also shared that UP is planning to hold an in-person graduation ceremony for the current senior class as soon as feasible on a future date. As previously announced, still confered degrees from the 2019-2020 academic year on Sunday, May 3, with a virtual Commencement.

Specifically, to the graduating Class of 2020, Father Poorman asked that they keep their graduation caps and gowns for a future in-person ceremony, and added “We’re not ready to set the date yet for the ceremony. We’re awaiting guidance from public health authorities; and we want to find a date that will work for the highest-possible participation among community members.”

As the pandemic began to spread this spring, UP transitioned to online instruction by faculty to all students on March 18; and set its May 3 virtual Commencement in compliance with national and state restrictions on public gatherings. Other University facilities and administrative offices are still being managed by select personnel on site, with all other staff working remotely.

Information and updates about Sunday’s virtual commencement ceremony are available at: http://www.up.edu/commencement.

Finalists For University Provost: Please Participate in Virtual Forums

University president Rev. Mark L. Poorman, C.S.C., has announced the final stages of the search for the next provost. From a field of over 300 interested individuals, the Provost Search Committee has worked diligently to select the following three finalists for the provost position:

  • Herbert A. Medina, Ph.D., dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Portland
  • Elizabeth A. Throop, Ph.D., provost and vice president for academic affairs at Frostburg State University
  • Brian D. Till, Ph.D., former dean of the College of Business Administration at Marquette University

Due to travel restrictions and social distancing guidelines, in-person interaction with finalists cannot take place. The Search Committee and Fr. Poorman have determined that thetask of selecting UP’s next provost can, and should, continue.

All members of the University community are invited to participate in a series of virtual forums with our finalists using the Zoom platform. During these forums, participants will hear directly from our finalists and will have the opportunity to ask questions and engage in dialogue. The following schedule has been established for  community member forums:

  • Monday, May 4 (Elizabeth A. Throop)
    • Forum for Students: 12 PM to 1 PM
    • Forum for Non-Academic Staff: 1:15 PM to 2:15 PM
    • Forum for Faculty and Academic Staff: 4 PM to 5:30 PM
  • Monday, May 11 (Herbert A. Medina)
    • Forum for Students: 12 PM to 1 PM
    • Forum for Non-Academic Staff: 1:15 PM to 2:15 PM
    • Forum for Faculty and Academic Staff: 4 PM to 5:30 PM
  • Thursday, May 14 (Brian D. Till)
    • Forum for Students: 12 PM to 1 PM
    • Forum for Non-Academic Staff: 1:15 PM to 2:15 PM
    • Forum for Faculty and Academic Staff: 4 PM to 5:30 PM

These forums will be recorded for later viewing. Videos of each forum will be posted to the Provost Search Portal (discussed below). In addition to these open forums, each finalist will participate in a series of interviews with smaller groups of students, faculty, and staff.

Finally, the University has created a comprehensive Provost Search Portal on PilotsUP. All students, faculty, and staff have access to the Portal, which contains:

  • Links to the finalists’ CVs;
  • Zoom links for each of the Community Member Forums noted above;
  • A form enabling you to share questions you would like our finalists to answer during their respective forums;
  • The University’s Equal Opportunity Statement, which all are asked to read prior to taking part in forums; and,
  • Finalist Evaluation Forms allowing you to provide feedback on our finalists.

For more information contact the president’s office at x7101 or simek@up.edu.

Weekly Webinar for Health Care Providers

The School of Nursing is hosting a weekly webinar for health care providers on the front lines. Each week, we focus on a different self-care topic, method, or conversation. Attendees are directed to watch the 30-minute self-care video on the School of Nursing page before attending. The Health Care Self Care series is an offering from the Schools of Nursing’s Initiative for Vital Practice, whose mission is to explore and implement effective prevention and treatment for burnout and compassion fatigue. If you or anyone you know could benefit from the series, please use the signup form here to join our initiation list. The webinars are every Thursday at 3 p.m. via Zoom.

Please see the video using this link. A signup form can be found using this link.

Extraordinary Measures: 1948 Graduation

With the unusual circumstances surrounding the 2020 Commencement exercises, the staff of the University Archives and Museum looked through archive files for other commencement interruptions.  We found one, in 1948.  Visit this site for the full story.
For more information, contact Carolyn Connolly, museum coordinator, at piatz@up.edu.

Blanchet Gold Medal Award: Another Museum Treasure!

Recently the Student Affairs Division announced winners of the 2019-20 Student Leadership Awards. Congratulations to all of the honored recipients! Did you know the University Museum has one of the University’s oldest student awards (over 100 years old!) in its collection?

Click here for photos and a description of the Blanchet Gold Medal award.

Pilot Venture Challenge 2020 Results: New Name, New Format, New Winners!

It was a year of firsts for The Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation’s annual venture pitch competition. This year the event launched with a new name. Formerly known as the $100K Challenge, it has been rebranded as The Pilot Venture Challenge. The other first was a move to holding the competition as a live, virtual event due to the COVID-19 situation.

The competition is separated into three tracks – Invention, Social, and For-Profit. The Invention Track, which highlights creativity, invention, and innovation, was held on Saturday, April 18. The Social Track, which encourages students to use entrepreneurial and business principles to organize, create, and manage a sustainable enterprise that has a positive social impact, and the For-Profit Track were held on Saturday, April 25.

Students, judges, and guests joined online to hear and see 10-minute presentations by a total of 14 entrants. All entries were judged by expert panels of alumni and community business leaders. The winners are:

Invention:

  • 1st Place: Dose One Pill+, a controlled substance dispensing system to lower therisk of abuse and overdose of highly addictive medications, by Ryan Jarvis ’21
  • 2nd Place: Accord On!, an interactive learning device to aid in learning to play the diatonic accordion, by Ernesto Zurita Ruiz ’21

Both winners move on to represent UP at the statewide InventOR Semi-Final Competition in June.

Social Venture:

  • 1st Place: Blossom, a curated feminine hygiene subscription service providing woman with products that are sustainable, natural, and ethical, plus a buy-one-give-one model to provide products to women’s shelters in the Portland area, by Kristen Wisneski ’20
  • 2nd Place: Race for Change, a running and walking event service hosting fun runs and races to raise money to restore and preserve the environment and combat climate change, by James Parker ’21 and Griffin King ’21

For-Profit Venture:

  • 1st Place: Backyard Brews, a craft beer brewery and taproom that offers a unique customer experience through an emphasis on local beers, food, artists, and community, by Cameron Lyons ’21 and Thomas Vogl ’21
  • 2nd Place: Force Baseball, a high-tech baseball that provides analytics to maximize training and improve pitcher output, by Henry Cheney ’20, Christian Peters ’20, and Connor Knutson ’20
  • 3rd Place: EcoFloss, an antibacterial and sustainable bamboo dental flosser, by Cooper Moore ’21, Travis LaFrance ’20, Kayla Benson ’21, and Trevor Baek ’20

For more information contact the Franz Center for Leadership, Entrepreneurship, and Innovation at franzcenter@up.edu.

 

2020 “Writers” Magazine: Ready For Readers

The 2020 volume of our campus’s student-made creative writing journal, Writers magazine,  made it into print just before campus shut down, according to Lars Larson, English. This year’s edition explores the theme of “Where I’m From,” beginning with a poem by Owen Klinger, and moving through stories, illustrations, verse, essays, and photographs that articulate where we find ourselves.  You can find the electronic version here. Additionally, Larson would be happy to send paper copies (“we have many”) to anyone interested. Email the proper campus (or home) address to larson@up.edu.

Moodle Downtime, Fall Course Availability

The academic technology services and innovation office has scheduled a brief downtime for Moodle upgrades on Friday, May 8, from 9 to 10 a.m. We’ll be getting the latest Moodle fixes in place and getting Moodle ready for an online summer semester!

Also, the course creation process for fall semester is underway and should be completed by the time you are reading this. If you’d like to have course sections combined please see our Request a Course Merge Moodle Guide.

Would you like to consult with an instructional designer or get additional training on Moodle to plan for fall 2020? Please contact atsi@up.edu.