News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.
Are you a new faculty or staff member who has not yet had their professional photo taken for the UP directory? The Office of Marketing and Communications has scheduled a professional photographer for photos on Tuesday, November 14, 1:30- 3 p.m. Please email Sara Zarit at zarit@up.edu to schedule a five-minute headshot session.
University of Portland will welcome the Class of 2027 when Orientation begins on Thursday, August 24. Faculty and staff are encouraged to attend the President’s Welcome at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, August 25, in the Chiles Center.
A variety of activities are scheduled throughout the weekend including a Wellness Fair, All Aboard (new student mixer), Anchor Seminar sessions, Academic Unit Meetings, Bite on the Bluff, Play it UP (scavenger hunt using mobile phones), Orientation Mass, and the Can I Kiss You? consent education program. There are also special events for commuter and transfer students. The schedule concludes at sunset on Sunday, August 27, with the cherished candlelight tradition of the Bell Tower Ceremony.
The complete schedule of events is available on the University website, up.edu/orientation and on the UP mobile app.
For more information, questions, or concerns, please contact Jeromy Koffler, student activities, at 503-943-7470 or koffler@up.edu.
Beginning August 14, 2023, all employees will be required to have MFA set up on their network account. If you have not set up MFA, a prompt will appear when you log into online services like PilotsUP or Moodle. You will have two weeks to complete the registration process after the initial prompt. Those who have not completed the registration after two weeks will be locked out and forced to register prior to accessing any UP services. Instructions are available on the Information Services website and Help Desk staff are happy to answer any questions you may have (help@up.edu).
As a benefit of this added security, we will update the password expiration policy to two years.
NOTE: All podium computers are excluded from MFA prompts to ensure no interruptions to classroom activities.
We also require completion of the 2023 Cybersecurity Training module, which is available on Moodle. Those who have not completed the course are receiving monthly reminders. This short training course is mandatory for all employees to complete on an annual basis as part of our federal financial aid reporting requirements under the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA)
VPN authentication with multi-factor authorization (MFA) is now available for testing for all faculty and staff. VPN access with MFA will become mandatory on September 4. Employees who regularly use the VPN are encouraged to test and use this option to identify any potential issues.
UP employees can reference this KB article for more information on VPN access with MFA.
Contact the UP Help Desk at help@up.edu for any questions.
All faculty and staff are welcome to join one of two discussions and learn about AI tools. We will host two parallel sessions and then combine groups to share essential elements of each discussion.
Monday August 21.
10:30-11:20 – Shiley 319: AI and Student Writing. Sarah Weiger and Josh Swidzinski will discuss the use of AI tools in writing intensive courses and will identify what constitutes appropriate and inappropriate uses of AI. They will also discuss various student disclosure policies and standards around AI use in citation, originality and integrity.
10:30-11:20 – Shiley 301: AI Tools for Faculty. Terry Favero and Jon Down will demonstrate and discuss the use of AI tools to support faculty work and student learning.
11:30-12:30 – Shiley 301: Combined discussion and sharing of the most salient points from each session.
Who are UP’s new students and what are the most effective ways to teach them?
Today’s students come from highly diverse ethnic and socio-economic backgrounds and are more technologically advanced and socially aware than ever before. They also, like most of the rest of society, may have mental health issues that can impact their learning. As a result, we need to find creative and supportive ways to help them achieve their goals. Each one of those areas offers an opportunity to connect and get to know students and to meet them where they are on their educational journey. In this workshop, we will find out more about who our incoming (and returning students are) and identify specific strategies to engage students and assist them in reaching their career goals.
Wednesday, August 23, 1:30-2:30 p.m., DB 133. With Brenagh Sanford Shepard Academic Resource Center, Terry Favero, Center for Teaching and Learning.
Staff in the Division of Student Affairs are looking for colleagues from across campus who are willing to serve as student conduct hearing board members and support students as they navigate student conduct or Title IX processes.
UP has a trained pool of hearing board members who help make decisions in disciplinary hearings and a trained pool of others who provide support to students during their hearings and in Title IX processes. These are wonderful ways to support and accompany students and to collaborate with other colleagues. Training is provided, and the organizers are mindful of volunteers’ workloads and limited hours (many hands make light work!). Training sessions for new members of these pools will be held in September.
If you have questions or to volunteer, contact Andrew Weingarten at weingart@up.edu or Tammy Herdener at herdener@up.edu.
Trimet reduced bus service during the pandemic but has been slowly making improvements to better serve our campus. Please note the following updates:
For more information on commute planning please visit https://trimet.org/home/planner
The first meeting of the Faith and Intellectual Life Discussion Group [FILDG] for academic year 2023-24 will be Friday, September 22, 3:30 p.m.-5 p.m. in the Murphy Room. We will be discussing excerpts from Rebecca Solnit’s book Hope in the Darkness: Untold Histories, Wild Possibilities, Lydia Polgreen’s “Why Is Everyone Suddenly Listening to a Staple of My Angsty Adolescence,” and the Indigo Girl’s song “Prince of Darkness”.
All readings (and link to YouTube of “Prince of Darkness”) are on the FILDG page of the Garaventa Center website.
All faculty and staff are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served.
Curious about implementing Universal Design or Universal Design for Learning in your work? All are invited to a brainstorming/imagination session about what this could look like at UP, what sorts of training options exist, ideas for promising campus collaborations, and more.
This will be a hybrid meeting from 11 a.m.-noon on Thursday, August 17. Join us in-person in the Library Conference Room (LB222) or on Zoom.
Hosted by the UP employee Disability Affinity Group. Coming to this session does not obligate you to anything—please feel free to just join in the conversation! Questions? Can’t make it but have ideas? Email Sarah Nuxoll at nuxolls@up.edu.
Hello, everyone! I am Sarah Nuxoll, and I work in the Clark Library. For the past two years I have been gathering together with other fantastic UP employees as part of the UP employee Disability Affinity Group. If you identify as having any type of disability (mobility, sensory, learning, psychological, emotional, trauma-related, chronic illness, or others) and are looking for a community to connect, advocate, support each other, and collaboratively brainstorm together, please reach out! Names of group members are kept confidential within the group.
We understand that the word “disability” means many things to many people and can be seen negatively. In the Disability Affinity Group, we are reclaiming disability in a positive way, to build disability culture and pride. I feel and honor our unique creative processes, our wisdom born of lived experience, and our profound ways of making meaning in a chaotic world.
Please email me at nuxolls@up.edu for more information.