UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

09-10-2018

Department of State Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs Campus Visit, Sept. 12

On Wednesday, September 12, Rebecca Gailey, special assistant for the Office of Global Educational Programs within the Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, will be visiting the UP campus. Faculty members who are interested in learning more about Department of State sponsored education programs are invited to a casual conversation over lunch in the Priest’s Dining Room from 12:30-1:30 p.m. on September 12. This is a no-host lunch.

Rebecca Gailey assists office leadership with developing and administering a variety of exchange programs for U.S. and foreign students, teachers, and professionals. She works closely with the USA Study Abroad branch on communication and outreach for the Benjamin A. Gilman International Scholarship Program, the Critical Language Scholarship Program, and the U.S. Study Abroad Capacity Building Grants Program.

If you have any questions in advance, contact Michele Leasor or John Orr in the Office of Undergraduate Scholarly Engagement at x7857 or scholars@up.edu.

2018 Zahm Lecture, Sept. 12

Thomas Landy will present the 2018 Zahm Lecture, “A Guide to College in 8 Contradictions,” on Wednesday, September 12, at 7:15 p.m. in Buckley Center Auditorium. The talk is sponsored by the Garaventa Center, and is free and open to the public. In his talk Landy asks, at a time when people have extraordinary access to information at their fingertips, and vacillate between polarized, ideological certainties and relativistic uncertainty whether there is any such thing as truth worth seeking, and critics left and right question the value of a university education, what’s a student to do? Landy, who is congenitally wary of canned advice, shares why, from his experience, this a better time to be a learner than you might think. So how do you take advantage of the opportunity?

Landy is director of the McFarland Center for Religion, Ethics and Culture at the College of the Holy Cross. A sociologist by training, he researches Catholic life and practice in all corners of globe, exploring remarkably diverse ways that Catholics practice their faith and see the world. For 25 years he has served as director of Collegium, a faculty development program that helps participants from Catholic colleges and universities to reimagine their vocations and to think about how their work serves their students, their schools, and the world.

The Zahm Lecture, which serves as the keynote for the academic year, addresses the important issues surrounding American Catholic education and honors Fr. John Zahm, C.S.C., an eminent Holy Cross priest and scientist of the late 19th and early 20th century.

For ADA accommodations or further information, please contact the Garaventa Center at x7702 or garaventa@up.edu, or visit up.edu/garaventa/events.

New Proposed Projects for Teaching & Learning Community Blog

This week on the Teaching & Learning Community Blog, meet two new proposed blog projects for the coming academic year: “Core Matters” and “Mentally Healthy.”

The Core Matters project is introduced here, and offers an effort to progressively build a compendium of brief on-line essays about what actually happens in UP Core classes and how that contributes to UP’s identity as a comprehensive university with a strong liberal arts core. As proof of concept, a first post for the series talks about how PSY 101: General Psychology helps students confront the classic question of ‘who are you’ while also learning about more contemporary issues of diversity and difference.

The Mentally Healthy project is introduced here as an effort to progressively build an on-line handbook for faculty and academic staff concerned about student mental health. This project builds off TL blogging from last year, and starts with some quick links to resources that might be useful for anyone at UP who is thinking about how to attend to student well-being as part of a successful education.

For more information contact Andrew Guest, psychological sciences, at guesta@up.edu.

Campus Ministry: Addressing Abuse in the Church

In the midst of continued revelations of sexual abuse and abuse of power in the Catholic Church, Campus Ministry would like to offer a few resources for addressing and processing these revelations:

  • Mass and Holy Hour: On the eve of the celebration of their central feast day, the Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, the local Holy Cross community will be offering a Mass and Holy Hour of prayer for the well-being of survivors of abuse and for the healing of the whole Body of Christ. This will occur on Thursday, Sept 13, starting with Mass at 5 p.m. in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. Holy Hour will continue until 6:30 p.m. All are welcome for the Mass and Holy Hour.
  • Local Church: Archbishop Sample has offered thoughtful words in response the latest revelations, found through this link.
  • National News: a good outlet for balanced reporting on recent revelations can be found through https://cruxnow.com – a news site dedicated to independent coverage of the Vatican and the Catholic Church.
  • Conversations: We have a wonderful community of thoughtful individuals here on campus. Take time to check in with one another and look for opportunities for conversation as a way to process all that is coming out.

If you have questions, comments, or the need for conversation, you are welcome to reach out to Fr. Jim Gallagher, C.S.C., directly: gallaghe@up.edu or x8011.

New Accessibility Education Services Hire: Lisa Deneen

The Shepard Academic Resource Center is pleased to announce that Lisa Deneen has joined Accessible Education Services (AES) as an access counselor. In her new role, Lisa assists students in effectively utilizing their AES accommodations, and provides students, faculty, and staff with technical advice, problem-solving assistance, and procedural guidance regarding AES accommodations and policies. You are invited to stop by the AES office in BC 163 to welcome Lisa to campus. Questions? Please contact Melanie Gangle at gangle@up.edu.

2018-2019 Ignite Grants: Explore New Ideas

The Office of the Provost is pleased to announce the 2018-19 round of Ignite Grants for Faculty Innovation in Teaching and Learning.

Ignite Grants, up to $5,000, are designed to encourage faculty to explore new ideas that have the potential to reshape the classroom experience and to create new opportunities to tie curriculum to real-world experiences in both undergraduate and graduate programs. Ideas that engage students as collaborators in the project development and implementation phases are especially encouraged. Proposals should complement Vision 2020 and support individual school strategies and priorities. Ideas are encouraged from all corners of campus.

Any current full-time faculty who have the support of their associate dean or department chair can apply. Faculty are encouraged to collaborate with students, staff, departmental and cross-campus faculty colleagues, and co-curricular centers to create teams that will enhance learning and project impact. Additional team members do not have to be full-time.

Proposals are due on January 18, 2019.

For more information and to submit a proposal, please see the Ignite Grants on the Teaching and Learning Hub web site. Please feel free to contact the Ignite team at ignite@up.edu.

Hey, Frazzled UP Parents: Want A Night Out?

University parents are invited to take the opportunity to enjoy four hours of free time with their significant others while the Vermont Hills Family Life Center daycare/preschool watches their children on Parents Night Out, Friday, September 14, from 6-10 p.m. The cost is $40 for one child or $50 for two kids or more, and includes dinner for the little ones.

Parents Night Out typically takes place during the academic year on the first Friday of each month, and is not limited to children already enrolled in UP daycare. Please note that this service is provided by Vermont Hills, not UP. Vermont Hills has a contract to use a UP building but is not a UP operated or owned daycare/preschool.

For more information or to sign your kids up, contact Desiree Moan, director, at 503-283-9688 or desireem@vhflc.com.

Merlo Madness Takes Over This Week!

This week is Merlo Madness for the UP soccer program, we would love to see all staff and faculty at Merlo Field as our men’s and women’s soccer teams take on Pacific Northwest rivals Washington and Oregon. We are trying to pack the house and need your support. The Women play at 5 p.m. and the men play at 7:30 p.m. Please remember: since it will be Purple Friday, be sure to wear your WE ARE PORTLAND t-shirts.
UP athletics are also celebrating NoPo Neighbors Night this Sunday, September 16, as the Pilot men play American. Any North Portland resident qualifies for a free ticket at Portlandpilots.com with the promo code: NEIGHBOR.

Music at Midweek Performances for Fall 2018

Music at Midweek performances have been scheduled for the Fall 2018 semester, and will feature the following artists:

  • Sept. 19 – Con Grazia Winds
  • Sept. 26 – Rebecca Hays, soprano and Susan McDaniel, piano
  • Oct. 3 – Andreas Klein, piano
  • Oct. 10 – Student Performers
  • Oct.  24 – Trevor New, viola
  • Oct. 31 – Donnie Norton, saxophone
  • Nov. 7 – Student Performers
  • Nov. 14 – Student Performers
  • Nov. 28 – Student Performers
  • Dec. 5 – Chamber Music Recital – Student Performers

Performances take place on Wednesdays starting at 12:30 p.m. in Mago Hunt Center Recital Hall and are free and open to all.

For more information contact performing and fine arts at x7228 or pfa@up.edu.