UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

10-06-2014

University Club Social, Oct. 28

goodiesThe University Club Event will take place on Tuesday, October 28th, 4:00-5:30 p.m., in the Bauccio Commons Board Room. All faculty and staff are invited to meet and connect with colleagues from all over campus. At this event, we want to toast our newest faculty members. New full-time professors, if you can come, please attend. Regular faculty and staff, please bring members of your new faculty to the event. All members of the University community are welcome.

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

Fall Break Bookstore Hours

books-20747367 copyThe bookstore will have reduced hours for fall break, according to manager Erin Bright. The bookstore will be closed on Saturday, October 11 and will be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the following Monday through Friday. The bookstore will be closed on Saturday, October 18. For more information contact Bright at 7125 or bksuportland@bncollege.com.

$100,000 Gift to Engineering

Shiley HallThe Shiley School of Engineering has received a $100,000 gift from Greg and Gloria Shean of San Antonio, Texas, according to the development office. Greg Shean received a bachelor’s degree in engineering from the University in 1969 and earlier had established the Greg Shean ’69 Engineering Endowed Financial Aid Fund, which now totals more than $170,000. While attending the University of Portland, Shean also completed his training in Air Force Reserve Officer Training Corps (ROTC). He was an Air Force officer for 23 years and retired as a lieutenant colonel. His career included working with large radar, computer acquisition and computer security. He later taught high school math for 12 years in San Antonio, where he and his wife both retired. Gloria Shean was a registered operating room nurse for 30 years with the VA in a career that overlapped with 28 years in the Air Force Reserves and 10 years of active duty.

For more information contact the development office at hanna@up.edu.

New Alumni Relations Director

swinyard copyCraig Swinyard has been selected as the director of alumni relations, according to Laurie Kelley, VP for university relations.

Swinyard has a long association with the University which began in 1994, his freshman year. He graduated from the University with a bachelor of arts in mathematics in 1998. As a student, he was a member of the Honors Program and lived in Villa Maria all four years, serving as a resident assistant his junior and senior years.

After graduation he worked in the Office of Residence Life as an assistant hall director in Corrado Hall from 1999-2001. Swinyard earned a master of science in teaching mathematics in 2002 and his Ph.D. in mathematics education in 2008, both from Portland State University. He joined the University’s mathematics faculty as an assistant professor in 2008. In 2014, he received tenure and was promoted to associate professor. He and his wife Shoshawna reside in the University Park neighborhood and are the proud parents of a daughter, Mia.

Swinyard has been a leader in developing networking and engagement opportunities for Villa Maria alumni. Earlier this year, he and other University leaders brought back the tradition now known as Anchors Away (formerly Blowout on The Bluff), bringing together more than 1,400 students, faculty, and staff.

Because of his current academic responsibilities, Swinyard will continue to teach students through the end of the fall semester. He will begin working in the alumni office on a part-time basis, moving to full-time when the spring semester commences.

For more information contact alumni relations at 7328 or alumni@up.edu.

Inauguration Photos Available on Smugmug

Smugmug copyPhotographs from the September 24 faculty and staff presidential inauguration social are now posted and available on SmugMug at the following location, according to Anna Lageson-Kerns, marketing and communications: http://tinyurl.com/nlysg4t. For more information contact marketing and communications at 7202 or mktg@up.edu.

UP Social Work Students Shine

rogers copyTwo University of Portland social work students, Rebecca Tabor and Yuri Hernandez, have won competitive national scholarships through the Phi Alpha National Social Work Honor Society, according to Anissa Rogers, social work. Three students are chosen each year from a national pool for the Patty Gibbs Wahlberg Scholarship based on a student’s service, scholarship, and leadership.

Rebecca Taylor won first place, which comes with a cash prize and a trip to the national meeting of the Association of Baccalaureate Social Work Program Directors, where she will speak to an audience of students. Senior Yuri Hernandez won third place, which comes with a cash prize. Last year, UP social work student Sophie Anderson won third place.

Phi Alpha’s executive director, Paul Baggett, commented on how outstanding Taylor and Hernandez’s applications were, and was impressed that UP had two winners in one year, and one last year. For more information contact Rogers at 7304 or rogers@up.edu.

Spirituality and Meaning in Higher Education Lecture, Oct. 9

lindholm_jennifer copyAll faculty and staff are invited to a lecture on the diversity of spirituality among faculty presented by Jennifer A. Lindholm, special assistant to the vice provost for undergraduate education at UCLA, following her Student Affairs Leadership Workshop earlier in the day. The lecture begins at 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, Oct 9, in the Holy Cross Lounge on the third floor of Franz Hall, and will be followed by a wine and cheese social.

Lindholm’s scholarship focuses on the structural and cultural dimensions of academic work; the career development, work experiences, and professional behavior of college and university faculty; and undergraduate students’ personal development. She is the author of a book on faculty spirituality titled The Quest for Meaning and Wholeness, and a student spirituality book titled Cultivating the Spirit. Both are available in the Pilot House bookstore through October.

For more information regarding the faculty presentation at 4:30 p.m., contact Paul Myers, health center, at 8983 or myers@up.edu or Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center, at 8014 or eifler@up.edu.

Oregon Drive Less Challenge, Oct. 6-17

1bikes150Faculty, staff, and students who would like to take part in local sustainability efforts have a great opportunity through the 2014 Oregon Drive Less Challenge, which runs from Monday, October 6 to Friday, October 17. Oregon drivers travel approximately 33.1 billion vehicle miles annually, at a cost of $1.4 billion in gasoline, which produces 14 million metric tons of CO2, according to Drive Less Connect, which offers an online ride-matching tool. In 2013, the Oregon Department of Transpor­tation urged Oregonians to take fewer drive-alone trips to reduce carbon emissions, reduce traffic, and introduce new users to alternate travel options. In its first year, the Drive Less Challenge exceeded its half-million vehicle mile reduction goal in 12 days. This year’s challenge aims to eliminate one million vehicle miles traveled in 14 days. Interested UP community members can sign up and find out more at http://www.drivelessconnect.com.

Math Colloquium, Oct. 8

_1aMath150The next Math Colloquium will be held on Wednesday, October 8, from 4 to 5 p.m., in Franz Hall room 217, according to Carol Bruce, mathematics. The speaker will be Jack Green from Mt. Hood Community College, who will present “From the Classroom to Online and Back Again.” Refreshments will be provided. For more information contact Bruce at 7166 or bruce@up.edu.