News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.
The University’s TIAA-CREF investment counselor for employees, Preston Watts, will be on campus a number of times this winter for individual financial counseling sessions. The next one-on-one counseling sessions will take place this week on November 11, 12, and 13 in Orrico Hall room 101. Go to www.tiaa-cref.org/schedulenow or call TIAA-CREF at (877) 842-2028 (press 5) to schedule an appointment today.
For more information contact Andy Sherwood, human resources, at 8981 or sherwood@up.edu.
Open Enrollment for the 2015 plan year will take place beginning at 10 a.m. on Monday, November 3, and will end at 3 p.m. on Tuesday, December 2. All benefits eligible faculty and staff will receive an e-mail link to the enrollment tool and new rates later today. Please see the Open Enrollment page for more information.
For more information contact Andy Sherwood, human resources, at 8981 or sherwood@up.edu.
The nomination period for staff awards will be October 13 to October 30, with the winners announced at the Staff Christmas Luncheon on Thursday, December 18, according to Bryn Sopko, human resourses. The nomination form can be found at http://tinyurl.com/ousfjpd.
For more information contact HR at 8981 or hr@up.edu.
Faculty, staff, and students are invited to a Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) Informational on Monday, October 27, at 6 p.m., in Franz Hall Murphy Room (room 426). The MAT is an intensive program designed to prepare individuals with baccalaureate degrees for teaching in K-12 schools. MAT graduates earn a master’s degree and are eligible for Oregon initial licensure at two contiguous levels of authorization: early childhood, elementary, middle and/or high school.
If you would like to attend, please RSVP to the School of Education at 7135.
The University will host Charles Rosenberg, professor of art history at the University of Notre Dame, as he presents “The Sistine Chapel History and Meaning” at 7:15 p.m. on Tuesday, October 28, in Holy Cross Lounge on the 3rd floor of Franz Hall. His presentation will be the annual Hesburgh Lecture, sponsored by the Garaventa Center and the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Portland.
Rosenberg’s lecture considers a number of issues relating to the famous Renaissance frescoes covering the walls of the Sistine Chapel, including their relationship to the chapel’s functions in the past and present.
Started in 1986, the Hesburgh Lecture series honors Rev. Ted Hesburgh, C.S.C., a lifelong learner and the former president of the University of Notre Dame. The lectures provide an opportunity for the University of Portland and University of Notre Dame, both Congregation of Holy Cross schools, to come together in stimulating and thoughtful dialogue.
For more information, contact Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center, at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
The Garaventa Center will host several speakers and a reception to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the first L’Arche community by Jean Vanier (pictured) in 1964. The presentation, which includes interactive discussions with the audience, is titled “Becoming Human, Embracing the Tension Between Professionalism & Vulnerability.” It takes place on Wednesday, October 29, from 4 to 5:30 p.m., in the Bauccio Commons Board Room. The event is free and open to the public, and all attendees are asked to RSVP by Friday, October 24 by contacting Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center, at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
Community members are welcome to join in discussion about vulnerability, to explore the concept of “Becoming Human,” as introduced by Vanier, and the challenges and opportunities it presents people in their personal and professional lives. L’Arche is an international federation dedicated to the creation and growth of homes, programs, and support networks with people who have intellectual disabilities. The Portland L’Arch community was founded in 1987.
For more information contact the Garaventa Center at 7702 or powell@up.edu.
The Faculty Welfare Committee’s next meeting is on Thursday, October 30, according to chair Tamar More, physics. The Faculty Welfare Committee is the official vehicle whereby policies concerning faculty salary, fringe benefits, and working conditions are to be brought to the University administration. The committee serves as a negotiating team to work directly with the administrative offices on areas of interest to the entire faculty, and assists faculty members in cases where a particular faculty member might have a problem which does not seem to be taken care of through regular channels.
Brad Franco, history, will conduct a faculty symposium in advance of the November 6 lecture on Dante’s Divine Comedy, according to Jamie Powell, Garaventa Center. The symposium will take place on Thursday, October 30, from 4 t0 5:30 p.m., in the Holy Cross Lounge on Franz Hall’s third floor. All faculty are invited and refreshments will include wine and cheese. Those who plan to attend are encouraged to read articles by Bill Cook and Ron Herzman, which include “What Dante learned from Francis,” provided at this link. Tapes developed by Cook and Herzman are available in the Garaventa Center, which is sponsoring the symposium as well as the November 6 lecture.
For more information or to RSVP contact Franco at 7192 or franco@up.edu.
The annual Wellness Fair sponsored by human resources will take place on Thursday, October 30, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., in the Terrace Room. Representatives from the University’s benefits carriers such as Kaiser, MODA, Flex-Plan, EAP Cascade, Life Insurance carriers, and TIAA-CREF will be joined by community health vendors including West Coast Fitness Center, Kenton Wellness Center, the American Cancer Society, and others. Come and enjoy healthy snacks from New Seasons, a chair massage, ear acupuncture treatments, raffle prizes, and more.
For more information, contact Andy Sherwood, human resources, at 8981 or sherwood@up.edu.
Essayist, novelist, and Portland Magazine editor Brian Doyle will speak as part of the University’s Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series on Thursday, October 30, at 7 p.m., in Buckley Center Auditorium. His talk will be free and open to all faculty, staff, students, and the public.
Doyle is the author of many books of essays, poems, and fiction, among them the sprawling Oregon novel Mink River and the sea novel The Plover. His most recent book is the essay collection Children & Other Wild Animals, from Oregon State University Press, which has also published his nonfiction books The Grail (about a year in an Oregon vineyard) and The Wet Engine (about the “muddle and music of hearts”). Among various honors for his work is inclusion in Best American Essays, Best American Science and Nature Writing, Best Spiritual Writing, and the Award in Literature from the American Academy of Arts and Letters. Previous recipients of that award include Mary Oliver and Flannery O’Connor.
The Schoenfeldt Distinguished Writers Series was founded in 1988 by the late Rev. Arthur Schoenfeldt, C.S.C., and his sister, the late Suzanne Schoenfeldt Fields, in honor of their parents. The series is designed to honor and celebrate the art of writing by bringing some of the finest writers in the United States to the UP campus.
For more information contact John Orr at 503.943.7857 or orr@up.edu.