News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.
#GivingTuesday is nearly here, and the University community is reminded to get ready for fundraising for all departments, centers, clubs, or schools with the 2020 #GivingTuesday Social Media Toolkit. This year’s #GivingTuesday takes place on December 1.Contact Jessie Lamb, director of annual giving, at lamb@up.edu if you have questions or need support.
The marketing and communications division will host virtual training for those faculty and staff wanting to learn more about the ShareUP online portal on Wednesday, December 2, at 1 p.m., using the Zoom platform.
ShareUP allows faculty and staff to search, download, create, and learn about such brand elements as templates, logos, colors, fonts, and available photography. ShareUP thus provides a comprehensive and creative resource to support UP-branded marketing and promotional materials.
To receive an invitation to the virtual training please reach out to Chris Long, marketing and communications, at longc@up.edu or you can use this link to join the December 2 meeting at 1 p.m.
The COVID-19 Steering Committee has released the following information to the UP community in anticipation of reopening campus for the Spring 2021 semester.
As Co-Chairs of UP’s COVID-19 Steering Committee, we hope and pray this message finds you well, and your family and friends healthy. In this email, we will provide important new updates about our planning for the Spring 2021 semester. Whether you’re a student, faculty member or staff employee, this information is relevant to our campus experience.
Fall 2020 Experience with Health & Safety During COVID-19
We are pleased to report that COVID-19 cases at UP during the fall semester have been infrequent and minimal. The COVID-19 Health and Safety Preventative Measures have been effective and will continue in 2021. These include reduced residential density, mask wearing, physical distancing, daily symptom checking, sanitizing high-touch areas frequently, and many other components. All shared spaces like lounges, kitchens and select classrooms have been reconfigured to support social distancing. Additional products have been purchased to help protect and sanitize work spaces. Our new COVID-19 Dashboard is updated every Wednesday with the latest information about testing and confirmed cases.
Academics
As announced previously, most instruction will remain online for the Spring 2021 Semester. However, 33 UP faculty, including UP Provost Dr. Hebert Medina, have volunteered to teach 53 in-person course sections, mostly within the Core Curriculum. Only on-campus residential students are eligible for these classes, as they will be participating in the rigorous testing protocols established by the COVID-19 Steering Committee. These courses will be held in classrooms that have been retrofitted to reduce capacity to meet COVID-19 guidelines and ensure safety and distance protocols will be followed. Currently, most first-year students who will be living on campus have been assigned to one in-person class, and the process of registering other on-campus students for the remaining spaces begins soon. While space is limited, students who apply for housing now may have the opportunity for one in-person class as space allows.
COVID-19 Testing
We are pleased to partner with Carbon Health to roll out a comprehensive prevention strategy on campus, including screening, conducting both baseline and surveillance testing, contact tracing, and case management. Carbon Health has established itself quickly as a leader in the industry. Today, they are working with large, reputable companies like Alaska Airlines and Oakland Athletics, as well as the City of San Francisco. In addition to the student testing, plans are being finalized for the testing of faculty and staff who will be regularly interacting with students.
Spring 2021 Housing is Still Available
Though continuing to de-densify halls, Residence Life reports there is limited capacity available to add more on-campus residents for Spring 2021. The University is offering private rooms at no additional charge. Residence Life has also reserved our largest rooms, and rooms with attached bathrooms, for any students who desire to live safely with a roommate. Students can sign up now by visiting the UP portal at pilots.up.edu and clicking the eRezLife icon or by navigating directly to up.erezlife.com. Log in with your UP credentials and then click the Spring 2021 Campus Housing & Meal Application.
To promote community and reduce the risk of exposure, we are grouping students with similar activities together. First-year students will share their residence hall wing with other students from their Fall First-Year Workshop. Similarly, student athletes will be housed in the same residence hall; ROTC will be grouped together; and our newest Pilots (enrolling for Spring 2021) will also live in the same areas.
Students signing up for on-campus housing can rest assured that once here, we want you to remain here for the duration of the Spring 2021 semester. The University’s policies are designed to help ensure we can keep students on campus all semester. Supplementing state and local public health guidance, the CDC recommends that colleges and universities not send students back into their home communities should there be COVID-19 concerns on-campus.
Campus Social Programming
In the weeks ahead, students can expect more details on how to prepare for move-in, including specific COVID-19 protective measures to follow during the two weeks prior to arrival. Students can also expect more details about on-campus life, including dining, recreation, library usage, activities, optional in-person courses for on-campus residents, Campus Ministry, Student Clubs, Campus Programming Board events, and more. The goal is to provide a dynamic, engaging, fun, and safe campus life.
During the week of move-in and the first week of classes, students will participate in a modified quarantine. This will involve staying on campus for this period, limiting outdoor activity and shopping, etc. After their second baseline test, the semester will resume a much more normal lifestyle. As is our practice with the few students living on campus currently who are safely and responsibly leaving campus to run to the grocery store, appointments, etc., next semester students will enjoy outdoor activities such as biking, hiking, walking, and small programs and activities outside with masks and appropriate distancing to promote safe interactions.
Campus Arrivals
Move-in will be scheduled over the week of Jan. 18-22, 2021, between 8 AM and 6 PM (PST). If a student already has a residence hall assignment, the arrival/move-in schedule below is to be followed:
Please note: Early and late arrivals are not permitted given the developed baseline testing protocol to reduce the risk of spreading the Coronavirus.
Arrival/Move-In Information
|
Residence Hall |
Arrival/Move-In Date* |
|
Christie Hall |
Tuesday January 19th, 2021 |
|
Corrado Hall |
Thursday January 21st, 2021 |
|
Fields Hall |
Wednesday January 20th, 2021 |
|
Kenna Hall |
Thursday January 21st, 2021 |
|
Lund Family Hall |
Monday January 18th, 2021 |
|
Mehling Hall |
Tuesday January 19th, 2021 |
|
Schoenfeldt Hall |
Wednesday January 20th, 2021 |
|
Shipstad Hall |
Monday January 18th, 2021 |
|
Haggerty & Tyson Apartments |
Friday January 22nd, 2021 |
|
Villa Maria Hall |
Friday January 22nd, 2021 |
*Student athletes move-in dates will vary based on team reporting dates determined by NCAA rules and regulations.
Special Instructions: Students may bring up to two adult guests to help them move in. Residence Life asks that only one guest accompany the student into their residence hall at any given time. All will be required to wear face masks and have temperatures below 100.3 degrees Fahrenheit for entrance into our residence halls.
We are enthusiastic about beginning the transition to having some students on campus and a limited number of in-person classes. If you have additional questions, please write to Pilots Prevent or coronavirus@up.edu and watch for more information in a new weekly “Helping Pilots Prevent” e-newsletter.
The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship (TAS) has determined award recipients for the Butine Faculty Development Fund Fall cycle, according to committee chair Diane Sotak, library. Butine award recipients are:
For more information, please contact Sotak at tas@up.edu.
The athletics office does not anticipate the ability to have fans at the Chiles Center for the start of the 2020-21 men’s and women’s basketball seasons due to state regulations. For the health and safety of student-athletes, staff and game personnel, only essential workers will be admitted into the facility to start the season.
UP Athletics will continue to monitor health and safety guidelines to determine if limited capacity options become available, and if those guidelines change, priority will be given to family and guests of participating student-athletes.
“I know that our fans are eager and excited to see our teams perform, but the reality is that is not likely in the near future.” said Portland Vice President for Athletics Scott Leykam. “We have a plan in place for limited fan attendance that addresses all safety measures if the opportunity arises. At no point will we risk the health and safety of our student-athletes, staff or community if we do not feel the plan can be executed safely. I am very excited that our student-athletes will get a chance to compete. They have been disciplined, patient, and responsible over the last few months in preparing for this opportunity and we are all excited for November 25th.”
The Portland men’s basketball team will open the 2020-21 season by hosting the U.S. Bank Portland Invitational Nov. 25-29 at the Chiles Center. The rest of the men’s basketball non-conference schedule will be announced soon.
The Pilot women’s non-league schedule was announced today and the team’s home-opener will be against the Oregon Ducks on Monday, Nov. 30 at 8 p.m.
Radio and television coverage for both programs will be announced later this week.
The Beauchamp Recreation & Wellness Center has closed in accordance with state and county COVID-19 mandates, and will remain closed over winter break. The ability to reopen in 2021 will rely upon state, county and University guidance. Outdoor Pursuits rentals and online Fitness Classes will continue through the end of the semester.
Please check www.up.edu/recservices for schedules and updates, as well as Instagram and Facebook at @uprecservices.
Could you (or your students) benefit from some TLC for library research? Reference librarians are available for Zoom or phone consultations to assist UP students, faculty, and staff with their research. Ask us questions about getting started, choosing the best places to search, creating an efficient search strategy, identifying relevant resources, organizing and managing your sources, or citing tricky sources.To make an appointment to meet with a librarian, go to: http://library.up.edu/meet. Choose an online or phone appointment, then choose your preferred date and time from the online calendar. If the listed times don’t work for you (or for your students who may be in a different time zone), email refererence@up.edu to request an alternate meeting time. Lastly, fill out the brief form to tell us a little bit about you and your research question; both you and the librarian will receive an email confirming the appointment. We look forward to assisting you or your students with your research questions!
University of Portland athletics posted a 93 percent student-athlete Graduation Success Rate (GSR), according to the latest data released by the NCAA. The GSR measures graduation rates for the most recent six-year graduating class of incoming student-athletes who enrolled between 2010-2013, and marks the ninth consecutive year that Portland posted a GSR above 90 percent as a department.
Portland’s men’s cross country and track and field, men’s soccer, and women’s cross country and track and field teams and women’s tennis each posted perfect scores during the most recent cohort. Eight of the 11 Pilot teams represented in the data posted a score of 90 percent or better.
The Division I Board of Directors launched the GSR in 1998 in response to college and university presidents who wanted data that more accurately reflected the mobility of college students than the federal graduation rate.For more information contact athletics at x7117 or go to portlandpilots.com.
Here are the latest updates from the registrar’s office, according to associate registrar Abby McMahon:
For more information contact McMahon at x7321 or mcmahon@up.edu.
Andrew Weingarten, Director of Residence Life, is the latest winner of a Starbucks gift card. His name was pulled from the basket of those who have let the Garaventa Center know of personal connections they have made with UP colleagues, either in 3-D or online, as we all look for ways to keep a sense of community alive and well here. If you’d like to be included in the next raffle, please email Karen Eifler (eifler@up.edu) with your name and just the number of connections you have made—no other details needed!