UPbeat

News for and about University of Portland faculty and staff.

12-11-2017

PACE Program Accepting Applications for 21st Cohort

The Pacific Alliance for Catholic Education (PACE), administered by the School of Education, is accepting applications for its 21st cohort. PACE is a post-graduate teacher education program where candidates earn tuition-free graduate degrees in education while they serve as teachers in Catholic schools. Over the course of three summers and two academic years, PACE teachers strengthen Catholic education while developing and refining the skills of successful educators. The PACE program focuses on whole-person formation, with attention to personal, communal, and professional formation, informed by the charisms of Blessed Basil Moreau, C.S.C., and the Congregation of Holy Cross.

PACE is seeking faith-filled applicants (Catholic and non-Catholic) from all academic majors. Education majors will pursue the M.Ed. in the graduate program, and non-education majors will pursue the M.A.T. Faculty and staff member who know students who would be a great fit for the PACE program are asked to please point them in our direction. Application deadline is January 23, 2018.

For more information, contact Mary Dolan, PACE, at x7417 or dolan@up.edu.

UP Students, Faculty Named as Opus Prize Ambassadors

Six students and three faculty members have been selected to help determine the recipients of the 2018 Opus Prize, a $1.2 million annual award that recognizes individuals or organizations who address persisting social problems within their communities. The student and faculty ambassadors will accompany members of the Opus Prize foundation board on site visits next spring to the communities of three Opus Prize finalists. While the destinations of these site visits remain confidential, the ambassadors will travel in teams of three to the specific locations where the Opus Prize finalists carry out their work.

UP student ambassadors include:

  • Brenna Chapman ’19, a business major from San Diego, California
  • Emily Holguin ’19, a nursing major from Ventura, California
  • Ezedin Jabr ’19, a social work major from Vancouver, Washington
  • Nick Krautscheid ’19, a secondary education major from Beaverton, Oregon
  • Julianna Oliphant ’20, a nursing major from Kaneohe, Hawai’i
  • Alex Peterson ’19, a business major from Happy Valley, Oregon.

UP faculty ambassadors include:

  • Andrew Nuxoll, engineering
  • Amber Vermeesch, nursing
  • John Watzke, education.

The Opus Prize Foundation, a non-profit organization based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, sponsors the Opus Prize, an annual, faith-based humanitarian award recognizing individuals internationally and domestically who are addressing persistent and pressing social problems within their communities. Each year, the Opus Prize Foundation chooses a Catholic university to serve as its partner in selecting the Opus Prize laureates and finalists. The award is one of the world’s largest faith-based awards for social entrepreneurship, composed of one $1 million award and two $100,000 prizes.

The University of Portland will host a week-long celebration in Portland from November 11-15, 2018, during which all three finalists will be on campus to visit classrooms and engage in conversation with the University community and the greater Portland community. This week will culminate in the Opus Prize Awards Ceremony on November 15, when the $1 million award and two $100,000 prizes will be announced.

For more information about the Opus Prize, please visit www.opusprize.org. For additional information about the University of Portland’s partnership with the Opus Prize Foundation, please contact Dan McGinty, Dundon-Berchtold Institute for Moral Formation & Applied Ethics, at x7596 or at mcgintyd@up.edu.

Invitation to Visio Divina, Dec. 13

All members of the UP community are invited to attend this Advent’s Visio Divina offering on Wednesday, December 13, at 12:35 p.m., immediately following the noon Mass in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. This silent, contemplative prayer form is both ancient and a tonic for these frenetic, bustling days. Treat yourself to 25-30 minutes of peaceful quiet, entering reflectively into a Scripture passage and lustrous illumination from The Saint John’s Bible.

Spring 2018 Course Packs Due Now, Please

Spring 2018 course packs, class notes, and other materials were due to printing services no later than Monday, December 4. Any faculty who still need to submit these materials are asked to do so as soon as possible. This allows enough time for obtaining copyright, copying, and binding all the materials, and will ensure that your requests are ready before the spring semester starts.  Course packs, class notes, and materials are processed in the order they are received. Printing services will notify you when your orders are complete and ready for students to purchase. If you have any questions, please contact Kassie Hansen at x8101 or e-mail printjobs@up.edu.

2017 Holiday Payday Information

Christmas break is around the corner and to ensure the correct payment of your wages, we ask you to report your timecards correctly and submit them on time. Please follow the regular holiday policy, founder under “Payroll Guidance for Non-Exempt Employees on Holidays and Shutdown Days” at this link. The actual University holidays are Christmas Day and New Year’s Day.

Timecards are due on the following schedules:

  • Monthly (exempt) timecards are due by December 18, 2017, for the entire month of December (vacation/sick hours), and will be paid on December 22, 2017. Note that the next paycheck for the monthly employees are not paid until January 31, 2018.
  • Semi-monthly (hourly) timecards are due by December 14, 2017 for the pay period 12/1/17 to 12/15/17 and will be paid on December 20, 2017. The second half of December timecard is due on December 22, 2017 for the pay period 12/16/17 to 12/31/17 and will be paid on January 5, 2018. This paycheck includes shutdown and Christmas day hours so please report your timecards appropriately to reflect the holiday.
  • Student timecards are due on December 18, 2017 for the pay period 12/1/17 to 12/15/17 and will be paid on December 22, 2017. The second half of December timecard is due on January 3, 2018 for the pay period 12/16/17 to 12/31/17 and will be on January 10, 2018.

Please be sure to submit and have your timecards approved on time for these accelerated payroll schedule. The 2018 payroll schedule will soon be available on the payroll page.

Contact the payroll office for more information at x8338 or payroll@up.edu.

Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Dec. 12

Campus Ministry invites the campus community to celebrate the Feast of our Lady of Guadalupe on Tuesday, December 12. A Mass in Spanish (homily in English) will be offered at 4:45 p.m. in the Chapel of Christ the Teacher. After Mass the celebration will continue in St. Mary’s lounge with traditional food and a reenactment of the story of Our Lady of Guadalupe. All are welcome.

For more information contact Campus Ministry at 7131 or ministry@up.edu.

Year End Payroll News

Year-end is a crucial time for the payroll office and to get things right for the W2 reporting, we remind our staff to review pertinent information on their paychecks. Items such employee names, addresses, social security numbers and W-4 allowances. Please submit all changes by December 8, 2017, to payroll@up.edu.

Employees are also encouraged to sign up for electronic delivery of W-2 forms. Please visit Self-Serve, Employee, Tax Forms, Electronic W-2 Consent, https://www.up.edu/payroll/tax-information.html. This remains in effect each year so you only need to sign up once.

Call For Proposals: Faculty Development Day

The Committee on Teaching and Scholarship welcomes proposals of themes for Faculty Development Day on May 8, 2018. The theme will be the morning’s focus of this special day. Interested faculty should submit a 1-2 page proposal identifying the keynote speaker and breakout panels for Session One of Faculty Development Day. Sessions later in the day will remain open for other distinct topics proposed by faculty across campus (these specialty sessions will be solicited in the spring).
If you are interested in putting forward a central theme for the keynote and Session One, please send your proposal to tas@up.edu by Groundhog Day, Friday, February 2, 2018. Contact Matthew Kuhn, chair, for more information at tas@up.edu.

Did You Know What You Want To Know?

If you have been following the “Did You Know?” series and have a question or topic you would like to be covered, please email Fr. Jim Gallagher, C.S.C., Campus Ministry, at gallaghe@up.edu or Karen Eifler, Garaventa Center, at eifler@up.edu. Eifler and Fr. Gallagher will do their best to work questions and suggestions into future “Did You Know?” stories.