Dirk Theisen

UP Hosting Strategic Energy Management Cohort Workshop, November 16

November 4, 2016

solar-copy The University of Portland will host the final Strategic Energy Management (SEM) workshop, “Report Out & Celebration,” on Wednesday, November 16. UP has been participating in a two-year SEM cohort sponsored by the Energy Trust of Oregon (ETO), according to physical plant director André Hutchinson. Other participants in the cohort, which focuses on organizations with large, complex campuses, such as the Hillsboro School District and Oregon Health & Science University, will be on campus for this closing event. The UP project has been spearheaded by the Energy Team of Hutchinson, Sandy Galati, and Dirk Theisen, physical plant; Eric Barger, controller; Michelle Sunderland, information services; and Beth Sorensen, marketing and communications.

The goal of the SEM cohort is to support the University as both a responsible steward of energy resources and of financial resources. An energy policy for the campus is currently being developed which will incorporate many of the energy conservation and performance improvement strategies that have come out of the SEM project.

For more information contact Hutchinson at x7306 0r hutchina@up.edu.

New Hires, New Positions

December 23, 2013

Physical plant director André Hutchinson (pictured) has announced some recent staff changes:

Rachel Partin was recently hired as the new office manager for the physical plant. Prior to joining the physical plant team, Rachel worked as a writer, editor, and manager of correspondence in the Office of the President at Harvard. In addition to managing a busy office supporting the largest non- faculty department on campus, Rachel will also provide administrative support to the physical plant director.

Sandy Galati has been appointed to the newly created position of operations administrator. Sandy’s attention will be focused almost exclusively on maintenance work-order performance management as the physical plant continues to strive to make good on its promise to deliver quality and service. In conjunction with Sandy’s new role, Physical Plant will soon begin implementing and monitoring performance metrics with the goal of making sure that maintenance work-orders are completed in a timely manner while at the same time upholding high standards in terms of the quality of the work performed. Sandy is an almost 8-year member of the UP community and was the recipient of the 2012 Margaret Henzi Outstanding Office/Clerical Employee Award.

Dirk Theisen has been appointed foreman of the newly formed Boiler/Steam/HVAC shop. As part of the physical plant’s efforts toward continual performance improvement, this new trade-specific shop was formed to provide better service and support for the management and maintenance of all heating and air- conditioning systems across campus. An almost 10-year member of the Physical Plant staff, Dirk was the 2008 recipient of the Ted Deiss Outstanding Physical Plant Employee Award and received his bachelor of business administration degree in operations and technology management from UP in 2013. Dirk also honorably served in the United States Navy from 2002-2010, including a tour in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom in 2006-2007.

Danielle Marcial has recently been appointed lead of night shift custodians. Danielle came to UP with extensive custodial/floor care experience, having previously worked in a supervisory role for the custodial department of a large public-school system in New York. In her new role, she leads a team of dedicated staff who work Sunday through Thursday, from 10 p.m. to 6:30 a.m., providing general custodial services to all non-residential buildings across campus. As someone who displays committment to self-improvement in her work, Danielle is also a voluntary participant in Oregon Tradeswomen, Inc.’s Pathways to Success Program, a 7-week, pre-apprenticeship training program that helps women prepare for a high-skill, high-wage career in the construction industry.

For more information contact Hutchinson at 7306 or hutchina@up.edu.

Andrew Lafrenz, integrative health and wellness, presented “The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on College Students Mental Well-Being and Physical Activity Levels” a poster presentation at the 2020 Oregon Public Health Association Annual Conference, Portland, OR, October 12-13, 2020. Conference provided virtually due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Stephanie Salomone, mathematics, wrote “Building and Sustaining Community by Centering Affective Learning Goals.” (with student coauthor Branwen Schaub) in Assessment Update Special Issue on the theme of “Adapting Assessment Methods to Rapidly Changing Circumstances,” Volume 32, Issue 6, Nov. 2020. Retrieved from https://assessmentinstitute.iupui.edu/au/index.html.

Rachel Wheeler, theology, had her article, “The Revelatory Tide: Desert Spirituality and Contemporary Water Crises,” published in Spiritus 20, no. 2 (Fall 2020): 176-193.

Jakob Kotas, mathematics, served as editor for Advances in Nonlinear Biological Systems: Modeling and Optimal Control, Applied Mathematics Series Vol. 11, American Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Oct. 2020). Available at this link. He also cowrote “An alternative model to prion fragmentation based on the detailed balance between PrPSc and suPrP” (with Monique Chyba, Vincent Beringue, Human Rezaei, Angelique Igel-Egalon, and student coauthors Yuliia Kravchenko, Christopher Eblen) in “Advances in Nonlinear Biological Systems: Modeling and Optimal Control, Applied Mathematics Series Vol. 11, American Institute of Mathematical Sciences (Oct. 2020).

Christina Ivler, Shiley School of Engineering, presented “Hover Handling Qualities of Fixed-Pitch, Variable-RPM Quadcopters with Increasing Rotor Diameter” (with Farhan Gandhi and student coauthors Ariel Walter, Michael McKay) and “Development and Flight Validation of Proposed Unmanned Aerial System Handling Qualities Requirements” (with Truong, K., Kerwin, D., Otomize, J., Parmer, D., Tischler, M.B., Gowans, N.) to the Vertical Flight Society 76^th Annual Forum, Oct. 6-8, 2020.

Susan McDaniel, performing and fine arts, presented three art songs attributed to Joseph Bologne, Chevalier de Saint-Georges (1745-1799), one of the earliest known Western classical composers of African descent (with Arwen Myers, soprano) as part of “Celebrating Every Voice! A concert featuring music of BIPOC composers” at CollabFest, the online conference of the International Keyboard Collaborative Arts Society, 15 October 2020.

Rebecca Smith, education, had her article, “Flipped learning during a global pandemic: Empowering students with choice,” published in International Journal of Multidisciplinary Perspectives in Higher Education, 5(1), 100-105. See the article using this link.

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