The Juice (Faculty/Staff) - Feb. 15

NEW ANNOUNCEMENTS

Winter professional development — Join us for an upbeat, engaging session focused on who you are, who you want to be, and how you can find increased joy and energy through tapping into your unique, most powerful ways to lead and serve. Featured speaker will be Brenda Clark-Hamilton at the event Tuesday, Feb. 16, 3-4:30 p.m. in Heritage Ballrooms. Click here to register. Encourage students you know to attend the student session, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 16, in Heritage Ballrooms.

Election results — Below are the winners from Friday's Student Senate election. Note: Totals do not add up to 100 percent due to small vote deductions from minor campaign rule violations. Please contact Molly Zmudka, student body vice president, with any questions. 

• Recorder: Ashlee Henderson, 91.46 percent of 749 votes.
• Treasurer: Seth Jobes-Ryan, 33.06 percent; and Blake Shipman, 26.32 percent. Total votes: 741. A runoff election will occur, as rules require a winner to receive at least 50 percent plus one.
• President/Vice President: Tyler Vogel/Hannah Creed, 51.5 percent of 751 votes.

PAC news — The Personnel Advisory Committee (PAC) recently held an online vote to fill the vacant hourly seat. Patty Franzen will join the group at its Feb. 25 meeting. Contact any PAC member to provide feedback or concerns regarding general college policies or benefits as they related to administrative and support staff members. Current PAC members are Patty Franzen, Sheila Kittleson, Kristi Ladage, Wendy Mohlis, Stephanie Newsom, and Renee Voves. The following items will be discussed at the Feb. 25 meeting: 

• Holiday calendar for 2016-17
• Summer hours for 2016
• Staff Retreat: Wednesday, April 20
• Exemplary Staff Award nominations
• Retirement update
• Performance appraisal process

Career fair — The Winter Career, Internship & Graduate Fair will be held Tuesday, Feb. 23, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in The W's Hall of Champions. Dress for success, polish your resume and come meet with potential employers or graduate schools. For more information, contact Jo Dorrance, internship coordinator. The fair is co-sponsored by the Center for Community Engagement and the Pathways Center. 

Wartburg website gets a facelift — The Marketing & Communication Office will launch a redesigned Wartburg College website during Winter Break. The new website includes responsive web design, allowing all content to automatically adjust to any device’s display (desktop, laptop, tablet, or phone). This overhaul, a nine-month process, focuses primarily on prospective students, parents, alumni, and visitors, though all audiences can access content through a universal navigation on all pages. All existing content and links have been converted to the new site design and structure. For any changes or concerns post-launch, please contact Chris Knudson, director of creative strategy. We appreciate your patience as you get accustomed to the new structure and design.

Office closed early — The HR & Payroll Office will close at 3 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 19.

The 2017-2018 Fulbright Competition — The Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers teaching, research, or combination teaching/research awards in more than 125 countries for the 2017-18 academic year. Fulbright continues to offer Flex Awards, which allow grantees to complete a grant in two or three shorter segments. View the nearly 500 Core Fulbright U.S. Scholar awards by visiting the online Catalog of Awards, or be part of a webinar. Dr. Dan Walther is a past Fulbright Scholar and current external reviewer who is willing to answer questions of anyone preparing for the Aug. 1, 2016, deadline.

Important updates to GET — Here are some tips for using the GET food-order website: To set up your account use Firefox or Chrome. When creating an account on GET, you must use your full Wartburg email address and your entire ID number (including all of the zeroes). Your user ID is your full Wartburg email address. The GET mobile app is still under development and may not work correctly all of the time. If you are having problems, try using a laptop or PC. Click here to see more tips! 

Candlelight Dinner is Feb. 24 — The sign-up for the Candlelight Dinner hosted by SAFE will be Wednesday, Feb. 17, and Thursday, Feb. 18, from 5:15 to 7 p.m. in the Mensa. SAFE will discuss their organization while students, faculty and staff mingle over dinner on Wednesday, Feb. 24, at 6:30 p.m. in the Heritage Ballroom in Saemann Student Center. The cost for students with a board plan is $2, paid with points or cash at the time of sign-up. Off-board students and faculty/staff may also attend, and their cost will be $10 at the time of sign-up. Special dietary considerations will be taken into account. Contact safe@wartburg.edu with questions.

Do you like us? — Have you "liked" the Wartburg College Facebook page? Don't miss out on campus information and fun posts, like our free Dairy Queen coupons and our Wartburg-themed valentines last week. Click here, and invite your friends to like Wartburg on Facebook, too!

Phil and Lit meeting — The next winter term meeting of the Wartburg Philosophical and Literary Society is Friday, Feb. 19, at 4 p. m. in McCoy West of the Saemann Student Center. Dr. Samantha Larimer Bousquet, associate professor of biology, will present Back Together Again: History and Current Status of Spinal Cord Repair. The society meets most Friday afternoons during the academic year for presentations by a colleague in an informal, convivial setting. Beverages and snacks are available.  

German film series — The last film in the German film series "Crossing Boundaries with Geman Film" will be screened with English subtitles on Tuesday, Feb. 23, in WBC 116 at 7:15 p.m. "Kokowääh" (Coq au vin), 2011, a comedy set in Germany, centers on the relationship of a free-living journalist, played by the German heartthrob Til Schweiger, and his 8-year-old daughter, the previously unknown product of a past indiscretion. Free admission. Open to the public. Sponsored by the German Institute at Wartburg College.

Apply for HealthPASS in Des Moines — Des Moines University's Health Professions Advanced Summer Scholars program (HealthPASS) helps promising college students prepare for and enhance their chances of getting into medical school and other health professions programs. The free hands-on program is June 4-24, 2016. DMU will also reimburse travel up to $500. Enrollment is limited to 10 students. Preference will be given to applicants from populations under-represented in medicine and health care, including minority, low-income and/or first-generation college students. Students must have a minimum cumulative college GPA of 3.2. Preference is given to rising sophomores and juniors. Applications are due Monday, Feb. 15; click here for details and application.

Pickle ball clinic — Enjoy the fastest growing sport in the country — pickle ball! A clinic will be held at center court Monday, Feb. 15, Wednesday, Feb. 17, and Friday, Feb. 19, from 9 to 11 a.m. Thereafter, the program will continue on the same schedule with open play. All sessions are open to all levels of skill with a focus on first-time players. Monday's session will include the introduction of the game, rules, skills, and open play. Equipment will be available for those who need it. Wednesday will focus on review, drills and individual participation. Friday will concentrate on self-directed open play. Pickle ball is a fun, easy-to-learn game with many social benefits. The clinic is free; open play during following weeks will be free to members and $5 per session to nonmembers.

Wartburg Players survey — Wartburg Players is conducting a market survey to ask your input in improving our program. Survey deadline is April 4.

College calendar — Stay up to date with campus events by following the college's official calendar.

PREVIOUS ANNOUNCEMENTS

Hourly student wage increase — Beginning with the March 15 payroll, dining and maintenance operational student employees will receive pay increases. This program is intended for college students who work in operational aspect of these departments. The base pay will increase from $7.25 per hour to $7.50 per hour. The goal of this program is to encourage student employee retention in these departments and thus improve quality of services and numbers of employees. The student wage budgets for these departments will NOT be increased. Details of the plan are posted here.

Library survey — Take this brief survey to give your feedback on the utilization of space in the library. This survey from the Library Student Advisory Board is open through Monday, Feb. 22.

Alumni updates — The Alumni and Parent Relations Office reminds college employees to encourage alumni to notify the college of life updates (milestones, job changes, etc.) and address changes through the online form or by emailing alumni@wartburg.edu.

Service Trips shoveling — Service Trips is providing volunteers to help shovel driveways and sidewalks during this snowy season for free-will donations to support Winter Break and Tour Week service trips. Please contact Angela Zook if you would like help with shoveling.

igKnight Mentoring Program – Last fall, the igKnight Mentoring Program kicked off for any and all students, no matter where they are in their college experience. This peer mentoring program is designed to help students pursue and meet their academic, personal, and professional goals by partnering students in a mentoring relationship. Faculty and staff are encouraged to invite students to be a part of the program. Students may join this program at any time and can sign up for the program here. For more information on igKnight, visit the igKnight website or contact TJ Warren. 

Triathlon class at The W — Join the nine-week Triathlon Training class starting Wednesday, March 2. Cost is $70 for students. Only a few spots remain; sign up online or turn in this form at The W front desk. And don't forget to sign up for the TriByKnight Triathlon on May 7 at Wartburg! This sprint tri (300-yard swim, 15-mile bike, 3.1-mile run) is perfect for those just getting started in the sport. 

River Crossing: Storytelling & Interfaith Leadership Conference – Loras College in Dubuque is hosting a one-day interfaith conference on Saturday, Feb. 20. If you’re interested in attending with a group from Wartburg, contact Pastor Ramona.

• Alumni Board nominations (due March 1)
• Enrollment reports posted
• German Institute application for funds
• Wartburg West fall classes

PROFESSIONAL NOTES

The Rev. Brian Beckstrom wrote an article, "Needing confession, repentance," posted on the Living Lutheran website.  

Dr. Michael Bechtel, assistant professor of science education, and Kimberly Conner '17 led a professional development session on standards-based grading with staff from Ankeny High School on Feb. 4.

Wartburg College's Marketing and Communication staff won five awards for excellence at a Council for Advancement and Support of Education regional competition. The department received three gold awards—including one for the Worth It marketing initiative and branding effort—and one bronze award in the contest for colleges, universities and independent schools in CASE District VI, encompassing Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming.