Spirit Magazine October 2023

An Ethic of Care and a Vision for Future Success

President Thayne McCulloh addressed faculty and staff on Sept. 13 with a variety of important topics, starting with a story poignantly demonstrating Gonzaga’s culture. Fifty-three years ago this fall, McCulloh shared, there was a student who had a great first year at Gonzaga. After the individual’s trip home, an accident left them paralyzed. Faculty, staff and Jesuits reached out to provide encouragement and hope to the student and family. This year, that person died, and left the University a significant financial gift. This individual had only been at GU one year, but the care received was remembered for more than five decades.

“The way we rally when something traumatic affects people in our community – the way we demonstrate our care, coming together when we see people in need – that is a way I know us as a Jesuit, Catholic university,” McCulloh said. “The ways in which we are with each other and with students does in fact have long-term impact.”

Higher Ed in the U.S. McCulloh also shared his irritation about the ways higher education in the U.S. is so frequently portrayed as failing (in the press). Referencing a federal budget that reflects incredible imbalances, McCulloh says that, as a nation, “we’ve done a horrible job at getting our priorities straight.” Our nation’s infrastructure and health care systems are also underfunded. Forty million people live in poverty and our country needs to train 1.4 million people to be nurses. And higher education too is no longer adequately funded.

“Higher ed is here to solve problems,” McCulloh said. “Many of the most important advances have been developed at universities in partnership with industries. Universities are also a forum for addressing issues that relate to the human condition. When we build a learning environment, we build a connection, and the promise of new students who become part of the ecosystem of the economy. Our grads are becoming educators, responding to issues of homelessness, advocating in the legal system.”

He continued: “Everyone who comes here as a 17- or 18-year-old still has a lot of growing to do. It’s amazing how much growth occurs

during the college experience, and that’s the product of millions of interactions they’re having with faculty and staff and their peers. They change for the better because we fundamentally believe in respect and human dignity and our responsibility to one another.”

“Universities represent a threat to totalitarian regimes,” he noted, referencing the Jesuit university in Nicaragua recently overthrown by its government. “We are ultimately about the search for truth and the freedom to pursue that truth – and that’s significant as we see major entities trying to suppress this freedom.”

McCulloh believes it’s imperative that higher ed institutions figure out how to evolve, be more responsive to challenges, preserve the things that we do well and change what needs to change. And, like most other institutions, Gonzaga needs to embrace this challenge alongside addressing a challenging economic context.

Financial Realities

The long-term financial effects of COVID, widespread inflation, a nationwide drop in philanthropic giving and a demographic decline in students graduating from high school resulted in decreased revenue, McCulloh said. Fortunately, Gonzaga put into place some intentional programs in the last

few years to help us serve more students, and those are bearing fruit in the way of net revenue and scholarship support.

The most significant impact on our budget currently is the economy, the president said. The same strain we all feel in our personal budgets due to inflation has created the need for the University to re-balance its expenses in light of available revenues, with a currentyear target of $8.5 million.

“We’re looking at ways to address the imbalance through a combination of expense reduction and revenue generation,” McCulloh said, “and in a manner that will have the leastpossible harmful impact on people.”

Despite the budget reality, senior leaders agreed to proceed with an annual compensation increase for employees.

“We want to continue to be a place where people say, ‘yes, this level of compensation is still workable, it feels like it’s doable’,” McCulloh added.

When asked how else we can support our teams in challenging times, the president said there may be opportunities to consider jobsharing or more flexibility around work, to help prevent burnout.

Thayne McCulloh is beginning his 15th year as president with many new initiatives on the University’s plate.

A Strategic Pause, Then Onward

Provost Sacha Kopp began at the Fall Faculty Conference reflecting on our national context, one in which there is much isolation and even sadness following the COVID pandemic, and in our national discourse a great deal of contention. Recalling a recent article by author David Brooks in The Atlantic (“How America Got Mean”), higher education has an ever-present importance in this national context and we can all reflect on the transformational work the Gonzaga community gets to do for its students.

Brooks, Kopp noted, wrote that people are pretty brittle in 2023, and just not very good “at being with one another.” But Brooks emphasized that education is one of society’s pillars that once was relied upon to teach people relational context, and “even a moral context,” and that “felt really important to me,” Kopp said.

“I was grateful to take a step back from the numbers,” Kopp said, like enrollment statistics and utility bills for campus buildings, and instead “talk about purpose, and how we get to do something special.”

“We get to teach in a way that is different. We get to, in our own context as a Jesuit institution, lean into a purpose for the education that is altogether different. So I felt a bit better after that ... It’s sometimes possible to lose sight of why we’re here. It made me feel good about the work that you all do, and it made me feel good about what unites us in coming to Gonzaga in particular.”

Kopp acknowledged the heavy workload that faculty undertook last year, from helping students through the “new normal” of almost-post-COVID life on campus to working through the Grand Challenge to passage of an update to the Strategic Plan just a few weeks ago. And while both he and President Thayne McCulloh spent parts of their presentations to faculty outlining some financial challenges, Kopp emphasized that Gonzaga’s retention

rate actually went up last year. And for that he credited the faculty’s hard work.

“And that’s important, because if families are spending money to come here, and wanting their kids to be successful, we do our level best, and it’s showing,” Kopp said. “We know they’re coming in with different challenges than years before, but it’s working. Whatever is happening inside the classroom or outside the classroom, it is working.”

The difficult work undertaken by faculty and administrators last year, Kopp said, including the ongoing efforts to revise the faculty handbook and develop the strategic plan, should relent some. “We have to kind of digest all of what we accomplished in the last year,” he noted. And reflection is needed to put new ideas into motion in the coming months.

An Ethic of Care and a Vision for Future Success

“We’ll spend a lot of time talking about the Strategic Plan this year, and although we have a great document and a great framework and a couple hundred pages of Grand Challenge proposals from last year, there’s a lot to figure out, there’s a lot to think about,” Kopp said.

“We get to spend time talking together about that, and I hope that you’ll stay involved and you’ll continue to invest your time and creativity because those opportunities are meant to be ways that all of our schools can be involved in helping shape the academic future of the institution.”

In a relational institution like Gonzaga, doing this work together in community is all the more fulfilling.

Continued from

pg.

1 Strategic Planning

The Grand Challenge, which so many faculty and staff participated in over the last year to identify key strategies for moving the University forward, has set us up for growth and creative solutions to pressing issues. That same strategic plan is guiding the development of our next major fundraising effort, which is already in the planning stages. Here are some of the priorities McCulloh listed:

• Continue to refine and develop highdemand learning opportunities

• Develop and launch the School of Health Sciences

• Plan for the Institute for Informatics and Applied Technology

• Discern athletic programs in light of NCAA evolution

• Continue revising compensation practices

• Play a key role in the technology manufacturing hub

• Prepare for phase two construction of new undergraduate housing along Sharp Avenue

• Support a successful institutional accreditation mid-cycle review (Spring 2024)

Aggressive Advancement

Our faculty, staff and administration, over the past year, have been actively involved in refining and revising programs.

“The aggressiveness of advancing the strategic plan is entirely about developing opportunities for students and maintaining the profile of Gonzaga as a healthy, vibrant, creative community, because both things matter,” said McCulloh.

Provost Kopp is often reminded of the good work we all do for the benefit of our students.

ALSAKER’S RESEARCH MAY REVOLUTIONIZE MEDICAL IMAGING & SAVE LIVES

By Jacqueline McCormick

This year, Melody Alsaker, Alphonse A. & Geraldine F. Arnold Distinguished Professor of mathematics, has been places that would stir awe in her younger self. From organizing a conference session on her research specialty in Tokyo to deeper collaborations between colleagues in Helsinki, Alsaker has set the standard for global scholarship in her field. Just this spring, spoke at a workshop at Cambridge University. Her session with peers and experts in her field focused on the mathematics of medical imaging and electrical impedance tomography (EIT), her area of research. EIT is a relatively new technology that uses electrical signals to create human body images. Unlike other types of medical imaging, such as X-rays or CT scans, EIT is non-invasive and doesn’t expose patients to harmful radiation. It is a much more portable and cost-effective technology that can be taken in an ambulance, helicopter or on the battlefield.

Alsaker recounts a palpable sense of reverence from her Cambridge trip, “There was just this sense of being a part of this rich tradition and all this history. And I’m just making my small contribution to all of that.” While at the Isaac Newton Institute, she marveled at the glass protection of a chalkboard containing the work of a previously unsolved theorem solved by famous mathematician Andrew Wiles. Many other spaces were off-limits, but being with her peers, delivering a report of her research and absorbing the rich history of her discipline made it worth it.

For Alsaker, her time at Cambridge was hardearned and well-deserved.

Alsaker’s success is grounded in a commitment to improving EIT technology, growth and dedication. Her diligence and belief propelled her to college as a nontraditional student at age 23 with a GED, then to her master’s, and finally, her Ph.D. All this work was undertaken after growing up in a household with shifting priorities –survival was the main objective. Even with a childhood home that couldn’t emphasize education, Alsaker was able to tie together a robust academic experience that serves as a model for students and faculty from non-traditional backgrounds. With her latest lecture at Cambridge, she becomes part of a rich educational tradition, improves life-saving technology and shows the way for aspiring mathematicians.

Alsaker’s work is contributing to improving machine vision technology

EIT aims to produce images that are good enough to be medically valuable and save

resources as a low-cost option, costing tens of thousands of dollars versus a million plus for MRI/CT scanners. The challenge is that the images are still low-resolution, and this barrier is tangled in the hard math behind the imaging. Converting the electrical measurements into a viable image requires refining a complicated math problem Alsaker collaborates with others to improve. While fine-tuning of imaging is still in the works, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated more reliance on EIT imaging, particularly ventilation monitoring. In this case, EIT primarily visualizes the air moving in and out of the lungs.

In an unfortunate twist of fate, Alsaker witnessed the technology’s intersection with a real-world patient’s fate – her father. When her father was put on ventilation, it was too late, and he passed away later that day. His passing and the complications around mortality, COVID and lung health aroused complex thoughts in Alsaker but also ushered in a renewed commitment to her research. “When it happened, I was feeling like, this is why I keep working on this...because I think that what I do has the potential to impact people in the future. And I’m just making

a small contribution to the overall body of research. But I do what I can.”

Bringing it Back to Cambridge

At Cambridge, her presentation focused on artificial neural networks trained to understand the contours of human organs to generate missing parts and boundaries of imaging, which has not been done before. This network helps to shore up missing elements lost to the visual noise during the imagining process.

Her work also rests on “computer vision,” or whether computers interpret images meaningfully. Can algorithms offer pixel-topixel comparisons to match the clarity of the human eye? Alsaker believes machine vision and its abilities may have the chance to catch up to the human eye.

As an associate professor of mathematics at Gonzaga who is welcomed as an expert at higher education institutions like Cambridge, Alsaker offers students and the world a chance to “see” what humanity can accomplish through her and others’ aptitude and innovations.

Melody Alsaker spoke at a workshop in England, organized a conference in Tokyo and collaborated with colleagues in Helsinki this past year.

FINDING THE RIGHT MIX

Although Stephen Cummins is new to Gonzaga and Spokane, it’s not his first time here. The Myrtle Woldson Performing Arts Center director grew up in Lubbock, Texas, but his grandparents and uncles farmed in Craigmont, Idaho. When he was 10 and on a summer visit to see family, grandma and grandpa took him, his sister and his mom to Expo ‘74.

It was the beginning of shaping his interest in arts and entertainment.

“Expo was as much about music and entertainment as it was about the exhibits,” the new director recalls about his time at the World’s Fair.

He played in his high school band and performed in theater. He received his bachelor’s degree in theater at University of Texas, and a master’s in theater technology and management from the University of Illinois. While there, he worked three years as a student and six more following graduation at the Krannert Center for Performing Arts.

“It was the Lincoln Center on the Prairie,” Cummins describes of the performance arts center on the Champaign campus. “It was a great place to study the art of presenting.”

Next came a seven-year stint as director of the suburban Chicago MacAninch Art Center, followed by 10 years as executive director of university public engagement at California State University-Chico, which included management of the campus NPR public radio station, the Chico Performance performing arts series, the symphony and commencement.

“When I came here and saw this big, beautiful building and listened to the faculty and deans talk about the University’s mission and what service to the community meant here, it all resonated with me,” Cummins says. “It was my chance to get back to the ‘arts presenting’ mission that was more like the Krannert Center where I started.”

He was impressed with the variety of Spokane’s events venues like the Fox Theatre, INB, Spokane Arena, Northern Quest and the Civic Theater, among many other event sites. “These places are great fun, but they all represent a different mindset and mission than what I think is the mission and service we can do here in this venue,” Cummins says. He sees the Myrtle Woldson center presenting eclectic, diverse programming for audiences who have been underrepresented in Spokane venues. He wants to bring some things that might not be economically viable for the more commercial presenters in town. “We want to explore all the performing arts, not just the commercial side of the house. We also have a parallel mission here to support

students in their exploration and journey as performing artists in music, theater and dance,” says Cummins.

He is looking to partner with community interests and engage with communities like the Ukrainian community in Spokane, the Inland Northwest Indian tribes and Latin groups to present artists at the Myrtle Woldson Center that reflect the diversity of our community.

Getting a late start on programming having just been hired this summer, Cummins and his crew will be asking, “Are we here to be popular or educational? We’ll look to find the right mix of the two.”

This year’s schedule kicked off with two nights of Rare Earth’s Peter Rivera in concert with an orchestra of students and faculty from Gonzaga and Whitworth, Sept. 29-30. Other scheduled events include:

• Four performances by the Gonzaga Symphony Orchestra, and multiple music, theater and dance productions by GU students

• Candlelight Christmas Concert, Dec. 9-10

• Chanticleer 45 (orchestra of voices), Jan. 16

• The Sound of (Black) Music (through an Afrofuturistic lens), Feb. 6

• Pacific Northwest Ballet, Feb. 16-17

• The Triplets of Belleville, March 2

• DakhaBrakha (punk-pop to traditional Ukrainian music), March 26

• Pamyua (Inuit vocals, instrumentation and dance), April 12

• Las Cafeieras (Afro-Spanish rhythms), May 8

New Director Stephen Cummins brings a wealth of experience in the performing arts, but what he likes best is ‘presenting art.’

Sharing Gonzaga’s “ Spirit ” for 25 Years

Spirit rose out of Charette, a campuswide conversation former Father President Robert Spitzer, S.J., directed to derive solutions to common problems.

One of those problems identified by faculty and staff was lack of communications between units on campus.

“We have no idea what’s going on,” was a common retort. “We are not being kept in the loop.”

So, Spirit faculty/staff monthly newsletter was established in September 1999. The first issue declares: “We believe it is the people of Gonzaga – all of us who work here – who give the university its unique spirit. In each issue we hope to recognize and celebrate faculty and staff who shape Gonzaga; also sharing information about programs, policies and plans affecting each of us who work here.”

That first issue included stories about Chemistry Professor Kay Nakamaye, Library Technician and Library Employee of the Year Connie Scarpelli, and a group of runners that included then Business Dean Bud Barnes, then Business Computer Technician Brett Hendricks and Education Associate Professor Deborah Nieding , who are still employed at GU today.

Spirit has reported on Ad Building Renovation, Ad Building name change to College Hall, and Secrets of the Ad Building as told by Campus Architect Mac McCandless

Spirit introduced campus readers to G-Bay, an online flea market. We helped guide readers through BRRP (Budget Reduction and Reallocation Process), which was no easy task. Spirit celebrated surpassing major fundraising goals and construction on more than two dozen buildings during the past 25 years. We addressed tough dilemmas like the University’s response to the sexual abuse crisis in the Catholic church, the need to diversify our student body, faculty and staff, and the reasons behind increased competition for students.

By informing its readers, Spirit made us all better ambassadors for the University.

Those who were around in 2000 might remember the convoluted box diagram of Momentum 2007, with lettered arrows and circled numbers amid a box-full of goals, which looked more like a brain teaser to some.

We eulogized dearly beloved members of our community, with particular reverence to our

clerical friends who passed, like Sisters Laura Michels and Phyllis Taufen, and Fathers Tony Lehmann, Bernard Coughlin and Steve Kuder. And what about longtime Zag Harry Sladich?

But Spirit is not just about the more visible figures on campus. It’s about ordinary people doing extraordinary things. Like the ITS and Library folks collecting gifts and handing them out to those less fortunate in the Logan neighborhood. Or the folks in Community Engagement planning Mission: Possible trips for students over spring break, one, in particular, to help those in New Orleans who lost so much during Hurricane Katrina. Or our grounds crew who made possible a top60 ranking on Conde Nest Magazine’s most beautiful campuses.

Each month Spirit is filled with stories, many of them suggested by members of the Spirit Advisory Council, people representing many walks of University life.

One of those original members in 1999 is recently retired Groundskeeper Matt Bafus, who always had good stories to tell.

“I still miss Matt from Plant. He had the dirt on all the dirt!,” says Shannon Zaranski, budget and personnel officer for the School of Health Sciences.

What other readers say:

“Spirit is an inspiring reflection of the heart and soul of Gonzaga’s staff. Even if we don’t get the chance to work directly with every staff member, Spirit is a unifying way to remind us of who we are and why we are here,” says Director Rachelle Strawther, Center for Lifelong Learning.

“I’m grateful for the connections to my fellow colleagues that Spirit brings. I’ve gotten to know my fellow staff on a deeper level when Spirit covers them in a story. I read every issue!” says Kara McGinn, SharePoint Analyst.

“It is a great resource for staff and faculty to learn about the wonderful people that make up our Gonzaga Community, be informed of upcoming events and celebrate various accomplishments in a quick digestible format,” says Heather Gores, associate athletic director-programs/deputy Title IX coordinator

Jacqueline McCormick , marketing and communications specialist in Arts & Sciences, says: “Working on the Spirit Advisory Council gave me a chance to think about all the unique ways Gonzaga shows up as a community. Spirit highlights all that is good about our collective project and reminds me why I like working here.”

Action Steps to a Successful Strategic Plan

Gonzaga’s updated Strategic Plan provides a roadmap to enhancing the educational experience and students’ future success. This includes support for new programs while deepening research opportunities and ways to provide ethics-informed professional education that cultivates attention to the common good, creative innovation and leadership.

The updated plan, building from the last Strategic Plan completed in 2015, articulates key institutional aspirations, concrete actions and measurable metrics for accountability, reviewed annually by the Board of Trustees. Taken as a whole, the new strategic plan seeks to enrich and expand Gonzaga’s academic reputation for excellence, remain grounded in its Catholic, Jesuit, humanistic tradition, and develop a financially sustainable future for its programs.

Following is a brief recap of the plan’s action steps:

• Building on existing academic degrees in nursing and human physiology, the newly named School of Health Sciences will explore other crucial areas of applied health education and research, including such possibilities as public health, partnering with local health providers and the UW School of Medicine.

• As technology continues to shape our quality of life and ability to connect more fully with the world, GU has established the Institute for Informatics and Applied Technology to help educate and inspire innovation in areas like advanced manufacturing, health care, big data, supply chain management and information security, partnering with local industries and government agencies.

• The Gonzaga Humanities Institute will promote collaboration with local, national and global partners to cultivate a sense of place and belonging; amplify community voices, histories and experiences; inform contemporary debates; and engage with others to name and rectify injustices.

• The Center for Ignatian Dialogue and Discernment will initiate and model civil public dialogue on the pressing topics of our time, from politics and social issues to theological and philosophical questions. It will also foster dialogues among academic communities, practitioners and community members and leaders.

• The Office of Inclusive Excellence will enhance the University’s efforts to create a more unified community of diversity, equity, inclusion, belonging and justice and annually share reports of relevant progress and success with this community.

• Through a foundation with current faculty, we will create a new Institute for Climate, Water and the Environment , recruiting faculty leaders, climate scientists, legal scholars and economists to lead conversations about water management, ecological restoration, responsible development, social justice and public policy.

• The University sees itself as deeply intertwined with the Society of Jesus, Native American tribes, the City of Spokane and the Inland Northwest , and will continue to deepen its relationships here and around the globe.

• Building on our Catholic, Jesuit, humanistic foundation, the new strategic plan calls for enhancing connected learning in and out of the classroom to holistically develop leaders of purpose who will serve society. The plan fosters service in action in all academic programs to include community work, experiential, outdoor and global learning. The plan includes strengthening our commitment to Opportunity Northeast , serving the areas around our campus with housing, family care, legal advocacy and workforce training. GU will explore a partnership with

Catholic Charities to create a new child development center. To enhance every undergraduate student’s development, Gonzaga will create living-learning communities for every freshman and sophomore living on campus. An ambitious expansion of residence halls will include the creation of spaces for students to form relationships, learn from one another and be in community with supportive faculty and staff.

• The Foley Center will be reimagined as an academic commons where students, faculty and staff can collaborate, mentor and dialogue, leveraging technology to enhance the learning environment.

• The strategic plan will focus on four key areas to enhance enrollment at Gonzaga. Enhanced marketing, recruitment and admissions will include expanding partnerships and enhanced data analytics to support growth and diversity. Financial aid and pricing strategies will be developed to yield the desired incoming class. Student success infrastructure will be strengthened to retain at-risk populations. And academic programs will be reviewed and developed to meet prospective student demands, including online programs where appropriate.

• The plan outlines steps to help differentiate Gonzaga as a nationally recognized academic institution with a global footprint in intercollegiate athletics. The University will strive to attract high-caliber studentathletes, and students for whom athletic competition is a value. A strong program in all sports contributes significantly to that aim.

For more information and updates on the strategic plan, visit gonzaga.edu/ strategicplan.

“Whatever is happening inside the classroom or outside the classroom, it is working,” Provost Kopp told faculty at the Fall Faculty Conference. Faculty engagement is a big part of that.

»» Gonzaga Dance’s annual 60x60 show features 60 works, each running 60 seconds long. Music and choreography by students, faculty members or alumni, Oct. 6, 6 p.m., Woldson Performing Arts Center, $8-$10.

»» In “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) [Revised] [Again],” three actors summarize all 37 of Shakespeare’s plays condensed to 100 minutes, Oct. 7, 6 p.m., Magnuson Theatre, $10.

»» Foley Library will be honored at the 24th annual Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations human rights banquet Oct. 7 for housing and presenting for public viewing all the documents of the KCTFHR covering 42 years of the human rights group.

»» Women and Gender Studies has a new name: Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies.

»» Recent Gonzaga National Rankings: U.S. News & World Report ranks GU #93 among National Universities, #10 for service learning, #13 for undergraduate teaching, #23 for undergraduate engineering/non-doctorate, and #86 for undergraduate nursing. GU lands among the 389 best colleges by Princeton Review, ranking #17 for most engaged community service, #22 for college newspaper, #23 for politically active students and #25 for students who study most. Forbes Advisor lists GU among the top 10 universities in the nation for online master’s in organizational leadership.

»» National Coming Out Day Celebration is Oct. 11, all day at Lincoln LGBTQ+ Resource Center in Hemmngson, featuring treats, swag and other events.

Around Campus

Lavender Mass is 12:15 p.m. in the University Chapel.

»» Pints and Politics, a free Spokesman-Review Northwest Passages community forum on issues that matter most to Spokane, will feature City Council and mayoral candidates in conversation, Oct. 11, 6 p.m., Woldson Performing Arts Center.

»» Red Mass of the Legal Profession is Oct. 12, 5:30 p.m. in St. Aloysius Church. All are welcome. Mass will feature presentation of the 2023 Distinguished Legal Service Award. A reception will follow at Cataldo Hall.

»» “Can We Solve the Climate Crisis and Protect Wild Spaces?” will feature two attorneys from the Western Environmental Law Center and GU Professor Greg Gordon, Oct. 16, 6 p.m. in Hemmingson Auditorium. Register for this event

»» The annual Benefits/Wellness Fair is Oct. 17-18 in the Hemmingson Ballroom. Vendor engagement, flu shots and benefit seminars listed on the MYGU Training site, will be offered.

»» This year’s Provost Lecture Series focused on faculty wellness will feature Counselor Education Associate Professor Addy Wissel leading a workshop “Reclaiming and Retaining Joy,” Oct. 18, noon, location Globe Room.

»» Gonzaga has unveiled a new Unity Scholars program as the successor to the Act Six program. The program is explained more here

»» The film “Queer Classic Cinema: But I’m a Cheerleader,” will be followed by a discussion on the films’ impact and application to current LGBTQ+ issues, Oct. 22, 7 p.m. in the Lincoln LGBTQ+ Resource Center in Hemmingson.

Fall Enrollment 2023 Report,

Following is the official enrollment headcount for Fall 2023, certified on Sept. 29.

Snapshot of the Incoming Class of 2027

• 33% identify as Black, Indigenous or students of color

From Near and Far

• GU’s first-year students and new transfer students come to campus from 37 states, several tribal nations and countries

»» Cura Personalis Retreat for all employees is Oct. 23 at Bozarth, sponsored by Mission Engagement. Personal reflection, meaningful conversation, great meals. Overnight lodging on Oct. 22 optional. Contact Lauren at hackman-Brooks@ gonzaga.edu. For more info: https:// commerce.cashnet.com/GUMisMin

»» The Spokesman-Review’s free Northwest Passages features author Tom Mueller and his book “How to Make a Killing: Blood, Death and Dollars in American Medicine,” Oct. 23, 7 p.m., Woldson Performing Arts Center.

»» An Evening with Sabrina Imbler, a writer and science journalist from Brooklyn, is Oct. 24, 7:30 p.m., recital hall at Woldson Performing Arts Center. This free event will featue, among other topics, the author’s fascination with the mystery of the sea.

»» Women Lead Fall Luncheon Oct. 25, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m., Hemmingson Ballroom, centers on “Gender & Social Constructs: How to be an Ally in a Divided World.” Cost is $49. Register by email at womenlead@gonzaga.edu

»» Author Paul Tough discusses the intersection of higher education and social morality, Oct. 25, 5 p.m., Globe Room.

»» The 2023 Regis Lecture features Cynthia Cooper, named one of Time Magazine’s Persons of the Year for her role in unraveling the fraud at WorldCom, Oct. 27, 5 p.m., Hemmingson Ballroom. Register with AJ Hawk Rehn at hawka2@gonzaga.edu

»» Hydrogen Fuel Cells and Storage Technologies: A Primer is Oct. 27, noon in Hemmingson Auditorium or online. Register at Gonzaga Climate Center.

By the Numbers

including: Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Croatia, France, Germany, Mexico, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Taiwan, Ukraine, United Kingdom and Vietnam.

Leadership Quality

• 15 former student body presidents

• 75 class presidents and officers

• 570 students who were involved in leadership activities in high school.

Caring for Others

• 877 arrive with significant volunteering experience

A Way with Words

• 70 involved in speech and debate in high school.

A Song in Their Hearts

• 324 musicians

Bound for the Stage

• 181 actors or dancers

Earth Friendly

• 141 ecology/sustainability enthusiasts

Always Ready for a Game

• 981 athletes and/or outdoor hobbyists

Worker Bees

• 755 have real-world work experience

Dale Goodwin, Editor

Story Ideas/Feedback: Spirit@gonzaga.edu

Staff Compensation Redesign Project Outlined

Vice President for Human Resources

Ray Kliewer updated a gathering of the Staff Assembly in September on the University’s Staff Compensation Redesign project.

In a nutshell, the new career framework is designed to assist staff employees to navigate their chosen career path and empowers them to better manage their career. It also strengthens Gonzaga’s ability to retain, attract and inspire talented prospects.

One of the key outcomes will be consistent language and standards to support career pathing. Compensation practices and decisions will be grounded in a market-based approach to better reflect internal equity and competitive best practices.

NEW HIRES

Astrid Le Roy, program asst III, President; Blaine Atkins, Tech III, ITS; Brianna Burnette, student services outboarding specialist, Grad Enrollment Mgt; Brittany Slegers, BSN clinical placement manager, Nursing; Cory Wagner, asst director, Rudolf Fitness Center; Emily Hunter, residence director, Housing & Residence Life; James Ward, student services specialist, Grad Enrollment Mgt; Jenn Crowder, administration & operations manager, Student Affairs; Kelli Thompson, Hogan program coordinator, Business; Kendyl Kmetic , academic adviser I, Provost; Margarette Aalgaard, program asst II, Business; Maria Saladino, visiting asst professor, Law; Marie Romano, program asst, University Advancement; Mary Margrave, data & system coordinator, Human Resources; Michael Cecil, visiting asst professor, Law; Molly Shumaker, curriculum & certification specialist, Registrar; Mychal Ferger, academic adviser I, Provost; Nicholas Davis, director, ESL; Olawale Ogunmodimu, visiting asst professor, Law; Robert Olsen, visiting asst professor, Law; Sara Spaner, coordinator, ESL; Traci Logan-Demus, HR partner, Human Resources; Trisha Nash , director student mental health services, Athletics; Vanessa Montoya , staff attorney, Law Clinic; Zach Norvell, asst men’s basketball coach; Adrian Reyes, case management director, Cura Personalis; Daniel Pringle, asst professor, Foley; Jason Allread, custodian, Plant

Staff employees and managers will have a transparent job framework, with clearly and consistently defined jobs, levels and descriptions of their current role. They’ll also be able to see how their job relates to other jobs at GU and be able to explore career development here much more easily. More robust market-based data will better inform development of salary ranges for attracting and retaining talent, as well as more equitably compensating GU’s existing talent. No job salaries will be decreased as a result of this Staff Compensation project, Kliewer reinforced.

POSITION CHANGES/ PROMOTIONS

Angela Ruff, communications & events manager, Provost; Brandi Estrada , faculty support coordinator, Law; Bridget Dagg , executive asst/ office manager, General Counsel; Herb Shah , program asst III, Arts & Sciences; Janeen Steer, co-director, University Ministry; Jaron Fugile, tech II, ITS; Joe Clark , emergency manager, Risk Mgt; Kristin Telin, assoc director, Lifelong Learning; Lilian Morrill, event manager/offcampus facilities, GUEST; Mackenzie Pavlik , sr study abroad adviser, Global Engagement; Marci Walker, clinical experiences director, Education; Mary Pelland, admin asst, Student Affairs; Pamela Ames, lead communications officer, Campus Security; Phillip Tyler, assoc director, Campus Security; Rudy Morrow, business manager, Housing & Residence Life; Siera Pancoast , interim asst director, Housing & Residence Life; Theresa Conley, faculty asst, Law; Timothy Hill, security officer, Campus Security

GOODBYES

Benjamin Czapla , HVAC control tech, Plant; Carrie Del Pizzo, asst to dean/office manager, Engineering; Karen O’Shaughnessey, program asst III, Foley; Kari Elgee Sanders, client services director, Human Resources; Marcy Candland, youth programs asst director, Community Engagement; Maria Fallstrom , custodian specialist trainer, Plant; Mary Joan Hahn , sr director community relations, Marketing &

He offered a timeline:

• Transition job descriptions to new job profiles utilizing survey benchmarks by the end 2023

• By this time next year update titles, profiles and pay ranges, enabling staff employees to call up all jobs below the AVP level and see job descriptions and position pay ranges

For more information, click on https:// my.gonzaga.edu/faculty-staff-services/ human-resources/career-framework

Communications; Sarah Thurston , marketing manager, Woldson; Sonia Dhaliwal, lecturer/ post-grad fellow, Foley; Vanessa Lyman , development asst, University Advancement

ANNIVERSARIES

Mike Grabowski, asst. computer operations specialist, Registrar; Molly McFadden , user services assoc, Foley

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Jeff Geldien , asst VP, University Advancement; Greg McGuire, operations manager, GUEST; Melissa Waite, assoc director, data & systems, Human Resources

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Melissa McNair-Davis, budget & research specialist, Career Center; Travis Knight , strength & conditioning coach, Men’s Basketball; Cameron Vulles, custodial shift supervisor, Plant

Matt Cornwell, groundskeeper, Plant; Elvir Huremovic , maintenance tech, Plant; Alison Merchant , development director, Athletics; Brad Matthies, assoc dean, Foley; Jacob Galindo, custodian, Plant; Richard Fallstrom , infrastructure administrator, ITS; Patrick Pajak , event manager, GUEST; Tara McAloon , director of operations, Arts & Sciences