Archive for February, 2024

The Department of Language and Literature welcomes alumna and author Alikay Wood (’15) on Tuesday, February 20 in the Packer Forum at Noon. She will be speaking about the writing process, creativity, and reading excerpts from her new book 30 to 60 days – a YA novel about a group of teenagers dealing with the effects of a manufactured parasite: think Goonies or Sandlot for the Covid-era. All are welcome to attend. She will also be doing a reading and book signing at 5:30pm that night at Seven and One Books (1138 N. 2nd Street).

Looking to increase your savings in 2024? Check out the ACU Credit Union dividend rates for share accounts!

$25.01 – $1,000.00, 4.25%

$1,000.01 – $5,000.00, 4.5%

$5,000.01 and up, 5.0%

We are saddened by the passing of Terry Bowman, director of off-campus properties for the Abilene Christian Investment Management Company (ACIMCO), after battling multiple forms of cancer in recent months.

Terry, 59, has been part of the ACU community for more than 30 years, first as a plumber, and for the last 14 years supervising ACU’s off-campus rental properties. His wife, Mary, is an employee of HES, ACU’s facilities management company. Terry was a diligent, committed staff member, and colleagues recall his genuine care for students who lived in the properties he managed.

The funeral is scheduled for Saturday, February 24, 2024, at 2:00 p.m. at the Hillcrest Church of Christ.

Please join us in praying for Mary, their children and grandchildren, their extended family, and the ACIMCO staff.

ACU’s flag is flying at half-staff in Terry’s memory.

The Fall 2023 to Spring 2024 first-year cohort persisted at 94% – the second highest in recorded data. By comparison the Fall 2022 first-year cohort persisted at 91.5%.

Thanks to each of you for your continued focus on student persistence and success!

Departments with 100% Fall-Spring Retention included accounting; Dukes School of Finance; engineering and physics; history and global studies; marriage and family studies; music; political science and criminal justice; and theatre. Many programs were very close to 100% retention.

In partnership with the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities, ACU is hosting the biennial Best Practices in Christian Higher Ed national conference on Sept. 29-Oct 1, 2024. This conference is an exciting way to showcase our campus and national leadership in student success, as well as an opportunity for you to participate in this important conversation. The theme for the 2024 conference is “Expanding Minds and Hearts Through Global Learning and Study Abroad.”  We invite you to submit a proposal related to the conference theme or any intersection of high-impact practices and Christian Higher ed.

The conference will provide attendees the opportunity to network, share insights and research, reflect on the distinctiveness of Christian education, and join together in worship. We hope ACU faculty and staff will be well represented at the conference, whether by attending or presenting.

Participants will hear from two keynote speakers:

• Melissa Torres joined The Forum on Education Abroad as president and CEO in 2019 and has more than two decades of experience in higher education and program design, development, and implementation. She previously served as vice president for Academic Programs at IES Abroad where she supervised 36 international study abroad centers around the world.
• Alex Sosler is an assistant professor of Bible and ministry at Montreat College and assisting priest at Redeemer Anglican Church in Asheville, North Carolina. He is also author of Learning to Love: Christian Education as Pilgrimage and editor of Theology and the Avett Brothers.

Interested in presenting?
We invite you to submit a proposal about how one or more high-impact practices relates to Christian higher ed. Tracks include teaching and learning; diversity, equity and inclusion; Christian spiritual formation; vocational and leadership development; and retention and outcomes. Sessions might address questions such as: How has your institution implemented high-impact practices? What insights have you gained? How have high-impact practices enhanced your institution’s mission or improved student outcomes?

The deadline for submission is March 1. If your proposal is accepted, you will have the opportunity to submit your paper to be considered for inclusion in an edited volume published by ACU Press.

If you have any questions about the conference and call for proposals, contact Scott Hamm.

Faculty and staff: Please be aware that any off-campus activity with employers (profit or nonprofit, paid or unpaid) is a potential risk for an international student’s status, and therefore needs to be entered into only after careful legal consideration – and in many cases, special authorization. If you encourage or require students to be involved in off-campus internships or work, please review the resources at our faculty and staff resources pages here. Thank you for your partnership in directing international students to reliable resources to help safeguard their future! If you have any concerns, material knowledge of student work off-campus, or questions, please contact Lucy Dawson in the Office of International Students and Visiting Scholars.

OMA invites you to attend a workshop with Dr. Malcolm Scott at 11:45 AM, February 21 in the Library Core Classroom 272.. Topic: Building Multiethnic Allies through community making King’s Dream a reality. RSVP here. Lunch is included but space is limited.

You and your covered dependents have access to The Standard’s Employee Assistance Program (EAP). This confidential service offers free over-the-phone counseling any time, day or night, to help you with a variety of personal situations. The EAP also provides up to 3 counseling sessions for both you and your covered dependents, either in person or over the phone. Counselors can help with concerns such as emotional well-being and health, relationships, parenting and addiction. To contact the EAP, call 888-293-6948, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to talk to a professional counselor. To register online, you will go www.healthadvocate.com/standard3.

The Wildcat baseball season begins this Friday, Feb. 16, at Crutcher Scott Field, and faculty and staff members can receive one free ticket to most of the 30 home games. Four matchups – April 9 vs. Texas Tech, April 16 vs. TCU, April 23 vs. Tarleton and May 7 vs. Incarnate Word – are classified as premium games and won’t have free admission. To claim your free admission to the other matchups, stop by the box office at Crutcher Scott Field before each game and show your ACU ID to receive a ticket. Children of faculty and staff members ages 12 and younger also can get in for free (except for the premium games, when children 3 and younger get in free).

Supervisors, please remember that in addition to approving timesheets, it is your responsibility to ensure your employees are submitting their timesheets in a timely manner. Failure to do so could result in your employees experiencing a delay in pay, until the following payday two weeks later.