I will greatly rejoice in the Lord, my whole being shall exult in my God; for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation, he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself with a garland, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels.
Isaiah 61:10 (NRSV)

News

Alison Noble, assistant professor of chemistry and biochemistry, coauthored “A Survey of the Heavy Metals Present in the Soil of a Potential Urban Garden: A Service Learning Approach” with two Messiah students from the class of 2013, Kyle Kessler (environmental science) and Seth Umbenhauer (chemistry). The article will be published in the upcoming issue of the “Journal of the Pennsylvania Academy of Science.”

Messiah 411

GoED Africa/GoED Mekong Administrators to visit campus Feb. 4-5

On Feb. 4 and 5, Anna and Travis Hall, student life coordinators for GoED Africa, will be on campus to talk to students about studying with the GoED Programs in Rwanda and Thailand. If you are interested in having the Halls speak to your classes about opportunities to study with GoED please contact Wendy Lippert at wlippert@messiah.edu or ext. 6089. You can also set up an appointment to meet with the Halls one-on-one if you would like to learn more about the program.

Anna and Travis will be hosting a Student Information Session on Feb. 4 at 4 p.m. in Boyer 130. Please encourage interested students to attend. For more information about the GoED Programs, visit here and here.

Reminders from conference services

Please remember that March 14 is the deadline for scheduling any event that includes:

1. A set-up involving tech/AV needs or additional tables, chairs or furnishings.
2. Serving food to others outside of your group or using college funds to purchase food for the event.
3. A fundraiser, selling items, showing a film or an event that includes dancing.
4. An off-campus speaker or an off-campus vendor.
5. Mass advertising, required tickets or placing an event on the master calendar.
6. More than 25 off-campus guests at your event.

All such requests will not be approved after the March 14 deadline.

Jadu and Contribute training offered for spring semester

If you are interested in Jadu CMS or Contribute website editing training, sessions are now posted on MCSquare under “Employee Training,” “Web.”

• Jadu training is available for anyone who already has a Jadu site, is in the migration/building stage or would like to begin migration to Jadu.
• Contribute training is offered for anyone who is new to Contribute or needs a refresher.

Please email Ramona Fritschi at rfritschi@messiah.edu with any questions you may have regarding web training.

Merit scholarship to Harrisburg Academy available

Harrisburg Academy is excited to be partnering for a third year with Messiah College to offer merit scholarships to children of full-time Messiah College employees. These merit scholarships are annual, renewable tuition scholarships of $10,000 per student. Applicants must be new students applying to the Academy for enrollment in fifth through 11th grades. (See addendum for the 2014-15 Corporate Partner Merit Scholarship application.) All materials are due by Feb. 1, and testing dates are currently scheduled for Jan. 22, Feb. 8 and Feb. 18. A half-day visit for applicants is available on Feb. 5 and includes three classes and lunch. Have questions? Would you like to RSVP? Please contact Jessica Warren, director of admission and marketing, at Warren.J@harrisburgacademy.org.

Important information from payroll office about W-2s

W-2s for 2013 wages are scheduled to be mailed to your current payroll address during the week of Jan. 20. Most of you will be receiving your W-2s at your home address. Some employees residing on campus will receive their W-2s via their campus mail address. Employees may contact the payroll office if the W-2 is not received by Feb. 7.

In addition to the paper W-2 form, W-2s are now accessible to employees via Employee Self-Service. This electronic W-2 form is an acceptable form for IRS, state and local submissions. The online W-2 form is accessible by following the directions outlined below. For more information, please see the attachment.

Updates made to the Messiah College safety manual

• Section 14 of the Messiah College Safety Manual (Emergency Action Plan) has been revised. A segment on “Floods” has been added under “Weather Event.” A “Bomb Threat Call Procedure and Checklist” has been added as an attachment. Also the heading “General Medical Emergency” has been changed to “Medical Emergency.”
• Section 15, “Employee Training and New Employee Orientation” has been added. This section includes copies of two forms: Attachment A – “New Employee Area Safety Orientation Provided by Supervisor” and Attachment B – “New Employee Safety, Health and Environmental Training and Information for Specific Job Postings.” The first attachment should be completed for all employees by their area supervisor. The second attachment involves specific training required by OSHA for employees involved in certain job tasks.

Questions about these updates or any information included in the safety manual should be directed to Donna Fink. The safety manual can be found on the College’s website.

Employee Recognition Reception scheduled for May 7

Please save the date for the annual gathering to celebrate the commitment of those employees who have reached significant service milestones. The Employee Recognition Reception will be held on Reading Day, May 7 from 2–4 p.m. in Brubaker Auditorium. More details will be shared in the spring.

Campus Ministries connection

This week we honored the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. by acts of service in the greater Harrisburg area, attending a special chapel with worship led by United Voices of Praise, tributes in a coffeehouse style presentation in the Union and a movie sponsored by Peace and Conflict Studies. Dr. Terrence Roberts, one of the Little Rock Nine, a group of black students who were the first to attend integrated classes in Little Rock, Ark., shared in a special chapel from Psalm 28:3. He challenged us to be people who reverse the myth of race by treating all others as valued and loved. He concluded with a challenge from Jeremiah 12:5 asking the biblical question, if we are wearied keeping up with the “footmen,” how will we run “with the horses?” He invited us to the Little Rock Nine Foundation website for more information.

Classifieds

Free:

Kittens to a good home – Will be ready in a week or two. Some calico and some gray and white. Very cute! Call ext. 7081 for more details.

For sale:

23 kids and family DVDs — $2.50 each. Send an email to balthoff@messiah.edu for list.