INSIDE STUDENT AFFAIRSA weekly insider’s guide for those helping students reach their goals toward optimal health and well-being, engagement with learning, and sense of belonging at PSU
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“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”
-NELSON MANDELA
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AVP of ACS Finalist Open Forums This Week
Provost Susan Jeffords announces remote campus visits this week for four AVP of Advising and Career Services finalists. Candidates will be presenting at open forums this week their responses to the following question, “Describe your vision for Academic and Career Advising as a lever for student success, particularly within the context of an urban university with a large transfer student population.” More details regarding the position, candidates, and presentations can be found on the search website.
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Community Vaccine Clinic on WednesdayA Community COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic will be held Wednesday, June 9 from 2-6 pm at the Native American Student and Community Center. The clinic is open to anyone 12 years and older. In the interest of serving Latinx, Black, Indigenous and other people of color, refugees and immigrants, and others who may have trouble accessing health care, this vaccine and the services provided are free. You will not be asked for any form of identification, health insurance, or proof of immigration status. Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines will be available. Free parking is available at the PSU Shattuck Parking Lot, across the street from the Native American Student and Community Center. Visit SHAC's event page to learn more and register.
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June Free Food MarketThe Oregon Food Bank and PSU's Committee for Improving Student Food Security are hosting a Free Food Market for all PSU students, staff, and community members. Free Food Market is held on the South Park Blocks near Shattuck Hall on the second Monday of the month, June 14, rain or shine from 9:30-11 am (or until they run out). No identification or proof of income is required. Free Food Market asks that all patrons adhere to masking and physical distancing protocols. For more details, visit the CISFS website or email foodhelp@pdx.edu.
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Return to Campus FAQs
As announced by President Percy, PSU plans to reopen campus on September 7th. University leaders hosted and recorded a "Return to Campus Webinar" on May 25, where employees could learn about PSU’s plans for a safe return of employees to campus. According to the HR website, planning the return to campus “is a fluid process, with additional details becoming evident with each passing day.” To stay in the know, please bookmark HR’s Return to Campus Guide as this will be a central location where important information and updates are shared as they become available.
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Take a Look at the PSU Landing
The PSU Landing at FUMC is a collaborative effort between Portland State, First United Methodist Church and community members that provides temporary, safe-haven housing in the Goose Hollow neighborhood for PSU students. The Landing is open, but currently empty even though research has shown students are in need. Learn more about it at an open house for faculty and staff on June 14 from 11 am-1 pm. (See this flyer for details.)
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SHAC Offering COVID-19 Vaccine Clinics to Students
Student Health Services is providing a student COVID-19 vaccine clinic each Friday for PSU students taking 1+ credits, administering the Moderna vaccine. Students taking 5+ credits can schedule their vaccine through the Patient Portal in the SHAC Website. Students under 5 credits should call 503.725.2800 to schedule. Visit SHAC's COVID-19 resources website to learn more.
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Grow Your Own Food Indoors
"Growing your own food can be an awesome hands-on science project and a way to better know ourselves and the natural world. 'The more we are exposed to different fruits and vegetables and ways to eat them, the more likely we are to find something we like and continue eating it,' says Karen Moses, director of wellness and health promotion at Arizona State University. Gardening can even help you lower symptoms of depression and anxiety, according to a 2017 meta-analysis of studies published in Preventive Medicine Reports. Tapping into your inner green thumb can also save you some, well, green. Life can be expensive…”
To learn more about produce you can grow in a window box and cut down on your grocery bill, visit the PDX CampusWell.
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|  This video and website highlight some of the stories of resilience from PSU's Class of 2021, a group of "6,255 graduates who not only survived an entire year of remote classes and a global pandemic—they thrived."
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One of the most inspiring stories I've read during this spring's graduation season came from NPR, titled, 'Dear Son': How A Mom's Letter Inspired A Graduation Speech--From Prison. The piece focused on Yusef Pierce, the first person to graduate with a bachelor's degree from the Inside-Out program at Pitzer College. After witnessing his brother's cold-blooded murder, Yusef started getting in trouble and was arrested and convicted for armed robbery, a crime that led to a 20 year prison sentence. Yusef confesses that he originally signed up for college courses because he'd been told it could shorten his time behind bars. To his surprise, he discovered he really liked college. "I loved it because it gave me validation. To know that somebody was reading my stuff and that somebody felt like the things that I was thinking about and writing were worth something... I just took class after class." Yusef's inspiring story brings Nancy Schlossberg's Marginality and Mattering (1989) to my mind. Schlossberg suggests that when students feel that they matter, are noticed, cared about, needed and appreciated, they learn and succeed at a higher rate than if these feelings are absent. Yusef's story was a powerful reminder of just how important and fundamental this relatively simple concept is to our work in higher education. Happy graduation season, everyone!
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OFFICE OF STUDENT AFFAIRS
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SUGGESTION FOR A FUTURE EDITION?If you want to include something in an upcoming Inside Student Affairs, please email studentaffairs@pdx.edu. Archives of past issues can be found here.
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