Southern Adventist University Lights Volunteers

Lights Volunteer Program Update!

Dear Southern Lights Volunteers,

As we prepare for the fall semester, we are excited to announce that Southern’s Lights Volunteer program is about to become active again!

During the last few years as the program has been dormant, there have been some staff changes in the Advancement office. As a result, the Lights Volunteer program will be moving to the Alumni Office and managed by Cheryl Torres, Director of Alumni Relations and John Boone, Assistant Director of Alumni Relations. Cheryl and John are looking forward to welcoming you back to campus later this school year. You will be hearing more from them as we move into the fall semester.

We are so grateful to you for your years of service in the past, and look forward to working with you again! As we resume our Lights Volunteer program and prepare to bring our volunteers back to campus, we recognize that a lot of things have changed over the past three years, and we want to be respectful of you. Please read and reply in a comment box to indicate your preferred involvement in the Lights Volunteer program, or you prefer more privacy send your response by email to: [email protected].

1. I wish to continue to volunteer. Please consider me for all volunteer requests.

2. I wish to continue to volunteer, but only want to volunteer in specific areas (in your reply, please tell me where you want to volunteer).

3. I am no longer are able to volunteer. Please remove me from the program.

I look forward to hearing back from you.

Blessings to you all, and welcome back!

Kimberly

Kimberly Bobenhausen, CSPG
Director for Planned Giving
O: 423.236.2832
C: 423.838.5441

Yeah!

We're happy to share that U.S. News and World Report named Southern one of the best regional universities in the south this year. This is the 20th year that the university has been ranked a “Top Tier” institution! 👏

Important Covid-19 Protocols at SAU

Dear Lights Volunteers,

Please see the message below from our Administration regarding the protocols for the increase of COVID-19 on Southern’s campus. Due to this concern, the Lights Volunteer program will remain on hold for the time being. I know this is a disappointment for many of you, but for your safety and to minimize exposure, it seems to be the best course of action.

We miss you, and look forward to seeing this pandemic in our rearview mirror.

Until then, please stay safe.

Kimberly Bobenhausen
# # #

Good Afternoon Colleagues,

The administrative team met this morning to discuss how the Delta variant of COVID-19 is spreading in Florida, Texas, Tennessee, and specifically Hamilton County and its effects on our campus. We are aware of five employees and seven students who are COVID-19 positive with now more than 30 in quarantine. If we had the same current percentage of quarantine and isolation cases with a full student body, we could be faced with serious challenges.

We have desired to start this semester in a normal way. However, due to the increase in current COVID-19 cases and the projection of even more cases in the weeks ahead, we have decided to put the following safety measures in place beginning this coming Sunday, August 15. They will continue through the first two weeks of fall semester as this is the critical period for our campus.

Masks will be required indoors. (Exceptions are when eating, teaching, working in private space, and in residence hall rooms.)

Work meetings will be required to occur online (Zoom, Teams, etc.).

Convocation and vespers credit will be available by online attendance.


We will monitor and make appropriate adjustments as needed with the hope that we can remove these restrictions following the 2nd week of classes.

To protect our university family, the University Health Center (UHC) will be increasing its capacity for rapid testing.

As an additional precaution, the special employee church service that was planned for this Sabbath has been cancelled. The employee outdoor prayer walk will still occur on Sabbath beginning in front of Wright Hall at 7 p.m.

For your safety and that of others, you are required to report any COVID-19 symptoms that are atypical for you to the UHC immediately (423.236.2713). This applies even if symptoms are mild and if you are vaccinated.

Fever or chills
Cough
Difficulty breathing
Fatigue
Muscle or body aches
Headache
New loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Congestion or runny nose
Nausea or vomiting
Diarrhea

Statistics indicate that getting vaccinated is still the best protection from COVID-19. With a vaccination you are less apt to contract the virus and breakthrough cases rarely require hospitalization. The UHC will offer free COVID-19 vaccinations August 26 and September 16 on campus.

With two more days of training, I strongly encourage masking during these meetings for everyone’s safety. Thank you for your understanding as we do our best to launch this fall semester.

Ken Shaw, Ed.D.
President

Where God Wants Us | Adventist World Quadruplets share their current experience in Adventist university education.

https://www.facebook.com/212958875599/posts/10159247593825600/

The Board of Trustees voted unanimously for Ken Shaw, EdD, to become the 27th president of Southern Adventist University. He will assume office on June 1.

Shaw graduated from Southern in 1980 with a Bachelor of Arts in Mathematics and will be the university’s first alum to return as president. In fact, his entire family graduated from Southern: his wife, Ann (Kennedy), earned her nursing degree in 1979; their daughter, Kate Myers, earned her associate and bachelor’s degrees in nursing in 2008 and 2009; and their son, Martin, earned his pastoral care degree in 2012.

“Ann and I cherish our memories from Southern,” Shaw said. “Returning to campus is like coming home for us, and we’re delighted to be part of this institution. I really admire that Southern is still fundamentally centered on its mission and on the core values that the institution has been about for 129 years.”

For the past seven years, Shaw has served as president of Southwestern Adventist University in Keene, Texas. Previously he worked at Florida State University for 25 years in various capacities, from assistant professor of mathematics education to campus dean of Florida State University Panama City and academic dean of the College of Applied Studies. His track record as a leader in higher education includes increasing enrollment, establishing new academic programs, and improving institutional financial stability.

Read the full statement: https://www.southern.edu/news/03-2-2021-ken-shaw-new-president.html

Listen to The Twelve Days of Christmas song, a la Southern Adventist University.

12 Days of Christmas

Need for "Remote" Volunteers

Dear Lights Volunteers,

We are in need of volunteers to be interviewed via telephone by nursing students. The students are practicing their communication skills and will be completing paperwork based on their interview with you. Some of the items they would be asking about would be in reference to various stressors i.e. physiological, psychological, sociocultural and spiritual. The interview would take approximately 15-30 min. We would also like the student to have at least one other interaction with you via email or letter. Each student is asked to communicate with two individuals so if you are willing you may have more than one student assigned to you.

Time frame: this opportunity would be for Fall 2020 and potentially again in Winter 2021.

If you are interested in volunteering to talk with students, please contact Marla Erskine directly. You can either email her at or call her at 423-236-2965.

Kimberly Bobenhausen

Advancement
Director of Planned Giving
Lynn Wood Hall Room 2026
423.236.2832

Lights Volunteer Program is Temporarily Suspended

Dear Lights Volunteers,

Due to the COVID situation we are facing, SAU Advancement has decided, with cabinet approval, to suspend the Lights Volunteer program for the first semester. As a Lights Volunteer, you are a valuable part of our university and we will miss having you on campus, but your safety and that of our campus family is of utmost concern.

We will reassess after the first semester, and look forward to see you back on our campus in 2021.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Blessings,

Kimberly Bobenhausen
Planned Giving Coordinator
Lights Volunteer Coordinator

Lynn Wood Hall Room 2026
Tel: 423-236-2832