This week is our spring Week of Welcome

Help welcome new and returning students this week. Wear your Week of Welcome T-shirt or “Ask Me” badge and be open to answering students' questions. Make an extra effort to get out and about on campus between classes. If you see someone with a furrowed brow, ask if you can help. If you don’t know the answer to a question, direct the student to the “Ask Me” table near the library, 8 a.m. – 6 p.m. Monday – Thursday and 8 a.m. – 3 p.m. Friday, or to the Student Services Center.

A coordinated plan to welcome new and current students enhances student satisfaction, retention and increases campus unity. Thanks for being a part of it.

If you have questions, please contact Helen Gregory at 6-9573.

Health Services Task Force begins work on student health services

Working with an ad hoc Health Services Task Force at WSU Vancouver, consultants from the American College Health Association developed a list of recommendations for expanding student health services on campus. The key recommendations and next steps are available in the following summary (PDF).

The task force was led by Nancy Youlden, vice chancellor for student affairs, with members including the academic director of nursing, undergraduate and graduate students. They began meeting in late 2013, and the ACHA’s Peer Review Assistance Program came to campus for a site visit in August 2014.

The ACHA consultants met with campus administrators, graduate and undergraduate students, and representatives from Clark College, Legacy Salmon Creek and Vancouver Clinic. They also conducted focus groups with students. The cost was covered by Services and Activities Fees secured during spring 2014.

The next step involves forming a committee to review the recommendations and determine how to proceed, with a budget request to be submitted by the end of the semester.

If you have questions after looking at the report, please contact Nancy Youlden at 6-9571.

WSU Vancouver welcomed into Clark’s Advising Center

The WSU Vancouver advising office at Clark College has moved to its new home in the Advising Center in Gaiser Hall, Room 108. Carson Creecy, transfer coordinator, works primarily on-site at Clark College advising transfer students. The opportunity for Carson to sit in the Advising Center and work in close proximity to his Clark College colleagues will provide more seamless access for students. Hurray for partnerships!

Celebrate the legacy of Martin Luther King Jr.

WSU Vancouver will observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day now through Jan. 22. In addition to the MLK 100 Club challenge and the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, plan to enjoy three additional events.

Film screening

Mark your calendar now for a two-part film screening of the documentary “Visions of Abolition,” a critical exposé of mass incarceration, the war on drugs, and the connections between slavery, capitalism and the prison industrial complex. A facilitated discussion will follow each screening.

Part one, “Breaking Down the Prison Industrial Complex”

11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m. Jan. 20
Dengerink Administration Building, Room 129

Weaving together the voices of women caught in the criminal justice system, this film examines the racial and gender violence of the prison system.

Part two, “Abolition: Past, Present and Future”

3 – 4:15 p.m. Jan. 21
Dengerink Administration Building, Room 129

This film documents the recent history of the prison abolition movement through the organizing efforts of Critical Resistance and explores the meaning of abolitionist politics.

Live streaming of WSU Pullman’s Martin Luther King Jr. Community Celebration

7 p.m. Jan 22
Firstenburg Student Commons

Come to campus for a live streaming of special guest Angela Y. Davis, distinguished professor emerita of history of consciousness and feminist studies at the University of California, Santa Cruz. Davis is an internationally known political activist, scholar and author.

Get tickets to see Hellegers’ book come to the stage

7:30 p.m. Jan. 23 and 24
Copeland Commons at Tabor Space
5441 SE Belmont Street, Portland, OR 97215
Purchase tickets online in advance for $10 or $15 at the door

Desiree Hellegers is an associate professor of English, an author and now a playwright. Two staged readings of a play based on her 2011 book “No Room of Her Own: Women’s Stories of Homelessness, Life, Death and Resistance” will come to life as part of Portland’s Fertile Ground Festival of New Plays this month.

A staged reading involves more than sharing a script. It involves actors bringing a script to life, some stage movement and sometimes much more. “No Room of Her Own” will be performed as an augmented staged reading, infusing the performance with both sound and image. Circle Theatre Project intends to bring “No Room of Her Own” to stage in full production in late spring 2015.

Drawing on oral history interviews, “No Room of Her Own” explores the experiences of 15 women who struggle to survive against seemingly insurmountable odds—including catastrophic health issues and routine threats of violence—while organizing to call attention to the routine deaths of homeless people on the streets of Seattle.

Learn mental health
first aid

8 – 5 p.m. Feb. 16
Location TBA

Can you administer first aid in a mental health crisis? What does depression look like? Or anxiety? What would you say to a person who says they are thinking about suicide? How can you help in a panic attack? Learn about mental health first aid at a free training sponsored by Student Affairs and Counseling Services, and facilitated by Southwest Washington Behavioral Health.

Mental Health First Aid is an eight-hour training that teaches you how to help someone who may be developing a mental health problem or experiencing a mental health crisis. This training helps you know how to identify, understand and respond to signs of mental illnesses and addictions.

Mental Health First Aid teaches:

• Risk factors and warning signs of mental health concerns
• Information on depression, anxiety, trauma, psychosis and substance use
• A five-step action plan to help someone developing a mental health concern or in crisis
• Available evidence-based professional, peer and self-help resources

Registration is limited to the first 30 people who RSVP. There is no fee. If interested, please register as soon as possible. Note the training takes place on President’s Day. No classes will be held, but campus will be open. Please contact Patience McGinnis at 6-9238 with any questions.