The tail end of a winter storm has caused us to delay classes until 11 a.m. today. The 50th Avenue entrance will remain closed all day. Please be aware of personnel processes for periods of inclement weather and for the possibility of suspended operations. You may care to review:

• Inclement Weather Frequently Asked Questions
• Suspended Operations Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions about our suspended operations procedure, please visit the emergency closure and suspended operations procedure webpage or feel free to call Human Resources at 6-9094.

In his Feb. 6 Perspectives column, WSU President Elson S. Floyd said, “While we do not have the ability to change the state civil service salary schedule with a permanent increase, I am pleased to announce that we will provide a one-time, 4 percent payment to all eligible civil service employees.”

The payment will be included in March 25 paychecks. Details about the payment can be found online.

You may have heard the news. It may be a surprise. We’re launching website updates this Friday, Feb. 14. The goals for this refresh are to update our visual appearance and make our site compatible with the vast array of Internet-capable devices out there including smartphones and tablets. The site will be very familiar in how you interact with it. The header and footer links will stay the same. The content will be in the same place. All content will now be available on smartphones.

The updates will launch in two phases. The first phase is the administrative departments, homepage, events calendar and student affairs. These pages make up nearly 90 percent of our web traffic. The second phase will be academic departments. Marketing will work with those of you in academic departments one-on-one to tune up content and make your site friendlier to prospective students.

Any questions? Contact Brian Bates, web communications manager, by email or at 6-9603.

12 – 3 p.m. Feb. 14
Multimedia Classroom Building, Room 107
Register by email

Join instructor Christine Eagon for a workshop in building collage art with maps, photos, text and ephemera on art paper. Bring photo images, a map and other collage materials that reflect your current world to create an energetic vision of yourself and your art. The workshop is open to all skill levels. Free and open to all. Registration is required. Class size is limited, so register now!

Participants will need to bring the following items:

• One map or photocopy of a map
• Photos or photocopies
• One-page poem or prose

The fine arts department will provide the following materials:

• Scissors
• Adhesive
• Paints and brushes
• Brayers 
• Hair dryer
• Towels
• Art paper
• Water-based paints
• Watercolor pencils

Christine Eagon is a visual artist who creates luminous otherworldly paintings of sacred landscapes. Known for her creative commitment to alternative techniques, Eagon combines several mediums to create photo-based paintings. She enjoys using collage as a tool for connecting to the creative self. Eagon is represented by the Angst Gallery in Vancouver. Visit this site to see her work.

3:30 – 4:30 p.m. Feb. 18
Dengerink Administration Building, Room 129

Join campus colleagues for a discussion on shared governance—one of the core values of higher education in the U.S.

The American Association of University Professors Statement on Shared Governance says, “Agencies for faculty participation in the government of the college or university should be established at each level where faculty responsibility is present. An agency should exist for the presentation of the views of the whole faculty.”

Our shared goal is to find the best practices for our campus in regard to shared governance and faculty voice. Today’s Town Hall will address:

• What is shared governance?
• What are the best ways to implement shared governance at WSU Vancouver?

All employees at all levels are encouraged to participate. The format will be similar to the Academic Planning Town Hall held in October. There will be opportunities for everyone’s voices to be heard.

Noon – 1:15 p.m. Feb. 20
Dengerink Administration Building, Room 129

The Center for Social and Environmental Justice will present “Antonia: A Chicana Story.” The documentary is directed by Luz Maria Gordillo, associate professor of critical culture, gender and race studies, and Juan Javier Pescador. The film journeys through the experiences and memories of Antonia Castañeda from her migrant family's cycles between Crystal City, south Texas and the Yakima Valley, to her coming of age as a Chicana activist, community organizer, feminist, teacher, mentor and scholar. Luz Maria will introduce the film and lead a Q&A after the screening.

Through April 15
Dengerink Administration Building Gallery

“Relatively Flat” is a collaborative exhibition featuring the work of Master of Fine Arts students from WSU Pullman and Portland State University. It aims to foster cross-border exchanges, while engaging with pedagogy, and with traditional and contemporary art practices.

The exhibition brings together diverse works that create a visual and sensual resonance, employing paper, fabric and other flat surfaces in both expected and surprising ways. Collectively this show reexamines “flatness” as a concept and as a two-dimensional surface, by embracing and sometimes challenging it.

Artists exhibited in the show include:
From WSU: Anna Davis, Jon Harty, Zach Kolden, Jamin Kuhn, Hi Jung Lee, Kevin Leiter, Jade Lowder, Dawn Norman, Noelle Pflanz, Kathleen Ryan, Mazdak Shadkam and Daniel Tate

From PSU: Jea Alford , Bryan Dalton, Perry Doane, Kaila Farrell-Smith, Chris Freeman, Katie Holden, Mark Martinez, Pam Minty, Wesley Petersen, Manny Reyes, Issac Weiss and Kathryn Yancie

“Relatively Flat” was curated by the fine arts department of WSU Vancouver and PSU.

The photos of WSU alumnus Frank C. Hirahara (’48) are on display at the Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center through June 15. The exhibit “Capturing a Generation through the Eye of a Lens: The Photographs of Frank C. Hirahara, 1948 – 1954,” is a collection of post-war photographs taken of the Japanese- and Chinese-American communities in Portland. Photos depict activities of the Oregon Camera Club and the Portland Photographic Society, the Portland Rose Festival, the Epworth Methodist Church and the Oregon Buddhist Temple.

The Oregon Nikkei Legacy Center is located at 121 NW 2nd Avenue, Portland, Ore. The exhibit will be open Tuesday through Saturday 11 a.m. – 3 p.m. and 12 – 3 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $5.