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WSU Vancouver

Campus FYI for 3/28

A newsletter for WSU Vancouver faculty and staff.

Christine Portfors

Portfors named associate vice chancellor for research and graduate education

Christine Portfors has accepted the position of associate vice chancellor for research and graduate education in the Office of Academic Affairs, a position she has held on an interim basis since summer 2014. Christine was recommended by a search committee chaired by Dawn Doutrich, associate professor in the College of Nursing.

In recommending Christine, the search committee emphasized her strong research success as well as her work in developing institutional processes and infrastructure, and developing relationships across the WSU system during her time in the interim role.

Christine holds the Herbert L. Eastlick Distinguished Professorship in the College of Arts and Sciences. She has $2.7 million in grant funding from the National Institutes of Health and National Science Foundation to support her research in hearing and communication. She has published in the most important journals in her field. A portion of Christine’s assignment will be devoted to taking her research forward.

Carolyn Long with Sam Reed and donors

Carolyn Long named first Reed Distinguished Professor

Carolyn Long, associate professor of the School of Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, received the inaugural Sam Reed Distinguished Professorship in Civic Education and Public Civility at a ceremony in Olympia last Thursday. The professorship was endowed by donors as a way to honor Reed’s 45-years of public service. He was Washington Secretary of State for 12 years before retiring in January 2013. He also served as president of the National Association of Secretaries of State.

Reed said Carolyn is a gifted teacher and scholar who is an inspired choice as the first Reed Professor. Carolyn will use the professorship to expand the work of the Initiative for Public Deliberation.

Wifi icon over quad photo

Introducing outdoor WiFi

Access points have been added at key areas on campus to allow for outdoor WiFi access. Now you can get WiFi in the Quad and on the south patio of the Firstenburg Student Commons. The bus stop in the visitor loop and the patio in front of The Bookie also have WiFi access.

This service is brought to campus thanks to the joint efforts of Ryan Parker and Marty Randolph in Vancouver IT, and Jerry Adams and Dennis Giles in Facilities Operations.

WSU Vancouver

Enrollment efforts paying off

Many faculty and staff members have been working on projects big and small that are based on recommendations included in the Enrollment Management Plan submitted by SEM Works in September. These efforts are moving the needle. WSU Vancouver is up 28 percent in freshmen and 3.6 percent in transfer applications for fall 2016 over this time last year.

Key accomplishments:

  • Developed a new recruitment communication plan for College Bound Scholarship students and targeted outreach at eight on-site admissions programs in local high schools
  • Increased outreach and targeted communications with veteran applicants and current veteran students
  • Created recruitment and affordability information for Spanish-speaking families in print and online formats
  • Centralized website management with the Office of Marketing and Communications resulting in stronger search engine optimization and more unique website visits
  • Updated college/department websites to align with marketing-oriented strategies resulting in an increase in visitors to college/department web pages
  • Developed pilots for Reimagining the First Year and the Vancoug Experience to launch in fall 2016

The enrollment plan project list is available on the Enrollment Management Task Force sharepoint site and will be updated monthly.

Washington State University

Vancouver, please complete the Employee Engagement Survey

Today you will receive an invitation from Human Resource Services to participate in the biennial Employee Engagement Survey. Faculty, administrative and classified employees systemwide will receive the invitation via email.

This is your opportunity to provide feedback about working for WSU. It takes about 15 minutes to complete. The deadline is midnight April 8. Individual responses and specific answers will be kept confidential.

If you have questions about the Employee Engagement Survey, please visit hrs.wsu.edu/Employee+Engagement+Survey, or contact Human Resource Services at 509-335-4521 or hrs@wsu.edu.

WSU Vancouver colored flags

Nominate notable alumni

WSU Vancouver is now accepting nominations for the 2016 Notable Alumni Award. The award will honor one WSU Vancouver alumnus/alumna who has made significant contributions to society, and whose accomplishments, affiliations, career and/or community service reflects WSU Vancouver’s legacy of excellence. Nominations are open to the public and will be accepted through May 31.

The winner will be determined by the Alumni Awards Selection Committee. The 2016 WSU Vancouver Notable Alumni Award winner will be recognized in the fall.

Safety badge icon

Lockdown drill scheduled for Thursday

9:30 a.m. March 31
Campus-wide

WSU Vancouver Public Safety and Emergency Management will conduct a campus-wide Lockdown Drill at 9:30 a.m. Thursday. The drill will be announced using the mass notification system and campus public address systems.

During the drill, exterior campus doors will be locked and safety and facilities staff will monitor for mechanical and user compliance. The drill will test mechanical door systems, mass notification, and public address systems as well as provide opportunity for lockdown procedures practice for staff, students, faculty and visitors.

Compliance by closing and locking classroom and office doors, covering windows, silencing cell phones and computers, turning out lights and sheltering away from entrances and windows while forming a plan to attack an intruder with hostile intent is encouraged but not required if it interrupts schedules, experiments, or academic classes deemed of greater importance than the drill.

Students quietly studying

Faculty, two reminders for students

The application for WSU Vancouver scholarships is due March 31. One application gives students access to more than 80 scholarships. Encourage students to apply from the WSU Vancouver Scholarship page on the website.

Students may now apply for the Library’s Student Research Excellence Award. This award recognizes excellence in undergraduate research that demonstrates evidence of significant inquiry using the library, its resources and collections. Applications are due by April 25. Applications materials are available on the library website at library.vancouver.wsu.edu/researchaward.

There's always a good reason to give back. What's yours?

Give to WSU Vancouver

The annual Faculty & Staff Giving Campaign kicks off April 4. Look for a brochure in your mailbox. The campaign provides an opportunity for you to make a gift of any size to any area at WSU Vancouver that is meaningful to you.

Last year 68 percent of WSU Vancouver employees participated in the campaign. Help WSU Vancouver reach a new goal of 70 percent this year by making a gift of any size.

Everyone who participates is encouraged to attend the Faculty & Staff Giving Campaign social from 9 to 10 a.m. April 15 in the Dengerink Administration Building, Room 130. Come for VooDoo doughnuts, coffee and a free T-shirt (while supplies last).

Visit the Faculty & Staff Giving Campaign website to learn more and see the funds you may choose to support. April 15 is the last day to give.

If you have any questions or if you are already participating by ongoing payroll deduction but cannot remember to which fund(s), please call Caitlin McGrath in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations at 6-9281.

Women's Studies Lecture Series

Lecture series inspires women to explore science and technology

1:15 p.m. April 7
Multimedia Classroom Building, Room 6

The Women’s Studies Lecture Series “The Politics of Science and Technology: Moving toward Gender Equity, Civic Responsibility and Social Justice” presents “Women in Paleoanthropology: One Cavewoman’s Encounter with Homo naledi” featuring Alia Gurtov, Ph.D. candidate in anthropology, University of Wisconsin, Madison.

CSEJ

Explore environmental and climate justice

10:20 a.m. to 4:15 p.m. April 8
Dengerink Administration Building, Room 110
Free and open to the public

The Collective for Social and Environmental Justice will present its spring symposium, “Environmental and Climate Justice Practices.” Highlights include the following:

11 a.m. – 12:15 p.m.

Gail Small, “Climate Justice in Indian Country.” Small is a member of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe and professor of Native American studies at Montana State University.

1:30 – 2:45 p.m.

Rik Scarce, “Trajectories of Injustices: Reflections on Three Decades of Radical Environmentalism.” He is professor of sociology at Skidmore College.

2:45 – 4 p.m.

Cindy Wiesner, “It Takes Roots: Frontline Communities at COP21 and Beyond.” She is national coordinator for the Grassroots Global Justice Alliance and co-chair of the Climate Justice Alliance and the Our Power Campaign.

The event will open with an invocation by Chief Roy Wilson of the Cowlitz tribe. There will be a break for lunch. You may attend all or any part of the symposium. For more information, contact Pavithra Narayanan, associate professor of English and co-director of CSEJ, at 6-9732.

Washington State University

PUBLIC NOTICE

Hearing on Proposed Amendments to the Washington Administrative Code–

Facility Use Rules for First Amendment/Free Speech Activities

Washington State University will conduct a public hearing on a proposed revision to WAC chapter 504-33–Facility Use Rules for First Amendment/ Free Speech Activities at 4 p.m. in the Dengerink Administration Building, Room 236. Notice of this public hearing is hereby given in accordance with provisions of RCW 34.05.320(4). The proposed amendments are intended to clarify language and to provide additional latitude for managing first amendment/free speech activities at university locations.

The university will adopt the amendments based on the statutory authority found in RCW 28B.30.150.

You may review the proposed amendment by going to the Office of Procedures, Records and Forms website or by requesting a copy from the Office of Procedures, Records and Forms, Information Technology Building 3089, Pullman, WA 99164-1225; telephone 509-335-2005.

You may testify at this meeting. You may also direct written comments to Deborah Bartlett, director of procedures, records and forms, rules coordinator, mail code 1225, Pullman, WA 99164; e-mail prf.forms@wsu.edu; fax 509-335-3969.

Submit all written comments by 5 p.m. April 5. 

News icon

WSU Vancouver In The News

Imagining a Forest of the Future
March 24, 2016
New York Times
By Nicholas St. Fleur

A pair of mathematicians at Washington State University Vancouver constructed a digital simulator to help visualize how a variety of factors, including ...

Emergency preparedness event gets county ready to rumble
March 25, 2016
The Columbian
By Amy Fischer

Thursday, Able was among hundreds of people browsing the booths at an emergency preparedness event at Washington State University Vancouver called “Prepare for ‘The Big One.’ ”

Community Calendar March 23
March 23, 2016
The Reflector

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY Vancouver will host a spring Marquee Diversity Event Tue., March 29, 7-8:30 p.m., in the Firstenburg Student ...

Radio dramas celebrate National Women's History Month
March 23, 2016
The Reflector

The performance is part of the Re-Imagined Radio project produced by John Barber, faculty member in Washington State University Vancouver's ...

School notes for March 22, 2016
Camas-Washougal Post Record

Washington State University Vancouver will host a spring Marquee Diversity Event from 7 to 8:30 p.m. on March 29 in Firstenburg Student Commons.

WSUV explores virtual, augmented realities
March 21, 2016
The Columbian

Explore how to use these technologies to your advantage at Washington State University Vancouver's spring Chancellor's Seminar Series, “Reality ...

WSUV scientists can predict coastal dead zones
March 20, 2016
The Columbian
By Dameon Pesanti

Daniel Reed, a research associate, and John Harrison, an associate professor in the School of the Environment, developed a model they call the Coastal Ocean Oxygen Linked to Benthic Exchange and Nutrient Supply. It’s used to predict where dead zones (low oxygen zones) will form in coastal waters ...

Cougs called to move community garden
March 19, 2016
The Columbian

Volunteer with Washington State University Vancouver's Cougs in the Community to help move the North County Food Bank's ...

Calendar and clock icon

Reminders

Life and Legacy of Minoru Yasui, noon March 29, Dengerink Administration Building, Room 110

“Insatiable” by Unit Souzou, 7 p.m. March 29, Firstenburg Student Commons, RSVP

Campus Conversation, noon March 31, Dengerink Administration Building, Room 129

Women of Distinction, 6 p.m. March 31, Firstenburg Student Commons, RSVP

Chancellor’s Seminar Series, 11:45 a.m. April 1, Firstenburg Student Commons, purchase $25 tickets online

Faculty Recognition Program and Reception, 4 p.m. April 7, Dengerink Administration Building, Room 110, RSVP to Beth Cozzi

Run for Cougs 5K, 10 a.m. April 9, Bus loop, register online

 

In case you missed it

Regents select Kirk Schulz of Kansas State as president

Kirk Schulz, president and professor of chemical engineering at Kansas State University, was unanimously selected today by the WSU Board of Regents as the university’s 11th president.

Engaging research summary wins Three Minute Thesis

Phillip Uribe won the annual Three Minute Thesis (3MT) competition Tuesday afternoon at Washington State University. … Uribe, a neuroscience doctoral student at WSU Vancouver, spoke about “Using Fish to Prevent Hearing Loss.”