Chancellor's Office welcomes new executive assistant

Renee Bartocci will assume her position as executive assistant to the chancellor July 9. In that role, she will serve as advisor to Chancellor Mel Netzhammer on a variety of matters, and will represent the Chancellor’s Office at events, activities and meetings.

Renee will provide confidential, executive-level leadership support to the chancellor by overseeing the office’s administrative activities, including the coordination of communication among faculty, staff, students and outside groups.

“I am looking forward to Renee's joining the team. Her focus on community partners will be important to achieving the goals of the university and those of my office as well,” said Chancellor Netzhammer.

Renee is a marketing and project management professional who spent much of her career at Hewlett-Packard. She is looking forward to working for an organization with strong ties to her community and supporting student access to higher education. Renee can be reached at 6-9580 and will work in the Dengerink Administration Building, Room 230C.

Two new faces at Student Diversity Center

Amanda Shannahan joined the Student Diversity Center as an advisor in April. She serves as a resource to students who use the center and provides personal support and non-academic advising. Amanda will manage the new Student Diversity Center, coordinating events and workshops sponsored by the center and supervising students. Originally from Vancouver, Amanda is excited about the opportunity to coordinate programming aimed at supporting cultural-identity exploration and empowering students to lead social change on campus and in their communities.

Liz Kamerer is a Pride Foundation Fellow who is spending the summer with the Student Diversity Center. A graduate student at Portland State University, she comes to WSU Vancouver with a passion for serving and supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and allied youth. Funding for Liz’s position comes from the Pride Foundation Fellowship Program, a 10-week summer program that provides professional development opportunities for college students and strengthens leadership in the Northwest LGBTQA community. Liz is planning the inaugural LGBTQA-friendly college fair scheduled for Oct. 25 and increasing connections between LGBTQA students and their families.

Student Services welcomes new cashier

Amanda Van Kregten joined Student Services as the cashier on July 1. Amanda has extensive experience in student accounts, and knowledge of financial aid and student enrollment.

Dick Hannah Dealerships’ Strive2Drive on campus July 17

Each spring semester Dick Hannah Dealerships runs a contest to encourage academic achievement among high school students in the region. Students who have a cumulative GPA of 3.5 or above or who raise their GPA half a point from fall semester to spring may enter to win $15,000 or a new car. The drawing is held on our campus.

We host this event because it brings our EXACT target market to campus—high-achieving high school students. And to sweeten the pot, students must be present to win and they must bring a parent. We take advantage of having these students and parents on campus by offering tours, tabling in the amphitheater and making a short pitch at the beginning of the program. Getting students on campus is the surest way to get an application!

The next Strive2Drive drawing will be held at 7 p.m. July 17. You can expect to see cars rolling in and people gathering in the amphitheater as early as 4 p.m. Last year about 600 cars came for the event. You shouldn’t have trouble leaving campus. Night students may experience delays in getting to campus and more parking challenges than is typical on a summer evening.

Entertainment for 25th Anniversary Community Celebration on the Quad announced

SAVE THE DATE - Saturday, Sept. 6

3-5 p.m. Open House
Guests will have an opportunity to explore our programs, labs, facilities, admissions, financial aid, access services, diversity and veterans’ services, student clubs and organizations, and more. Of course there will be fun too—music, munchies and creative activities.

5 – 8 p.m. Music and Food
Kick back on the lawn in our amphitheater and listen to some great music—folk rock band Lincoln’s Beard and one of Portland’s favorite pop bands, Sean Flinn & The Royal We. Purchase dinner from one of this region’s favorite food trucks or pack a picnic.

If you do not have an assigned role for this event and would like one, please contact Kim Estes, event chair, at 6-9093. It will take many hands to make this an awesome event.

This event is FREE and open to all. Please encourage your friends and family to come see what makes WSU Vancouver special, and celebrate 25 years of providing access to higher education in Southwest Washington!

Get tickets to the Seattle game

7 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 28
CenturyLink Field, Seattle

Staff, faculty and students may purchase group outing football tickets for WSU Cougars vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights for $24. Click here and enter the promotional code VANCOUVER to get the special pricing. Seats are in “preferred seating.” The group promotion expires Aug. 14 at midnight.

May/June issue of IT Happens! available

The current issue of IT Happens! features information on Heartbleed Exploit, VIT summer projects and more.