Summer 2024 Quarterly Newsletter

From the Vice Chancellor

Dear Campus Community,

Welcome back! I hope everyone had a terrific summer. For me, the summer meant a combination of fun, restorative health, terrific conversations with many of you, reflections and decisions.

As we begin this quarter, we are using this newsletter to provide a summary of the significant things that happened in the Division of Academic Affairs throughout the summer, along with a taste of what’s ahead. I also want to draw your attention to this video that Provost Serio created for UW students across the tri-campus. I hope you can share broadly. Look closely because there are many photos from our extraordinary campus.

As you now know, this will be my last year as your VCAA. As a first-generation college graduate, it’s been a privilege to serve our campus. For me, 17 years is a long time to be away from the primary reason why I pursued a Ph.D. — to teach and mentor students — and I cannot wait to return. I am grateful for your trust as we navigated a challenging higher education context across the last five years that included a pandemic, racially motivated violence, political surprises, leadership changes, enrollment changes, budget adventures and more. Through it all, my fondest memories will be those opportunities that allowed me to witness (in action) the dedication that many of our faculty, staff and administrators place on advancing student success and regional impact.

All the best for a successful autumn quarter.

With gratitude,

Sharon A. Jones, Ph.D., VCAA

Cross-disciplinary
Connected Learning
Community Engagement

Priorities for 2024-25

In addition to the priorities for all subunits within the Division of Academic Affairs — and recognizing the unexpected can happen — the VCAA’s priorities for this upcoming year are as follows:

1. Complete the STEM dean search.
2. Complete the build-out of the Office of Faculty Success.
3. Develop a high functioning operations team for the Division of Academic Affairs.
4. Support the launch of the recently authorized research center, the Collaborative for Socio-Ecological Engagement, housed at the Environmental Education & Research Center at St. Edward State Park.
5. Complete a program review for the Office of Connected Learning.
6. Co-sponsor (with the division of enrollment management & student affairs) a prioritization of the recommendations from the FY24 external review of the Office of Career Services.
7. Determine (with the division of enrollment management & student affairs) next steps based on the FY24 committee’s recommendations regarding the campus-wide structural needs to support graduate programs.
8. Clarify UW Bothell’s tri-campus role for the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities accreditation seven-year report and visit based on feedback during FY24’s mid-cycle report and visit.
9. Support the process that the Office of the President is launching (with the Faculty Council on Tri-campus Policy) to clarify the leadership structure for UW Bothell and UW Tacoma via official policies.

In Case You Missed It

Dr. Mabel Ezenowu, interim dean for the School of Nursing & Health Studies, will pass the torch to Dr. Vanessa Lopez-Littleton on Nov, 1. Dr. Lopez-Littleton brings nearly three decades of leadership and experience in higher education, public service and health care.

Our partners at WittKieffer have been hard at work over the summer recruiting potential candidates for the next dean of UW Bothell’s School of STEM. 真人线上娱乐 search committee reconvened in mid-September to review applicants with the goal of having finalists meet with the campus community mid-October.

真人线上娱乐 Office of the Chancellor will engage a search firm to support a national search for the next dean of the School of Business, which will launch this academic year. Additional details about opportunities to provide input will be shared soon.

After an unsuccessful search for a faculty director, we are searching for a senior research scientist to serve as the director for the Collaborative for Socio-Ecological Engagement for a five-year term.

This summer the Office of Academic Personnel approved the workload and additional compensation standards for UW Bothell faculty. We are delaying more work for now since the Faculty Senate will be discussing this tri-campus issue during the year, and we want to benefit from their insights.

As we continue to enhance and streamline our efforts to support faculty success, we want to remind everyone of the upcoming transitions within the Office of Faculty Success. 真人线上娱乐 Learning & Teaching Collaborative and the Office of Sponsored Research relocated to the new Faculty Success suite in LBA 204. 真人线上娱乐 integration of Sponsored Research into faculty success is now complete. For questions or further information regarding this transition, please contact Dr. Wadiya Udell (associate vice chancellor for faculty success). We are in the process of integrating Learning & Teaching, with a planned completion by spring 2025.

Sova Solutions is conducting a formative program review of the Office of Connected Learning. Sova Solutions’ managing partner is Dr. Paul Markham who served as UW Bothell’s first director of strategic partnerships and community engagement. 真人线上娱乐 review will assess Connected Learning’s current programs and identify areas for improvement. Connected Learning includes global initiatives; research & creative projects for undergraduates; community-engaged learning & research; merit scholarships and fellowships; and the Collaboratory. 真人线上娱乐 review is expected to conclude in early January 2025 with a comprehensive report including actionable recommendations. 真人线上娱乐 consultants are speaking with many constituents including faculty, staff, students and partners.

As of July 1, all undergraduate academic advisers are now part of UW Bothell Academic Advising, and we’ve had three new advisers join. We’re currently finalizing our processes and procedures, while orienting new students and getting all students registered for their fall courses. All undergraduate advising staff are now together in the Academic Advising Center on the first floor of Founders Hall (UW1). We look forward to inviting the community to an upcoming open house once the construction dust has settled, and the staff are all unpacked. In the meantime, if you need to reach them, please reach out to Acting Assistant Dean Suzanne Yates or email the advising unit at uwbadvis@uw.edu.

This year we hosted the inaugural Graduate 真人线上娱乐 Welcome and Campus Orientation at UW Bothell on Sept. 17. 真人线上娱乐 purpose of this annual half-day event is to ensure all incoming graduate students have a similar campus onboarding, introduce graduate students to campus resources, and provide opportunities to build community with graduate students across campus. Please reach out to Assistant Director of Graduate Studies Sheneetra Wilson with questions.

真人线上娱乐 UW Bothell/Cascadia Library will get eight new pods this autumn (one with ADA functionality). We are eagerly waiting to make these available to our students.

真人线上娱乐 STARS program proudly welcomed its first cohort of 31 first-year scholars who are interested in pursuing a computing degree. 真人线上娱乐 scholars participated in a weeklong summer transition program on campus where they began their first class and were introduced to campus resources. We are eager to see them embark on their academic journey together. Please reach out to the STARS Program Director Alishia Ruff with questions.

On September 16, the Office of Faculty Success held a new faculty orientation for 12 tenure- and teaching-track faculty in IAS, STEM and Business. Faculty met with various units at UW Bothell to get an overview of how they work with faculty to support teaching and scholarship. It’s terrific to welcome these new scholars to our community.

Our First Year & Pre-major Program (FYPP) faculty participated in several Reading Circles over the summer with “Teaching with A.I.: A Practical Guide to a New Era of Human Learning” (better understanding when, how and why to interact with A.I. in our classrooms), “真人线上娱乐 Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why it Matters” (how we can make interactions — from classrooms to family picnics — more intentional and valuable) and “Orbiting the Giant Hairball: A Corporate Fool’s Guide to Surviving with Grace” (the tension between administrative realities and the needs of creative innovation).

Several FYPP faculty participated in a workshop offered by the Office of Diversity Equity & Inclusion on the Constructive Dialogue Institute’s modules aimed at helping students navigate difficult conversations in the classroom. 真人线上娱乐 modules will be integrated into several FYPP classrooms this autumn. Please reach out to the co-directors of FYPP, Gavin Doyle and Yolanda Padilla, with questions.

真人线上娱乐 Learning & Teaching Collaborative completed its first summer reading circle on “Teaching with AI.” In September and throughout the year, a new monthly “Teaching with AI Community of Practice” will provide additional opportunities to engage with AI tools and ideas. We look forward to sharing other new events and learning opportunities to support your pedagogical questions.

真人线上娱乐 Office of Faculty Success is excited to announce the launch of a new faculty expertise database that went live on Sept. 16. This tool showcases the research and teaching expertise of our faculty members, making it easier to identify those who are eligible for various funding opportunities and for faculty to connect with peers who share similar scholarly and pedagogical interests. Faculty members are encouraged to use this valuable resource.

With continued growth in large, sponsored research grants, the Office of Faculty Success added a grant administrator position in Sponsored Research. Welcome to Kelsey Bolinger who will primarily work directly with principal investigators (PIs) on pre-award processes, complex and/or multiple awards, and campus infrastructure grants.

A Sponsored Research SharePoint site was created for faculty to access internal research administration resources, such as specific language for research grant proposals describing UW Bothell’s research resources, facilities and departmental impact.

This summer the Center for Socio-Ecological Learning at St. Edward State Park welcomed its first cohort of local high school students to the Environmental Careers Preparedness program.

New Faculty & Staff

Upcoming Deadlines

真人线上娱乐?nominations for the Academic Affairs Staff Awards are now open?through Monday, Oct. 7. 真人线上娱乐se awards celebrate exceptional performance that bolsters the Division of Academic Affairs and propels the academic mission of UW Bothell. To learn more about these awards, please visit the following links:?Distinguished Accomplishments Award (DAA)?and?Distinguished Partner Award (DPA).

Upcoming Events

• Sept. 18, 2024:?Fall Kick Off
• Sept. 20-21, 2024:?Residential Village Move-In
• Sept. 24, 2024:?Convocation
• Sept. 25, 2024:?Fall quarter begins
• Sept. 20 – Oct. 4, 2024:?Welcome Week
• Oct. 8, 2024:?Academic Affairs Campus Welcome Event
• Nov. 1, 2024:?W Day
• Nov. 13, 2024:?I Heart UW Bothell Luncheon
• Dec. 9-13, 2024:?Finals week
• Dec. 13, 2024:?Fall quarter ends
• Dec. 17, 2024:?Fall quarter grades due
• Jan. 6, 2025:?Winter quarter begins