College of Arts and Sciences

College honors for faculty, staff, students

Eighteen faculty, two staff, and five graduate students were honored for outstanding achievement at the 2022 College of Arts and Sciences Appreciation and Recognition Social in April. Professor Craig Hemmens, a national leader in ethical criminal justice practices, and Choong-Shik Yoo, a pioneer in static high pressure

Rising diversity at WSU

The graduating Class of 2022 is one of the most diverse in WSU history. This year’s largest-ever percentage of students of color completing their degrees “is a continuation of a trend that WSU has observed over the last several years,” said Saichi Oba, vice provost for enrollment management. “We believe there’s a lot more room […]

Most-read research stories of 2021

As the pandemic dragged into its second year, Washington State University research that grabbed the most media attention either provided some comfort and hope or warned of more dangers ahead. CAS faculty featured in four of the top 10 most popular stories—including the number one spot—and were well-represented in the next 76 press releases tracked […]

Faculty book club tackles Common Reading selection

Sixty faculty from across WSU are reading a shared book and engaging in group discussions surrounding equity and social justice that will impact their students and courses across the university. Hosted by the WSU Teaching Academy, a university-wide organization of teaching experts, the group’s first official book club is the current WSU Common Reading selection Tales […]

Core-to-Career program enhances career readiness

Starting early in their college program, WSU students will soon directly experience how college coursework prepares them to be career ready, thanks to a University Common Requirements (UCORE) general education pilot program. “In this way, classes across several disciplines will feature messaging about career-readiness, and these lessons will impact students even before they declare their […]

Keynote for incoming students: “You belong!”

In her faculty address at the Pullman Convocation ceremony, Melissa Parkhurst took the opportunity to not only welcome incoming students—freshmen, transfers, as well as sophomores who spent their first year online—but to bring greater recognition of the many ways WSU and the Coug family is here to support and help them in their journeys. “It […]

Outstanding seniors excel in academics, leadership, service

Writers, researchers, scientists, musicians, athletes, activists, adventurers… the 23 students who received this year’s Outstanding Senior honors from the College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) excelled in academic performance and in service to their department or school and to the broader Washington State University community. Among those honored for 2021 are Regents scholars, National Merit […]

Fueling course material innovation

WSU’s Affordable Learning Grants are helping boost course engagement and saving students thousands of dollars in textbook costs each semester. Faculty grant recipients Johanna Phelps (English), Collin Shull (Spanish) and Paul Buckley (chemistry) each took different approaches to developing open educational resources (OER), with each project proving highly beneficial to students.

Major strides in student success

The five-year WSU Transformational Change Initiative (TCI) created an excellent model for boosting student success, and plans are in the works to continue improving the program. “The intention is to help the students connect with opportunities that align with their values, play to their strengths, and move them toward their goals,” said Samantha Swindell, associate […]

Butler selected to serve as dean

Todd Butler has been named dean of Washington State University’s College of Arts and Sciences following consultative meetings and discussions with university leaders, department chairs and school directors within the college. Since assuming the interim dean position in January, he has provided strong, stable and forward-looking leadership for the college.