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CAS in the Media Arts and Sciences Media Headlines

Six Smith Teaching and Learning grants awarded

Proposals from 13 Washington State University faculty working independently or in groups have been awarded six Smith Teaching and Learning grants for 2023–24. Faculty will use the awards to address equity gaps in student performance and experiential learning to help meet employment criteria. The awards will also help faculty eliminate differences in student achievement across multi-section courses.

“The proposals we have chosen to support this year are very diverse and will have the potential to impact the education of thousands of WSU students in the future,” said William B. Davis, interim vice provost for academic engagement and student achievement. “We are pleased that many faculty applied for a Smith grant and that proposals had solid and creative ideas to benefit teaching and learning.”

Smith awards are funded by the Samuel H. and Patricia W. Smith Teaching and Learning Endowment, established in honor of retired WSU President Sam Smith in 2000. The grants are overseen by Davis.

The Smith is one of two types of Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Access (IDEA) grants available each year to specifically advance teaching and learning. Criteria detailed in the Smith grant proposal change each year.

Awardees in the College of Arts and Sciences and their projects are:

Samantha Swindell.
Swindell

Samantha Swindell, associate dean and faculty in the Dept. of Psychology, will engage in a project titled, “College of Arts and Sciences’ Integrative Interest Clusters.” This award will support the creation of “interest clusters” that will help WSU students develop skills using a unique curricular framework, connecting thematically related courses into integrated learning experiences that foster a sense of community. Clusters will likewise provide faculty with the opportunity to engage in collaborative teaching arrangements with colleagues who share similar interests but bring different expertise and perspectives to the teaching/learning context.

Ashley Boyd.
Boyd

Ashley Boyd, from the Dept. of English, received a grant for a project titled, “Integrating Social Justice and Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies Across English Education.” Her co-applicants from English are Jeff Jones, Kate Watts, and Rachel Wolney. This project seeks to streamline social-justice content and pedagogies across the four required courses in WSU’s English teaching program. The award will support efforts to: ensure the success of all students, including those who are first-generation, students of color, and/or students who are differently-abled; and to establish coherence in instructors’ engagement with materials, texts, and teaching activities to cultivate teacher-candidates’ knowledge and application of IDEA.

Christy Jacobs.
Jacobs
Emily Sablan.
Sablan

Emily Sablan and Christy Jacobs, from the Dept. of Mathematics and Statistics, received the award for a project titled, “Improving STEM Pathways in Math 100.” The goal of this project is to redesign the MATH 100 (Basic Mathematics) course to reduce the C-/D/F/W rate. Instructors will create short lecture videos for students to watch before class, activities for students to work on during class time, and weekly “Canvas check-ins.”

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Teaching Academy inducts 32 new members

The Teaching Academy at Washington State University added 32 new members to its membership roster at its first induction ceremony since 2020.

“The organization is made up of educators from every college and campus who provide advocacy, expertise, and the resources to enable faculty to engage students in transformative learning experiences and achieve academic success,” said Kara Whitman, academy chair and faculty member in the School of the Environment.

“New members infuse energy and ideas into the group and make valuable contributions to teaching and the scholarship of teaching across WSU. “We are very pleased that so many talented and qualified educators applied for membership this year.”

Induction ceremonies were held April 13 in Pullman, led by Whitman and Ashley Boyd, vice chair and faculty member in the English department.

The roster of new members includes from CAS:
Lisa Carloye, Biological Sciences; Blythe Duell, Psychology; Robin Ebert Mays, English, WSU Tri‑Cities; Brigit Farley, History, WSU Tri‑Cities; Leeann Hunter, English; Sergey Lapin, Mathematics and Statistics, WSU Everett; Yimo Liu, Biological sciences, WSU Tri‑Cities; Allison Matthews, Psychology, WSU Tri‑Cities; and Michael Pieracci, Languages, Cultures, and Race, WSU Tri‑Cities.

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Big Country News

WSU Emeritus/Emerita Society gives awards, grants to undergraduate researchers

Members of CAS in anthropology, English, earth sciences, mathematics, and psychology are among those who received awards from the Washington State University Emeritus/Emerita Society for their research in arts and humanities.

“It’s a pleasure for the members of our Society to recognize the great research projects that our students are undertaking in subjects that span so many disciplines at WSU,” said Larry Fox, retired veterinary science and animal sciences professor. He represented the organization at the April 13 ceremonies where the seven students were honored. That event was hosted by the Division of Academic Engagement and Student Achievement.

“This year’s award and grant recipients’ research and scholarship projects are among the best we’ve seen, and we look forward to seeing their work continue,” Fox said. “We wish that our support will help with that.”

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MLK Spirit Awards honor those making WSU a welcoming place

Several members of the College of Arts and Sciences were among 22 members of the broader Washington State University community honored with MLK Spirit Awards of 2023. The awards celebrate the life, legacy, and spirit of Martin Luther King Jr. by recognizing people who are dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion, and social justice (DEIJ) and continue King’s work in an extraordinary way.

Heim

Chioma Heim, academic advisor in the Department of Psychology and a member of the MLK Spirit Award selection committee, said the winners have done amazing work to make WSU and Washington state more welcoming places for everyone.

“They are contributing in ways that will have long-lasting impacts in our communities,” Heim said. “They deserve to be recognized and celebrated.”

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Showcase award winners announced

Washington State University faculty and staff making outstanding contributions to the institution and beyond are being recognized as part of the 2023 Showcase awards.

The outstanding achievements of researchers, faculty members, staff, and leaders are recognized each year in the lead up to Showcase. The annual event is a weeklong celebration of academic excellence that includes research expositions as well as talks from distinguished university representatives, and many other activities.

Cheryl Schulz.
Schulz

This year’s Distinguished Faculty Address will be given by Cheryl Schultz from the School of Biological Sciences within the College of Arts and Sciences. Schultz, who is located on the WSU Vancouver campus, is a renowned conservation biologist specializing in species threatened by habitat loss, invasive species, and global climate change.

Additional Showcase award winners in CAS:

Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award – Danh Pham, School of Music, WSU Pullman

President’s Distinguished Teaching Award for Career-Track Faculty – Vanessa Cozza, English, WSU Tri-Cities; and Sophia Tegart, Music, WSU Pullman

Sahlin Eminent Faculty Award – Keri McCarthy, Music, WSU Pullman

Sahlin Faculty Excellence Awards – Maureen Schmitter-Edgecombe, Psychology, WSU Pullman

Emeritus Society Legacy of Excellence Award – Nicholas Lovrich, Politics, Philosophy, and Public Affairs, WSU Pullman

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