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Lessons learned responding to the COVID-19 pandemic

Washington State University has made dramatic changes to its operations in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In-person classes across the system moved to online delivery. Vital student services, including academic advising, tutoring and career services, followed suit. Many employees made the adjustment to working from home, while others continue to report in-person in order to keep essential operations running smoothly.

In the course of responding to the ongoing public health emergency, lessons have been learned that will be relevant even after the return of normalcy.

Matthew Jockers.
Jockers

“Though many classes are settling into a groove, we are still facing a number of technical challenges specific to students who for one reason or another lack access to broadband internet or to computers necessary for specific types of learning,” Matt Jockers, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, said.

WSU has stepped up to this challenge by lending laptops to students and is working to make Wi-Fi available at Extension offices across the state.

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WSU Insider

Tuba student earns second place in national competition

Timothy Schrader holding his tuba.
Schrader

Timothy Schrader of Blaine, Washington, a first-year student at Washington State University majoring in tuba performance and music education, recently placed second in the 2020 Music Teachers National Association Senior Brass Division Competition on April 13.

He was one of five finalists from a national pool of applicants for the online competition. Timothy performed an impressive program of music originally written for tuba as well as transcriptions. Major repertoire included Edward Gregson’s Tuba Concerto and the Fantasy for Tuba by Malcolm Arnold.

“This is an enormous accomplishment for this up-and-coming performer,” said Chris Dickey, clinical associate professor of music at WSU. “As Timothy’s private teacher, I am so proud of what he has done. I knew he would do well because of his constant devotion to tuba and music making. He is most deserving of this honor.”

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WSU Insider

Service-learning boosts academic performance and retention rates in collaborative study

In a first of its kind study at Washington State University, students taking introductory biology coupled with a service-learning project, performed better academically and had improved first-year retention rates compared with students who did not participate in service-learning. The differences were most profound among first-generation and multicultural students.

Lisa Carloye
Carloye
Paul Verrell.
Verrell

Going into the study, School of Biological Sciences Professors Paul Verrell and Lisa Carloye were skeptical that a single service-learning experience incorporated into their course would have any discernible effect.

“That we found a statistically significant effect both surprised me and enthused me,” said Verrell. “I was long aware of the challenges faced by first-generation students being one myself, and so I was extremely pleased to see how well they benefited from one simple intervention.”

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WSU Insider

CDSC archivist Anastasia Tucker earns Mellon Fellowship

Anastasia Tucker.
Tucker

Anastasia Tucker, education and outreach archivist in the Washington State University Center for Digital Scholarship and Curation (CDSC), has been chosen from among more than 60 candidates for an Andrew W. Mellon Fellowship for Diversity, Inclusion and Cultural Heritage. Fellows will participate in a three-year program that includes an orientation, coursework through award sponsor Rare Book School at the University of Virginia, community symposia and other activities relating to multicultural collections and trainings.

Tucker provides support for several ongoing projects administered by the CDSC, a center jointly run by the WSU Libraries and WSU College of Arts and Sciences. She coordinates content on the Sustainable Heritage Network, a repository of resources with a focus on the preservation of cultural heritage items in tribal archives, libraries and museums.

Tucker also plans and orchestrates the Tribal Digital Stewardship Cohort Program, a 12-month program for tribal archivists, librarians and museum professionals across the United States to learn the skills necessary for managing and caring for cultural materials, emphasizing local tribal needs and values. Other roles Tucker fulfills within the CDSC include designing and implementing curricula for workshops focused on digital scholarship, providing classroom instruction and organizing special events.

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WSU Insider

Big Study Finds Small Territory Usage For Washington’s Medium-Sized Wild Lynx

When researchers at Washington State University set out to find where Canada lynx are living in Washington, they’d hoped to find more of the medium-sized cats.

Daniel Thornton.
Thornton

“I think there’d been quite a bit of concern among lynx researchers and agencies about the status of lynx in Washington,” said WSU professor in the School of the Environment Daniel Thornton.

In a study recently published in the Journal of Wildlife Management, Thornton and lead author Travis King found that lynx only occupy about 20% of potential habitat in Washington.

Travis King.
King

King, a doctoral student in the School of the Environment at the time, covered about a quarter of the state, driving and hiking to potential lynx habitat. Once there, he’d set up trail cameras hoping to capture the elusive lynx or its prey, such as snowshoe hare. They set up the cameras on roads and trails considered “movement corridors” for lynx and other wildlife.

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