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Dear Evergreen Colleagues,
So much snow! It is all gone now but it was such fun to be in a winter wonderland for a few days. For me, it was the first time seeing snow in more than 15 years.
This week’s newsletter is chock full with wonderful events. It’s exciting to see such a vibrant community coming together virtually. I hope you’ll treat yourself to some community by attending a Black history event, celebrating the lunar new year, visiting a lecture, or joining in one of the many other offerings.
In addition to all these wonderful Evergreen events, the Washington Center is hosting monthly Collaborative Conversations for faculty and staff from campuses across the country. These conversations offer a space to engage with colleagues about issues that matter. Next Friday, our very own Dr. Jeannette Smith will frame a conversation that asks how the pandemic is impacting student equity. In March, we’ve invited Dr. Lee Skallerup Bessette, Learning Design Specialist at Georgetown University to catalyze some discussion about her work on affective labor and how it is impacting campus staff.
… and the Academic Fair is just around the corner!
In community,
JuliA Metzker
Director, Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education
The Learning and Teaching Commons newsletter is delivered to your inbox on the Friday of odd weeks of the quarter. Click here to read past newsletters.
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- The Evergreen community is invited to the YWCA Womxn of Achievement Celebration with Patrisse Cullors, co-founder of Black Lives Matter. This event takes place on Friday, February 19 | 6:30 pm. Livestream link for the Evergreen community.
- Evergreen’s Unsoeld Lecture presents Toshi Reagon on Parable of the Sower on Saturday, February 20 | 1 - 3 pm.
- The Evergreen Art Lecture Series will host Simone Nicole Savannah Wednesday, February 24th | 11:30 am - 1 pm.
- The Climate Justice and Resilience speaker series will host Evergreen faculty Shangrila Joshi who will give a talk on “Climate Justice in Global Context.” More information here.
- In February, First Peoples Multicultural, Trans, and Queer Support Services will share community-created art, poetry, music, and creative work in celebration of Black History Month. Dr. Amir Gilmore will lead a Black History Month discussion of jazz on Wednesday, February 24 | 12 pm - 1 pm. Zoom link for this event.
- The Daniel J. Evans Library and First Peoples Multicultural, Trans, and Queer Support Services presents An Evening with Charlie McNabb Wednesday, February 24 | 5 - 6 pm. Advance registration is required.
- Evergreen Tacoma Black History Month Series will feature a panel on Black Culture with Dr. Valerie Hunt and Charlie Parker from Pierce College on February 26 | 12 - 1pm.
- Please join us for a virtual celebration of Tina Kuckkahn-Miller on Friday, February 26th | 3:30 pm. More information here.
- All students, staff and faculty are invited to join a community forum to discuss the new Center for Climate Action and Sustainability on March 3 | 1:00 pm - 2:30 pm. Join the session here.
- The Academic Fair for spring quarter is coming up. The fair will take place on Wednesday, March 3 | 4 - 6 pm. More information on this virtual event can be found here.
- Jean Eberhardt’s Retirement Celebration, who recently retired from her position as Academic Advisor at the end of December, will take place on March 4 | 3:45 pm - 5:15 pm. More information can be found here.
- Please review this recent IESS staff spotlight of Dr. Allen Thompson.
- Congratulations to Evergreen Tacoma and our Tacoma elders, dean, and colleagues who were featured in the Hilltop Action Journal this week.
- Vernon Press is accepting proposals that focus on transdisciplinary approaches to the teaching of writing across the Humanities through the lens of inclusion and equity in higher education. For more information and submission details visit this page.
- Registration for the Cascadia Open Education Summit is now open. The registration fee has been waived for this event, but registration is required. For more information review this recent email.
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Inclusive Teaching Tip
Congratulations to Frederica Bowcut on her recent publication in Ethnobiology Letters, “Creation of a Field Guide to Camas Prairie Plants with Undergraduates: Project-Based Learning Combined with Epistemological Decolonization." [Read the full article]
Frederica’s work explores an approach to decolonizing scholarship and the curriculum, which serves as inspiration for today’s inclusive teaching tip. Applying the rich and evolving scholarship of decolonizing, queer, feminist, antiracist, culturally sustaining, and people-first approaches to pedagogy offers a lens through which we, as educators, can work to decenter the perspective of the “traditional student” making room for the cultural wealth and diversity of experience students bring with them to the classroom. The scale of this shift can range from making the purpose of an assignment transparent to embarking on a co-created democratic classroom in partnership with students – and everything in between. Engaging with resources and people to understand how higher education marginalizes their identities and experiences provides a valuable lens. The approach to combating colonial violence that Quetzala Carson shares in per 2017 TedXUAlberta talk, Pedagogy of the Decolonized provides an illustrative example.
Have you explored decentering pedagogies in your own teaching practice? What did you learn? If you have a story or practice you’d like to share in a future inclusive teaching tip, please contact us.
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Commons Conversation Series: Winter 2021
Commons Conversations provide space and time for Evergreen faculty and staff to discuss issues of teaching and learning, share resources, and build community.
Spiritual Care as Self-Care
February 24, 2021 | 1-1:50 PM
Facilitated by Melissa Bennett
Spiritual Care is one of several wellness focused resources available to students on campus. Learn more about spiritual care at Evergreen and how it contributes to students’ self-care and total well-being. Engage in conversation about the role of spiritual care in higher education and the ways it supports healing justice in our community.
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Washington Center Collaborative Series: Winter 2021
Each month, the Washington Center Collaborative host monthly conversations that provide a space for you to engage with fellow higher education scholars, practitioners and administrators on topics relevant to our collective work supporting student success.
Covid & Equity: How is the Pandemic Impacting Students?
Dr. Jeannette Smith, Interim Associate Dean of Student Affairs & Engagement, and Julia Metzker, Director of the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education, Evergreen State College (Olympia, WA)
DATE: Friday, February 26
TIME: 11:00 am PST | 12:00 pm MST | 1:00 pm CST | 2:00 pm EST
LOCATION: RSVP for Zoom link
Nearly a year into the COVID-19 pandemic, what have we learned? How do we take this opportunity to do our work differently as we plan for fall 2021? How do we sustain ourselves while also providing better experiences for students?
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Affective Labor: The Need for, and Cost of, Workplace Equanimity
Dr. Lee Skallerup Bessette, Learning Design Specialist with the Center for New Designs in Learning and Scholarship (CNDLS) at Georgetown University
DATE: Wednesday, March 17
TIME: 12:00 pm PST | 1:00 pm MST | 2:00 pm CST | 3:00 pm EST
LOCATION: RSVP for Zoom link
What is affection and emotional labor, and how have staff in particular been asked to perform this form of labor during COVID-19 and beyond? Join us for a discussion about what we can do to start recognizing and rewarding this important form of labor we perform.
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TEACHING RESOURCES
EdPuzzle is Now Available Through July 2021
EDpuzzle is a teaching tool used to place interactive content into pre-existing videos from a variety of sources, such as TED or YouTube, or into videos you have made. More information can be found here.
Faculty and Evergreen MOU Agreements
The United Faculty of Evergreen and the college have come to agreement on two memoranda of understanding. The first agreement updates an earlier fall MOU regarding COVID safety, and extends many of those provisions through summer 2021. The second agreement concerns Title IX, and comes in response to policy changes adopted by the college this past August, following new rules from the federal Department of Education. For more information review this recent email.
Teaching Resources Available on Canvas
The Learning and Teaching Commons has created a space in the Teaching at Evergreen Canvas: Critical Dialogues about Current Events, for faculty to share strategies and activities to support critical dialogues about current events. This space contains a discussion board and links to resources, which will continue to expand.
Make Online Courses Accessible
Access Services hosts virtual and phone drop-in appointments every Monday, Wednesday, and Thursday, from 2 - 4pm. For access to the Zoom links for these sessions, as well as other tips and resources for designing accessible and inclusive courses and programs, review this recent email.
Spring Writing Lab
As faculty make plans for spring quarter, faculty and their programs are invited to join Writing Lab, a meeting place for participants to share their writing, build a community, and crowd source best practices for working under these unusual circumstances. At the center of Writing Lab, we will dive into a series of free-writing, list making, and drawing exercises. See this email for more information.
Honoraria and Reimbursement Updates
To improve efficiency and consistency among the various divisions, the college has streamlined the honoraria and reimbursement processes. Please review the changes in this recent email.
Request a Teaching Consultation
Do you have a teaching puzzle? Is there an activity you are struggling to translate to remote teaching? Do you need some help designing asynchronous activities?
The Learning and Teaching Commons offers individual and small group remote teaching consultations. Consultations provide an opportunity to get direct feedback on your teaching puzzles. Click here for details.
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STUDENT RESOURCES
These individuals and offices are eager to support students remotely. Keep this list handy when advising students or reach out to schedule a visit to your program or course.
Cultivating Voice Tutoring Class
Please let your students know that the tutoring class, Cultivating Voice, is coming up in Spring Quarter. This 2-credit course is open to students on the Olympia and Tacoma campuses. For more information review this recent email.
Spiritual Care Appointments
Faculty, please let your students know that they can now schedule confidential, virtual appointments where they can explore issues related to belonging, purpose, identity, grief/loss, joy/celebration, personal and communal values, religious/spiritual discernment, and self-care. It can be a space for students to vent, be present to and process their own feelings, or learn practices that assist with grounding & centering. Students can email Chaplin Melissa Bennett directly to schedule an appointment.
Speedy’s Study Space and Limited In-person Student Service for Winter
Faculty, please let your students know that Evergreen has two areas of limited in-person student service this quarter. Student Activities is providing space in the CAB for a limited number of students who need a warm, well-lighted place with good wi-fi to study. Information about Speedy’s Study Space, including hours, how students can reserve a spot, and safety protocols is available online. In addition, Evergreen will continue to plan a Basic Needs Center to provide students with access to a food pantry and other essential supplies. More information here.
COVID-19 Testing Sites
Limited COVID-19 testing sites are now on campus. The College has partnered with Thurston County Public Health to host a community testing site on Fridays from 10 am to 1 pm in Parking Lot C. The clinic is walk-up, first-come, first-serve. No cost, no insurance billing. However, they will only test symptomatic people or close contacts of a confirmed case. For more information visit the Evergreen COVID-19 Health and Safety site.
Student Support at help.evergreen.edu
Evergreen has launched a new and improved help.evergreen.edu. This resource has been specifically designed to put students in touch with the people, offices, and services they need. It is still the place for technical help, but it can now connect students with Student Services and Academics including academic resources, housing, financial aid, student accounts, the library, and more. Please share this resource with your students.
Other Resources:
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DATES & DEADLINES |
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Path Convener Meeting | 3pm
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Path Group Meetings | 3-5pm
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