Our Guiding Purpose: We are guided by the academic success of all students. Ultimately, the measures of our success are improvements in students’ persistence, achievement, and graduation rates—particularly students who are the first in their families to go to college and those from groups historically under‐served in higher education. 

“So you’ve issued your last call, people have been primed to think about the end, and the event is winding down. How do you actually close? A strong closing has two phases, corresponding to two distinct needs among your guests: looking inward and turning outward. Looking inward is about taking a moment to understand, remember, acknowledge, and reflect on what just transpired— and to bond as a group one last time. Turning outward is about preparing to part from one another and retake your place in the world.”

Priya Parker from The Art of Gathering

Dear friends and colleagues,

This quote from Priya Parker's wonderful text provides a useful structure for endings. As this is our final newsletter of the academic year, I thought I would treat you (my guests) to some musings on ending the 2022-2023 season at the Washington Center.

Looking Inward - What just transpired?

Our work over the past year has been a lived experience of integrating what we learned from our response to the pandemic with a desire to return to some of the practices we treasured from "the before times." A few highlights include ...

❤️ We brought on new team members to our small but mighty crew - Welcome Jaime & Emily!
🌈 We convened teams on campus last summer for our signature action planning institute, which was a wonderful opportunity to be in community with colleagues.
🍄 We made a difficult decision to not host the institute this summer.
💡 We convened a wonderful series of interesting workshops hosted by our talented resource faculty (recordings available in slack)

Looking Outward - How are we preparing to retake our place in the world?

We are hosting a new event in August! There are only two weeks to register for the Learning that Matters: the Course Design Institute. So, for those of you who've been waiting, now is the time!

AND we will be turning our attention to convening stakeholders and engaging in generative conversations to help inform a strategic plan that attends to the new conditions for our campus partners. If you have thoughts or advice for us as we develop future directions for the Washington Center, please share them in this simple form.

Ending with intention allows us to make space for new beginnings. Cheers to all of you who are bringing your courses, projects, and other ventures to a close!

In Community,

JuliA Metzker, Director
Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education

Two Weeks Left to Register!

Learning that Matters: the Course Design Insitute

June 1 Deadline

August 4-7, 2023
Evergreen State College
Olympia, WA

Don't delay! Register now before the June 1 deadline!

Join us for an immersive course-design institute led by the authors of Learning That Matters: A Field Guide to Course Design for Transformative Education. You'll leave renewed & prepared to teach your fall course.

Visit our website for rates  - including special discounts for graduate students, community and technical college faculty, and adjunct faculty

This year Bringing Theory to Practice (BT2P) celebrates its 20th anniversary as a national higher education initiative. Over two decades, we have supported hundreds of campus-based projects, especially to advance engaged learning and student well-being. BT2P also facilitated numerous articles, essays, and edited collections to share learning and inspire future projects.  

As we look ahead, we know that the next decades will bring big challenges as higher education faces crises of legitimacy, precarity, equity, and purpose.  We also believe that the future is undetermined, and that we can draw on our collective creativity for positive change. 

Last year, BT2P launched the Paradigm Project, an ambitious project to advance transformative change in higher education through three interconnected areas of work:  enlarging the public narrative about the purposes of higher education, catalyzing innovative models of undergraduate education, and building a movement in support of holistic, engaged, and equitable education. 

How might the Washington Center and its network of campus partners connect with the Paradigm Project?  BT2P is excited about possibilities for an on-going relationship with the Washington Center as part of our movement-building strategy. We see the mission of the Washington Center aligned with the purposes of the Paradigm Project to develop transformative educational models that advance success for all students.  Often these models point to transformative practices that bridge divides between faculty and staff and that draw on different academic disciplines and areas of work.  We invite programs to share with us innovative examples of change on their own campuses as we highlight stories that point toward new educational models and connect campuses with one another in communities of practice and support. 

We also invite you to be part of the movement for change and to connect with us as you lead change efforts on your campus and in your associational networks.  BT2P’s Director David Scobey has published an open-access article on the Paradigm Project in Change magazine that is intended to spark conversation and action about transformative change in higher education.  Over the next months, we will be developing other resources to support campus change. We will be in contact with Washington Center staff to discern ways for campuses to be involved with the development and circulation of campus resources.  To stay updated about the Paradigm Project, you can subscribe to Bringing It, our biweekly electronic letter, by joining our mailing list at the bottom of our homepage.  You can reach out directly to us with your questions and ideas for connections and collaborations at  info@bttop.org  We look forward to continuing our conversations with the Washington Center about areas of collaboration and about our shared work to transform higher education.

The Washington Center Collaborative is a space for higher education faculty, scholars, practitioners, and administrators to come together and discuss emergent issues of importance to our collective work educating and supporting students. The Collaborative consists of free virtual workshops, a newsletter, and a slack space.

Survey on Grading Practices in Higher Ed

Due: June 1

Please consider completing this 10-minute anonymous survey seeking insight into grading practices used by teachers in higher education.  This study, by Eugene Kim and Marilyn DeLaure (faculty at the University of San Francisco), aims to discover the extent to which university faculty and administrators are exploring and implementing alternatives to traditional grading practices, and the degree to which faculty are engaging in conversations about grading practices on their campuses.  Those who complete the survey by June 1, 2023, can enter a raffle to win a $100 Amazon gift card.

Take the survey now →

Terry O’Banion Legacy Award

Due: June 9

The Terry O’Banion Legacy Award supports preparation of a paper that presents an innovative and thought-provoking examination of and response to a major issue or challenge facing community and technical colleges. The issue or challenge may or may not be one that is widely recognized by the community and technical college field, but it must have impact across the range of public community and technical colleges and across international borders.

Learn more →

Proposal Submissions Open for 30th National Conference on Students in Transition

Due: June 14

The 30th National Conference on Students in Transition will be held September 30 - October 2, 2023 in Jacksonville, Florida. High-quality concurrent sessions, facilitated dialogues, and vendor presentation proposals are invited on topics addressing a range of student transitions within and across higher education sectors. Proposals will be accepted through 11:59 PM PST June 14, 2023. For more information on session types, submitting an online proposal, and selection criteria, visit our website. 

Learn more →

NLCA Short Talk: Learning Community Peer Mentor Training

Tuesday, June 20, 2023 4:00-5:00pm EST, via Zoom

Peer Mentors are the life blood of a successful LC Program; incorporating well-trained PMs into LC pedagogy is essential for increasing students’ sense of belonging, access to support and success in college. In this NLCA Short Talk, we will highlight the Wayne State University Peer Mentor training program, how it was developed, how we incorporated IPTPC certification, and how you can use some of our lessons learned to create or expand your own PM training programs.  

Meeting Link→

Applications Now Open for Paul P. Fidler Research Grant

Due July 10

The Paul P. Fidler Research Grant competition is open to those planning to conduct research on college student transitions. The comprehensive award package includes a stipend, travel to two national conferences, and more..  

Learn more→

Now Accepting Nominations for 2023 Outstanding Learning Community Advocate Award

Due: September 15

The National Learning Communities Association's NLCC Planning Committee is pleased to announce the 2023 Outstanding Learning Community Advocate Award to recognize and reward individuals for their exemplary contributions to learning communities on their campuses and beyond.

Learn more →