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. 

Welcome to the promise and renewal of a new academic year!  At the Washington Center we’ve had an eventful summer and are excited to welcome students to campus next week. 

What we did this summer? In addition to welcoming a new staff member, we spent the summer in conversation with stakeholders exploring new possibilities for realizing our mission to improve undergraduate education.  We are so grateful to the many enthusiastic supporters who came forward with great ideas - and amazing memories of your experiences at the summer institutes over the past 25 years. It is clear that the Washington Center’s signature strength is bringing people together to have important conversations that lead to action.  Yet, in those 25 years conditions have changed significantly for higher education - capped by a dizzying pace of change in the last 3 years. As we move forward in this new paradigm, we are excited to explore new directions and introduce twists on old classics. 

In this newsletter, you'll find ...

...and as always community highlights. 

In Community,

JuliA Metzker
Director
Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education

Welcome our New Staff!

Timothy Corvidae (he/him) joined the Washington Center staff in July to support a new Professional and Continuing Education endeavor at Evergreen State College. He brings a breadth of experience from grassroots and non-profit work combined with ten years of teaching at the University of Michigan and Northern Arizona University. Read more about Timothy at our website.

Summer 2023 presented an opportunity for the Washington Center to experiment with an exciting new model designed to make the Summer Institute experience accessible and affordable by bringing the action plan facilitation to each institution's campus. These Campus-based Action Planning Institutes were introduced at three institutions: Prairie View A&M University, Reed College, and SUNY at Old Westbury. Washington Center resource faculty traveled to each campus to work with their cross-divisional team. Over a four-day period, facilitators guided teams to refine their goals and complete a practical two-year action plan to guide the implementation of their project or initiative. A total of 19 faculty, staff, and administrators from the three campuses participated. 

One participant described the significant impact of holding the Campus-based Action Planning Institute on their campus: “The experience was transformative – taking our dream and making it a reality with clear benchmarks and pathways. Wonderful facilitators who were kind, caring, and supportive while pushing us to be clearer and more specific. We really needed it!”

If you’d like to learn more about the Campus-based Action Planning Institute, be sure to join us for the November Washington Center Collaborative Workshop, which will highlight the experience and plan developed by Reed College. If you are interested in holding a Campus-based Action Planning Institute at your college or university, please contact us and we’d be happy to answer any questions.

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.

Wednesday, September 27th, 2023 | 10:00 - 11:00 am (PT) / 1:00 - 2:00 pm (ET)

In these times when students and faculty are dealing with uncertainty, burnout, and anxiety, we need to intentionally build connection and community in our courses. And we need to begin doing this on the first day of class. An engaging, community-building course introduction can increase students’ sense of belonging, build anticipation, and generate excitement. In this interactive workshop, we will help translate ideas from Priya Parker’s The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters to education, and participants will plan course introductions that welcome and build community.

Cynthia Alby, Georgia College and State University
Karynne Kleine, Georgia College and State University
JuliA Metzker, The Evergreen State College
Caralyn Zehnder, University of Massachusetts Amherst

Higher education professionals across the country are working to improve student outcomes through diversity, equity, and inclusion interventions, but there are often complex challenges to meaningful progress. The Washington Center is pleased to partner with Crucial Shift Consulting to bring you a series of virtual panel discussions with recognized leaders to delve into the practical implications of managing DEI change in the classroom and across the institution.