Washington Center Collaborative Newsletter

March 2022

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.

A Note from the Director

Spring is just around the corner. Here at the Washington Center, in addition to the bulbs pushing up through the ground, this is the season that we start planning the summer institute program. We take great pride in constructing an institute where we can welcome campus teams and provide the support they will need to develop a strong action plan for their projects. We took a big step recently when the National Advisory Board convened to plan the institute program and identify resource faculty. After two years of engaging virtually, it felt wonderful to come together in person as a planning team.

An essential part of our planning each year is reviewing team applications. We read them carefully, so we can plan a program that provides tailored supports and the right coaching. There is such a lovely synergy between team projects and the two plenary speaker sessions we've planned. Gianina Baker will help participants explore how they might incorporate principles of healing-centered assessment into their project plans while Peter Felten will draw from nearly 400 interviews with students to frame practical advice teams can use to ensure students experience relationship-rich learning.

If you are considering sending a team, there is still plenty of time to submit your application. If you haven't yet decided, I encourage you to schedule a call with me to see if the institute is right for you.

In Community,

Julia Metzker, Director
Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education

The institute is filling up! Don't miss this opportunity to advance a project that matters to your campus.

23rd Annual National Summer Institute for
Improving Undergraduate Education

July 11-14, 2022
The Evergreen State College | Olympia, WA

Submit your team application now!

Plenary Sessions

Centering Healing for Our Students

Dr. Gianina Baker
Acting Director at the National Institute for Learning Outcomes Assessment (NILOA)

Relationship-Rich Education:
Making College Equitable, Flexible, and Humane

Peter Felten
Executive Director of the Center for Engaged Learning at Elon University

Descriptions for plenaries and pre-institute workshops available at at wacenter.evergreen.edu/institute-sessions

Applying an Equity Lens to Assessment:
Practical Frameworks and
Institution and Program-Level Examples

Virtual Workshop

Friday, April 15, 2022 | 12:00 - 1:15 pm (Pacific Time)

Jillian Kinzie
Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University Bloomington

Shawna Freeman & Aaron Moehlig
Highline College

[RSVP for Zoom Link]

Conducting assessment in ways that recognizes and centers our increasingly diverse student populations, improves equity in learning, and that helps close achievement gaps is critically important in higher education today. What does assessment look like when we attend to issues of equity? This collaborative workshop introduces equity-centered assessment and then highlights the efforts at Highline College to assess college-wide outcomes and implement program reviews and improvement with an equity lens.

The Washington Center Collaborative hosts monthly mini-workshops led by our dynamic and talented Resource Faculty. These free, virtual workshops offer a taste of what you can expect to experience at the summer institute.

National Learning Community Directory

The National Learning Communities Collaborative -- a cohort of practitioners, researchers, and organizations -- has developed a national resource directory for living-learning community, residential college, coordinated studies, and linked-course learning community programs.

Visit the directory to explore learning community programs nationwide or add your own at wacenter.evergreen.edu/national-learning-communities-directory

Community highlights

2022 Best Practices Symposium

Friday, April 29 2022
Loyola University Chicago

Creating Inclusive Communities: Promoting Equity Through Learning Communities

Co-sponsored by the Consortium for Illinois Learning Communities and the
Arrupe College of Loyola University Chicago

Visit www.consortillc.org/symposium/ for symposium program and registration details.

Upcoming webinar explores strategies to build community in the classroom - hosted by the National Learning Community Association

About the Collaborative

In 2020, the Washington Center launched the Washington Center Collaborative as a place where higher education scholars, practitioners, and administrators convene to learn with supportive colleagues. The Collaborative consists of monthly convenings, a newsletter, and a Slack space.

We encourage you to join the Washington Center Collaborative Slack for future workshop announcements and to connect with colleagues.

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