November 14, 2022

PSO Board Member Spotlight: Sean C. Thomas

Why I Joined the PSO Board

Sean C. Thomas

I “officially” joined UW in January 2020 and my office is located in downtown Seattle.  I had only been to campus (Health Science) once before COVID-19 transitioned the majority of us to working from home.  If I was not feeling disconnected from the greater UW community before, I certainly was now.  I spent the prior 13 years before UW working for law firms and when the PSO was offering a legislative update in Fall of 2021, it felt like a safe first step into connecting with the UW community at large.

It was after this first positive experience that I decided that I started attending PSO Board meetings.  At one of those first meetings, the issue of Catalyst Surveys being came up retired and how the Board wanted to handle elections going forward.  I made a comment that I had just revised my departments old Catalyst Surveys in MS Forms and that the new format increased engagement significantly.  The Chairs of the Election and Recruitment Committee asked me join one of their upcoming meetings to explore converting the existing ballot forms.  I took a chance and started volunteering with the committee and designed the new ballot forms that were used for this past Spring’s Board elections.

Today I am on the Board for the 2022 – 2024 academic years, Chair of the Elections and Recruitment Committee, and serve on two faculty councils.  In the nearly four years I have been a UW employee, my engagement with the greater community has expanded exponentially thanks to my work with the PSO Board.  If you’re looking for a way to meet new people outside of your small corner of UW, and do amazing work along the way, come see what the PSO has to offer.