The Professional Staff Organization Events Committee is excited to invite you to our November Virtual Lunch & Learn! Join us Thursday, November 16th 12-1pm via Zoom to learn about the Office of the Ombud and their value for Professional Staff at the University of Washington. The Office of the Ombud’s mission is to provide high quality, client-focused services for preventing, managing, navigating and resolving conflict at the UW while also working to improve the fairness and effectiveness of the University’s systems and operations. During this lunch and learn session, a staff member from the Office of the Ombud will utilize examples of real scenarios and answer participant questions to educate us all on engaging with this tremendous resource. Mark your calendars and RSVP today: https://bit.ly/PSOnovember16
Category: Events
September Social
The Professional Staff Organization Events Committee is excited to invite you to the September Social! Join us September 12 at Schultzy’s Bar & Grill to meet other professional staff, hear about upcoming PSO events, and celebrate the start of fall! Light appetizers/snacks available while they last, as well as giveaway items! You are welcome to purchase your own beverages. Please RSVP HERE and feel free to drop in anytime between 5:00-6:30pm.
Date: Tuesday September 12
Time: 5:00-6:30pm
Location: Schultzy’s Bar & Grill (4114 University Way NE)
We look forward to seeing you there!
2023 DEI Forum Inspiring Belonging and Creating Community
The quad is buzzing with tourists, the cherry blossoms have bloomed, and April has officially arrived. The Professional Staff Organization is looking forward to welcoming Husky students, staff, and faculty to join the PSO for the 2023 Annual DEI Forum this Spring. This year is focused on inspiring belonging and creating community. Rickey Hall, Vice President for Minority Affairs & Diversity and University Diversity Officer, will provide an update on the University of Washington’s progress on Diversity Efforts, as well as join a panel composed of Tri-Campus Leadership to continue the conversation on DEI endeavors.
During the 2-day event, attendees will have the opportunity to learn from Campus Leadership, Faculty, and Professional Staff while engaging in various workshops and small group discussions rooted in our commitment to social justice. In this space, we intend to spark conversation and further connection throughout our UW Tri-Campus community. Session topics will offer insight on building inclusive spaces, understanding the work necessary to achieve belonging, and begin paving paths for marginalized communities to succeed in all aspects on our campuses.
Register now for the DEI Forum!
If you are a Professional Staff Member that is passionate about advancing Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, the PSO DEI Committee is currently seeking members to join in on developing future programming and contribute to engagement efforts that support our diverse Pro Staff community. You can inquire about joining the DEI Committee or other Standing Committees on the PSO Committees’ page.
The PSO thanks our sponsors, Greater Washington State HERC, PSO Board members, and contributors to the PSO fund that have made this event and our work possible throughout the year.
PSO Spring Celebration – May 17
The PSO is excited to host the annual Spring Celebration with UW President Ana Mari Cauce on May 17, 3:00–4:00 p.m. The Celebration will be VIRTUAL on Zoom; however, there will be an in-person social at HUB Games following the celebration (4:30-5:30pm) for folks to meet other professional staff! We will have refreshments and PSO gear to give out at the HUB Games social.
Join us as we celebrate the end of another extraordinary academic (and fiscal) year. Connect with other professional staff, meet the new PSO Board members, see what your PSO has been up to, and converse with UW President Ana Mari Cauce. This year, we are also excited to announce the recipients of our inaugural DEIB Excellence Award at the Celebration! We hope to see you there!
Click here to register and submit your questions to the president by May 1.
PSO Spring Event Survey Due March 31
Professional staff are invited to complete a brief survey (<1 minute) to share ideas for an optional in-person social following the Spring Celebration on May 17. Your feedback will help the PSO Events Committee create an engaging in-person event for professional staff to meet one another and celebrate the end of the quarter.
The deadline for completing the survey is March 31.
Save the Date – PSO Spring Celebration will be held via Zoom on May 17, 3-4pm. In-person social will be held after the celebration, 4:30-5:30pm.
PSO to host DEI Forum in April, focused on Belonging
The PSO is excited to host the 7th DEI Forum, with the theme “Inspiring Belonging and Creating Community”. The purpose of this regular forum is to an intersectional space for those interested in advocating for equity to come together to share ideas, network, and build coalitions to advance anti-racism and social justice efforts across UW and beyond. This includes intersecting aspects of identity such as race, ability, age, gender, sexual orientation, language, socioeconomic status, and religion.
This year, the DEI Forum theme will be “Inspiring Belonging and Creating Community”. Pat Wadors, the CHRO of ServiceNow, is credited with adding “belonging” to the Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) space. As she says, “D&I may capture your head, but belonging captures your heart.” In this spirit, the DEI Forum intends to create an inclusive space of belonging, and to provide resources, ideas, and connections so that we as a UW community can support each other in building and sustaining inclusive spaces of belonging in our communities, at UW and beyond.
The forum is developed by pro-staff and for pro-staff, and is open to all of the UW community who wish to participate!
Register now for the 2023 DEI Forum
- When: April 19, 12-4pm; and April 20, 9am-1pm
- Where: Zoom
Check out our event page, which will be updated as we finalize the program, and register to join us!
Join us for virtual PSO Spring Celebration 2022, with President Cauce
Join us on May 25, from 3pm — 4pm, ONLINE, to celebrate as we near the end of another extraordinary academic (and fiscal) year. Connect with other professional staff, meet the new PSO Board members, see what your PSO has been up to, and converse with UW President Ana Mari Cauce. We look forward to this gathering every year, and hope to see you there!
Submit a question for President Cauce to address at the Spring Celebration before May 1st.
Womxn of Color Celebration a Wonderful Success, Again!
The 19th annual Womxn of Color Celebration was successfully held online on March 8th. An event for and by womxn of color was a coming together to find community and share stories and experiences from around the campus to build a stronger future.
Polly Olsen, Director DEAI & Decolonization, Tribal Liaison at the Burke Museum and Charlotte Cote, łuutiis Charlotte Coté (Tseshaht/Nuu-chah-nulth), Ph.D.; Associate Professor, Department of American Indian Studies joined this celebration to share stories and their research to shed light on the difficult history of the region and the land we stand on and circled back to resilience and restoration for the indigenous peoples of this land.
Spring 2022 DEI Forum: registration now open!
After a successful first Tri-Campus DEI Forum in autumn 2021 around the theme of Community, volunteers from the UW Professional Staff Organization (PSO) and departments across UW’s three campuses are once again joining together to organize and facilitate a virtual 2-half-day Diversity Equity Inclusion (DEI) Forum, this time focused on Action. The DEI Forum is developed by staff, for staff, but open to faculty and students as well. It will take place via Zoom on April 20-21, 2022.
The goal of the event is to create an intersectional space for those interested in advocating for equity to come together to share ideas, network, and build coalitions to advance anti-racism and social justice efforts across UW and beyond. This includes intersecting aspects of identity such as race, ability, age, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and religion.
You can now register for this event through the Whole U.
We also encourage UW employees and community members with a connection to UW who are doing DEI work in this area to submit proposals for sessions here. Proposals that are action-oriented and interactive are particularly sought!
More information here: https://www.washington.edu/pso/get-involved/pso-events/2022-dei-forum/. If you have any questions or would like to get involved, please email us at psoboard@uw.edu.
PSO Legislative Preview Recap
On November 17, the PSO hosted its annual Legislative Session Preview, with guest speaker Joe Dacca, UW Director of State Relations. Over 100 people joined in to hear Dacca share the University’s legislative agenda and take questions. An important highlight is that compensation is the University’s top agenda item for the coming legislative session that begins on Monday, January 10th. A copy of the 2022 UW State Legislative Agenda can be found here.
For more information about the Office of State Relations, please visit their website. For more information about the PSO Legislative Committee, please reach out to Committee Chair Alex Bolton.