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Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Author: Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Reviewed 9/22

UW recognized for institutional commitment to community engagement

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Graphic for 2020 Carnegie designationAll three University of Washington campuses are among the 119 U.S. colleges and universities to receive the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification this year, an elective designation that indicates institutional commitment to community engagement.

This important classification is awarded following a process of self-study by each institution, which is then assessed by a national review committee led by the Swearer Center for Public Engagement at Brown University, the administrative and research home for the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification.

Read the campus announcement here.

The Classification for Community Engagement is not simply a designation from the Carnegie Foundation. The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification has been the leading framework for institutional assessment and recognition of community engagement in U.S. higher education for the past 14 years. It requires evidence-based documentation of institutional practice and a process of self-assessment and quality improvement for community engagement.

“This is more than a point-of-pride for the UW,” says Ed Taylor, UAA’s vice provost and dean. “Receiving this classification truly puts into focus that the three core entities of the University of Washington’s mission — teaching, research and service — are all equally important and inspire our intention to serve the public good.”

“The expectation that we have in UAA for all our students is to learn and to serve,” he continued. “Our hope is that they leave the University and be servant-leaders and thoughtful public citizens.”

Photo of undergrad and elementary school student working on Telling Our Stories project.
Undergrad Auston Jimmicum and elementary school students work on their video for Pipeline Project’s Telling Our Stories project. This was one of the featured projects in the application for this designation.

Toward that end, UAA recently brought together its community engagement and leadership education programs, including Othello-UW Commons, in one center. Engaging students in college access, P-12 student success, community-engaged courses and internships, all while emphasizing strong community partnerships and leadership development, make plain that educating undergraduates to be thoughtful servant-leaders in and with community is among our highest priorities.

UAA programs whose community-engagement work was included in the application are the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center, Dream Project, JumpStart, Honors Program, Husky Leadership Initiative, Mary Gates Endowment for Students, and the Pipeline Project.

The application process for the Seattle campus was led by Rachel Vaughn, former director of the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center, and Jen Davison, program director at Urban@UW, and included a group of more than 30 colleagues from across campus as well as community-based partners. The study produced a rich and compelling application and set of recommendations for the University’s next steps in community engagement.

— Content for this announcement was also drawn from the UW News release. 

Student-athletes are golden on and off the field

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Student-athletes work hard to be top competitors in their respective sport. They also take the “student” part of student-athlete seriously and work hard in the classroom.

In autumn quarter 2019, the overall department GPA was 3.27. This is a new all-time high since tracking began in autumn of 2003.

Congratulations to UW student athletes and their networks of support for a terrific autumn quarter in the classroom!

Check out more student-athlete academic highlights here.

Resilience Lab announces 2018 seed grant recipients

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Grass seedlings imageThe University of Washington Resilience Lab recently awarded 16 grants to UW projects designed to cultivate kindness, compassion and gratitude; to engage hardships, setbacks and failures with compassion and vulnerability; to foster connectedness, belonging and community; and to embrace both common humanity and diversity within the human experience. Students, staff and faculty from all three campuses applied for seed grants to fund research, workshops, retreats, activities, faculty-invited speakers and other events tailored for students, faculty and staff in support of these aims. The Resilience Lab awarded a total of $25,000 to the individuals and groups. This base amount was increased by 41% through matching funds from the associated schools, colleges and departments. The combined support raises the total value of these awards to more than $35,500.

 

The range of proposals demonstrate the need and collective interest to realize resilience-building and compassion-building work. In all, students, faculty and staff submitted 44 proposals from 29 different departments across all three UW campuses. From that group, 16 grants were made to fund the ideas of faculty, staff, graduate and undergraduate students representing 13 departments from all three UW campuses. Funded projects are intended to benefit the broad UW community.

 

“The creative ideas people had to build connection and support well-being was just inspiring,” said Anne Browning, director of the Resilience Lab. Projects range from alleviating burnout among medical residents, a resilience and compassion podcast series, a wellness challenge and much more, all with the intent of creating more compassionate and resilient communities.

 

For their project, “What Compassion Looks Like: Journaling for Self-Kindness,” School of Medicine associate professors Jennifer Best and Jennifer Zumsteg said, “We hope to break down Health Sciences silos, foster vulnerability and combat isolation in clinical practice and education; cultivate peer communities; and curate stories of self-compassion to sustain our community.”

 

A list of funded projects and the project leads is below. For more information about the projects, visit the UW Resilience Lab’s website. Funding for these seed grants is provided by the Maritz Foundation.

 

Funded projects and project leads are:

 

A Pilot Study of Search Inside Yourself for UW Faculty and Staff

Project lead: Anthony Back, Professor, School of Medicine, Oncology, Seattle

 

Building Compassion and Promoting Burnout Recovery Through Resident Team Reflection

Project lead: Michelle Lam, Resident Physician, School of Medicine, Seattle

 

CARE Training to Prevent Burnout and Improve Well-Being at the Center for Equity and Inclusion

Project lead: Jane Compson, Associate Professor, Politics, Philosophy and Public Affairs, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Tacoma

 

Changing the Culture of the University: Beginning Within

Project lead: Kelly Edwards, Associate Dean, Student and Postdoctoral Affairs in the Graduate School; Professor, Department of Bioethics and Humanities, School of Medicine, Seattle

 

Cultivating Compassion and Resilience Through Mindful Inquiry

Project lead: Anil Coumar, Clinical Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, School of Medicine, Seattle

 

Engaging Students in Creating Inclusive, Welcoming and Connected Learning Environments

Project lead: Sujata Pradhan, Associate Professor, Rehabilitation Medicine, School of Medicine, Seattle

 

Knit for Nice

Project lead: Alyssa Taylor, Senior Lecturer, Bioengineering, College of Engineering and School of Medicine, Seattle

 

Map of Restorative Spaces on UW Seattle’s Campus

Project lead: Beck Tench, Ph.D. student, The Information School

 

The Resiliency Collective

Project lead: Marissa Jackson, Master of Public Health student, School of Public Health

 

Resilience and Compassion Podcast Series

Project lead: Gregory Heller, Adviser, Senior Associate Director, MBA Career Management, Foster School of Business, Seattle

 

Self Care is Revolutionary

Project lead: Alice Pederson, Lecturer, School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences, Bothell

 

Starting the Year off Right: Cultivating Community in the Epidemiology Department

Project lead: Jen Balkus, Assistant Professor, Department of Epidemiology, School of Medicine, Seattle

 

Trauma Informed Yoga

Project lead: Brittany Bowhall, Student Advocate for Sexual Assault, Relationship Violence, Stalking, and Harassment, Health and Wellness, Division of Student Life, Seattle

 

What Compassion Looks Like: Journaling for Self -Kindness

Project lead: Jennifer Best, Associate Professor, General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, and Jennifer Zumsteg, Assistant Professor, General Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Seattle

 

The Whole U Summer Wellness Challenge

Project lead: Lauren Updyke, Assistant Director, The Whole U, Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma

 

About the UW Resilience Lab

The Resilience Lab promotes resilience development while normalizing failure and acknowledging the wide range of hardships our community members have faced and continue to face. As a laboratory space, the Resilience Lab tries new and creative methods for rethinking the UW experience in and out of the classroom.

UAA’s Associate Dean Janice DeCosmo elected to president of national Council on Undergraduate Research

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Photo of Janice DeCosmo
Janice DeCosmo, associate vice provost and associate dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs Photo: Photo by Bryan Nakata

Janice DeCosmo, associate vice provost for undergraduate research, associate dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, and affiliate faculty member in the Department of Earth and Space Sciences has been elected president of the national nonprofit Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR).

A longtime proponent of undergraduate research, DeCosmo was the first director of the UW’s Undergraduate Research Program and has been involved in or running the Undergraduate Research Symposium since its inception in 1997. Her work has been instrumental in developing a national model in undergraduate research at the UW. In 2016-17, more than 8,400 undergraduates participated in undergraduate research. In the recent 2018 Undergraduate Research Symposium, more than 1,250 students presented their work.

“Our Undergraduate Research Program — its size, breadth and excellence,” says UW President Ana Mari Cauce, “is one of the crown jewels of our Husky Experience.”

“My early experiences with undergraduate research were as a graduate student,” says DeCosmo, “where myself and my peers found ourselves mentoring first-generation college students who were struggling with coursework and finding their way at a large university. As the students learned our protocols and became part of our teams, we saw them blossom and gain new confidence; their grades also improved. That experience stayed with me, and later I jumped at the chance to develop a grant-funded undergraduate research initiative.”

DeCosmo says the community and network of CUR members helped bring ideas and collegial support as the UW’s Undergraduate Research Program developed and matured.

For nearly two decades, DeCosmo has been an active CUR member. Her diverse volunteer experiences within CUR include service on program review and nominations vetting committees, undergraduate research programs division chair, two terms on the governing board for the National Conference on Undergraduate Research, and a term on CUR’s executive board. A prolific writer and presenter on undergraduate research scholarship, DeCosmo serves as issue editor for CUR’s flagship journal, Scholarship and Practice of Undergraduate Research (SPUR).

“I am humbled to be president-elect of [CUR],” says DeComo, “and I look forward to advancing opportunity for students in all disciplines and types of institutions to have the chance to develop their creativity, critical thinking, and communications skills — so essential to their future success in work and life — through research.”

DeCosmo earned a BS in physics from the University of Iowa in 1979 and a Ph.D. in atmospheric sciences from the University of Washington in 1991, specializing in atmosphere-ocean interaction. She oversees the UW’s Center for Experiential Learning and Diversity, which includes undergraduate research, service learning, leadership, and scholarship programs. She represents the UW on statewide higher education policy groups that oversee new academic programs and the transfer process for students from Washington’s two-year colleges to four-year institutions. DeCosmo was director for 10 years of the Washington NASA Space Grant Consortium, a NASA-funded effort to support innovative education and research initiatives across the state.

University of Washington Undergraduate Research Program

The Undergraduate Research Program facilitates research experiences for undergraduates with UW faculty members across the disciplines. Its signature event is the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, which happens each May. This year, more than 1,250 students presented their research. The Undergraduate Research Program is an Undergraduate Academic Affairs program, housed in the Center for Experiential Learning and Diversity.

 

University of Washington

The UW is one of the world’s preeminent public universities. Our impact on individuals, our region and the world is profound — whether we are launching young people into a boundless future or confronting the grand challenges of our time through undaunted research and scholarship. Ranked No. 13 in the world on the 2017 Academic Ranking of World Universities, the UW educates more than 54,000 students annually.

 

Council on Undergraduate Research

The Council on Undergraduate Research supports faculty development for high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. More than 700 institutions and nearly 13,000 individuals belong to CUR. CUR believes that the best way to capture student interest and create enthusiasm for a discipline is through research in close collaboration with faculty members.

 

This announcement draws upon and is based on the announcement from the Council for Undergraduate Research.

Two UW undergrads receive the Udall Award

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Photo of Ashley Lewis and Alishia Orloff
Udall scholars Ashley Lewis (left) and Alishia Orloff (right).

Juniors Ashley Lewis and Alishia Orloff will join 50 students from around the country as Udall Scholars. A competitive award, the review committee selected this year’s scholars from 437 nominees based on the student’s commitment to careers in the environment, Native health care or tribal policy, as well as their leadership potential, public service and academic achievement.

The scholarship provides each student with up to $7,000 for use on tuition, room, board or supplies. The Udall Foundation also hosts a five-day orientation in Tucson, Arizona. There, scholars will meet each other and program alumni, complete a case study and interact with community leaders in environmental fields, tribal health care and governance.

For both Lewis and Orloff, this scholarship aligns closely with their career goals.

Ashley Lewis

Photo of Ashley Lewis
Udall Scholar Ashley Lewis

Hometown: Elma, WA
Graduation: 2019 (projected)
Major: Aquatic and Fishery Sciences; Communications

“Being named a Udall scholar for the second time provides more opportunity to strengthen tribal nations and to protect resources of the Pacific Northwest, I couldn’t be more proud to be among a group of people that are committed to changing our world.”

Business owner and outdoor enthusiast Ashley Lewis is eager to protect the outdoors she loves so much. As a female Native American fishing guide, she is eager to show the world that leaders come in all forms. Through her fishing business, she has become a leading voice in the community: as a brand ambassador for Shimano, and as a contributor to ESPN’s show “The Outdoor Line.” Connections to her community are strong. As an active member of the Quinault Indian Nation, Lewis is dedicated to working with her tribe to advocate for our natural resources. She also volunteers with The Fallen Outdoors, where she supports American Army Veterans’ rehabilitation through connecting with nature.

The combination of her passion for the outdoors, with her drive to protect our Northwest environments, prompted her to return to college. She is currently pursuing her bachelor’s degree, with the long-term goal of earning a master’s in aquatic and fishery sciences. Professionally, she plans to work in public policy, where she can help strengthen Pacific Northwest fisheries, and show that investing in outdoor spaces benefits the larger community.    

Alishia Orloff

Photo of Udall Scholar Alishia Orloff
Udall Scholar Alishia Orloff

Hometown: Tacoma, WA
Graduation: 2019 (projected)
Major: Environmental Science and Resource Management

An active researcher, Alishia Orloff has a strong interest in terrestrial and riparian environments. Fascinated by the interdisciplinary processes that drive our environments, Orloff is dedicated to continuously learning more about these complex ecosystems. Throughout her research, Orloff has partnered with the University of Minnesota Duluth, Ojibwe Resource Management and the Tulalip Tribes. Orloff believes the management of natural resources affects each person’s daily life. She views helping people understand the source of these resources is crucial to protecting the environment. Recognizing the importance of community involvement, she currently volunteers as a Students Expressing Environmental Dedication (SEED) executive, where she promotes sustainability on campus, and as a native plant nursery volunteer, where she cultivates native plants.

In the future, Orloff aspires to earn a doctoral degree and become a leading researcher at an organization that proactively engages the community to preserve our natural resources.

“The Udall award serves as a recognition of my stewardship in the environment with a specific focus in traditional ecological knowledge thus far. Through this award, I can more vigorously develop a stronger connection to protecting our natural resources and serving the communities that are impacted. I am greatly appreciative of this opportunity to collaborate with other great stewards from around the nation and work together to broaden our understanding and exposure of environmental and social issues.”

Learn more about scholarship opportunities at UW

The Udall Scholarship application process is supported by the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards (OMSFA), a UAA program. OMSFA works with faculty, staff and students to identify and support promising students in developing the skills and personal insights necessary to become strong candidates for this and other prestigious awards.

 

Undergraduates to present research spanning academic disciplines on May 18, 2018

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On Friday, May 18, more than 1,200 University of Washington undergraduates and visiting undrgraduates student scholars will participate in the 21st Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium — an event that is one of the largest of its kind in the nation.

The Symposium runs from 11 a.m.–6 p.m. on the UW Seattle campus. Students will present their research in poster, oral and performing arts sessions in Mary Gates Hall and Johnson Hall, and in a visual arts and design showcase in Odegaard Undergraduate Library (see event details below). UW President Ana Mari Cauce is scheduled to provide opening remarks at 11 a.m. in Mary Gates Hall.

Photo looking at poster session from above

Through undergraduate research, students contribute to groundbreaking work and gain the experience necessary to one day lead innovative research themselves. UW undergraduates are getting involved in research in increasing numbers — more than 8,400 students participated in research in 2016–17. More than 1,000 faculty, post-doc, research staff and graduate student mentors supported this year’s Symposium presenters through their research, helping students develop subject area knowledge, transferable skills and an entrepreneurial perspective that will prepare them for future employment, education and civic engagement.

Student presents her research in an oral presentationStudents will share their research on topics as diverse and broad as better diagnosis of pediatric concussions; improving regional climate prediction; innovations in pain management; predicting tooth decay; gratitude in relation to adolescent mental health; the complexity of the canoe in Samoan culture; forensic anthropology; and much, much more.

Student presents her sculpture in the visual art and design sessionThe titles of students’ presentations gives more detail about the range and complexity of their projects. A small sampling of titles include:

  • BrainNet: First Three-Person Brain-to-Brain Communication System
  • Star Formation in Low Metallicity Environments
  • Curation: A Performance
  • My Work as an Artist and Designer on the DFL’s 3D Game, Hug the Line
  • Forensic Anthropology and Human Rights in Latin America

The Symposium is open to selected undergraduates from other institutions, and we are thrilled to welcome presenters from 22 other institutions in addition to McNair Scholar institutions, the Seattle Colleges, Montana State University, Washington State University and the University of Victoria (complete list below).

The Symposium is organized by Undergraduate Academic Affairs’ Undergraduate Research Program.

Event Details

Student presents his research in a poster presentationWhat: The 21st Annual Research Symposium at the University of Washington

Who: More than 1,200 inspiring undergraduates at UW presenting ground-breaking research and selected undergraduates from other institutions

When: Friday, May 18, 2018, 11:00 a.m.­–6:00 p.m.

Where: Mary Gates Hall, select rooms in Johnson Hall, and Odegaard Undergraduate Library
Plan ahead: See event schedule and search the Online Proceedings at symposium.uw.edu.

Institutions Represented

  • Bellevue College
  • Boise State University
  • California State University San Marcos
  • College of St. Scholastica
  • Edmonds Community College
  • Everett Community College
  • Grays Harbor College
  • Heritage University
  • North Seattle College
  • Pacific Lutheran University
  • Pierce College
  • Portland State University
  • Shoreline Community College
  • Seattle Pacific University
  • South Seattle College
  • Seattle Central College
  • University of Nevada Las Vegas
  • Wenatchee Valley College
  • Western Washington University
  • University of Puget Sound
  • University of Wyoming
  • Whitman College

 

Photos by David Ryder.

UW senior Timothy Welsh selected to be 1 of 15 Churchill Scholars nationally

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Photo of Timothy Welsh
Timothy Welsh is the University of Washington’s most recent Churchill Scholar. Photo: Bryan Nakata

A Pacific Northwest native, Timothy Welsh grew up fascinated by the natural world. Over the years, his career goals transitioned from geology to forestry, until he discovered chemistry.

“What made me finally decide on chemistry as the path for me is an appreciation for the remarkable microscopic and biochemical functions that are crucial to every aspect of interactions between the biotic and abiotic environment.”

A triple-major in chemistry, biochemistry, and applied and computational mathematical sciences, and Honors student, Welsh’s research endeavors seek to better understand some of the biochemical mechanisms underlying these processes. “Elucidating these mechanisms will not only deepen our understanding of nature, but I believe will help provide solutions to some of the biggest problems facing the human race,” he says. Welsh’s drive to discover led to his selection as a Churchill Scholar.

An extremely competitive award — Welsh is one of only 15 in the country — Churchill scholars are selected for their proven talent in research and ability to make significant contributions in the sciences, engineering or mathematics. Welsh was selected from 101 applicants for this scholarship, which covers full tuition for one year of master’s study at Churchill College in the University of Cambridge; a stipend; travel costs; and a chance to apply for a $2,000 special research grant.

“Receiving the Churchill is truly a great honor. I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to pursue research at Cambridge, and I believe that the academic environment at Cambridge will teach me what it means to be a global research collaborator and will set me up to be successful for the rest of my academic career.”

—Timothy Welsh

 

Welsh first worked in a lab as a high school student during a summer internship at the Oregon Health & Sciences University, and has been researching ever since, working in labs from the UW to Switzerland. In 2017, Welsh published a first-author paper, sharing the results of his summertime work in Dr. Walter Loveland’s nuclear chemistry lab at Oregon State University. Currently a member of Professor Stefan Stoll’s lab, Welsh’s research now focuses on developing techniques to determine the structure and changing shapes of proteins.

“The Churchill scholarship,” says Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, “is a prestigious opportunity for Timothy to continue working toward understanding our world in critical ways. It reflects his ambition and capabilities and also reflects well on the mentorship he’s experienced as an undergraduate researcher. The UW’s research community and campus-at-large are proud of Timothy and encourage him as he continues to live out UW’s mission at Cambridge.”

As a Churchill scholar, Welsh will complete a master’s degree in chemistry at Cambridge. There, Welsh will join the lab of Professor Tuomas Knowles — a leader in the field of microfluidic techniques within biophysics — to study properties of ribonucleoprotein (RNP) granule formation and propagation. Building on his past research experiences, Welsh plans to use microfluidic techniques to better understand how granules function within the cell, both when healthy and when mutated. The long-term goal of this research is to better understand how these mutations are related to neurodegenerative diseases, such as ALS and Huntington’s.

After earning his master’s at Cambridge, he plans to return to the U.S. to pursue a Ph.D. with an emphasis in chemical biology. He hopes to one day educate the public about the importance of the microscopic biochemical world and act as a liaison between scientists and policy makers.

The Churchill Scholarship application process is supported by the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards (OMSFA), a UAA program. OMSFA works with faculty, staff and students to identify and support promising students in developing the skills and personal insights necessary to become strong candidates for this and other prestigious awards.

The UW campus application process for students interested in the Churchill Scholarship (and other scholarships supporting studies in the UK) is open for 2019-20 awards.