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Undergraduate Academic Affairs

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Content that has a shorter shelf life and is less likely to be republished over time.

Let MLK week inspire the birth of a new set of values

One of the few days my mother wept in my presence was April 4, 1968, the day Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was killed in Memphis, Tennessee. Fifty years ago this year. When I think of Dr. King’s life and death, I often think of women like my mother who seemed to hold undisclosed and unnoticed stories of suffering.

Black women of my mother’s time held true to a quest for positive identities, complicated by the overlapping oppression of race, class and gender. They were brave survivors who lived under the shadow of oppression but did not lose their faith or humanity. The memory of their efforts, routinely missing in history, is coming to light now.

In the closing comments of his final book, “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community,” Dr. King wrote: “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. … This may well be mankind’s last chance to choose between chaos or community.” According to him, “For its very survival’s sake, America must re-examine old presuppositions and release itself from many things that for centuries have been held sacred. For the evils of racism, poverty and militarism to die, a new set of values must be born.”

Photo of civil rights protestor and police dog.
Police dog attacks a civil rights protester.

I think about some of those key phrases and ideas in a 2018 context: “the fierce urgency of now;” “chaos or community;” a re-examination of our values. Our values and habits relating to women must change. It can start by seeing truth in the overlooked contributions women made to the civil rights movement. Dr. King’s call to moral vision without hubris asks us to see that the historical images of the most dramatic moments of the civil rights movement — protesters blasted by fire hoses and dogs lunging at Black people — are often images of women and girls.

Photo of nine students who integrated Little Rock High School in 1957
Little Rock Nine and Daisy Bates posed in living room. Photo from Library of Congress archives.

The 1957 image of six young Black women who became the Little Rock Nine and who risked their lives to integrate Arkansas high schools shows us truth. To see the 1964 image of Mississippi beautician Vera Pigee styling hair and educating her customers on voter registration is to see a certain truth. The 1963 photo of students, mostly women, at Florida A&M University, a historically Black college, answering court charges for protesting segregated movie theaters shows truth.

Women served as teachers, civil rights organizers and as lawyers on school segregation lawsuits, and they “played vital roles in the struggle for human rights and justice in the South and the nation,” according to Vivian Malone Jones, the first Black female director of the nonpartisan Voter Education Project. Mildred Bond Roxborough a long-time secretary of the NAACP, discussed the importance of women leaders in local branches: “Well, actually when you think about women’s contributions to the NAACP, without the women we wouldn’t have an NAACP.”

Photo of students in a courtroom in1963.
Some of the 220 African-American students from Florida A&M in a circuit court room to face charges of contempt for demonstrating against segregated movie theaters.

In society, and even within the movement, many Black women experienced discrimination and harassment. Starting in 2009, the Civil Rights History Project interviewed participants in the struggle and included points of pride along with candid assessments about the difficulties women faced within the movement.

Gwendolyn Zoharah Simmons was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, and one of three women to serve as field director for the Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. She noted that gender equality was not a given: “I often had to struggle around issues related to a woman being a project director. … We had to fight … it was a struggle to be taken seriously by the leadership, as well as by your male colleagues.”

I love this statement made by Dorothy Height, an extraordinarily effective leader for civil and women’s rights who — along with so many involved women — most people probably don’t know. Dorothy Height wanted to “be remembered as a woman who used herself and anything she could for justice and freedom. I want to be remembered as one who tried.”

Photo of women marching in March on Washington
Women marching in 1963 March on Washington. Photo from Library of Congress.

How will we try? As individuals and as a community, how will we change our habits, listen with humility, learn to trust women’s stories, and not just bear witness to but march alongside women? It is time to extend the work for justice and equality where Dr. King left off in Memphis the day he died. If we are to learn from this moment, on the 50th anniversary of his death, let’s choose community over chaos and view King’s birthday and his death as a renewed call to action to use ourselves for justice and liberty for all.

Welcome from Vice Provost and Dean Ed Taylor

Our work within UAA and out across the University is tied together and interdependent. Research, service and scholarship go hand in hand. The first-year experience, and students’ transitions through to declaring a major and graduating into lives outside the University are one and the same. Leadership, service and ethics all serve the same purpose: To become a more thoughtful and compassionate public.

2017 UAA Staff Awardees Announced

Congratulations to the 2016-17 Undergraduate Academic Affairs staff recognition awardees. Selected for their dedication to supporting UAA’s mission of creating innovative academic experiences for undergraduates, these six UAA staff members made an indelible impact on UW students, faculty and staff.

And the awardees are…

Award for Excellence

Outstanding Achievement Award

  • Ali Albrecht, transfer engagement manager, First Year Programs
  • Carey Christie, alumni and communications specialist, Honors Program

Outstanding Student Employee Award

Award for Excellence

Awarded to employees who have worked in UAA for at least five years, this award celebrates the employee’s leadership in creating formative student experiences and building the necessary infrastructure to support their vision. Recognizing the critical role advisers play in the undergraduate experience, Aley Mills Willis evolved the Honors advising program to be an essential piece of her students’ experience. Understanding the importance of experiential learning, Kathryn Pursch Cornforth actively works with peers across the campus and community to lay the foundation for students to engage in service learning.

Aley Mills Willis, the advising mastermind

161122_AleyMillsWillis _BryanNakata-1CROP-sm“Aley is a natural and gifted adviser, always fully engaged with each student she works with, while simultaneously thinking about the bigger picture of academic services. She is thoroughly dedicated to students and works tirelessly and creatively to ensure that they have rich and challenging experiences, while also supporting them in that journey. When recent graduates of our program are asked ‘How did Honors help you in your time as an undergrad?’ the nurturing, individually tailored advising experiences is most-often cited.”
— UW Honors Staff

Achievements of note: Created the Honors advising program, consistently provides support for her staff to grow; founded the Honors Field Studies Program; played a key role in building the Honors admission process; integral in developing the Honors 100 first-year seminar and the 2010 Interdisciplinary Honors curriculum; instrumental in creating the peer mentoring program; and formalized the National Collegiate Honors Council’s Partners in the Parks program.

Kathryn Pursch Cornforth, the visionary facilitator

“Kathryn is an inspirational, thoughtful and patient lead for UAA and for faculty teaching around the presence of Tent City 3 on campus during winter quarter. She worked tirelessly with the Tent City Collective, Tent City residents and with faculty to ensure that our collaborations were substantive, ethical and appropriately engaged. I could not have successfully offered my own class, ‘Engaging Homelessness,’ without her wonderful partnership. We are so lucky to have Kathryn in the Carlson Center!”
— Dr. Vicky Lawson, director of Honors and professor of geography

Kathryn Pursch Cornforth2_Cody Scott-smAchievements of note: Played a critical role in fostering an impactful stay for Tent City 3, including building relationships with Tent City 3 residents, vetting learning opportunities with Tent City 3, including classes, conversations and meals; led the development of MLK week; heads the service learning teams, which impacts 3,000 students, 350 community partners and 100+ faculty; assisting with the development of a pilot study aboard program in Berlin, Germany.

See highlights from MLK Week, which Kathryn Pursch Cornforth plays a large role in organizing.

Outstanding Achievement Award

Recognizing the innovation, collaboration and tenacity it takes to initiate change, this award acknowledges the leaders behind some of UAA’s innovative programming. Ali Albrecht’s commitment to serving transfer students led her to create more robust experiences for them. Carey Christie’s vision for an Honors alumni network inspired her to build an active and engaged community of alumni.

Ali Albrecht, the transfer student advocate

Ali Albrecht_Cody Scott-sm“Ali has taken the lead on improving the transfer experience for more than 2,000 new transfer students every year. Even before she formally took on this role, Ali exhibited innovative thinking by hosting a Transfer Husky Kick-off event with remarks from President Cauce … Ali has always thought creatively about how we can broaden the UAA footprint to acknowledge and celebrate the diversity a transfer student brings to our campus.”
— The First Year Programs Team

Achievements of note: Collaborating cross campus to improve the transfer student experience, including: hosting a Transfer Husky Kick-off event, establishing the Transfer Ambassadors peer mentor program, a seminar for transfer students and strategic plan to stay engaged with these students year-round and actively mentors students.

Virtually attend Transfer Dawg Daze, which Ali initiated:

 

 

Carey Christie, the alumni network architect

Carey Christie3_Cody Scott-sm“Carey has made the position her own, defining and crafting it to create a model of innovation, imprinting her creativity, her ‘can do’ attitude, and diverse communication skills to the task of alumni outreach and community building. Her special achievement of increasing alumni engagement in Honors has accomplished many layers of good for the Program and ripples across our work in Honors, as well as advances UAA’s mission to deepen and strengthen community.”
— UW Honors Staff

Achievements of note: Establishing the Honors Alumni Program from scratch; producing and coordinating the Global Challenges Event; creating the Honors Alumni Panel, now an integral part of the program; managing and steering the Advisory Board; Honors Hearths, which brings faculty and alumni into the residence halls for heartfelt conversations; and marketing the Honors Program.

Outstanding Student Employee Award

Student employees are an integral part of the UAA staff. This award recognizes the outstanding achievements of two student employees. Chloe Lee’s enthusiasm for her work as a TA is contagious and regularly inspires those around her to get involved with causes they feel passionate about. Bryan Nakata’s creativity has played an integral role in shaping UAA’s communications work.

Chungeun “Chloe” Lee, leading by example

Chloe Lee3_Cody Scott-sm“Many Robinson Center students have been inspired by Chloe’s initiative and leadership and have followed her into these groups to give back to their community in ways that Chloe has modeled. … Chloe’s contributions to the Robinson Center’s mission have been vast and, in every role she takes on, she demonstrates exceptional professional integrity, personal responsibility and care for others. We simply could not ask for a better teacher, leader and mentor for our community of students, and we feel so lucky that Chloe has given so much of her professional and personal energy to supporting others who wish to follow in her footsteps.”
— Curtis Hisayasu
, associate director of programs, UW Academy, Robinson Center

Achievements of note: Founder, “Huskies for Kids” registered student organization (RSO) which raises awareness of childhood poverty and illness; officer in “Hand2Hand,” which works with several women’s and youth shelters. As a T.A. performed better than most graduate students and set the bar for future T.A.s

Bryan Nakata, the up-and-coming filmmaker

Bryan Nakata3_Cody Scott-sm“Bryan has great technical knowledge and ability, and he also has a strong degree of self-awareness, creativity, drive, narrative instinct, receptivity to others’ ideas, and empathy to tell stories really, really well. His technical ability supports his creativity in his video work. He knows the effect of a particular camera lens, or lens flare, or angle, or lighting. And he’s constantly striving to push himself to learn more and use the technical to support the story.”
— Kirsten Atik, communications director, Undergraduate Academic Affairs

Achievements of note: Consistently producing top quality films and photos, including the MLK video above. Here are some additional videos he’s produced:

Mary Gates Endowment 20th Anniversary

Making art out of rejection: Miha Sarani paints his heroes

Lupita Tovar: Mapping New Worlds

Lupita Tovar originally intended to major in business. However, the opportunity to get involved with research changed her mind. Now an astronomy major, Lupita investigates telescopes to map exoplanets (words outside our solar system). If successful, she’ll pitch her ideas to NASA and the greater science community.

Celebrating 10 years of Levinson Emerging Scholars

Helicopter and supplies in Antarctica
Levinson Emerging Scholar alumnus Jeff Bowman prepares for field work in Antarctica Photo: Jeff Bowman

 

Since 2007, the Levinson Emerging Scholars Awards have supported undergraduate researchers whose passion for science never rests. Mentored by and working alongside some of the University of Washington’s most accomplished researchers and teachers, these students participate in the invigorating work of advancing knowledge to solve some of society’s most intractable problems. Meet this remarkable group of young scientists.

Student draws on her past to inspire the future

Christina ChanChristina Chan, ’16, knows first-hand the adversity surrounding college entrance for many high school students, especially for low-income students like herself. When she entered her junior year at Franklin High School, college loomed before her, looking more and more like an unattainable goal. College application forms and personal essays were complicated requirements that she didn’t know how to complete.

Then Christina decided to apply to College Access Now (CAN), a nonprofit organization that specializes in helping low-income high school students enter college. Four years later, she graduated from the University of Washington with degrees in English and sociology and returned to CAN as a UW community-based intern.

When you were in high school, what challenges stood between you and your dream of attending the University of Washington?
I’m the first generation in my family to attend college. My parents are immigrants from China and didn’t receive any official education past the third grade. Ever since I was a child, they instilled in me the value of education. Attending the University of Washington was my dream, but when it came to actually applying, the process was overwhelming because there were so many things my parents and I didn’t know. All the required forms, like the FAFSA, the essays and preparing for the SATs, everything seemed so daunting. The FAFSA was particularly confusing — I’d never filed a tax report before! The jargon itself was discouraging.

How did you overcome the challenges of applying to the UW?
In my junior year of high school, I reached out to Franklin High School’s chapter of College Access Now. They really broke down the steps for applying to UW and made college look achievable. They helped me draft my personal statement and made sure I used it to show who I truly was. I had good, but average SAT scores, so I really believe it was the personal statement that helped me get into UW.

The experience that I went through as a financially disadvantaged student has influenced how I perceive the world, how I carry myself, and what I want to do in the future. Every opportunity, encounter and experience that I’ve faced is an advantage because I’ve developed resiliency when faced with adversity. This is something that I will instill in my future students; I want to share my experience and inspire them.

How did you return to CAN as their intern?
Because I knew how difficult it could be to apply to college, I wanted to intern at a nonprofit organization focusing on education. In my senior year of university, UW offered community-based internships at nonprofit organizations in Seattle. I found out that CAN was actually one of the nonprofits that would be hosting an internship through UW! The timing was perfect and I was matched to CAN as their intern.

What do you do as an intern at CAN?
I work on the College Services team that specializes in supporting CAN students through college and beyond. We know that the obstacles you face as a low-income individual don’t just go away after graduating college so we wanted to create a support system for the alumni. In fact, we just recently hosted our first ever CAN alumni engagement event. I helped with the outreach and logistics for the event.

You just graduated from the University of Washington. What’s next for you?
My journey is officially coming full circle as I will be serving as an AmeriCorps 11th grade college coach at my alma mater, Franklin High School. As the students’ mentor, or college coach, I’ll be helping students apply to college and teach them how to better utilize their resources.

How does being an alumni of Franklin and CAN make your insight unique as a college coach?
I feel really passionate about coming back to Franklin High School as a college coach because I want to be the students’ support system. Being from South Seattle, I can relate to the issues that many students at Franklin High School experience. It’s one of the most diverse schools in Seattle, and 60-70% of their students qualify for free/reduced lunch. I also come from a low-income family. I’ve been through the system, I’ve been in their shoes. I’ve seen so many people stuck in the same spot because of the role society sees them in. I want to help them break free of these restrictive labels and take a different path. CAN is a great way to do this because they give everyone a chance to work towards a better future.

 

Interested in learning more about the UW’s community-based internships? Contact the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center Director, Rachel Vaughn,  or 206-685-2705 or visit the website.

Cathy Beyer reflects on her career at UW

Headshot of Cathy BeyerAfter 30 years of working at the University of Washington, Catharine Beyer retired. During that time, she spent 17 years working in the Office of Educational Assessment and three in the Interdisciplinary Writing Program. We chatted with her to learn more about her time at the UW.

What drew you to the UW?
At 37, we moved to Seattle with our two kids so my husband could start a Ph.D. in applied math, his long-held dream. I had taught college writing courses and worked as an editor for an engineering consulting firm, so, I applied for a lecturer position in the UW’s Interdisciplinary Writing Program (IWP). The last thing I was told in my interview for the job was, “Microsoft is hiring technical writers; you might check over there.” This was 1984. Had I checked with Microsoft, I might be a millionaire today, but I got the job in the IWP and took it.

In your 30-year career at the UW, what work have you done that you believe is the most important to others?
Institutionally and nationally, my big assessment projects — the UW Study of Undergraduate Learning and the UW Growth in Faculty Teaching Study, both of which resulted in books co-authored by beloved colleagues — would probably be considered my most important work. I loved that work, don’t get me wrong, but I think my teaching work might be more important over time. Not only did I have the honor of helping 13-years worth of students become better writers and thinkers, but I learned a ton about what undergraduates and faculty members experience that I then could carry into my later assessment work.

What have you found through your work that has most inspired you?
Our students are always inspiring. They are amazingly bright, interested in and knowledgeable about such diverse things. Sometimes they are shockingly brave — recovering from failure and loss or navigating an environment that feels unwelcoming, for example. They come to us from great pinnacles of success, but they have to start over here, and what counts for success is often very different from what mattered before. They come here hoping to be challenged and to grow. We owe them an experience that does that for each one of them.

What advice do you have for students, faculty and staff about the value of teaching and learning?
Because learning is complex, the ways we assess it must also be complex. Generic tests and surveys of students’ experience can’t tell us much about what our students have learned in college or how to improve our work. If we want to get that kind of information, we need to talk with students about their learning. We need to get faculty involved in looking at students’ work over time and discussing it together, identifying the growth (or lack of it) they find there. We need to also track learning that doesn’t fall neatly within our academic boundaries but that may inform them or have value beyond them.

You’ve always had a rocking chair in your office. What meaning do rocking chairs hold for you?
Rocking may well be our first memory of comfort. I have always had a rocking chair in my office at the UW and elsewhere because I want whomever is talking to me — friends, interviewees, colleagues — to feel at home, comfortable and accepted in my presence. My rocking chairs are always big, capable of accommodating every size, age, color, temperament, mood and shape.

What’s next for you?
Really, I have no idea. I’ve written a letter to the mayor and the chief of police asking them what changes they are making to get rid of discriminatory policing, but beyond that I’m reading, doing a little creative writing, and researching Angry Birds — once such an amazing, creative, beautiful set of games and now in the toilet. I want to find out what happened there. Other than that, I’m hoping to have the chance to get bored.

 

 

UW Alums Gonzalo and Danielle Guzman Think Global, Act Local


Portrait of Gonzalo and Danielle Guzman
UW alumni Danielle and Gonzalo Guzman Photo: Bryan Nakata

When UW alumnus Gonzalo Guzman, ’04, ’06, took American Ethnic Studies as an undergraduate, he realized the absence of Latino history in his schooling. As a Latino growing up in the Yakima Valley of Eastern Washington, this felt like a big oversight.

This realization motivated Gonzalo to take action. He received both a Mary Gates Leadership and Research scholarship, and along with two other classmates, went on a lecture tour. The trio visited schools and community centers in Wapato and Toppenish, Washington, sharing what they had learned about their community’s history. Their audiences responded warmly, and the schools were touched to have alumni return to share their knowledge.

“Before college, working in the education field was not even on my radar,” reflects Gonzalo. “My experience in Eastern Washington cemented my interest in the field, since I was able to see first-hand the potential of public schools in fostering community change and empowerment.”

Today, Gonzalo’s commitment to community remains just as strong. He is currently pursing a Ph.D. in the social and cultural foundations of education. Over the course of his studies, he met his wife Danielle, ’10, ’11, who was earning her master’s degree in teaching at the time. The two shared a passion for making education equally accessible to all students, regardless of race or economic status.

Danielle’s work as an elementary school teacher gave them the opportunity to enact their ideas. When a local elementary school closed, the students were reassigned to Danielle’s school. The closed school offered a Montessori program alongside its contemporary program, which it moved as well. The Montessori program was open to all students. However, enrollment required in-person registration during a specific time window which was tough for several families. This resulted in a segregated school.

The school-within-a-school problem spoke to Danielle and Gonzalo’s interest in making education more equitable. To address the immediate situation, Danielle and the Montessori teacher designed a non-enrollment model, which mixed their classes. Students would spend half of the day in Montessori classes, and the other half in the contemporary program. This blended model worked, and the whole school has since adopted it.

Through this experience Danielle and Gonzalo recognized a larger need for teachers and students to start talking about issues of race and class. They wanted to teach a course at UW to address this.

The Guzmans worked with Christine Stickler, director of the Pipeline Project, to make the class a reality. In addition to mixing working teachers and UW students, the class offered unique benefits — free continuing education for teachers and the opportunity for students to learn alongside working teachers and visit their classrooms. Both parties had a safe space to discuss the issues surrounding equity and education.

Teachers brought their learnings back to the school almost right away. For example, at the school’s Black History Night, the elementary students talked deeply about issues of class and race. The kids studied pictures of marches and responded by sharing their feelings and questions. Through activities like these, the teachers are hoping to develop socially aware students.

The Mary Gates Scholarship Gonzalo received as an undergraduate provided encouragement and financial support for Gonzolo to develop his leadership skills and passion for education. Through his work with Danielle, he’s creating a world of good by educating socially aware children and teachers. Upon receiving his Ph.D., he hopes to become a professor of ethnic studies or education.

The Guzmans will be teaching an updated version of this class, sponsored by Undergraduate Academic Affairs, again next year. It will span two quarters – one quarter at the UW; the other at a local elementary school. The Guzmans are “excited to cross fields and address issues that matter to the community.”