Brianna Craft, ’10, author and senior researcher at International Institute for Environment and Development. Photo by Gemma Turnbull.
Brianna Craft, ’10, had a panic attack and from that moment, everything changed. An undergraduate in the Honors Program at the University of Washington, Craft found herself in an environmental studies lecture freshman year, with her heart beating rapidly and her fingers gripping her seat. “Learning about the climate crisis changed everything for me,” Craft shared.
Far from remaining frozen in panic, Craft spent the following years diving into the issues behind the climate crisis. Craft credits some of her journey through fear and into deeper understanding to the UW Honors Program’s interdisciplinary approach. She was awarded a Bonderman Fellowship in 2008, and used the following year to travel through 14 countries. As she spoke with biologists in Costa Rica, families in Fiji and farmers in India, she learned how global warming was impacting people. She has worked hard to protect our shared home from the climate crisis ever since.
After graduating from the UW with a B.A. in architectural studies and minors in environmental studies and urban planning, Craft went on to earn her master’s degree in environmental studies from Brown University. As a graduate student, Craft began her involvement in U.N. climate negotiations, participating as a member of The Gambia’s national delegation. During the years that led to the signing of the Paris Agreement, Craft supported Mr. Pa Ousman Jarju, chair of the Least Developed Countries (LDC) Group. Post graduation, Craft joined the staff of the International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED). As her role evolved, she took on research, writing briefings and directly supporting LDC delegates in negotiations on technology development and transfer.
Today Craft is a senior researcher at IIED, where she continues to bring together diverse fields of knowledge to make informed policy recommendations. Her memoir, “Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir,” will be published on April 4, 2023.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What was your personal call to writing “Everything That Rises: A Climate Change Memoir”?
After four years spent in United Nations’ negotiations, I celebrated the 2015 adoption of the first universal climate treaty, the Paris Agreement. Months later, the world’s largest cumulative greenhouse gas emitter (the U.S.) elected a climate change denier to their highest office. I needed every American to hear me, to see what my colleagues and I had worked so hard to accomplish. So I started what turned out to be a six-year journey from the memoir’s inception to publication.
In “Everything That Rises,” you write of “growing up in a house where the loudest voice always won and violence silenced those in need.” Can you speak to the intertwined natures/futures of oppression in the home with oppression in the global political sense?
I see so many parallels between the climate crisis and oppression dynamics. My father was violent and I grew up terrified. Living with the climate crisis is like living with him. The stress and the fear — the constant risk of death. The pressure and despair that impacts everything, underlies everything.
As a researcher, I work to support the LDCs in the U.N. climate change negotiations. The 46 countries are classified as the world’s poorest. They have done the least to cause the climate crisis – emitting less than 1% of global emissions – and are disproportionately impacted by the havoc it wreaks. Watching them push for adequate international decisions reminds me of what growing up was like. How every day I watched those with power undervalue things that were precious, irreplaceable. And the silence around it, the isolation. The pretending, when it is not safe. These dynamics are not talked about, in part, because doing so would mean owning up to reality and the part we play in its perpetuation.
How did you learn to be an advocate, and what do you hope readers will take away from your story in how they use their voice and personal power?
I started my time in the U.N. climate change negotiations as a 24-year-old graduate student. I went from looking to others for solutions, to advocating for those I love myself. The climate crisis is the single greatest threat we have ever faced. I hope readers will use their voice and power to shape our collective response: that they will vote to elect officials who will cut our greenhouse gas emissions to net zero; that they will protest climate inaction; and that they will divest their time and their money from fossil fuels. It will take all of us to protect our shared home.
How did Honors’ interdisciplinary studies inform your relationship to learning about the environment, and how does it inform your current research?
I would not have learned about climate change if not for the Honors’ interdisciplinary approach. Being an Honors student landed me in an environmental studies lecture. I’ll be eternally grateful! I continue to use interdisciplinary approaches in my current research — bringing together many fields of knowledge to craft policy recommendations. The climate crisis is a wicked problem. Climate change combines the interconnected problems of sustainability and pollution with many actors, long timescales, great economic burden, and uncertainty. Interdisciplinary approaches are needed to implement effective solutions.
What is your day-to-day like as a senior researcher at the International Institute for Environment and Development?
I love the people I get to work with. LDC negotiators and my badass team, whose motivation to make change fuels them (and me) through the marathon of effort required to reach international decisions.
When not in U.N. negotiations supporting countries to reconcile what the climate crisis has irrevocably lost and damaged, I do a lot of writing. I write briefings, toolkits and research papers about climate diplomacy. I help run training workshops for new climate negotiators from the LDCs. And lately, I’ve spent some quality time helping authors from Nepal, Rwanda, the Solomon Islands and Sierra Leone tell stories about how climate change will mean their lives will never be the same.
We understand that you are a lover of peanut butter. Was it that which truly brought you to the environmental movement?
I could wax lyrical about peanut butter. It’s the most delicious, low impact protein source I can think of! I don’t know if I’d say that the love of peanut butter brought me to the climate movement, but it has certainly fuelled me through it.
After more than three decades of service to the University of Washington, Vicky Lawson will retire at the end of the academic year. Lawson, professor of geography and poverty researcher, has spent the past eight years directing the Honors Program, contributing to the deepening of its interdisciplinary focus and approach to intentional community building, innovative thinking and global citizenship.
Lawson is past president of the Association of American Geographers and former chair of the Department of Geography. Having worked across South and North America on informal economies, women’s work and poverty, her classes focus on the intersections of poverty, inequality and feminist care ethics. In addition to her leadership in the Honors Program, she is co-director of the Relational Poverty Network, a global research network that aims to expand thinking about the causes of poverty in both rich and poor countries. During her tenure at the UW, she has served as adjunct professor in the Department of Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies and as a faculty affiliate of the West Coast Poverty Center.
Vicky Lawson, center, at her retirement party with Ed Taylor, left, and Tina Ragen, right. Photo: Photo by Shannon Sherman
As Lawson prepares to pass the role of Honors Program director to Stephanie Smallwood, she shares her thoughts on her accomplishments as director, the transformation of undergraduates through the interdisciplinary program, and the enduring impact of the Honors Program.
Honors broadened my view
How has the Honors Program most impacted and changed you?
With a 35-year career in the geography department and College of Arts and Sciences, coming over to Honors changed my perspective on undergraduate education and the University as a whole. Honors broadened my view of the University, in terms of who holds the University up and how, and in terms of the breadth of interests and capacities of students from all across the University. Honors spans the entire campus [and includes] students, instructors and classes from every college. It was a new vantage point for me of the brilliance of students regardless of what corner of campus or what background they come from.
I teach a class on houselessness and one particular student from aeronautics engineering made a profound contribution to an art exhibit my students installed with Real Change News through a comparative historical photography project of Seattle. It was a wakeup call for me to realize that it’s not just geographers who know how to read a city.
In addition to appreciating the breadth and curiosity of the students, coming over to UAA was coming into a space that is driven by professional staff. I came to appreciate just how staff hold up the University and how much they contribute. Getting to work closely with incredibly talented staff was a real gift because you see the commitment and the depth of the work they do. In Honors, all the staff are leaders. It’s a super creative space.
A deep commitment to inviting in the students
How has the Honors Program changed in the past eight years?
It was already an incredibly innovative, complex, interdisciplinary space when I got here. I don’t take a lot of credit for the brilliance of this program. I just came in and tried to amplify and support what the staff were already doing. These were things that were already happening, but we have been deeply introspective about difference and intersectional equity in our program. Honors has evolved tremendously over its 60-year history, especially over the past two decades. Juliana Villegas has been a leader on this work, but everybody’s been involved in understanding who our students are and where they come from. We have been committed to bringing in first-generation students and students of color and understanding how we’re doing compared to the University as a whole. We have a lot more work to do, but we do have a deep commitment to inviting in students who saw the label “Honors” and thought, “Well, that’s not a space for me.” Instead [we] invite them to know that, actually, participating in Honors is being part of an education that honors the University. Everybody’s backgrounds, experience and knowledge brings brilliance. It’s been a major part of what we’ve been doing. Juliana has led on it, and everybody has leaned in very seriously on that work.
Interdisciplinary education, experiential learning, and being in community
Global Challenges, 2019, with panelists (left to right) Anna Lauren Hoffmann, Ece Kamar, Shankar Narayan and moderator Vicky Lawson.
Another area that I’m particularly personally proud of in Honors is this incredibly creative space that has always rested on pillars of interdisciplinary education, experiential learning and being in community. I wanted to invite the whole campus into this space with our students, and one of the ways that we did that was through our Global Challenges series. We built an annual event that puts people from different walks of life in conversation with each other and asks them to talk about an issue that students themselves raised. We pull the freshmen in and say, “What do you care about? What is keeping you up at night?” We’ve done this now since 2015. Each year we’ve filled a ballroom with 500 people and we’ve hosted the event online with hundreds of people. By asking the students what they want us to talk about, we put the students in charge of their education the minute they walk through the door. Honors students learn that, at UW, we listen to them, that we build the program around their interests. At Global Challenges, they get to see what it’s like to have three people who are very accomplished in their fields, in a humble conversation about a really big topic for which there is no simple answer. That’s an example of showing the larger community what Honors is all about, what our students are all about, what our pedagogy is all about.
We are building that broader, richer sense of who we are and why we do what we do and inviting everybody. We are building something that’s for everyone.
What is the impact you’ve witnessed of interdisciplinary research?
Sarah Elwood, left, and Vicky. Photo: Photo by Shannon Sherman
One of the things that Honors did was create a space where I could literally teach my driving passion. In my research, I had a long-standing relationship with Real Change News along with Sarah Elwood, my collaborator. Each year in Honors I’ve taught a class on poverty and houselessness. A couple of years ago, we did a deep dive with Real Change News as collaborators to bring the portrait project to campus. I gave the students the responsibility to curate the exhibit to run for three weeks and build a launch event in the Allen Library. Twenty-five students collaborated together on every aspect of bringing that exhibit to campus, they collaborated with our Real Change News colleagues who were at the core of the project. Many of the students who were involved have come back to me to talk about where that experience took them.
Students will rise to any challenge
This morning, I sat with a student applying to medical school, who was in another iteration of that same class. She talked about how doing medicine was one thing, but thinking about it through the lens of social justice, access, historical racism and how that shapes who has access to care, was transformative for her. She understood that in a deep way because she’d been part of that class. I create a class space where the students teach each other and they pick up and carry that work and take it to places that are important to them.
This last quarter I had a group of students create a zine, called Hopeful Futures, in collaboration with homeless youth in the U District. It is full of incredible art, essays, cartoons and drawings. The students did the work of assembling this art aimed at elevating the voice of homeless youth, about their ideas of what the future could look like. This was a chance for our students to collaborate with the youth and to elevate their vision, their brilliance and their ideas. I’ve come to realize working with our students that, literally, they will rise to any challenge. They will mount an art exhibit, they’ll create a zine, they will do collaborations that are deep, they will face up to the impossibly difficult questions of climate change and poverty, and houselessness.
It’s been transformative for me working with these students.
How do you see the impact of the Honors Program on the students as they graduate?
What we’re trying to do and what we’ve really committed ourselves to with Honors, is to support the students to complicate their ideas and work, and to be brave about it. So if they think they’re going to do medicine, can we work with them to think about what it means to be a doctor? What does it mean to be a doctor that cares about social justice? How do we invite students into spaces in a way that is actually enabling? That’s what Honors classes do. And the students take the work places we never thought of. I have students that worked for the Pike Place senior center, a student who’s up in Skagit County as an organic farmer, students at Harvard, students in medical school, a student working on climate change activism. They learn that they can be brilliant in any number of different ways.
We have brought together a community
What’s something that comes to the forefront that you are very proud about?
I am proud of how we’ve connected to broader communities — and Carey Christie gets credit here. We have worked hand in glove to bring together a community of alumni. We’ve built an advisory board that leans in and shows up. We have built financial and moral support for this program at a level that did not exist when we came in. We have an endowed scholarship for equity. We built an endowed leadership fund that’s still growing. It’s about people believing in us and people in the community really reaching in and supporting what we do. And we’ve got an incredible group of volunteers now. We just had the most successful Husky Giving Day which is less about the money and more about the fact that over 70 people thought Honors was special enough to make a gift. I feel really proud of how we’ve expanded our community with people who deeply care and want to support our students because of how they think and what they mean to the future.
What are you most excited about with the next adventure?
Vicky, doing one of her favorite things.
I’m excited about not being busy! I’ve always been on a mission to be an academic and teach. I’m very curious what life has to offer if I’m not doing those things. I’m curious about what my next chapter is going to be and I don’t think I’m going to really truly know that until I stop. I am quite sure it’s going to continue to have to do with activism around impoverishment and houselessness. There are a lot of things I think about and wonder what my skills might do to make an impact. I do know that I’m going to grow a garden. I’m going to travel and I’m going to raise a horse and train it.
Any last thoughts?
Vicky Lawson’s first post-retirement project: Training Domino, a one-year-old Missouri Fox Trotter.
I came into Honors and I realized that this is where the work is. Undergraduate education, especially at a public university, is the place that I believe you can have the most impact. Undergraduate students have infinite paths open to them. Honors has redoubled my commitment to undergraduate education as a place of praxis and place of personal and professional transformation that’s really important. The staff in Honors are just quite remarkable and they taught me every day what is possible in undergraduate education for life.
Undergraduate education is the place I believe you can have the most impact.
Congratulations to Stephanie Smallwood, acclaimed professor and historian, who has been appointed the new director of the University Honors Program, officially beginning her term in September, 2022.
The University Honors Program, now celebrating its 60th birthday, serves as an academic core of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, bringing students and faculty from every corner of campus together for original learning opportunities focused on collaborative, cross-disciplinary curriculum, experiential learning, research and critical reflection.
Professor Stephanie Smallwood has been named the next director of the Honors Program. Photo: Photo by Dennis Wise
In the past eight years under the direction of geography professor and poverty researcher, Victoria Lawson, the Honors Program has contributed to the deepening of its interdisciplinary focus and approach to intentional community building, innovative thinking and global citizenship. As Lawson prepares to retire from the University of Washington, she expresses admiration for Honors’ incoming director, stating: “I am a huge fan of Dr. Smallwood and I am confident she will love leading within this community, as I have.”
Fostering collective and diverse brilliance
Honors by the numbers
The UW Honors Program facilitates Interdisciplinary, College and Departmental Honors for over 1,400 undergraduates annually.
83% of Honors students come from public high schools.
100+ UW majors represented by Honors students and faculty.
70% say Interdisciplinary Honors admission is a top reason they chose the UW.
Smallwood says she’s excited by the Honors Program’s trajectory and sees great opportunities to continue expanding this interdisciplinary educational hub at our public research university. Smallwood’s vision of fostering collective and diverse brilliance aligns with the program’s long arc toward education that centers public needs and un-siloed, collaborative inquiry.
“Interdisciplinarity informs my scholarship, my mentoring, my teaching, and informs everything I do,” shared Smallwood. A narrow singularly disciplinary lens cannot adequately approach the questions which animate her work, or the questions that remain most urgent and pressing to our society today.
“Undergraduate Academic Affairs is a unit devoted to changing lives of students by deepening their UW experience,” shares Vice Provost and Dean Ed Taylor. “Stephanie Smallwood has the vision, knowledge and experience to move the program and experience of students into a future that is much in need of their potential to help make the world better.”
Guiding students in intellectual exploration
Smallwood is an associate professor in the Department of History, where she holds the Dio Richardson Endowed professorship, and she has a joint appointment in the Department of Comparative History of Ideas. She has devoted the past 15 years at the University of Washington to undergraduate teaching and mentorship on the histories of slavery, race and colonialism in the early modern Atlantic world. Guiding students in their exploration of the challenging problems that have profoundly shaped our world remains as fresh and rewarding for her today as when she began her career as a teacher-scholar nearly 25 years ago.
Her book “Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora” (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2007) was awarded the 2008 Frederick Douglass Book Prize; the award for best book written in English on slavery or abolition by the Gilder Lehrman Center for the Study of Slavery, Resistance, and Abolition at Yale University; and was a finalist for the 2008 First Book Prize of the Berkshire Conference of Women Historians.
“The University of Washington is so fortunate that Professor Stephanie Smallwood has accepted a three-year term as director of the Honors Program. Professor Smallwood is a prize-winning historian, gifted teacher and exemplary University citizen. She will bring her gifts of shrewd analysis, excellent judgment and visionary leadership to this position,” shared Glennys Young, chair of the Department of History.
A history story
Smallwood’s interest in history began as an undergraduate at Columbia University, stemming from her involvement in anti-apartheid demonstrations. In 1985, on the anniversary of the assasination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Smallwood demonstrated in a domestic divestment campaign. When camping out on the steps of an administrative building for three weeks was followed by a summer of disciplinary hearings, she was led directly toward learning more about the history behind the political actions she found herself engaging in.
For the first time in her life, Smallwood began to read African history — and found herself blown away. She spent the last two years of her undergraduate studies taking graduate-level seminars. “I knew then that history was what I wanted to do and study,” said Smallwood. Under the mentorship of Marcellus Blount, she was guided towards an interdisciplinary M.A. in African and African-American studies at Yale University.
Smallwood became a research assistant to renowned historian John Blassingame, who was beginning to examine the 17th- and 18th-century slave trade. During days spent in the Yale library’s microfilm room, Smallwood poured over newspapers from 17th century Maryland and Virginia, reading the announcements of arrivals of slave ships. Her time there would prove to be invaluable, as she began to piece together the literal connections between African and African-American history. “It was the first time, that past, that period, was animated for me intellectually,” she said. Transcended beyond just responding to contemporary politics, she sought out to study the entire expanse of Black history. Smallwood would go on to earn her Ph.D. in early African-American history at Duke University.
“I am incredibly excited to see Professor Smallwood’s leadership and inclusionary vision applied to the Honors Program as its community continues to grow and build connections across campus. Her support and encouragement enabled us students to reach our full potential and I know she will do the same for the many students who come under her guidance as she takes on the role of director,” shared Erin Nicole Kelly, senior.
The role imagination plays
The interdisciplinary impact of her studies and research have informed the lens for all of her ongoing research, leadership and publications. Smallwood recognizes that a key component of the role of a historian is to imagine. “The fact of the matter is that historians have to imagine, to tell stories.” She cites the fiction of novelist Toni Morrison as being in relationship and conversation with her historical research. “We have to be able to use the gifts that only a Toni Morrison can bring to the table, to guide us in how to dare to imagine. You can’t ask good questions if you can’t imagine outside of the box,” Smallwood said.
Smallwood connects the value of the Honors Programs to its interdisciplinary imagination. A program that curates small classes and dynamic curriculum where students experience, as she describes, “the freedom of when you’re not already locked into a particular methodology or a set of rules that govern a particular discipline.”
Her recent experiences teaching the classes, Honors Historical Method and Race and Slavery Across the Americas, have served Smallwood as continued affirmations of what’s possible in intimate learning environments. “Knowledge production happens best when we put different disciplinary methods in relationship to one another,” she shared. “Often our best and most innovative learning happens in collaboration.”
Our best learning happens in collaboration
Smallwood remains continually fueled and reinvigorated as an educational collaborator and mentor. Facilitating class experiences for undergraduates to engage in intellectual discovery and risk taking, Smallwood is focused on new approaches to learning that can meaningfully advance a social justice mission.
Smallwood sees her appointment as director of the Honors Program as an honor within itself. She intends to use her skills and background of scholarship and teaching in a public research university to serve students and boost their capacity to imagine, contribute and make change. “To be at a public research institution like the UW means you’re in a community of extraordinary scholars with extraordinary resources,” said Smallwood. “It’s the best possible combination of what it takes to be a scholar and for the largest impact you can have on reaching and touching people.”
The pack is back! For the first time since the transition to mostly virtual learning in March 2020, Huskies are crossing Red Square on their way to class. These Dawgs include two classes who are completely new to campus: incoming first-year students and second-year students, in addition to upperclassmen who’ve spent more than 18 months away from campus.
Student well-being is top of mind as programs across Undergraduate Academic Affairs are welcoming back our students. This work involves building community so students feel connected and a sense of belonging. It’s recognizing and addressing the increased stresses students may be experiencing as a result of the pandemic and the transition back to in-person learning. It’s programs incorporating resilience and mindfulness work to give students the tools to care for their mental health. It’s the dedication to meeting students where they are at. Programs are also maintaining some virtual programmatic offerings this year to increase students’ access to services. Read on to learn more about how programs throughout Undergraduate Academic Affairs are orienting and supporting students this autumn.
Academic Support Programs: An academic home away from home
Academic Support Programs are free and available for all students. See the CLUE tutoring schedule, upcoming study skills workshops, online academic resources, and schedule a meeting with an academic success coach on their website.
Academic Support Programs runs CLUE, the largest late night, multidisciplinary tutoring center at the UW, and Academic Success Coaching, individualized meetings with a peer coach to develop skills for academic success.This year they are expanding these programs to reach more students in new and innovative ways.
CLUE: Tutoring center creates a sense of community
When Academic Support Programs Director Ryan Burt asked this year’s CLUE tutors why they were interested in becoming tutors, many shared that last year’s virtual CLUE was a space where they came to be together to navigate all that was happening around them. CLUE remains focused on creating a similar sense of community to the tutoring space for the 2021-22 school year. Student tutors play a big role in setting a welcoming tone, which starts with their own self-reflection.
In the autumn quarter training class Burt co-teaches with CLUE Program Manager Lizzy Harman, tutors check in about their own experiences returning to campus. They talk about how to navigate social and emotional challenges that they and other students might be experiencing. They focus on language and strategies to develop resilience and a growth mindset, both for themselves and the students they tutor. This emphasis on their mental state is intentional. When people are in a stressed state, it can be hard to focus on one’s studies or work. These weekly class sessions happen right before CLUE opens, preparing tutors to take a holistic approach to their work. This allows them to create a calm, safe and supportive space and helps them guide students to stay motivated as challenges or setbacks arise.
Above: A tutor provides free tutoring in 2018. This year, CLUE is offering in-person and virtual tutoring. Of course, all CLUE participants are following the UW’s current face covering policy. Photo: Bryan Nakata
This year, CLUE is offering tutoring both in-person and virtually. Both spaces are busy; tutors quickly switch between leading tutoring tables in the Mary Gates Hall Commons and leading online sessions. This hybrid approach increases students’ access to tutoring: Some students don’t want or are unable to stay on campus late, live too far away from campus to come back for evening tutoring, or want to limit exposure to others.
Academic Success Coaching: Setting goals and making plans to reach them
Academic Success Coaching Manager Alli Bothello oversaw the expansion of the Academic Success Coaching program, expanding from eight coaches last year to 14 coaches this year. Coaching sessions are open-ended and guided by what is on the student’s mind. Conversations can range from time management and study strategies to concern over disappointing test results — “I didn’t do well on my first test; now I’ll never get into my major…” to topics beyond academics. The coaches work with each student to guide them through these experiences, with a goal of helping students find resources, develop ways to move forward from setbacks and set and reach their goals. Coaches are available to meet at whatever frequency the student needs, be it weekly, quarterly or as needs arise. They are also hosting workshops on developing effective study strategies, time management, self-care and building a community, and finals exam prep.
Academic Support Programs are free and available for all students. See the CLUE tutoring schedule, upcoming study skills workshops, online academic resources, and schedule a meeting with an academic success coach on their website.
First Year Programs: Building community and wayfinding through the UW
Cornerstones of First Year Programs’ (FYP) work are helping students learn about campus resources, build their community and understand how to navigate the UW. This work is rooted in the knowledge that students who feel connected to campus socially and academically are more likely to persist through college and earn their degree.
First-year networks: Connecting Huskies with similar lived experiences and interests
First-year networks help students make connections with other Huskies who have similar lived experiences, interests and aspirations. Here, the peer network leaders share their group’s focus.
First-year networks are social groups run by peer leaders. The 14 networks’ themes range from shared interests, including mindful-living, foodies, to shared identities, such as East Asian and transfer students. Students are connected through a Discord (a group chatting platform), and are invited to various events and meetups, learn about academic support programs and most importantly meet a group of students with similar interests and shared identities, helping them establish a community at the UW. FYP surveyed students as they signed up for networks: 93% registered to make friends and 90% are seeking connections to students with shared interests.
First-year interest groups keep well-being at the forefront of their work
Mindfulness and self-care is incorporated into each General Studies 199 class meeting, taught by First-year Interest Group Leaders. The goals of this are to help students understand mindfulness and its benefits. They explore mindfulness activities like journaling, meditation, 3-minute dance parties and breathing exercises.
Each FIG Leader brings in a LiveWell peer health educator to lead a seminar on one of four topics: mental health, coping with clouds, Sleepy Husky or physical health. The peer educators explore the science of the given topic and discuss how it connects to physical, mental and emotional health. One past participant commented, “The mental health seminar project was important to me since the pandemic has taken a toll on me when it comes to being motivated and isolated.” There is also great power in hearing peers talk about similar experiences, with another participant sharing, “Being able to have guest speakers talk about research, mental health and admissions was extremely valuable because it gave me more understanding for how the areas work. I don’t feel alone in the process of college.”
Honors: Introducing a student-led mentorship program
The new, student-led Honors Peer Mentoring Program launched with a welcome event on October 21, 2021. Photo: Provided by Shannon Hong
The Honors Program’s new wellness-oriented program is student-led. Shannon Hong, a junior majoring in neuroscience, first experienced peer mentoring through the student-led Neurobiology Club Mentorship Program. Finding it valuable, she approached Honors to start a similar program for them. The Honors Peer Mentoring Program, launched this fall, creates a network of support within the Honors Program. Volunteer mentors are connected with mentees and focus to help them navigate the Honors requirements and their general Husky experience. “My peers and I initially created the Honors Peer Mentoring Program to help students feel more supported and engaged in the Honors community,” explains Hong. “But since then, it has grown into something bigger — a program that empowers students to become leaders and take initiative in their UW Honors experience.” These mentoring relationships are available throughout the entire year.
Applications for the Honors Peer Mentoring Program winter cohort will open on January 3, 2022. Check the website to learn more.
Office of Educational Assessment: Surveying students to best meet their needs
The Office of Educational Assessment is launching Husky Check-in surveys this year. Designed to gauge student needs in real time, these twice-a-quarter surveys will focus on timely issues related to the student experience. The first survey explored how students are accessing support services, their preferences for virtual versus in-person offerings, whether where they live impacts their preference and what additional unmet needs may exist. The research team will share the results with key stakeholders across campus who can use the feedback to adapt programs to match the needs of students. The first survey launched the week of October 11, 2021; approximately 1,300 undergraduate and 400 graduate students participated.
Resilience Lab: Working towards a campus culture of compassion and mindfulness
The Resilience Lab’s work centers on promoting well-being among students, faculty and staff at the University of Washington. Their Be REAL (REsilient Attitudes and Living), a program developed in collaboration with the Center for Child and Family Well-Being, has equipped more than 100 faculty and staff members with skills and tools to foster their own wellness and that of their colleagues and students. Be REAL participants learn mindfulness skills to manage stressful emotions, strengthen self-awareness and to foster community well-being and mental health. Because of that ripple effect, Be REAL reaches people far beyond those who signed up for the 6-week course. And the reach of this work will continue to deepen. For example, some alumni of Be REAL choose to participate in a community of practice where they can ask questions and brainstorm ways to bring these ideas into their work. “It’s really powerful to do this with colleagues,” explains Sasha Duttchoudhury, Resilience Lab graduate student assistant. “Doing this on ‘work time’ shows value, that the UW values our well-being.”
The Be REAL faculty and staff program grew out of the student Be REAL course. The current format allows for flexibility, allowing it to be a stand-alone class or taught as part of other programs. Be REAL is also offered as a one-quarter class for students. Be REAL recently created a video series covering the Be REAL concepts and practices.
Another way the Resilience Lab is bringing well-being practices to the campus community is through the “Well-being for Life and Learning” initiative. Students, staff and faculty collaborated on this work to create a vision for the classroom as a cornerstone of well-being. The resulting guidebook is organized into four main pillars: teaching for equity and access; nurturing connections; building coping and resilience skills; and connecting to the environment. The guidebook’s appeal is wide: with programs from STEM to social sciences ordering copies.
President Cauce talks about the benefits of Be REAL in her annual address:
UW News recently ran a story about the Resilience Lab’s work, including an interview with director Megan Kennedy. Read the article here.
Robinson Center: Intentionally bringing students to campus and creating community
Students sign blankets for one another as a community-building activity at this year’s orientation.
Preparing Transition School students to come to campus for the first time began in spring 2021. Transition School principal Lisa Scott recognized that for this group — students who spend what would be their ninth grade year preparing to fully matriculate into the UW the following year — knowing their way around campus and building a community was crucial to their emotional and physical well-being. Scott developed a plan to safely bring these students to campus in May 2021. They spent the day completing a campus-wide scavenger hunt and acclimating to the campus environment. “Many parents have told me that the May Activity Day was the highlight of their student’s year,” shared Scott. This group of students returned to the UW campus as first year Early Entrance Program students in autumn 2021.
To prepare Robinson Center students for the 2021-22 school year, the Robinson Center held orientations for the Early Entrance, UW Academy and Transition School students. Though each orientation was fine-tuned to meet the groups’ specific needs, common threads included building community, exploring campus and learning about campus resources.
Students are typically two to three years younger than most of their college peers, and student well-being programs remain a priority throughout the year. Students continue to meet with mentors and attend seminar classes on topics including majors and resources. The Robinson Center serves as a mini-HUB with places to relax, study, hangout with friends and eat outside.
When touring the space recently, an engineering colleague commented, “You can feel the community in this space.”
Student-Athlete Academic Services: Keeping the pulse on student-athlete well-being
Illustration: Burke Smithers
Student-Athlete Academic Services (SAAS) has been checking on the well-being of the UW’s 650 student-athletes throughout the pandemic through their regular pulse surveys. These 10-question surveys asked about what’s going well to what’s been most challenging. SAAS adjusted their programs and outreach based on the feedback they received.
Throughout the pandemic, the SAAS team also discovered new ways of serving their students: virtual counseling and virtual tutoring. Pre-pandemic, these services were exclusively offered in person. Yet the effectiveness of these online programs means the SAAS team will carry them forward. For athletes who travel to meets, games and competitions, being able to continue to access tutoring and counseling uninterrupted is hugely beneficial.
Join the team and make your own wellness commitment with this printable. Print it, write your commitment on it and post it somewhere visible to you to continue to encourage yourself.
The SAAS team saw both first- and second- year students join their orientation. This year’s focus was building community — community within the 22 teams, within the student-athlete community and the broader UW community. Activities included a campus-wide scavenger hunt to find campus resources and a barbeque with coaches and staff from around campus to help students connect to the UW’s services. They also participated in the NCAA’s Mental Health Awareness Week. Students particularly embraced the wellness wall, where they anonymously wrote a commitment to personal wellness they are committing to for the 2021-22 year. Mental health services, team doctors and nutrition advising supports continue year round. In addition, SAAS provides advising, tutoring, career development, internships and academic coaching year round to best support our Husky student-athletes.
Undergraduate Research Program: Introducing undergrads to the what, why and how of research
The Undergraduate Research Program works with students to find research opportunities across all fields, including the humanities, arts and sciences.
The Undergraduate Research Program is building community within their 43 undergraduate research leaders (URLs) — student volunteers who help their peers get involved with research. Last year, the URLs spoke to more than 1,500 students about these opportunities. This work included a two-day orientation, which took a holistic approach to leadership development, with lots of time for reflection and conversation. There was an emphasis on empathy to help students slow down, reflect on the experiences of one another and and find commonalities with their own experiences. Mindfulness practices like deep breathing and other grounding exercises were included to help students center themselves.
Another key component of orientation was a diversity, equity and inclusion training on inclusivity and bias. The URLs learned about the experiences and potential barriers encountered by students from groups ranging from BIPOC students to first-gen to neurodiverse students to transfer students. Students then reflected on how this awareness will change their mindset in their work as a URL, explaining, “Our role is not just to promote research, and generally mentor undergrads entering research, but to help others to overcome the barriers that they may be facing in even entering a lab in the first place.”
The URLs are proactively thinking about ways to continue to support their peers and are pitching ideas — unprompted — to URP’s leadership team. We’ll share info about these new initiatives on our social media channels as they are launched.
In addition to their URL program, the Undergraduate Research Program expanded their advising offerings to include weekly virtual advising, in-person group advising and individual drop-in advising appointments. These sessions often focus on learning how to get involved with research and answer questions like, “I’m a first-year student. Is research for me?” (Answer: Yes!) Through the continued support, students grow their confidence and resilience as they navigate finding a research team and ultimately begin their research experiences.
Get involved with undergraduate research. Check the Undergraduate Research Program website for upcoming advising sessions, search for research opportunities and more.
Real Change vendor Addis Michael Junior’s inner light is beautifully captured by the halo surrounding him. The artist Derek Gundy donated his time and talent to create this portrait. This painting is on display as part of the Portraits for Change exhibit, currently in the Allen Library Atrium through March 12.
Students in the Interdisciplinary Honors class “Citizen Acts to Challenge Poverty” collaborated with Real Change to bring the exhibit Portraits for Change to the UW campus. The gallery features portraits and biographies of Real Change newspaper vendors, originally commissioned and curated by Real Change art director, Jon Williams. The idea of hosting this exhibit grew out of a long standing partnership between Real Change and Vicky Lawson and Sarah Elwood, UW geography professors and co-founders of the Relational Poverty Network. As Lawson designed an interdisciplinary seminar to engage UW Honors students in a learning experience that could amplify the work of activist organizations like Real Change, she saw an opportunity for students to make a positive impact by installing the existing portraits as a public exhibit on UW’s Seattle campus.
Honors students worked with Real Change to figure out how to mount and promote the exhibit, create an opening event and lead small group tours. They also curated an accompanying exhibit called “Seattle Now and Then” to show that homelessness in Seattle is not a new issue for the city. A photo of the 1930s shantytown known as Hooverville is contrasted with a modern day photo of the same location. The historic picture shows a man standing on a ladder, repairing the roof of his makeshift home. In today’s photo, tents line the sidewalk along Alaskan Way. Smith Tower is prominent in both images, orienting the viewer within the city. Interdisciplinary Honors student and aeronautics major Danny Roberts led the curation and photography of this addition to the Portraits exhibit. Pairing these images with the portraits and stories of the vendors tells a more nuanced and complex story of the people living outside in our city.
Artists donated their time to paint portraits of Real Change vendors to change the way we see these members of our community. For a population that is often ignored or avoided, this celebration of their beauty, joy and depth is especially meaningful. These works invite the viewer to spend time looking at each person as precisely that — a person. The paintings are accompanied by biographies, which explain the unique set of circumstances that led the person to become unhomed. These stories aim to thwart the toxic stereotypes — that people living on the streets are all drug addicts, mentally ill, lazy and so on — and instead highlight the person’s humanity, dignity and resilience. Many vendors talked about how powerful and transformative selling the papers has been: from helping them create a community of vendors and clients to helping them regain a sense of dignity and employment. Being immortalized in a portrait — an artform historically reserved for nobles and royalty — further honors each person.
Sam Fredman, a senior and peer educator in the Honors Program studying law, societies and justice and disability studies, underlined the importance of holding this exhibit in the University of Washington’s Allen Library, explaining that “libraries are spaces of public education” and that as a public university, it’s important to create a welcoming space for all of our community members. To further the impact of the exhibit, Lawson and Elwood, along with graduate student Isaac Rivera, also set up a research project to gauge the public’s understanding of Real Change and issues surrounding homelessness and poverty in our community. The last question of the survey asks people what actions they will take based on the exhibit. The intention is to inspire people to imagine making a difference, sparking everyday citizens into action.
When asked how he feels about the experience of partnering with UW students and faculty on Portraits for Change, Williams was very positive. “It meant a lot to have students taking care of all the details to share these portraits and get the word out,” he explained. “Now a lot more people will see them.”
The exhibit is on display at the Allen Library Atrium through Thursday, March 12.
The University of Washington Honors program brings together students and faculty from all across campus to learn through cross-disciplinary curriculum, experiential learning, research and critical reflection. Honors’ curriculum offers a rigorous, interdisciplinary education, while Departmental Honors programs provide deep disciplinary education.
About Real Change
Real Change is an award-winning newspaper. It’s written by professional journalists and provides people experiencing homelessness or who are low income with immediate employment.
Congratulations to the 2018-19 Undergraduate Academic Affairs staff recognition and distinguished partner awardees. Selected for their dedication to supporting UAA’s mission of creating innovative academic experiences for undergraduates, these 14 staff members made an indelible impact on the UW’s students, faculty, staff and community.
And the awardees are…
Award for Excellence
• Debbie McGhee, research scientist, Office of Educational Assessment
Outstanding Achievement Award
• Carissa Mayer, counseling services coordinator, University Honors Program
• Emily Smith, assistant director, Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards
Outstanding Student Employee Award
• Salem Abraha, front desk staff and student program staff, Center for Experiential Learning & Diversity and Mary Gates Endowment for Students
• Danya Clevenger, graduate staff assistant, Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center
• Makayla Dorn, front desk staff and peer adviser, Student Academic Services and Undergraduate Advising
Distinguished Partner Award
• Mary Gates Hall Custodial Team
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. Debbie McGhee’s 20-plus year commitment to advancing undergraduate teaching and learning through rigorous evaluation and assessment will be carried forward by all who worked with her.
Debbie McGhee, the passionate researcher
Awarded posthumously.
“Anyone who interacts with Debbie is likely quick to notice her keen wit, warm sense of humor, strong attention to detail and commitment to professionalism. Those of us who have had the opportunity to collaborate with her are thankful for these qualities, as they help us to produce high quality research and service while enjoying the work we do. The impact of Debbie’s work over the years truly reaches beyond the boundaries of our office, and OEA, UAA and UW are better because of Debbie’s service to them.”
— Angela Davis-Unger, research scientist and Sean Gehrke, director of the Office of Educational Assessment
Achievements of note: Served as interim associate director of OEA from 2017-2018, leading OEA through a time of transition and uncertainty. Recipient of the Washington Educational Research Association Research Award (2003). Led research on psychometric properties of IASystem course evaluation items and instruments, with 6 first-authored reports between 2005 and 2016. Co-authored 11 articles and chapters in the fields of psychology and education, including: “Psychometric properties of student ratings of instruction in online and on-campus courses” in New Directions for Teaching and Learning (2003), written with former director Nana Lowell utilizing course evaluation data from OEA; “Measuring individual differences in implicit cognition: The Implicit Association Test” in Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (1998), an article that has been cited by other researchers more than 11,000 times in the past 20 years!
Outstanding Achievement Award
Recognizing the innovation, collaboration and tenacity it takes to initiate change, this award acknowledges the teams behind some of UAA’s innovative programming. Through her leadership and devotion, Carissa Mayer helps students make strong decisions and set exciting goals about their education and their futures. Emily Smith created the Global Fellowships Prep program to help students learn about and apply for opportunities for graduate school, fellowships, research or leadership opportunities abroad.
Carissa Mayer, the trusted adviser
“We trust Carissa as both a colleague and an adviser immensely. There is no question that a student working with her will get the best possible help and care. She has tremendous instincts for what is right, and we know that anything she works on, be it individual advising appointments or long term community building projects, are going to be handled with grace and professionalism that will represent our program — and UAA — well and will improve the student experience.”
— Aley Mills Willis, director of academic services, University Honors Program
Achievements of note: Created the Honors Community Ambassadors Program. Leads the Honors Peer Educator Program. Instructs HONORS 100 to introduce the entire freshman class to the essential features of the Honors Program. Serves as our Honors Lead Adviser. Improved our Honors curriculum management organization. Mentors our entire advising staff. Serves on UW-wide advising boards and committees to advocate for the profession. Directs partnership with Honors Living Learning Community. Was awarded as Adviser of the Month by the UW Association of Professional Advisers and Counselors (APAC).
Emily Smith, the collaborative creator
“Global Fellowships Prep (GFP) is Emily’s creation; one method of revamping how we engage students to ensure our office and scholarships are accessible, viable and meaningful options for all UW undergrads, especially those underrepresented within the university and within nationally competitive scholarships. Emily designed GFP as an open entry point for students to develop goals, better understand how scholarships could support those goals and break down intimidating processes, making it more feasible to apply. Through building efficiencies, GFP also makes it possible for our tiny team to work with more students more intensively.”
— Janice DeCosmo, associate dean, Center for Experiential Learning and Diversity and Robin Chang, director, Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards
Achievements of note: Created Global Fellowships Prep last year as a way to better support and serve underrepresented students and those from diverse backgrounds and experiences. Developed Writers Block sessions in collaboration with Mary Gates Endowment and Global Opportunities to support students in their application drafting and revision. Created Scholarship Fridays to streamline and bring consistency to our first and second year student-focused programming. Connects students she meets to other programs, and vice versa. Developed and launched a new assessment effort for OMSFA to better understand the impact of our advising appointments.
Outstanding Student Employee Award
Student employees are an integral part of the UAA staff. This award recognizes the outstanding achievements of three student employees. Salem Abraha stepped up and helped keep the May Gates Endowment Program running in a time of transition. Through her organization, planning and collaboration, Danya Clevenger’s influence will have a lasting impact on the Carlson Center. Makayla Dorn assists her peers in succeeding through her work as a peer adviser.
Salem Abraha, the program influencer
“As a student you never imagine yourself having to carry the integrity of any program, and Salem did that. Her efforts and commitment carried our programs through a tough and busy school year. Aside from excelling in rigorous academics, Salem truly helped our programs excel this year.”
— Annabel Cholico, assistant director, Mary Gates Endowment
Achievements of note: President of the Black Student Union, 2019 Husky 100 Awardee, Global Opportunities Scholarship Recipient, member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Inc., University of Washington dean’s list for four consecutive quarters from fall of 2017 to fall of 2018.
Danya Clevenger, the impactful advocate
“When you first meet Danya, her easy laugh and genuine interest in people quickly win you over. Next, her thoughtfulness—about systems, process and details—comes shining through. Then if you’re lucky, you get to witness these things buoyed by her exceptional research facilitation, analysis and synthesis skill. Danya Clevenger is a women with vision—and she has the gifts, talents, and follow-through to make that vision come into being.”
— Kathryn Pursch Cornforth, associate director, Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center
Achievements of note: Shepherded the Carlson Center’s Theory of Change process, including facilitating robust involvement from on and off campus partners. Helped to create an internal process of strategic planning that asked the Carlson Center to consider how to activate their Theory of Change in meaningful ways that call upon them to use their time in alignment with their values. Concurrently completed two masters’ degrees while serving on the board of directors for Launch, completing a capstone degree project with Seattle Public Schools and raising her inquisitive 3-year-old-daughter, Philippa.
Makayla Dorn, the dedicated leader
“She approaches situations with curiosity, often asking questions when something doesn’t seem right, which inspires those around her to try harder and do better. She also leads by example, by consistently going above and beyond her job title. When students have questions she doesn’t know the answers to, she will take initiative to call multiple offices to find the answer for the student.”
— Joslin Boroughs, associate director and Lauren Marriott, lead academic adviser, Undergraduate Advising
Achievements of note: As a newly-hired peer adviser, processed hundreds of course prerequisite overrides and registration transactions for incoming students at Advising and Orientation. Leads by example for both the student associate and peer adviser teams in the Center for Undergraduate Advising, Diversity, and Student Success — helping to bridge communication gaps and suggest solutions and efficiencies for both staffs.
Distinguished Partner Award
The Undergraduate Academic Affairs Distinguished Partner Award recognizes a colleague, program or department whose collaborations with Undergraduate Academic Affairs have made significant advances in the University of Washington’s undergraduate academic experience. These collaborations enhance, enrich and deepen the undergraduate experience. The reciprocity of these relationships benefits undergraduates and the broader campus community.
Mary Gates Hall Custodial Team, the stewards of Mary Gates Hall
Desiderio De Castro, Maria Devaney, Joe Lo, Zenaida Pagdilao, Emebet Sefara, Cassk Thomas, Robert Thompson and Seare Zerom
“Our custodial team is indispensable to our work with our students, faculty and staff. They are keepers of the places we work, learn and convene. We are grateful for the work they do to preserve the spirit of Mary Gates Hall.”
— Ed Taylor, Vice Provost and Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs
The President’s Medalist Award celebrates the top student in each undergraduate class. Selected by a committee for their high GPA, rigor of their classes and number of Honors courses, the recipients for the 2017-18 academic year come from a broad range of disciplines.
University of Washington alumna Havana McElvaine, Class of 2017, has been selected as a Marshall scholar, one of the highest honors available to college graduates in the U.S.
After four years spent in United Nations’ negotiations, I celebrated the 2015 adoption of the first universal climate treaty, the Paris Agreement. Months later, the world’s largest cumulative greenhouse gas emitter (the U.S.) elected a climate change denier to their highest office. I needed every American to hear me, to see what my colleagues and I had worked so hard to accomplish. So I started what turned out to be a six-year journey from the memoir’s inception to publication.
