Notices and Announcements

The Notices and Announcements section is provided as a service to the WSU community for sharing events such as lectures, trainings, and other highly transactional types of information related to the university experience. Information provided and opinions expressed may not reflect the understanding or opinion of WSU. Accuracy of the information presented is the responsibility of those who submitted it. The self-uploaded posts are reviewed for compliance with state statutes and ethics guidelines but are not edited for spelling, grammar, or clarity.

Recent Submissions

There are still some slots available to see, Eli Jenkins, TIAA consultant on the Pullman campus on Thursday, March 21.

For WSURP and VIP participants, Eli can assist you with the following: developing long-term retirement savings strategies; reviewing/adjusting retirement allocations; or learning about TIAA retirement income options and flexibility.

All WSU employees can participate in the VIP (Voluntary Investment Plan). If you are interested in learning more about this program or saving more for retirement, Eli can provide information about the VIP.

Appointment times are limited and will be filled on a first come, first served basis. To schedule a meeting please call 1-800-732-8353, or schedule online.

Please join us for a noontime workshop Wednesday, March 20. This workshop will showcase the various grant opportunities available through ADVANCE at WSU. Panelists include past ADVANCE grant awardees Cecilia Rodriguez Furlan (School of Biological Sciences) and Angela Henricks (Psychology) who will share their experiences with ADVANCE and the impacts of their grant activities. ADVANCE liaisons Jolie Kaytes (Landscape Architecture) and Kat Harris (Accounting) will offer insights into writing successful grant applications.

This virtual workshop is open to all faculty.

Join Zoom session

Contact ADVANCE at WSU Director Jennifer Thigpen (jthigpen@wsu.edu) with any questions.

Charice DeGuzman of Cougar Health Services has been approved for shared leave. Those interested in donating can do so by following the instructions below.

From your Workday home page:

  1. Click on the Absence applet.
  2. Click Request Absence.
  3. Click on today’s date only on the calendar (even if donating for a range of dates).
  4. Click blue Request Absence button on the page bottom left side.
  5. Select Absence Type, then Donate Leave, then choose type of leave you wish to donate and then click next.
  6. On the Request Absence screen, click the grey Edit Quantity per Day option.
  7. Enter the amount of hours you would like to donate in the Update All Quantities box, then in the comments leave the name of the recipient. Click Done.
  8. Choose Reason for Donation, then submit.

When submitting donated leave, please list only one recipient per transaction.

Thank you.

Congratulations to the 2024 Women* of Distinction and Woman* of the Year award winners! We have an amazing eight winners for this year’s awards. Please join us in celebrating these eight outstanding women’s accomplishments and service to WSU and our surrounding communities!

  • Undergraduate: Amaris Cupples
  • Graduate Student: Ping Ping Tang
  • Tenure-track Faculty: Deborah Lee
  • Career-track Faculty: Julie Padowski
  • Administration: Dawn DeWitt
  • Staff: Corri McGrath
  • Alumna: Tess Wakasugi-Don
  • Woman* of the Year: Kimberly Christen

The awards ceremony will be held Thursday, March 21, in the Great Hall, Lewis Alumni Centre, Pullman from 3–5 p.m. Please RSVP if you’d like to attend in person or via Zoom.

We hope to see you there!

Join us on March 19, 6–7 p.m. for the Pub Talk “Navigating Misinformation in the Digital Age: Media Influence and Cultivating our Relationship to Critical Reading” with Porismita Borah, Amir Gilmore, and Bimbisar Irom. Please visit efa.wsu.edu/category/efa-events for talk details, info on speakers and how to attend.

Topics and presenters are arranged by the WSU’s Entrepreneurial Faculty Ambassador (EFA) Program efa.wsu.edu and the Palouse Discovery Science Center (PDSC). All Donations support PDSC.

Please join the Water Research Center for a lunch and learn event, where we will hear from one of the 2022–23 research seed grant recipients.

“Using Drone-Based Technologies to Map Stream Characteristics and Salmon Spawning Habitat”
Noon–1 p.m., Thursday, March 21, online

Dr. Alex Fremier and Co-PI Daniel Auerbach are advancing drone-based technologies to measure stream velocities, temperatures, grain size distributions, and salmon spawning habitat. Dr. Fremier will share the details of their work on the Wenatchee River.

The webinar is free but registration is required. Learn more and register on the Water Research Center website.

Volunteers are still needed to serve as judges for Showcase for Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities (SURCA) Monday, March 25, in the CUB Senior Ballroom at WSU Pullman. Over 200 students from all campuses have signed up to make presentations that afternoon, and having just as many judges will allow presenters to be evaluated by three or more reviewers each. Please sign up!

SURCA offers nine categories in which students can present. Judges are needed in all of them, but specially in these three:

  • Molecular, Cellular, and Chemical Biology
  • Engineering and Physical Sciences
  • Social Sciences

Faculty, post-docs, WSU post-candidacy doctoral students, and anyone with expertise or work experience from industry, government, non-profit organizations, and other groups outside of WSU are invited to judge. Judges’ training will offered for post-candidacy doctoral students and interested others on Thursday, March 21, in CUE 518 on the Pullman campus.

Please visit the SURCA website to learn more about this annual event that kicks off WSU Showcase Week, and features posters and presentations on the research, scholarship, and creative activities from undergraduates across the university. Abstracts describing each students presentation will be available soon.

Nominations are now being accepted for the eighth annual Oaks Academic Technology Award, which recognizes an instructor’s innovative application of technology to transform teaching and learning in their classroom.

The Oaks Award was established in honor of the visionary leadership of Dr. Muriel Oaks, WSU Dean Emeritus. Scott Wallace, an associate professor in the computer science department at WSU Vancouver, was awarded the 2023 Oaks Academic Technology Award in recognition of his innovative work using Autolab software to provide formative feedback to his students.

Instructors on any WSU campus wishing to be considered for the Oaks Award are invited to submit an application. You may also nominate others or encourage deserving colleagues to apply. Nominations will be accepted until March 20 at 11:59 p.m. The winner will receive $3,000 in faculty development funds, distributed to the award winner’s academic department.

To apply or learn more about the award, including the evaluation metric, visit the Oaks Award application web page.

The application deadline is tomorrow, Tuesday, March 19, for the Richard G. Law Excellence Award for Undergraduate Teaching.

The award recognizes outstanding teaching by instructors who lead University Common Requirements (UCORE) general education courses. Please visit the web page to learn more and to access online forms to submit materials.

Online applications for three awards from the WSU Teaching Academy supporting great teaching and learning systemwide will close March 22. Applicants from every campus are encouraged to consider submitting an application.

Details for the following awards are online:

Questions about the awards can be sent to Nicholas Cerruti, TA member and grants and awards committee chair.

“‘What is the Meaning of this Boundary Line?’ Indigenous Nationhood and Colonial Borders” by Dr. Patrick Lozar (Salish & Kootnai) (University of Montana)

2024 Sherman & Mabel Smith Pettyjohn Lecture on Indigenous History
Friday, March 29, at noon
CUE 518, WSU Pullman

Since the mid-nineteenth century, Indigenous Nations of the Columbia Plateau have contended with the Canada-United States border that runs through their homelands in the interior Pacific Northwest. For the United States and Canada, the border marked each country’s separate jurisdiction at the forty-ninth parallel. For Indigenous peoples, the invisible boundary line could divide families and lands, but it could also be exploited and undermined. In this lecture, Dr. Patrick Lozar will explore the diverse ways that Indigenous Nations have responded to the imposition of colonial borders in their territories, historically and today.

On display March 26 through June 29, Subversive Intent: Selections from the Collection presents rarely displayed artworks from the museum’s permanent collection, spanning from historical pieces by Hogarth and Goya to contemporary works by Holzer and Shimomura. It juxtaposes politically engaged art by the Kienholzes with introspective and irreverent subversion. Artists throughout history have used humor and critique to address social issues, shedding light on humanity’s flaws. The exhibition showcases artists as astute observers, challenging conventional perceptions and transforming everyday objects into thought-provoking art. Open Tuesday through Saturday, 10 a.m.–4 p.m., excluding university holidays and breaks.

Mark your calendar for Showcase, the university’s weeklong celebration of academic excellence. Events start on Monday, March 25, and run through March 29.

Showcase honors the achievements of WSU scholars and provides forums for sharing their research and creative work.

Support your colleagues by attending the following events:

Questions?
showcase.wsu.edu, showcase@wsu.edu, 509-335-6674

WSU Extension translates research into practice to address local needs. This is done by conducting and applying research and knowledge in a way that is culturally appropriate and tailored to the unique needs of individuals and communities. If approached thoughtfully, Extension can be a valuable partner in conducting community-engaged research. Join four Extension faculty members to learn best practices and ways to leverage your work across Washington state.

Join us via Zoom on Wednesday, March 20, at noon!

RSVP online

Welcome future Cougs! Learn more about your soon-to-be community during an open house March 23 from 3–5 p.m. featuring a variety of local resources and amenities, one-on-one conversations with current Cougs, light refreshments and a complimentary keepsake photo commemorating your decision to become a future WSU Pullman Coug. Stop by and say hello — we’re always here to help!

Offering a more inclusive communication experience for WSU faculty, staff, and students, Microsoft 365 now allows preferred pronouns on the Microsoft Teams and Outlook on the Web profile card.

Customizing the Microsoft 365 profile card is optional. Designed with flexibility and privacy in mind, this feature ensures each WSU user can decide if, when, and which pronouns are used.

To learn more about this feature and how to enable pronouns, please review this Microsoft Support article or visit its.wsu.edu.

When enabled, pronouns will appear next to a user’s display name in the top section of their Teams and Outlook on the Web profile card. Pronouns will be visible to all WSU Microsoft 365 users. Pronouns on the profile cards will not be visible to users from external organizations.

This pronoun feature is exclusive to Microsoft 365 and does not impact pronoun settings configured in myWSU, Canvas, and other WSU services.

Aligning with the university’s goals of encouraging inclusive practices, this change also helps develop a more welcoming virtual environment that actively works to prevent misgendering, ensuring members of the WSU community are supported and respected.

Please contact Crimson Service Desk at crimsonservicedesk@wsu.edu or 509-335-4357 for more information.

Join us on WSU Family Weekend, April 5, 3–4 p.m., for talks by the artists featured in the Master of Fine Arts Thesis Exhibition. These talented students’ artworks, honed through years of study and exploration, challenge conventions, and offer fresh perspectives. This year’s candidates, Mozi Jones and Reika Okuhara, will speak briefly to introduce the work they are presenting in the exhibition. The talks will be followed by an opening reception from 4–6 p.m. This event is free and open to the public, promising an enriching experience for all, whether seasoned art enthusiasts or newcomers to contemporary art.

WSU is subject to audit by external parties throughout the year. The university cooperates with all external auditors in their responsibilities examining and confirming university transactions and activities. To facilitate cooperation and collaboration, every external audit has a university liaison — most often this will be the Controller, Sponsored Program Services, and/or Internal Audit (IA). See BPPM 30.14 External Audits for more information.

If you are contacted by anyone identifying as an external auditor, proper protocols must be followed to protect confidential data and provide a cooperative and collaborative process. No records or information are to be released until verifying the reviewer’s identity and purpose. Contact the unit supervisor and IA.

Except for surprise cash counts, all audit engagements should have prior notice and be coordinated through the university liaison. If the State Auditor makes contact for an unannounced cash count, remember:

  • Obtain proper identification from auditors.
  • Notify supervisor immediately and have them present for the count if possible.
  • Do not leave the funds, ever. Have at least one employee present for the entire count.
  • Contact IA as soon as possible, after the count or during the count if problems arise.

Questions? Contact IA at ia.central@wsu.edu.

WSU’s University Marketing and Communications web team will offer a series of online training presentations covering the Web Design SystemBlocksAccessibility, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO).

Each session will consist of four 30-minute presentations and 30 minutes of questions and answers. These 1-hour trainings are designed to assist you in updating your website from the spine theme to the web design system.

The training dates are as follows:

  • Thursday, Feb. 29
  • Wednesday, March 20
  • Tuesday, April 16

More information on these trainings, including times and links to the trainings, is available online.

Please share this email with others that might benefit. These trainings will be recorded and posted to web.wsu.edu.

To reduce scheduling issues related to expired or improperly scheduled Zoom meeting links, Information Technology Services (ITS) enabled a new calendar integration setting that will prompt all WSU faculty, staff, and students to sync their Outlook calendar with Zoom starting today, March 14.

If your Outlook calendar is currently synced with Zoom, you will not be impacted by this change. However, ITS recommends re-syncing your Outlook and Zoom accounts by following this WSU Knowledge Base article to ensure syncing permissions are up to date.

The calendar sync prompt will appear when you authenticate your WSU credentials in to Zoom via the web, desktop, or mobile application, and may not be immediate. If you authenticated in to Zoom before March 14, the prompt will appear the next time authentication is required.

You may also choose to skip the calendar integration; however, if you opt out of this feature, the calendar sync prompt will reappear the next time you authenticate in to Zoom.

ITS encourages you to sync your Outlook calendar and Zoom as soon as possible to prevent any unexpected disruptions when joining or creating WSU Zoom meetings. To enable calendar integration now, please review this WSU Knowledge Base article.

To learn more about this change, please visit its.wsu.edu.

Please contact WSU’s Zoom Services via email at zoom.support@wsu.edu for any questions or additional support.