Notices and Announcements

The School of Economic Sciences invites you to the Leigh Lecture on Thursday, April 11, at 4:30 p.m. in CUE 203 on the Pullman campus. The talk, titled “Economists as Engineers: Matchmaking and Market Design,” will be presented by Dr. Alvin Roth, the Craig and Susan McCaw Professor of Economics at Stanford University.

He received the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences in 2012 jointly with Professor Lloyd Shapley “for the theory of stable allocations and the practice of market design,” and was president of the American Economic Association in 2017.

On April 10, the Office of Research will host a showcase of arts and humanities research, scholarship, and creative production. The evening will begin with flash talks from process grant award winners and will be followed by the debut of short videos featuring eight faculty from across units, including art, music, and digital technology and culture.

WSU faculty, staff, and students are invited: please RSVP online to join us at the Lewis Alumni Center (and via Zoom) from 5–7 p.m. for a night of celebration. Refreshments will be provided.

WSU’s University Marketing and Communications web team will offer a series of online training presentations covering the Web Design System, Blocks, Accessibility, 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.

Advance at WSU is pleased to sponsor a day-long National Center for Faculty Development and Diversity Workshop, “Avoiding Faculty Burnout: The Weekly Plan to Prioritize, Build & Maintain Momentum, and Experience True Work-Life Balance.” The workshop will be facilitated by Anthony Ocampo, professor of sociology at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.

Workshop details:

• This workshop is free and open to all WSU faculty
• When: Thursday, April 25, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Where: Courtyard by Marriott, Pullman, WA — parking available on site
• Registration: Register for the event by April 11
• Morning fare, lunch, and cookies will be provided to all attendees

Mini Travel grants of up to $500 are available for faculty traveling to Pullman to attend. To learn more about mini grants and hotel accommodations, please email Sreya Mukherjee at sreya.mukherjee@wsu.edu.

Registration is limited to 100 people. Register soon to secure a spot!

Join the Association for Faculty Women and the Graduate School’s Professional Development Initiative for a virtual panel on making strategic decisions for an academic career on Tuesday, April 9, at 1 p.m.

Panelists will include women faculty and graduate students who have successful experiences navigating professional decisions and opportunities, and who will share their thoughts on the decision-making process they have used to determine which opportunities in the university to accept and which to decline. They will share advice and strategies about making intentional decisions to aid in developing a purposeful career trajectory.

Register and obtain the Zoom link online. All are welcome!

Has it been awhile since you reviewed your benefits? Would you like an overview of the benefits WSU offers? Are you not close to retiring, but thinking about what you may need to be doing for retirement or long-term financial planning?

Join Human Resource Services (HRS) and TIAA for a benefits and retirement check-up session! We will review the WSU benefits package, tax advantaged medical and retirement savings accounts, financial planning tips, the TIAA voluntary retirement program, and planning now for a financially secure retirement.

This presentation is open to all benefit-eligible employees, both DRS and WSURP participants, and will be held April 8 from 9 a.m.–noon. Join us by Zoom, Meeting ID: 812 058 2016.

If you are not able to attend our spring session, we will be hosting a similar session in the fall.

Contact HRS Benefits at 509-335-4521 or hrs.benefits@wsu.edu with any questions.

Dr. Chathuri Kombala — post-doctoral research associate at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) — will be visiting WSU Spokane for the SPRC Seminar Series. Her seminar entitled “Profiling functional rhythmicity using chemical biology approaches” will be in person in the Spokane Center for Clinical Research and Simulation room 250 and through Zoom on Tuesday, April 23, 12:10–1 p.m.

Chathuri Kombala currently works as a chemical biology post-doctoral research associate at PNNL. She received her BS from University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, and her PhD in Chemistry from the University of Arizona in 2020. As a member of WSU-PNNL joint program in microbiome science, she developed and utilized chemical biology tools to assess the functional rhythmicity in gut microbiome and host peripheral organs. Her current research focus is to understand the link between the microbiome and host circadian rhythms using multi-omics and chemical biology approaches.

We look forward to you joining us in person (SCCRS 250) or through Zoom!

Questions/Zoom link? Contact Michelle Sanchez at michelle.r.sanchez@wsu.edu.

Effective April 1, sales tax rates for several areas are changing. This may affect many departments of the university who sell items across the state. The rate table can be found in the A–Z index of the WSU home page under Sales Tax-Charged or bursar.wsu.edu/sales-tax-based-on-destination.

Thank you.

Office of the Bursar

We are excited to announce that registration is open for the two EAP-facilitated sessions that will take place on April 17. There will be limited on-site seating in Pullman for the sessions in Lighty 405 and the session will be streamed to the system through Zoom, as well as being recorded for future viewership in Percipio.

• Session 1: “Navigating the Constant Pace of Change”
  Wednesday, April 17, 9 a.m.

  During these challenging times we have all experienced and continue to experience a significant amount of change. You may be feeling overwhelmed or be looking for ideas around how to manage the challenges that come with change. Today we’ll be talking about the human side of change to help you better understand what you and others are experiencing, ways you might be impacted by change, actions you can take to navigate change based on your unique response to stress, and resources and supports available to you.

  Register for Session 1

• Session 2: “Actionable Ways to Incorporate Wellness Into Your Workday”
  Wednesday, April 17, 1 p.m.

  In our fast-paced work environments, it’s easy to overlook the importance of personal well-being. Today, we’ll explore practical strategies and techniques to incorporate wellness into our daily routines, ultimately enhancing our productivity, satisfaction, and overall quality of life.

  Register for Session 2

Monday, April 1, 5–7 p.m.
CUB Auditorium, WSU Pullman

To kick off International Education Week at WSU, WSU’s International Students’ Council is hosting a showcase of short films and a discussion with the director, Amman Basha, who will talk about the continuing refugee crisis in Yemen and the impacts it has globally and within the Pullman community.

The International Students’ Council is one of ASWSU’s largest committees and is the official voice of WSU’s international student population. Membership is open to all WSU students.

Join us in celebrating 35 years of our NIH Protein Biotechnology Training Program by attending our annual Research Symposium on Thursday, April 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in the Elson Floyd Cultural Center on the Pullman campus. This year our symposium theme is “Breaking the PhD Mold” where we will be celebrating unique, inspirational, and diverse PhD journeys that do not follow the traditional academic/industry routes. We will be enjoying poster and oral presentations from current program trainees and external speakers.

Make sure you register at the link below, spots are limited and preference will be given to our program trainees and faculty. Registration includes free breakfast and lunch. We hope to see you there!

Invited speakers:

• Linda Somerville
  Corporate vice president of technology development at Micron Technology, Inc.
• Eddie James
  Principal investigator at Benaroya Research Institute and program alumni
• Mario Peláez-Fernández
  Celebrated science communicator highlighting underrepresented minorities in STEM
• Celeste Bolin
  Lab51 director, science, & wellness coach at One Stone School

RSVP online

The Department of Translational Medicine and Physiology welcomes Dr. Zheng ‘Jake’ Chen, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston to WSU Spokane on Tuesday, April 9. He will be providing his seminar at noon, “Targeting the circadian clock against disease and aging,” in SCCRS 250 and via Zoom.

Biological timing in cells is crucial for physiological health and healthspan. Conversely, circadian dysregulation is a hallmark of many chronic diseases and age-related decline. Our research aims to investigate the function and mechanism of circadian intervention in disease and aging settings, which may lead to innovative chronotherapeutic strategies with broad translational impact.

Dr. Chen is a professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the McGovern Medical School at UT Health Science Center at Houston. Dr. Chen earned his PhD degree in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from Columbia University.

We look forward to you joining us in person (SCRS 250) or through Zoom!

Questions/Zoom link? Contact Michelle Sanchez at michelle.r.sanchez@wsu.edu.

The Anthropology Department Colloquium series will host a talk by Dr. Sarah Kurnick (University of Colorado Boulder) titled “Increasing Diversity is not an End Goal: The Intellectual Value of Engaged Archaeology at Punta Laguna, Yucatan, Mexico.” The talk will be held in College Hall 125 at WSU Pullman on Thursday, April 4, at 3:30 p.m.

Units are required to maintain a clear record of assets assigned to employees, regardless of work location.

Assets with a cost of $5,000 or more and assets designated as “small and attractive” (e.g., laptops, notebooks, and tablets) must be inventoried and tracked. Tracking items such as monitors, printers, and desk chairs is not required per policy. However, if such items are checked out to employees, units should determine which items to track, to whom assigned, and note physical locations of items with clear expectation for asset return upon employee separation or when no longer needed.

Employees with inventory tracking responsibilities must ensure departmental records are kept updated with the physical location of each asset. Refer to BPPM 20.50 Property Inventory for policy and to the following reference guides:

• Edit Asset Request — for updating the description, memo serial #, manufacturer, asset coordinator
• Issue Asset — for issuing to a new worker/location
• Transfer Asset — for transferring the asset to a new worker/location

Tracking and safeguarding assets that hold university data is especially important. Loss of university data can result in fines, loss of funding, loss of donations, and overall loss of public trust.

At the end of their useful life, dispose of assets in accordance with university policy BPPM 20.76 Surplus Property as well as the Dispose Asset reference guide.

Questions? Contact Property Inventory or the Office of Internal Audit.

Join Laura Hamilton, WSU Learning and Organizational Development manager, for the spring series of Crucial Conversations Book Review. This course provides powerful skills to ensure every conversation — especially difficult ones — leads to the results you want. Participants learn how to be persuasive rather than abrasive, and how to get back to productive dialogue when others clam up. Also offers techniques for high-stakes conversations when emotions are running strong. Register in Percipio for Crucial Conversations Book Review spring series sessions, April 3 and 12.

The Brelsford WSU Visitor Center will be open with special activities and extended hours for Spring Family Weekend April 5–7 on the Pullman campus.

Extended hours will be 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Friday, 9 a.m.–4 p.m. Saturday, and 10 a.m.–2 p.m. Sunday. Staff will be available to assist with weekend logistics such as parking and transportation options, directions and wayfinding, dining and shopping, and additional Spring Family Weekend events and activities.

The visitor center will also host a variety of activities throughout the weekend, including a WSU Honey tasting on Friday, complimentary Cougar IX wine tasting and souvenir photos on Saturday, and Cougar Cheese samples on all three days.

More information is available at 509-335-4636, visitor@wsu.edu, visitor.wsu.edu, or by following the Brelsford WSU Visitor Center on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter.

Welcome future Cougs! Learn more about your soon-to-be community during an open house April 8–12 from 12–5 p.m. every day featuring a variety of local resources and amenities, one-on-one conversations with current Cougs and a complimentary keepsake photo capturing you becoming a future WSU Pullman Coug while enjoying a selection of our famous Cougar Cheese flavors. Stop by and say hello — we’re always here to help!

Are you thinking of retiring within the next five years? If so, join Human Resource Services Benefits and TIAA for a pre-retirement seminar. We will be covering topics such as retiree health insurance, retirement processes, and ways to access retirement income.

Two sessions are available:

• Monday, April 8, 9 a.m. – noon
• Tuesday, April 9, 10:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.

Both sessions are available by Zoom, Meeting ID: 812 058 2016.

If you are not able to attend our spring sessions, we will be hosting similar sessions in the fall.

Contact HRS Benefits at 509-335-4521 or hrs.benefits@wsu.edu with any questions.

Are you interested in learning more about APAC membership from council members? The deadline to submit your application to the Administrative Professional Advisory Council will close at 5 p.m. on Wednesday, April 3. Are you interested in learning more about the council aside from the information presented on the APAC web page? Join us for two virtual opportunities to connect with current APAC members, and request more information before submitting you application.

• Friday, March 29, from 3–3:30 p.m. via Zoom
  Add the March 29 session to your calendar
• Monday, April 1, from 2:30–3 p.m. via Zoom
  Add the April 1 session to your calendar

All system-wide administrative professionals are encouraged to consider their prospective APAC application with the support of their supervisor. Request more information about the APAC info/Q&A session or contact us by email at apac@wsu.edu.

You are invited to participate in the 4th annual Women’s Leadership Summit hosted by the WSU Alumni Association. This summit is designed to provide Cougs with an opportunity to celebrate successes and learn from the experiences of women from WSU. This year’s summit will highlight WSU alumnae from across WSU and showcase how the university played an integral role in their professional journeys. The summit panel will include one alumnae representative from each of our six campus locations.

Our amazing alumnae panelists will share their experiences and participate in a question-and-answer session with attendees. The summit is free and open to all Cougs and friends. We hope you will join us!

Friday, April 5
1–3 p.m.
Register online