Are you thinking about proposing an academic certificate?

Please review this email from Abir Biswas, Interim Academic Dean:

Monday, September 20, 2021 
Dear Faculty colleagues,

Happy almost-fall!  I am writing to follow-up on the mention of certificates in Day 1 of the Academic Retreat.  For the 21-22 Academic Year, we have 3 academic certificates starting in the Fall (see our website), and we expect another to start this coming Spring.  

The college would like to offer many more certificates for 2022-23. If you are interested in developing a certificate, it’s not too late to share your ideas, and we are looking forward to hearing from you!  This timeline is an overview of key steps.

Timeline for 2022-23 Academic Year:

(I)                  Submit a DRAFT Letter of Intent (attached) as complete as possible to Abir Biswas (biswasa@evergreen.edu ) by October 8^th (Friday of Week 2)– and please email Abir if you need support in completing the document.

(II)               The Curriculum Team will aim to provide feedback on drafts by Oct 22^nd (Friday of Week 4) to guide designers toward a certificate aligned with Evergreen’s New Directions and planned curriculum. (please note that this feedback does not guarantee teaching plans or contracts)

(III)              Submit a FINAL Letter of Intent to Abir Biswas (biswasa@evergreen.edu) by December 1^st (Wednesday week 9) – and again, please email Abir if you need support in completing the document.

(IV)            The Curriculum Team will review Letters of Intent provide feedback, including possible confirmation of the certificate, in December 2021-January 2022.

We recognize that this is a tight timeline if you were unable to participate in the certificates institute this past summer, so PLEASE don’t hesitate to ask for help.  

We are working to better align the academic certificate design process with the broader curriculum process in the future. As a result, the timeline for certificate design for the ‘23-24 academic year will be in winter-spring 2022.

PLEASE feel free to contact me if you have any questions about Academic Certificates.  (Or contact Lori Blewett blewettl@evergreen.edu if you have questions about continuing education professional certificates.) 

Best wishes,

Abir Biswas

PS if you are interested in developing the framework for supporting future certificates at Evergreen and/or developing an incentivization structure for certificate design/support, then I would encourage you to sign up for the Certificate governance group (that will be part of broader governance signup associated with info from the Agenda Committee)

Abir Biswas (he/him)

Interim Academic Dean

Member of the Faculty

The Evergreen State College