RECAST | Winter 2020 | Week 1 | Resources & Reminder
Dear Colleagues –
Welcome back! We hope your break was both restful and adventurous. Here are some Resources and Reminders for the upcoming weeks:
Winter Quarter, Day One: The first day of a new quarter offers an opportunity to re-energize your learning community. In his advice guide, James Lange suggests sparking students’ curiosity by posing deep questions. Every new quarter brings new students. Taking some time to get to know these new members of our community and helping them navigating Evergreen for the first time can support development of a sense of belonging. Strayhorn argues in his 2012 book, College students’ sense of belonging: A key to educational success for all students “that college students face serious difficulty in attending to the tasks at hand (studying, learning, retaining) until they resolve one of their most fundamental needs – a need to belong” (p. 20).
Taking time to learn preferred names and pronouns helps contribute to a sense of belonging. A guide can be found here: https://helpwiki.evergreen.edu/wiki/index.php/Faculty_Resource_for_First_Names_and_Pronouns. You might use attendance as an opportunity to welcome your students back by having them offer a brief highlight from their holiday break. Don’t forget that students can continue to add and drop programs throughout the week. Attendance forms are due to Registration and Records on Friday, January 10.
Responding to Students: Responding to student inquiries can be a powerful form of recruitment and retention. When students – and potential students – email or call with questions, please try to get back to them in a timely manner.
Dates and Deadlines:
• Fall quarter student evaluations were due January 3, 2020. Please turn in your evaluations, if you haven’t already! Delays in posted evaluations can mean holds on financial aid, which is very stressful for students. If you are still awaiting late work from students who have otherwise completed your fall program, be sure to post an “incomplete” with a due date if you have not yet done so.
• Please turn in your syllabus and covenant through my.evergreen.edu by Friday, January 18th.
• The full afternoon of Wednesday, January 8th from 1-5 pm is designated for faculty curriculum planning. Please use this time for your program/course planning, including making decisions about your 2021-22 schedules, which are due winter quarter. (We will share a more firm deadline in the weeks ahead).
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) faculty applications are due January 24, 2020.
Kutter Fund for Microbiology Research applications are due January 31, 2020.
Plato Lecture Series Award applications are due February 7, 2020.
2020-2021 Calendar: Important dates for the 2020-2021 academic year have been added to our on-line Academic Calendar. Please note that the first day of fall 2020 classes will be Monday, September 28. For any Academic Calendar-related questions, please contact Trevor Speller at spellert@evergreen.edu.
Please let us know if we can support you in any way!
The Academic Deans | 360.867.6810
Kathleen Eamon | Karen Gaul | Larry Geri | David McAvity | Greg Mullins |Therese Saliba | Trevor Speller,
with Julia Metzker, Director Washington Center for Undergraduate Education and Learning & Teaching Commons
