From: Geri, Laurance <GeriL@evergreen.edu>
Date: Monday, July 13, 2020 at 4:44 PM
To: All Staff & Faculty DL <AllStaffFaculty@evergreen.edu>
Dear Evergreen Community,
It has been a busy launch into summer for the New Academic Directions initiative (aka Big Bets) as we continue to refine the conceptual plan and turn our collective attention towards implementation planning. This message is the beginning of regular campus updates from the leadership team to keep our community apprised of progress over the summer.
A new leadership structure
Moving forward, the project will be stewarded by a “nesting dolls” leadership structure described by the three groups listed below. Membership for these teams is available at sites.evergreen.edu/bigbets. Emily Gray will continue to provide project support.
- Interdivisional Steering Committee provides high-level oversight to the project.
- Project Oversight Group monitors the status of the project on a weekly basis and provide guidance on any challenges that may arise.
- Project Lead Team directs the work on a day-to-day basis.
In addition to these oversight teams, we are building a cohort of “expert consultants” to provide guidance and support in certificate design, capstone development, educating adult learners, and attending to racial equity. If you have any interest in joining this cohort, please send an email to bigbets@evergreen.edu.
Work underway
After kicking-off the summer at the “Big Bets” Summer Institute on June 18-19*, teams immediately began fleshing out the details from the proposal framework approved by the faculty on June 3rd. These teams have already made good progress and are on track to submit their proposals for feasibility analysis on July 22nd.
Work is currently underway to design curriculum in the high-priority areas of Interdisciplinary Art and Design, Climate Justice, Human Health and Wellness, and Workforce Development. These design teams are developing exciting proposals, which they will soon present to alumni and students for focused feedback.
A team led by Therese Saliba, Andy Corn, and Cholee Gladney recently began working with an external coach through the Washington Center for Improving Undergraduate Education to develop “wraparound” (or holistic) advising structures designed to support student success.
The team tasked with building models for an undergraduate college with Interdisciplinary Schools is being led by Trevor Speller and Larry Geri with the support of a group of faculty and staff. The Evergreen community will have an opportunity to review and evaluate prototype models during two all-campus town-hall sessions tentatively scheduled for August 5th and 20th. The model development will be completed in early September, with the initial models to be shared at the faculty retreat on September 17th followed by a faculty vote early in Fall quarter. A subgroup of the team will also develop a proposed model for the School of Graduate and Professional Studies.
On the horizon
Teams will convene soon to prepare criteria for certificate programs, and capstones. Additionally, Path Conveners have been tasked with starting conversations among faculty to consider how certificates and capstones might integrate into their curricular structures.
A Feasibility and Implementation Team will soon be charged with the task of strengthening each draft proposal by assessing costs, implementation needs and impact on enrollment, while also performing a holistic analysis of the resource requirements and potential impacts of the overall model.
As you can see, this is a complex process with many interlocking pieces. This project is currently on schedule to be submitted to the college’s strategic planning and budgeting teams in mid-August. This progress would not be possible without the labor of many talented, invested, and tired individuals. We owe our community an enormous amount of gratitude for this investment. Thank you doesn’t seem sufficient, but it is a start. So, THANK YOU!
We want to thank the many faculty and staff who are supporting this effort and will keep you updated on our progress.
Best wishes—
New Academic Directions Project Lead Team:
Amy Betz
Larry Geri
JuliA Metzker
*Recordings and notes from the “Big Bets” Summer Institute on June 18-19 are available on Canvas at this link: https://canvas.evergreen.edu/courses/3317/pages/recordings-and-notes
Larry Geri, DPA
Curriculum Dean, The Evergreen State College