News at WWU
WWU to Introduce a New Online Spanish Language Course for Educators
Contact: Trish Skillman, Western Washington University Woodring College of Education TESOL program director, Trish.Skillman@wwu.edu , (360) 650-3336.
BELLINGHAM − Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education will offer a new online course for educators in its Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL) certificate program.
Spanish Language for Teachers (TESL 497F) is an online course designed for educators and community members who seek the opportunity to begin or improve their Spanish language skills to better communicate with students and families.
At the appropriate learner proficiency level, this course will provide access to native language Spanish instructors who focus on the practical language skills needed for communication. Participants will have opportunities to explore resources for continued language development after the course is complete.
The three-credit class includes three hours a week of online instruction and outside study. It is taught in a 9-week session with flexible scheduling options and a small group format.
In an increasingly globalized world, a TESOL certificate demonstrates evidence of in-depth training that opens doors to international and domestic opportunities.
For more information, please visit www.wwu.edu/tesol, email tesol@wwu.edu or call (360) 650-3336.
WWU's College of Business and Economics to Host Saul Weisberg May 10
Contact: Kate Kairoff, coordinator, Western Washington University College of Business and Economics’ Center for Excellence in Management Education, at Kate.Kairoff@wwu.edu or (360) 650-4583
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics will host Saul Weisberg for its Ethics and Social Responsibility Executive Strategy Speaker Series at 3 p.m. on May 10 in Western’s Communications Facility room 115.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
Weisberg is the executive director and co-founder of the North Cascades Institute, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization with a mission to conserve and restore Northwest environments through education.
Respected nationally for its community partnerships and nonprofit leadership, the Institute reaches more than 10,000 children and adults each year in programs that emphasize hands-on discovery and stewardship.
Weisberg serves as the lead for strategic planning, board development, marketing, community relations, partnerships, fiscal management, and fundraising.
Weisberg has served on the board of directors of the Natural History Network, Environmental Education Association of Washington, Association of Nature Center Administrators, Alliance for Wilderness Education and Stewardship, as well as other organizations.
Weisberg has a master’s of science (Biology) from Western and a bachelor’s of arts (Biology and Literature) from Antioch College.
Prior to co-founding the Institute in 1986, he worked throughout the Northwest as a wilderness ranger and biologist.
Weisberg is also an adjunct faculty member at Western’s Huxley College of the Environment.
For more information about this event and others, please contact Kate Kairoff at (360) 650-4583.
WWU's College of Business and Economics to Host Saul Weisberg May 10
Contact: Kate Kairoff, coordinator, Western Washington University College of Business and Economics’ Center for Excellence in Management Education, at Kate.Kairoff@wwu.edu or (360) 650-4583
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics will host Saul Weisberg for its Ethics and Social Responsibility Executive Strategy Speaker Series at 3 p.m. on May 10 in Western’s Communications Facility room 115.
The presentation is free and open to the public.
Weisberg is the executive director and co-founder of the North Cascades Institute, a nationally recognized nonprofit organization with a mission to conserve and restore Northwest environments through education.
Respected nationally for its community partnerships and nonprofit leadership, the Institute reaches more than 10,000 children and adults each year in programs that emphasize hands-on discovery and stewardship.
Weisberg serves as the lead for strategic planning, board development, marketing, community relations, partnerships, fiscal management, and fundraising.
Weisberg has served on the board of directors of the Natural History Network, Environmental Education Association of Washington, Association of Nature Center Administrators, Alliance for Wilderness Education and Stewardship, as well as other organizations.
Weisberg has a master’s of science (Biology) from Western and a bachelor’s of arts (Biology and Literature) from Antioch College.
Prior to co-founding the Institute in 1986, he worked throughout the Northwest as a wilderness ranger and biologist.
Weisberg is also an adjunct faculty member at Western’s Huxley College of the Environment.
For more information about this event and others, please contact Kate Kairoff at (360) 650-4583.
Homeless-Rights Activist and Journalist Tim Harris to Speak at WWU May 24
Contact: Kelsey Taylor, student president of the Current Events Forum, taylor98@students.wwu.edu, or Susanne Seales, Western Washington University Honors Program instructor, at Susanne.Seales@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM – Tim Harris, founding director of the Real Change News and the Homeless Empowerment Project, will discuss his work as an activist and organizer for the rights of the homeless at Western Washington University on Friday, May 24 at 3:30 p.m. in Communications Facility room 115.
The event is free and open to the public and is hosted by the Current Events Forum, an Associated Students club at Western. There will be a question-and-answer session after the presentation.
Harris has been active as a poor people’s organizer for more than two decades. Prior to moving to Seattle in 1994, he founded the Spare Change homeless newspaper in Boston in 1992 while working as executive director of Boston Jobs with Peace.
Harris founded his first alternative newspaper, “critical times”, at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, where he graduated in 1987 with a bachelor’s degree in Social Thought and Political Economy.
He has led numerous organizing drives on issues of homelessness and poverty, including a recent campaign to defeat proposed aggressive panhandling legislation that garnered Real Change the Seattle Human Rights Award for 2010. He is a co-founder of the North American Street Newspaper Association and a recipient of the Society of Professional Journalists prestigious Susan Hutchinson Bosch Award for outstanding courage and integrity in journalism.
Co-sponsors of the event include Western’s Center for Service-Learning, the Honors Program, and the Honors Student Board.
For more information please contact Kelsey Taylor at taylor98@students.wwu.edu or Susanne Seales at Susanne.Seales@wwu.edu.
'Wizards @ Western' Lecture Series Continues May 11 with 'Metal Mayhem'
Contact: Jennifer Mott, program coordinator, WWU College of Sciences and Technology, (360) 650-2454; Jennifer.Mott@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University’s College of Sciences and Technology will continue its Wizards @ Western youth lecture series with “Metal Mayhem” at 10 a.m. on Saturday, May 11 in Science and Math Lecture Hall 150 on WWU’s campus.
The event is free and open to the public, and is geared toward children in grades 4-8.
Exciting chemical reactions involving metals will be explored in this Wizards @ Western hosted by Western Washington University Associate Professor of Chemistry John Gilbertson. Gilbertson will perform hydrogen balloon flame tests, illustrate the absorption properties of coordination compounds, and explore the redox properties of metals. The audience will see explosions and dramatic color changes, and will learn about the underlying chemistry of these reactions.
Gilbertson is a professor of Inorganic Chemistry and is a member of Western’s Advanced Materials Science and Engineering Center (AMSEC). He directs an active student research group that focuses on the conversion of carbon dioxide into useful chemical feedstocks and fuels utilizing inorganic coordination compounds.
For more information on the Wizards @ Western youth lecture series, contact Jennifer Mott, program coordinator of Western’s College of Sciences and Technology, at (360) 650-2454 or Jennifer.Mott@wwu.edu.
WWU to Host 'It's Your Arboretum' Day May 18
Contact: David Engebretson, Western Washington University professor of Geology, at (360) 650-3595 or David.Engebretson@wwu.edu.
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University will host its fourth “It’s Your Arboretum” day from noon to 3 p.m. on May 18 at the Outdoor Learning Center, located on the Huntoon Trail in the western part of the Sehome Arboretum adjoining Western’s campus.
The event is free and open to the pubic.
“Our hope is that a greater awareness of Arboretum stewardship will help foster a more active community involvement in caring for this unique resource,” said David Engebretson, Western professor of Geology.
Engebretson said Western students Rowdy Malmo (General Studies, Lake Tapps), Samantha Merrick (Environmental Studies, Seattle) and Dylan Borden-Deal (Geology, Seattle) have done extensive volunteer work in the Arboretum, in preparation for the event.
Activities will include geologic, native plant and bird song identification tours at the request of attendees. A short history of the Arboretum and points of interest will be presented at 1 p.m. Other activities such as face painting and leaf prints will be on-going throughout the event.
“It’s Your Arboretum” day is sponsored by the Sehome Hill Arboretum Board of Governors and organized by students in Western’s Geology Department. Access to Sehome Arboretum and free parking is available on the upper and lower Arboretum parking lots on arboretum drive and in designated parking lots on Western’s campus.
For more information, contact Engebretson at (360) 650-3595 or David.Engebretson@wwu.edu.
WWU Professor, Two Students to Conduct Climate-Change Research in the Siberian Arctic This Summer
Contact: Andy Bunn, Western Washington University associate professor of Environmental Science at (360) 650-4252 or andy.bunn@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University Associate Professor of Environmental Science Andy Bunn will take two students to the Siberian Arctic this summer as part of The Polaris Project, an international research project that started in 2008 to look at how global climate change is affecting the Arctic.
Dusk on the Siberian tundra's Kolmya watershed. This research station will be home to Western's Andy Bunn and students Heidi Rodenhizer and Katie Heard and a multinational team of researchers this summer as they work to identify the effects of global climate change on the tundra.Western students Heidi Rodenhizer (Biology, Seattle) and Katie Heard (Environmental Science, Pine Grove, Calif.) will join Bunn in July for the month-long research trip.
“It’s an incredible, once in a lifetime, lottery opportunity for science students to get to do this,” Bunn said.
Students will assist in collecting baseline data for the project, while also being able to conduct research on their own areas of interest. Bunn said this is unique to research trips, where students normally assist a professor or graduate student and can lack the freedom to do their own projects.
Rodenhizer’s project will include collecting data about the above-ground carbon stores in the Kolyma watershed of Siberia. Carbon is stored in the plants in the area, but the current amount of carbon there is not well known. Her work will help to figure out the amount currently in the Kolyma watershed.
Heard’s project will focus on carbon stocks (the amount of carbon in the ecosystem) in a small area of the Kolyma watershed. She will also look at the relationship between the carbon stocks and variables in biological processes.
For more information about The Polaris Project visit http://www.thepolarisproject.org or contact Andy Bunn at (360) 650-4252 or andy.bunn@wwu.edu.
WWU's Department of Psychology to Discuss How Time Spent With Nature Affects Child Development
Contact: Rachel Severson, Western Washington University Department of Psychology, at (360) 650-3539 or Rachel.Severson@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM – Rachel Severson, a developmental psychologist at Western Washington University, will present “Growing Up Green: What Does Time in Nature Do for Your Child?” as part of Western’s Department of Psychology Family Academy outreach lecture series at 6 p.m. on May 30 at Brandywine Kitchen at 1317 Commercial St. in downtown Bellingham.
This presentation is free and open to the public.
Severson will present the latest research on the effects of experiences in nature on children’s development, including how children’s experiences might be changing across generations and the potential implications for children’s development.
Parents, teachers, community members and children are encouraged to participate in this open discussion, contributing their own perspectives and posing questions about the role of nature in children’s lives.
Family Academy is an ongoing lecture series connecting scholars at Western with families and community members in Bellingham. The mission is to engage the community in innovative discussions about topics surrounding parenting and children’s development and education.
For more information on this lecture or the Psychology Department Family Academy lecture series, contact Rachel Severson at (360) 650-3539 or Rachel.severson@wwu.edu.
Motivational Speaker Xerxes Whitney to Speak at WWU May 20
Contact: Keith Russell, Western Washington University professor of Physical Education, Health and Recreation, (360) 650-3529, keith.russell@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM – A motivational speaker, Xerxes Whitney will present “Busting Through Your Challenges: Don’t Fight it. Embrace It” at 7 p.m. on Monday, May 20 in Miller Hall room 138 on Western Washington University’s campus.
The presentation is free and open to the public, and is sponsored by Western’s Physical Education, Health and Recreational Department; College of Humanities and Social Sciences; and Woodring College of Education.
An athlete, poet, teacher, and coach, Whitney is a motivational speaker who brings his relevant message to a variety of fields including recreation, special education, and physical education.
Born with cerebral palsy, he has transformed his impairment into strengths and accomplishments, inspiring others to take their lives to new heights.
Whitney graduated from the University of California at Santa Cruz where he was a manager, player, and assistant coach on the school’s tennis team that finished second in NCAA Division III four times.
He discovered his public-speaking skills when he was chosen to give his university graduation commencement speech. Recently, Whitney was the keynote speaker for the 2013 National Adapted Physical Education conference.
Whitney has taught sixth-grade Physical Education at Windsor Middle School in Windsor, Calif. for 13 years. He was named Teacher of the Year in 2009 by the California League of Middle Schools and was also named the Windsor Rotary Teacher of the Year.
He started the girls’ and boys’ tennis teams at Windsor High and has led the girls’ team to two Sonoma County League Championships, coached the boys to a league title, and has been named Sonoma League Coach of the Year.
Whitney has run five marathons, finishing in the top 40 percent of all runners despite his impairment. One marathon enabled him to raise funds for a rock-climbing wall at Windsor Middle School, an accomplishment that was featured on the local ABC News.
Whitney has self-published two books of poetry, “What’s Your Name?” in 1999 and “Busting Through, Exploring My Truth” in 2007.
Testimonials about Whitney’s speeches can be viewed at http://xerxeswhitney.org/testimonials/speech-testimonials/
For more information, please contact Keith Russell at (360) 650-3529, or keith.russell@wwu.edu
WWU's Woodring College of Education to Host Forum on May 17
Contact: Lorraine Kasprisin, Western Washington University professor of Secondary Education, (360) 650-3871, Lorraine.Kasprisin@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University’s Woodring College of Education will host Woodring’s 15th Annual Educational Law and Social Justice Forum on Friday, May 17 at 4 p.m. in Miller Hall room 005.
The forum is free and open to the public and is sponsored by Western’s Journal of Educational Controversy and its Center for Education, Equity and Diversity.
The theme of the forum will be “The School-to-Prison Pipeline and the School-to-Deportation Pipeline.”
The school-to-prison pipeline refers to a national trend in which thousands of students each year are funneled through the public schools and into the juvenile justice system as a result of school policies and practices that increasingly criminalize students rather than educate them. It is a problem that has disproportionally affected students of color, students with disabilities, and students from impoverished and disenfranchised communities.
Panelists of the forum include authors whose articles were published in the current issue of the Journal of Educational Controversy. Panelists will discuss the problems, cases, laws and statistics of Washington.
The forum will be held during Western’s annual Back2Bellingham alumni weekend.
For more information contact Lorraine Kasprisin at (360) 650-3871 or Lorraine.Kasprisin@wwu.edu.
WWU 19th on EPA Green Energy List of Top Higher Education Purchasers of Renewable Power
Contact: Seth Vidana, WWU Office of Sustainability, (360) 650-2491; seth.vidana@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM – Western Washington University is again on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s list of the nation’s top 20 green energy purchasers in higher education.
Western, which is 19th on the EPA list, annually offsets 100 percent of its electrical consumption from green sources via purchases of renewable energy credits (RECs).
Western was the only college or university in the State of Washington on the recently released EPA list.
The genesis for Western’s renewable energy program began more than eight years ago when a small group of Western students set a goal of having Western offset all of its electrical energy from a 100-percent renewable source. To meet that goal they proposed a student initiative to implement a fee that would offset the cost of purchasing renewable energy.
As a result of their efforts and significant research into renewable energy, Western moved to the forefront of the renewable energy field, becoming the first university in the country to implement a student fee for the purchase of green energy.
The student initiative passed in a spring 2004 election with 84.7 percent approval. The WWU Board of Trustees approved the student fee, which went into effect in 2005 and which allows the university to offset all of its electricity use with purchases from renewable energy sources.
In spring 2010, the WWU student body voted overwhelmingly – more than 80 percent in favor – to renew the Green Energy Fee. In addition to funding the purchase of the renewable energy credits from the Endeavor Wind Farm in Iowa, the new fee on students also finances projects devoted to piloting measures in energy efficiency, renewable energy, and greenhouse-gas and solid waste reduction on WWU’s campus, as well as allowing for the creation of permanent and student staff who will be tasked with working with student and faculty for development of projects.
Western’s Green Energy Fee Committee has announced that it will fund eight campus projects. See: http://news.wwu.edu/go/doc/1538/1756615/WWU-s-Green-Energy-Fee-Grant-Program-To-Fund-Eight-Campus-Projects
WWU began on the EPA list several years ago at number 1, and is now is at number 19 due to increases in green power purchases at colleges and universities nationally.
The Green Power Partnership is a voluntary EPA program that seeks to increase the use of green power among leading U.S. organizations. Green power is defined by the partnership as electricity products that are partially or entirely generated from environmentally preferable resources, such as solar, wind, geothermal, biogas, and low-impact biomass and hydro resources. For more information see EPA’s website on the Top 20 College and University Partners list.
Goodrich Retires after Four-Decade Career at WWU
Contact: Paul Madison, Sports Information Office, 360-650-3108, paul.madison@wwu.edu; or Paul Cocke, Office of Communications and Marketing, 360-650-3350, paul.cocke@wwu.edu
BELLINGHAM -- After more than four decades as a ground-breaking director of athletics and women’s basketball coach at Western Washington University, Lynda Goodrich announced her retirement Mon., May 6.
“Under Lynda Goodrich’s guidance, WWU Athletics has enjoyed tremendous success on athletic fields and courts but also outstanding academic achievements by Western’s student-athletes,” Western President Bruce Shepard said. “Her leadership has fostered a level of athletic and academic excellence among the very best in the nation.”
During her 26 years as athletic director, the Vikings won nine team national titles, the only ones in school history, and she guided the program in stepping up from the NAIA to NCAA Division II. She coached basketball 19 seasons and had over 400 wins.
“Through Lynda’s visionary leadership, Western is a model of what athletics should be in higher education,” said Eileen Coughlin, vice president for Enrollment and Student Services. “I deeply appreciate her incredible dedication to students and to the entire university. Western is a much better place because of her.”
Goodrich will take leave to attend to family matters. Vice President Coughlin has asked Goodrich to continue working in a part-time capacity to fund raise for Athletics while also assisting in the leadership transition. Steve Card, now associate athletics director, will begin serving immediately as interim athletics director. A national search for Goodrich’s successor will begin in the fall.
During the current school year, WWU won seven Great Northwest Athletic Conference championships. Both the Viking men’s and women’s basketball teams reached the national semifinals, with women’s soccer getting to the Far West Regional final and volleyball to the regional semifinals.
“I felt like the program was in the right place for me to step down,” said Goodrich of her decision. “And for me personally it is a time to look at something new.”
WWU already has clinched a fifth straight GNAC All-Sports title and has an opportunity for a fifth consecutive top 15 placing among more than 300 Division II schools in the Learfield Sports Directors Cup National All-Sports standings. The Vikings have been among the top 100 in all-sports finishes in all 15 seasons as a NCAA II member and the last 10 years among the top 50.
Besides the move to NCAA II, Goodrich lists adding scholarships, improving facilities and hiring outstanding coaches and staff as her top accomplishments in helping move the program forward. She also has implemented a marketing program, better game management and refurbishments of Carver Gym including LED signage and a video board.
Under Goodrich’s direction, WWU student-athletes have graduated at rates well above the national average for NCAA Division II.
“The consistently strong achievements of Western student-athletes in the classroom is a testament to Lynda Goodrich’s emphasis on the importance of learning, which also reflects a broader campus culture of academic excellence,” said Brent Carbajal, WWU faculty athletic representative and dean of Western’s College of Humanities and Social Sciences.
When Goodrich transferred to WWU as a student in 1963, there were no true opportunities for women athletes and when she began collegiate coaching with the Vikings in 1971 the opportunities weren’t much better.
“I don’t know if today’s (women) athletes have any idea of what it was like 40 years ago,” Goodrich said.
Goodrich posted a 411-125 record in 19 seasons (1971-90) as women’s basketball coach, never having a losing season, reaching post-season play 18 times and winning 20 games 13 times. A finalist for National Division II Coach of the Year honors in 1981 and 1982, she directed the Vikings to two quarterfinal finishes at the NAIA National Tournament; and three regional titles and subsequent trips to the AIAW Nationals.
“I never thought of myself as a pioneer, but it happened that I participated and coached at the very beginning of women’s sports and Title IX. A lot has been accomplished and I helped lead the charge,” Goodrich said.
“I could not have asked for a better career or for more wonderful people at Western with whom to work,” she said.
Goodrich, who has received numerous sports administration honors, has already been inducted into five Hall of Fames. They are the NAIA, WWU Athletics, Northwest Women’s Sports, Snohomish Country Athletics and Lake Stevens High School Athletics.
Goodrich obtained bachelor’s degree in 1966 and master’s degree in 1973, both at WWU, and received the Distinguished Alumnus Award from Western's Alumni Association in 1988.
Goodrich
Goodrich (third from right) is shown here with the WWU women's basketball team during her run as the team's coach (1971 to 1990). Goodrich posted a 411-125 record in 19 seasons with the team, never having a losing season, reaching post-season play 18 times and winning 20 games 13 times. Courtesy photo