Thursday, July 6, 2023

Community Engagement Volunteer Programs See Growth

Two Whitman students hold paint brushes while kneeling on the worn remains of a painted mural.

Photo: Community Engagement Volunteers Alanna Sherman ’24 and Devon Player ’23 repainting a mural at a local elementary school.

The Career and Community Engagement Center (CCEC) recently compiled data on participation in its Community Engagement Volunteer Programs during the 2022–2023 academic year (see attached flyer).

Volunteers spent an impressive 4,874 hours connecting with 65 community partners and 16 Whitman student leaders engaged their peers in seven ongoing community engagement programs.

While the numbers are impressive, it is also useful to consider the variety of projects, the people who benefited and the many moments of joy, learning, connection and growth that happened along the way.

Examples include:

Families from Edison Elementary School and Whitman volunteers created a beautiful mural of Frida Kahlo, designed by a Whitman Art major, that now hangs in the school entryway.
The first Buddy Program event of the year brought buddies from the Walla Walla Valley Disability Network back to campus, resulting in the sounds of laughter on the Reid Campus Center side lawn.
Whitman and Walla Walla community members contemplated questions and ideas about food justice and Critical Race Theory at an event co-sponsored with Blue Zones Project - Walla Walla Valley.
A sense of joy and community was built by students volunteering at the Tri-College Community Day event (see video in the Photo Finish section below).

This past academic year also saw the successful launch of two new programs: Walla Walla Stream Team and Friends Rock.

Congratulations to the CCEC on their ongoing successes!

Employment Updates

Welcome New Staff Members

Please join us in welcoming the following new Whitman employees who started in June:

Kariss Hammond, Administrative Assistant for the Health Center
Dorcas Attah, Information Security Officer

Staff Employment Opportunities

Whitman College is currently hiring for the following staff positions:

Accounting Coordinator (Business Office)
Accounting Coordinator - Receivables (Business Office)
Admission Officer (Admission)
Administrative Assistant for Admission (Admission)
Alcohol and Drug Counselor (Counseling Center)
Assistant Director of Community Health Programs/Sexual Violence Prevention Specialist (Counseling Center)
Assistant Director of Institutional Research (Institutional Research)
Assistant Director of Security (Campus Security)
Classroom and Events Technology Consultant (Technology Services)
Client Services Consultant (Technology Services)
Coordinator, Off-Campus Studies and International Student and Scholar Services (OCS and ISSS)
Custodian (Facilities Services)
Director of Student Health Center (Welty Student Health Center)
Gift and Data Processing Coordinator (Development & Alumni Relations)
Landscape Specialist (Facilities Services)
Mailing Coordinator (Communications)
On-call Security Officer (Security)
Post Office Assistant (Communications)
Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner/Psychiatrist (Counseling Center)
Security Officer - 2 positions (Security)
Social Media Specialist (Communications)
Student Success and Instruction Librarian (Penrose Library)
Testing and Tutoring Coordinator (Academic Resource Center)
Video and Multimedia Producer (Communications)
Web Content Specialist (Communications)

Submit a Noteworthy Announcement

Announcements

Cabin Available for Summer Getaways

Need to get up out of the heat? The Student Activities’ Kooskooskie Cabin on Mill Creek is available to Whitman students, staff and faculty for summer reservations. For $60/night you can enjoy a cabin that comfortably sleeps eight, with a full kitchen, bathroom, large front porch and yard. The cabin is located just 20 minutes from campus, and the weather is typically 10 degrees cooler than in Walla Walla.

ChatGPT Workshop for Developers

Later this month, Visiting Professor of Computer Science Parteek Kumar will lead a four-part online workshop for students, titled “ChatGPT for Developers: Building Applications with Large Language Models (LLMs).”

Monday, July 17
Thursday, July 20
Monday, July 24
Thursday, July 27

The workshop will focus on training participants to utilize Large Language Models (LLMs) to reshape the software development landscape and leverage ChatGPT APIs to create innovative and robust applications. Two time options (10–11 a.m. or 9–10 p.m.) will be considered based on the preferences of the registrants. For more information, email kumarp@whitman.edu.

Canopy Meditation Session for Employees

The Whitman College Employee Assistance Program Canopy will offer an interactive meditation webinar on Tuesday, July 18 from 11 a.m. to noon. “The Basics and Benefits of Meditation” will provide meditation technique augmentation, reinforce breathwork and allow space for participants to examine more closely the experience of self-exploration and mind-body balance. Please register in advance.

Photo Finish

Video preview image: A student wearing an orange reflective vests and gloves, grins while showing off their bicep.

This short video highlights last semester’s Tri-College Community Day which brought together students from Walla Walla Community College, Walla Walla University and Whitman College.

Happening This Weekend

Thursday

8 a.m. to Noon

Fire Alarm Inspections

Douglas Hall

Friday

8 a.m. to Noon

Fire Alarm Inspections

Baker Center
& Baker Ferguson Fitness Center

Whitman Events Calendar

Would you like to share an event with campus? Submit the information to the Events Calendar.

“Whitman Today” is produced by the Office of Communications and is emailed Monday through Friday to Whitman College staff, faculty and students.

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