Thursday, December 1, 2022

From the Office of the Provost and Dean of the Faculty:

 

The COVID-19 pandemic required professors to rapidly and dramatically change their teaching. After spending multiple years teaching online, hybrid, or hi-flex courses, many of us are exhausted and eager to find more balanced engagement with work. But how do we keep learning in an era when we need to do less?

 

At the 2022 POD Network meeting, leaders of Centers for Teaching and Learning across the country reported that faculty struggle to make time for traditional professional development workshops. One possible solution: rapid professional development, perhaps available in asynchronous forms, that lasts 20 minutes, 10 minutes or even less time.

 

As an experiment with this short, asynchronous mode, Associate Dean for Faculty Development Mary Raschko created this three-minute tutorial on end-of-class writing. While it primarily pertains to classroom teaching, all members of the Whitman community could find that taking time to write is an effective way to remember, stay curious and connect. 

 

Want an even shorter version? Check out the main ideas on these slides.

Employment Updates

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

• Gabriel Shoemaker, networking technician
• Greg Davis, landscape specialist
• Mike Swenson, landscape technician - irrigation
• Jonathan Barnett, registrar
• Tracy Tolf, systems and applications librarian

Whitman is currently hiring for the following staff positions: 

• Administrative Assistant (Reid Campus Center)
• Chief of Staff (President's Office)
• Environmental Health and Safety Manager (Facilities Services)
• Library Director (Penrose Library)
• Managing Editor (Communications)
• Mental Health Counselors (2) (Counseling Center)
• On-call Security Officer (Security)

Please share these employment opportunities with anyone you know who might be interested!

Eight days after Thanksgiving and one week after Native American Heritage Day, Indigenous Peoples Education and Culture Club and the Food Justice Project invite you to a screening of the documentary film "Gather." The film explores the growing movement among Native Americans to reclaim their spiritual, political and cultural identities through food sovereignty. The screening will take place at 5 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2 in Olin Auditorium. Food will be provided. For questions, email DEIA Program Coordinator Quin Nelson.

The Sheehan/Maxey collaborative exhibition "time | creature | portal | self" will have a closing event at 6 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 2 in Kimball Theatre. Senior Adjunct Assistant Professor of General Studies and Art History and Visual Culture Studies Libby Miller and Director of Donald H. Sheehan Gallery Kynde Kiefel will present their own twist on a curator's talk, with receptions in the Sheehan Gallery and Maxey Museum to follow.

The second event in the 2022 Studio Series will feature guest artist Mina Nishimura from Tokyo, Japan performing "what if i say 'i came from the future'" on Friday, Dec. 2 at 8 p.m. in the Freimann Studio Theatre. In this experimental solo performance, Nishimura, as a ghostly body, wanders through echoes of past and future events and slips away from the visible and physical reality.

Don't forget that the college is requiring all eligible students, faculty and staff to be up-to-date on their vaccinations as defined by the CDC, which includes receiving the most-recent bivalent booster, by the end of the calendar year. Once you receive your booster, please remember to fill out the COVID-19 Bivalent Booster Attestation Form.

Daily COVID-19 Update

In accordance with Washington state Labor & Industries employer requirements, we are notifying the campus community that since yesterday, three people with Whitman access were confirmed positive for COVID-19. 

 

Please continue to follow all our campus COVID-19 protocols to help prevent transmission. If you have any symptoms that may be COVID-19 or know that you may have been exposed to coronavirus, please be tested. Additional masks and rapid test kits are available in the front entryway at the Welty Student Health Center during normal operating hours. 

Have an event you'd like to share 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. All times are listed in Pacific Daylight Time. 

 

All submissions are welcome! If you have accomplishments to celebrate, an event to publicize or other content to share with the Whitman community, email whitmantoday@whitman.edu. Submissions should be 125 words or less. The deadline is noon for the following day's newsletter. Submissions may be edited and/or held for a later date according to space and editorial needs. Your submission also authorizes use on Whitman's social media unless otherwise specified.

 

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