April 2020

Communications sent to the
UW Bothell community in April

 

Apr. 29, 2020 | Emergency Paid Sick Time Off from UW Bothell OE/HR Team

Dear staff and faculty:

As the COVID-19 emergency continues, the federal government has enacted new leave provisions to ensure employees have access to paid time off during this crisis. We want to ensure you are aware of this benefit, the Families First Coronavirus Response Act (FFCRA). This establishes Emergency Paid Sick Time Off for employees who are unable to work or telework due to qualifying COVID-19 related reasons for absences between April 1, 2020, and December 31, 2020.

The Families First Coronavirus Response Act, the federal government’s COVID-19 relief legislation, includes two temporary leave entitlements that are now available to eligible employees:

Emergency Paid Sick Leave

Provides up to 80 hours of sick time off, prorated for part-time employment, to employees who are unable to work or telework for their own isolation/quarantine, to care for an individual who is subject to a federal/state/local isolation/quarantine, or who need to care for a minor child due to a COVID-19 related school or child care closure. Learn more:

Expanded Family and Medical Leave

Provides up to 12 weeks of paid and unpaid leave to employees who cannot work or telework and need to care for a minor child due to a COVID-19 related school or child care closure. Learn more:

Employees request these new leave types through Workday and by submitting a form to central HR leave specialists. UW Bothell staff and faculty may direct questions to uwboehr@uw.edu or to the Seattle campus:  APleaves@uw.edu (academic HR); HRleaves@uw.edu (staff).

Apr. 28, 2020 | Assistant Vice Chancellor for Connected Learning Search Launch from Sharon A. Jones, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs

Welcome to the 5th week of the quarter and thank you for all you are doing. If you’re like me, you are hopefully seeing light at the end of the tunnel in terms of the winter quarter while wondering about what’s ahead for 2020-21. As soon as we have more certainty, we will be in touch. In the meantime, be kind to yourself. You have done an amazing job in an unprecedented crisis.

A New Faculty Leadership Search

I want to let you know about a search that is being launched this week. As many of you know, I had several conversations between August and December to get feedback regarding the strengths and areas for improvement in Academic Affairs to better serve the campus. That led to three portfolios of work described as Student Success (SS), Faculty Development (FD), and Connected Learning (CL). We are in the middle of the critical internal search for the Associate Vice Chancellor for SS (AVCSS) which was formerly known as Undergraduate Learning. This position is re-envisioned to focus on the student experience across all four years and graduate school. Our exemplary Academic Learning Center (housing the WAC and QSC) is moving to the Student Success portfolio where it will be strengthened to include more faculty development opportunities as they relate to the critical areas of writing and quantitative literacy and eventually other core learning goals for our students. I am hopeful that this will lead to even more synergy with FYPP as we strive to increase student persistence.

With COVID 19, I decided to pause the other two leadership searches (FD and CL) to consider how to move forward given the uncertain financial climate. After some additional consultations, I have decided to proceed with the CL portfolio while delaying the FD portfolio until we have a better picture of the financial situation for the campus.

Using the vacancy that currently exists for the Executive Director for the Teaching and Learning Center (TLC), I am elevating this role to an Assistant Vice Chancellor for Connected Learning (AsstVCCL) who will be part of the Academic Affairs leadership team. This faculty leadership position will focus on CL with a portfolio that includes three current areas where we thrive as a campus: Community Engagement and CBLR, Global Initiatives, and our Learning Communities. In that portfolio, there will eventually be a dedicated position to strengthen student opportunities for Undergraduate Research and Post-graduate Fellowships (a position that has been vacant for several years). I will also move the Maker Space into this portfolio with the goal of using those resources to support CL. The AsstVCCL’s portfolio will include an increased emphasis on external relations to support CL in alignment with the new strategic plan, along with resources to further support pedagogical development via practices that we know are working well.

The search for the AsstVCCL has started. It will be a tight timeframe and Dean Burgett has generously agreed to serve as Chair of the search committee. More details may be found on the AVCCL Search Page, and the position announcement may be found at https://apply.interfolio.com/75850. This is an internal UW search. Please share the opportunity with your UW colleagues and, if relevant, consider applying.

The changes described above mean that the TLC as a stand-alone entity will end this summer. This change does not diminish the good work that the TLC has fostered. In fact, it’s because of the existing strengths in several areas within the TLC that we are able to make this change and I fully expect to elevate the importance of these known high impact practices that align with our campus mission. I am a firm believer in identifying a smaller set of strengths and making them even better and this is the opportunity we have at this time.

With gratitude,
Sharon

Apr. 20, 2020 | UWB Spring 2020 - A Message from the Dean of Student Affairs, Tim Wilson Ph.D.

Apr. 15, 2020 | New Dean of the School of STEM from Sharon A. Jones, Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs

After an extensive nationwide search, it is my pleasure to announce that our new dean of the School of STEM is Leslie Cornick, currently the associate dean of the College of STEM at Eastern Washington University. She will start her new role effective July 1

Prior to her position at EWU, Leslie served in various capacities at Alaska Pacific University from 2004 to 2017, including as dean of Research and Sponsored Programs and as department chair of Marine and Environmental Sciences.

I am so pleased that Leslie is bringing extensive leadership experience to guide the talented faculty, staff and students in our dynamic School of STEM to the next tier of excellence. She is a nationally recognized expert in marine biology and an outstanding educator with a strong commitment to advancing diversity in STEM and strengthening our external partnerships.

Leslie said, “My ultimate goal, as I shared with everyone during my visit, is to make the School of STEM the indispensable partner in the region. There’s no question that will require some new thinking as we consider emerging from the pandemic. There was already an emerging and unmet need in biomedical and biotechnical fields and I think that will only be amplified now.

We will absolutely be consulting with our regional partners to ensure that we are forward-thinking in how we approach those needs.”

I want to thank Marc Servetnick for his leadership while serving as interim dean since last September. I also want to thank Shari Dworkin, dean of the School of Nursing & Health Studies, for her great work leading the search committee for this position.

Sharon A. Jones
Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs

Apr. 8, 2020 | Commencement 2020 – new plans to celebrate our graduating class from the Chancellor, Bjong Wolf Yeigh

Dear UW Bothell Campus Community,

Each year, UW Bothell’s Commencement ceremony is a time to acknowledge the many accomplishments of our new graduates. It is also a time to thank the many people who encouraged and supported these students on their educational journey.

Our celebration of the Class of 2020 will be no different — although it will have a special format and timing due to restrictions caused by the coronavirus pandemic.

The formal Commencement Ceremony for the UW Bothell class of 2020 will be postponed until June 2021. In this live event at T-Mobile Park, we will celebrate both the Class of 2020 and the Class of 2021 for their individual and collective accomplishments and honor them — along with their families and friends.

Students from the Class of 2020 who are unable to participate in the 2021 ceremony will also have the option to “walk” during the Commencement Ceremonies in 2022, 2023 or 2024.

Also, as announced by President Cauce, UW Bothell graduates have the option to participate in a virtual, University-wide ceremony to take place on Saturday, June 13, 2020. This event will include conferral of degrees and offer special congratulations to UW Bothell’s Class of 2020 graduates who choose to join this optional program.

Each year, graduation is a time of great pride for me — in our students and in the entire campus community. This year, I know that I and all the faculty and staff of UW Bothell are especially proud of the Class of 2020. The perseverance they have shown and continue to show as they complete their final quarters during these uncertain times is both impressive and humbling.

Please watch for more information coming soon. Details will be posted on www.uwb.edu/commencement and emailed to all Class of 2020 graduating students.

I look forward to honoring the UW Bothell graduating class of 2020 several times, as they deserve nothing less, and I am sure you will all join me in this sentiment.

Bjong Wolf Yeigh, Ph.D., F.ASME
Chancellor and Professor of Engineering

Apr. 2, 2020 |Reminder about religious accommodations - spring quarter 2020 from Wayne Au, Acting Dean of Diversity & Equity, Campus Diversity Officer

Dear UW Bothell community,

I hope you all are well considering the difficult circumstances we are all facing. As we start spring quarter, I’m writing to remind you that the University of Washington is committed to providing reasonable religious accommodations for students, staff and faculty. The University has developed its religious accommodations policy in accordance with state law (RCW 28B.137.010).

Students who need to make a request for religious accommodations can find information about the process and dates, as well as complete the necessary form, here. Faculty and staff requiring religious accommodations should talk with their supervisors to make arrangements.

Please remember that there are some major religious holidays during spring quarter that may impact students. The Jewish holiday of Passover is April 8-16, the Christian holiday of Easter falls on April 12, and the Muslim holidays of Ramadan and Eid al-Fitr take place April 24 to May 23 and May 24-27, respectively.

I know times are hard as we all work to adjust to this pandemic. Please take care of yourselves and your communities and do your best to treat each other with grace, understanding and a shared commitment to health.

In Solidarity,

Wayne Au
Acting Dean of Diversity & Equity, Campus Diversity Officer
Professor, School of Educational Studies