The Chronicle of Higher Ed recently published an excellent article on international recruitment corporations and Pathways programs “As Pathway Markets Expand, Enrollment Outcomes Diverge.” WWU is featured prominently in the last section, titled “A New Partnership.”

In the wake of this article, Provost Carbajal requested that I take down the contract between WWU and Study Group, which I posted in my November 16^th blog post “The Global Pathways Program and WWU’s Contract with Study Group: Follow Up.” I have complied with his request, though I expressed concerns about compliance with the Public Records Act, RCW 42.56 (see especially 42.56.030 “Construction”). He then suggested that that while the “contract contemplates the University’s obligations under the Public Records Act, [it] also takes into consideration Study Group’s need to protect its proprietary interests.”

If you have questions, please feel free to contact me or our incoming Faculty Senate President, McNeel Jantzen. We will both be available to respond after July 8^th.

The members of the faculty and the administration have worked together to produce an FAQ document in the event that immigration enforcement actions occur on campus:FAQ: ICE at WWU

For more information you can also contact public safety at (360) 650-3555.

 

 

University-Wide Resource Trial: Scopus

This spring, Western students, faculty, and staff have the opportunity to participate in a quarter-long trial of the abstract and citation database, Scopus.

An alternative to Web of Science, Scopus (published by Elsevier) includes citation data for over 70 million journal articles, books, conference proceedings, and patents in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities. It also provides a variety of journal and article metrics to help institutions and researchers track the impact of their—and others’—scholarly work. More in-depth information about Scopus can be found on the Scopus content page or in the content coverage guide. Recent comparisons of Scopus to Web of Science are available from Iowa State University and Boston College.

The Libraries is negotiating a contract with Elsevier to renew Western’s current journal package and is considering a university-wide Scopus subscription as one way to secure more favorable and sustainable licensing costs. Were the Libraries to proceed with a subscription to Scopus, the current subscription to Web of Science would be phased out at the end of 2020, resulting in a significant cost savings long term for the University.

In order to make the best decision for Western as a whole, the Libraries is calling for broad participation in—and feedback on—the Scopus trial. The trial will last for the duration of Spring Quarter, beginning on April 18 and ending on June 30. It can be accessed from both on- and off-campus, via the Libraries website, OneSearch, or directly. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to participate and provide feedback via survey form.

Elsevier is also providing Western with a trial of SciVal, a sophisticated tool for tracking an institution’s research performance. Western users are encouraged to explore the SciVal trial and provide feedback here. (NOTE: Users must create an account before using SciVal.)

Explore Scopus and SciVal today and let us know what you think!

 

Scopus trial & feedback survey | SciVal trial & feedback survey

Questions? Contact your subject librarian, Collections Services or the Director of Collections.

 Position Announcement

Academic Program Director for the New Faculty Mentoring Initiative:

 

 

The Faculty Senate requests nominees to serve as the Academic Program Director of a pilot: New Faculty Mentoring Initiative. The Senate will recommend one or more candidates for this position to the Provost, who appoints the Director.

Interested candidates should send a letter describing their interest and qualifications to Lizzy Ramhorst.

About the New Faculty Mentoring Initiative

Western’s New Faculty Mentoring Initiative is modeled on the program described in “High Retention of Minority and International Faculty Through a Formal Mentoring Program” (Phillips, Dennison and Davenport, 2016). This program successfully increased rates of retention for new faculty—with particularly positive results for faculty from underrepresented groups. Key features of this model include the following:

• All new TT faculty hired in cohort years served by the program are invited to participate.
• New faculty participating in the program describe the mentoring they seek.
• To the extent possible, new faculty participating in the mentoring program select from two possible mentors recommended by the Faculty Director.
• Mentors commit to confidentiality and to meeting at least monthly with their mentees for one academic year.

Position Responsibilities

Lead all aspects of the new faculty mentoring initiative, including develop materials to recruit and prepare participants, facilitate the matching process, train mentors, and assess the effectiveness of the program. Convene and inform the advisory committee; plan and facilitate the peer-support sessions; oversee the mentor/mentee matches; ensure confidentiality and participation in mentoring activities; and summarize program activities and recommended improvements in an annual report to the provost.

Compensation

The Director is supported with a fall course release, a summer planning stipend equal to the faculty member’s rate for a 5-credit summer course, and stipends of $1,000.00 for both winter and spring terms. The Director is expected to devote 15 hours a week to the program in fall, when the matches are made, and two-three weeks of full-time work the preceding summer. The position is renewable for a second year, upon mutual agreement of the Director, the Director’s department chair, and the provost.

Support

• The Director will be assisted in this work by an advisory committee appointed by the Faculty Senate.
• The Director reports to Steve VanderStaay, who assists the Director with logistics, communications, room reservations, etc. as requested.

Required Qualifications

• Tenure and three years of experience at Western.
• Demonstrated commitment to the values of diversity, inclusion and equity.
• A record of successful teaching and research at Western.
• Effective communication and presentation skills.

Western Libraries invites the campus community to attend an event to showcase new books purchased and donated to replace books damaged during recent incidents of antisemitic vandalism. Scheduled speakers will include Western President Sabah Randhawa, Dean of Libraries Mark Greenberg and Sandra Alfers, WWU professor of German and director of the Ray Wolpow Institute for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Crimes Against Humanity.

When: Tuesday, April 10, 10:00 AM

Where: fourth floor Reading Room of Wilson Library

Please do consider attending!