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Washington State University
Washington State University Office of the Provost

Transformational Change Initiative

Campus News

Important updates and feature stories on the Transformational Change Initiative:

  • Informational session on new faculty Peer Observation and Co-Mentoring Program Oct. 4, 2023 (September 20, 2023)
    Washington State University faculty will learn about the Peer Observation and Co-Mentoring Program, a new initiative designed to boost scholarly teaching and learning, during a PIT Stops professional development session at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Oct. 4, over Zoom. The information session will led by Theresa Jordan and Kathleen Cowin, who piloted the Peer Observation and Co-Mentoring Program in the Teaching Academy over the past two years. “TCI is pleased to support the scaling up of this successful pilot program over the next three years, offering it to faculty on all WSU campuses,” said Erika Offerdahl, TCI director. “This immersive experience will be valuable to faculty as they continue to reflect on and refine their pedagogical skills.”
  • WSU ELEVATE conference focuses on cutting-edge teaching topics (July 26, 2023)
    Washington State University faculty and teaching graduate students can now register online for the Aug. 16 system-wide ELEVATE conference focused on the theme of “Timely Topics to ELEVATE Your Teaching.” There will be a keynote address, two presentations, and a panel discussion offered from 10:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. WSU system-wide access will be hosted at SPARK G45 and made available over Zoom from WSU Pullman throughout the day. “We have invited WSU experts to invigorate our teaching community and provide practical recommendations for how to create engaging and inclusive classrooms that support student success,” said Erika Offerdahl, director of the Transformational Change Initiative (TCI) in the provost’s office.
  • Transformational Change Initiative IDEA grants awarded to seven projects (July 13, 2023)
    Washington State University faculty have been awarded seven 2023 Transformation Change Initiative (TCI) grants for advancing inclusion, diversity, equity, and access (IDEA) to impact teaching and learning systemwide. “The selection committee chose to invest in a variety of outstanding projects that advance IDEA initiatives in unique and different ways, and we look forward to seeing the projects implemented soon,” said Erika Offerdahl, TCI director. The grants range from $800 to $5,000. These awards represent the second round of TCI IDEA grants, the first having been awarded in 2022. The grants join several key WSU priorities and commitments in the provost’s office that promote IDEA.
  • ‘Faculty burnout’ is topic of WSU ELEVATE virtual workshop on May 3, 2023 (April 4, 2023)
    Washington State University faculty and teaching graduate students are invited to a virtual workshop from noon to 1:30 p.m. May 3 on the topic of “You aren’t alone: Burnout resilience in challenging times,” presented by Rebecca Pope-Ruark. No registration is required and participants across the WSU system can join using the Zoom platform. Erika Offerdahl, director of WSU’s Transformation Change Initiative, said Pope-Ruark’s presentation was originally scheduled as part of the all-day spring ELEVATE conference in February. Pope-Ruark is director of the Office of Faculty Professional Development at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, and host of “the agile academic,” a podcast for women in higher education.
  • WSU ELEVATE event on Feb. 20, 2023 focuses on faculty burnout, student wellbeing (February 13, 2023)
    Washington State University faculty and graduate students are invited to a one-day spring ELEVATE event on Feb. 20 to learn more about combatting burnout and supporting students’ personal welfare. ELEVATE will be hosted in person on the WSU Pullman campus and broadcast virtually systemwide with some locally hosted events on select campuses. “These are unique times for instructors in many ways, and the university is interested in sharing expert information and tools to equip them to be personally and professionally fortified and successful,” said Erika Offerdahl, director of the WSU Transformation Change Initiative (TCI), part of the provost’s office.
  • New WSU PIT Stops offer faculty support (January 31, 2023)
    Washington State University is launching a new series — PIT Stops — that supports faculty members by providing twice-monthly opportunities to discuss, reflect, and share insights to solve emerging and immediate pedagogical challenges. All faculty and instructional staff are welcome to attend the sessions, which begin at 3 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 1. No registration is required. Hosted by the Transformational Change Initiative (TCI) in the provost’s office in partnership with Academic Outreach and Innovation (AOI) and the Teaching Academy, PIT Stops begin each month with a systemwide virtual event, followed about two weeks later by in-person, campus-specific events.
  • Fall 2022 ELEVATE Conference (July 19, 2022)
    The all-day, system-wide conference will be held Aug. 16, 2022, concurrently on all six WSU campuses. The conference program features invited presenters from WSU recognized for their reflective and evidence-based teaching practices, interactive sessions designed to foster collaboration, and a dynamic lunch-time workshop. Participants are encouraged to attend in person at their own campuses to view the presentations that will be broadcast university-wide and gather with colleagues during the interactive sessions to reflect on how to translate the presenters’ ideas into action in the classroom.
  • First TCI IDEA grants awarded to four projects (June 22, 2022)
    In spring 2022, proposals for four projects landed the inaugural TCI IDEA grants to advance inclusion, diversity, equity, and access. They join several recent key WSU priorities and commitments in the provost’s office that promote IDEA. The grants are: “HD205 UCORE High-impact DEI Retreat,” “TEACHxWSU ’22: Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in Higher Education,” “Including All Cougs with Universal Design for Learning,” and “IDEA-driven Common Reading: Developing a Teaching Guide that Promotes Access to the WSU Common Reading Text.” The grants were announced in February 2022 with applications due in April; projects must be completed by Dec. 15 and impact reports are due in spring 2023.
  • LAUNCH transforms student experience (June 14, 2018)
    Through a series of workshops, students gain insight on experiential learning, evaluate their post-graduation goals and plan for experiences that will put them on the right path.
  • Matt Bumpus talks parent-student handbook adaptations
    Juggling between a coach, a cheerleader and a safety monitor, parents of incoming college students can face a lot of challenges in helping their child successfully transition into college life.
  • Watch the LIFT panel video
    LIFT Fellows Panel Jan 23, 2018. Faculty: Join fellows from the first LIFT faculty cohort as they share about their experience of the program and their innovative approaches to active learning and student-centered teaching areas in the classroom.
  • WSU professor applies LIFT principles to teaching
    Chemistry Professor Paul Buckley discusses experience in LIFT’s first cohort.
  • Temple University associate professor Avi Kaplan to provide assistance to the TCI
    Avi Kaplan, an Associate Professor of Educational Psychology from Temple University, spent two days with faculty and graduate students in the Fall semester on the Pullman campus.
  • Student success project takes flight
    The University took action last year to launch several projects that support priorities articulated in the Strategic Plan, and reinforced by the Drive to 25.