PULLMAN, Wash.—Washington State University has announced that two books are the 2017-18 common readings for thousands of students in first-year courses: Ready Player One, for Pullman, Tri-Cities, Spokane, Everett, and the Global Campus; and Spare Parts, for WSU Vancouver.
Both award-winning books were nominated soon after the call went out in September from the WSU-wide Common Reading Selection Committee. Its 14 members read and evaluated 34 books in total, all of which align with the program’s two-year theme of “frontiers of technology, health, and society.” Members recommended three finalists in February to WSU Provost and Executive Vice President Daniel J. Bernardo for the final selection.
WSU Vancouver Vice Chancellor Renny Christopher chose a different book from the nominations list, one that provides students there with a good transition from the campus’s 2016-17 book.
Thematic ties localize readings
“Both selected books will allow our campuses to highlight cutting-edge innovations and applications of technology in a variety of fields, and to explore larger issues about the ethical dilemmas and changing sense of identity that arise in an increasingly digital world,” said Bernardo.
Christopher said, “Both books also highlight the importance of collaboration among diverse members of teams and the building of personal skill sets.”
Ready Player One, by Ernest Cline (2011)
The action in this book takes characters between the real world and the technological cloud. In year 2044, environmental fallout from global warming has led to social woes and economic miseries, with people seeking escape from reality in MMORPGs—massively multi-player online role-playing games. Teenager Wade Watts has devoted his life to the virtual reality utopia named OASIS, a simulation game created by a man obsessed with 1980s pop culture and who has hidden puzzles in the game with the promise of unimaginable fortune and power to the one who deciphers them. When Watts finds a clue, will he be famous, or the target of have-nots?
Why Ready Player One?
“Among the most compelling reasons for my selection (of Ready Player One) are that it has been used successfully (as a common book) at several peer institutions, it clearly appeals to a young audience, and most importantly, is it the first choice of the majority of the committee,” Bernardo wrote to Susan Poch, assistant vice provost and committee chair.
Poch said that one consideration for the committee is the availability of the author to visit campus in person as part of intense year-long programming around the selected book. More details will be forthcoming, but she confirmed that Ready Player One author, Ernest Cline, is scheduled to visit Pullman in August. A spoken-word artist, DeLorean car owner, classic video-game collector, and blogger, Cline also wrote the script for the 2009 cult film “Fanboys” and published a second book, ARMADA, in 2015.
Bernardo also noted one additional reason to select Ready Player One. “The book was published in 2011 and a movie release (based on the book) is scheduled for 2018. Using the book now makes it very timely.” His reference is to a film by the same name that has been in production in the U.S. and U.K. since July 2016 under the direction of Hollywood icon Steven Spielberg. The movie is set for a March 2018 release, which is mid-spring semester for WSU students using the book.
Common reading as a system-wide shared initiative
“Representatives from every campus and many academic disciplines look forward in the coming year to continue the concept of common readings being a ‘system-wide shared initiative,’” said Karen Weathermon, Common Reading Program co-director. “While common reading programs across the WSU system have long had many touchpoints with each other in terms of books and programming, we worked together more purposefully starting in 2016-17 to have increased collaboration and cohesion at multiple campuses.” [https://commonreading.wsu.edu/2016/05/06/wsu-common-reading-becomes-system-wide-shared-initiative-for-2016-17/#more-1200]
WSU student-learning outcomes associated with common readings are: Create a common point for new students to enter intellectual conversation; introduce students to the diversity of ideas and the intellectual life of a research university; and illustrate how a complex issue can be explored from a variety of perspectives.
The Common Reading Program began in 2006-07 in Pullman. Common readings are intended to provide students, faculty, and staff with shared text around which they can create academic discussions, learning opportunities, and special programming. Frequent guest lectures allow top WSU researchers and others to share their knowledge about topics raised in the year’s book. Read more at CommonReading.wsu.edu. [https://commonreading.wsu.edu/]
EVERETT, Wash. – Washington State University President Kirk Schulz is the keynote speaker for the Everett Community College Foundation benefit breakfast April 25.
The breakfast is at 7:30 a.m. at EvCC’s Walt Price Student Fitness Center, 2206 Tower St. To attend, RSVP by April 20 online at EverettCC.edu/Foundation or by emailing foundation@everettcc.edu.
There is no charge for the breakfast; attendees will be given an opportunity to contribute to the EvCC Foundation.
Schulz, WSU’s 11th president, is guiding WSU’s transformation into one of the nation’s top public research universities.
The WSU system includes six locations in Washington state, most recently WSU North Puget Sound in Everett at EvCC’s Everett campus. Many EvCC engineering and communications students transfer to WSU North Puget Sound.
The breakfast is part of the EvCC Foundation’s efforts to increase the number of student scholarships, emergency loans and grants. The Foundation is also working to seek out equipment and support to ensure students have the technology they need in the classroom.
The EvCC Foundation, in partnership with corporations, businesses, foundations, and individuals, is committed to continuing the college’s tradition of serving as the region’s leading provider of academic and technical education.
For more information about the EvCC Foundation, visit EverettCC.edu/Foundation.
On Monday, Jan. 30, WSU North Puget Sound at Everett Chancellor Paul Pitre sent the following message to students, faculty and staff:
Dear Students, Faculty and Staff:
In light of the recent executive order temporarily restricting travel to the U.S. from a number of countries, it is important that Washington State University North Puget Sound at Everett reaffirms its commitment to our international scholars, students, researchers, faculty and staff.
The federal ban has cast a cloud of uncertainty over members of these groups who are traveling internationally. According to figures cited by the Association of Public and Land-Grant Universities, more than 17,000 students from the seven countries that the federal ban targets studied at U.S. universities last year.
I want to validate and repeat the statement made this morning by WSU President Kirk Schulz. In it, he wrote:
“We welcome and support all members of the Washington State community—regardless of the country they call home. We remain unflinchingly committed to respecting the dignity of each individual—regardless of race, ethnicity, gender, national origin, gender identity or expression, religion, or sexual orientation. We will continue to foster a diverse and inclusive community, embrace civil discourse, and strive to ensure a welcoming and safe environment for all.”
For international students who are part of the Cougar community or aspire to be one day, please know that you are welcomed at our university.
The WSU system – which includes WSU Everett and five other campuses around the state – has been enriched and strengthened by the scholarship and talent brought by international students, scholars, faculty, researchers and staff.
Students with questions or concerns are encouraged to contact me directly or WSU’s International Programs Global Services staff.
Paul Pitre, Chancellor
WSU North Puget Sound at Everett
Leaving Washington State University might have been the best thing to ever happen to Aldo Barletta. After struggling in several courses as a bioengineering major, Mr. Barletta made the 300-mile drive back to his parents’ home in Arlington, Wash. He switched his focus to mechanical engineering, and began taking classes at nearby Everett Community College.
His odds of meeting his original goal of getting a bachelor’s were long — fewer than one in seven community-college students who hope to earn a four-year degree actually do so within six years. But Mr. Barletta, who was 20 at the time, thrived — his parents were happy to have him back, and he was inspired by his older classmates. He earned an associate degree in just a year.
As he began to eye a return to Washington State, he was surprised to learn that the university was coming to him. In 2012, Washington State began offering some bachelor’s degrees at Everett University Center — a building right on the community college’s campus.
Around the country, community colleges and universities are teaming up to improve the dismal rates of bachelor’s-degree completion for community-college students who aim to get B.A.s. They’re doing so by removing roadblocks and making the transfer steps easier so that fewer students stall out and abandon their goal.
Bringing the university to the community college — through centers like the one at Everett — is just one such strategy. Others include encouraging collaboration between university and community-college faculty members; guaranteeing admission to a four-year university when a student enters a community college; and automatically signing students up for coordinated course advising by both the community college and the university.
Fueling the efforts is an increasing awareness of the importance of transfer students to four-year colleges and universities, especially less-selective ones. At the University of Texas at Arlington, roughly 60 percent of each year’s new students are transfers. At Washington State, nearly 80 percent of students earn some transfer credits before they graduate.
“The student bodies of today include an enormous number of transfers,” says Josh Wyner, executive director of the Aspen Institute’s College Excellence Program. “Universities need to focus on their experience and success just as much as they do on the freshman experience.”
University Centers
One of the challenges for community-college students is simple logistics — they typically need to relocate to a university setting to earn a bachelor’s degree. For two-year college students, many of whom are low-income, the first in their families to attend college, or raising their own families, that relocation can quash hopes for a bachelor’s degree.
Seven universities now offer 27 bachelor’s degrees at Everett University Center, which means Everett Community College students can stick around and pick up four-year degrees in programs such as business, nursing, and communications without changing their commute and within a familiar setting. Mr. Barletta continued to live at home while finishing his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering through Washington State’s Everett program. He now works at an engineering firm in his hometown.
“I got to sleep in as much as I needed, and I could stay late at night at the college, knowing that it wouldn’t be a real trek to get back home,” says Mr. Barletta. “It was a really good situation.”
Joe Graber, chairman of Everett Community College’s engineering department, says the college has more than doubled the number of engineering courses it offers to meet demand from students who start at Everett and hope to continue on the same campus at Washington State. Meanwhile, the program’s transfer profile has shifted — formerly about 60 percent of Everett’s engineering graduates went on to the University of Washington, in Seattle. Now 60 percent are choosing Washington State’s Everett program, and avoiding what can be a grueling 30-mile, 90-minute commute to the UW campus.
Those who finish through Washington State’s Everett program find a welcoming local job market. Boeing’s main plant is in Everett, and a number of nearby suppliers are also hiring engineers.
“It’s really rewarding to have a student who comes here with eighth-grade math skills, and might spend four years with us to get to point where they can transfer, and then spends two more years here at WSU,” Mr. Graber says. “Then they go out and find a job.”
Guaranteed Admission
Roughly 1,000 new students at five community colleges in Texas will start the 2017 fall semester with a nice boost of confidence — they will have already been admitted to Texas A&M University’s College of Engineering.
At two Blinn College campuses near A&M’s College Station campus, and four additional community colleges in Austin, Brownsville, Dallas, and Houston, the students will be admitted to the community college and A&M Engineering at the same time. The engineering “academies” allow the students to spend the first two years at the community college, and then finish their degrees at A&M. Even while at the community college, the students will take one course each semester from a visiting A&M instructor. They’ll also make regular bus trips to College Station for campus tours, a football game, and an engineering career fair; A&M hopes to reduce the “transfer shock” some community-college students encounter during their first semester at a university.
Counselors at the community colleges and A&M work together to make sure students take courses that will transfer and apply toward their major. A&M estimates that the typical student can save $45,000 over his or her college career by starting at the academy rather than enrolling as a freshman at College Station. Savings include the cheaper tuition at community colleges, reduced travel, and the free housing that many community-college students enjoy by continuing to live with their parents.
“Our primary goal with the academies is to expand access to an A&M engineering degree, and to increase the affordability of the degree,” says Jackie Perez, director of the academies.
A&M has been adding academies since the program’s 2013 launch at Blinn’s Bryan campus; a seventh academy, at Alamo Colleges in San Antonio, will open in 2018. The academies are part of the A&M system’s “25 by 25” goal — increasing the number of engineering students on its campuses, including the community-college academies, from 18,169 at present to 25,000 by 2025. Most of the academies are supported by a five-year, $5-million grant from Chevron, which hopes to diversify its engineering work force. In the fall semesters of 2015 and 2016, more than 45 percent of the entering students at academies supported by Chevron were black or Hispanic.
Austin Community College will start its academy in the fall of 2017. The reduced cost of a bachelor’s degree is only one benefit, says David Fonken, the college’s dean of math and sciences.
“If you’re a parent, you can get the first two years of your engineering degree done without having to move and disrupt your family,” Mr. Fonken says. “Or if you’re in a family where no one has ever gone to college, it lets you stay in your own community while you make that transition to college.”
Clear ‘Maps’
The A&M academies solve a problem that many community-college students encounter: If you don’t know what four-year degree you plan to seek, and precisely where you will pursue it, odds are good that you will end up taking courses that don’t count toward your degree.
Mr. Wyner, of the Aspen Institute, says inadequate “program maps” — a listing of the course sequences and prerequisites that two-year students need to transfer into a four-year degree program — are one of the greatest hurdles faced by students transferring from community colleges.
“It can lead to damaging outcomes,” Mr. Wyner says. “Students take longer to graduate, they incur more debt — and they may not even graduate at all. There’s another year for life to get in the way.”
Tarrant County College, with six campuses in and around Fort Worth, has worked to overcome that problem with the University of Texas at Arlington, the most-common destination for Tarrant students who transfer.
Just four years ago, Tarrant County largely left it up to students to make sure they were taking courses that would be accepted by UT-Arlington and other universities. Too often that led to courses that wouldn’t transfer, says Jade Borne, the college’s associate vice chancellor for student success.
“It was a problem that we were hearing from our students over and over again,” Mr. Borne says.
In 2013, Tarrant County began requiring students to sit down with an academic adviser each semester. But even then students typically didn’t meet with a UT-Arlington adviser until their final year at Tarrant County, which meant many students were still arriving at the university and learning that some of their courses wouldn’t count.
This fall the two institutions started a program in which a student chooses a four-year degree when she enters the community college, and then, with the help of advisers from both Tarrant County and UT-Arlington, she maps out a course schedule that ensures all credits will transfer and count toward the degree. Incoming Tarrant County students who indicate that they want a four-year degree are automatically enrolled in the program, called UTA by TCC: The Transfer Pathway.
“The student still has the potential to take excess credit hours — this doesn’t stop them — but doing so will raise a flag,” says Vistasp M. Karbhari, UT-Arlington’s president. “The adviser will say, ‘Are you sure you want to take this class? It will increase your time to degree, and the cost.’ There’s constructive guidance given to the student from Day 1.”
The program also freezes UT-Arlington tuition for up to two years from the time the Tarrant County student signs up for the program.
Reducing the ‘Shock’
Transfer shock for community-college students can be especially acute at private colleges, where many students come from privileged backgrounds and attended high-performing high schools. Bucknell University brings in 30 students each summer for a six-week program, after the students have completed their first year at one of five community-college partners. The goal is to give the students a taste of Bucknell’s academic rigor and experience what it’s like to study at a rural liberal-arts college.
Those who attend the summer program, called Community College Scholars, are invited to apply for transfer admission to Bucknell after they complete their associate degree. In a typical year, half the program’s graduates enroll as undergraduates at Bucknell, and each one receives a scholarship that covers tuition (though not room and board).
Tom Conroy, who served in the U.S. Air Force for nearly a decade, went on to maintain track for a railroad in Philadelphia before an injury made the job difficult and prompted him to pursue a college degree. He was invited into Bucknell’s summer program in 2014 after earning all A’s at the Community College of Philadelphia.
“We lived in the dorms, ate together, went to class together,” Mr. Conroy says. “It reminded me of basic training.”
Mr. Conroy, 53, is now entering his final year at Bucknell and expects to graduate in December 2017. He hopes to earn a master’s degree in social work and eventually counsel returning veterans.
“It’s like going from the minor league to the big leagues, you know?” he says, describing the transition to Bucknell. “I’m not socializing too much. I don’t know how the kids do it.”
At LaGuardia Community College, in New York, the additional support is more informal and focused on helping students navigate the often complex admissions process required by elite institutions. At LaGuardia, a team of Manhattan moms who helped their own children get into selective colleges are sharing their expertise with low-income students seeking to transfer. Karen Dubinsky, the LaGuardia administrator who created the team of volunteers, dubbed the group “Pushy Moms.”
“That’s what my son would always say to me — ‘You’re too pushy, Mom,’” Ms. Dubinsky says. (Her son, Jack, is now a senior at Evergreen State College, in Washington.)
The Pushy Moms work mostly with ambitious students who are eager to get into highly selective colleges, but the volunteers will also assist LaGuardia’s transfer office in January. The office expects more than 1,000 students to seek help submitting transfer applications to four-year institutions in the City University of New York system before a February 1 deadline.
After CBS This Morning reported on the Pushy Moms in November, Ms. Dubinsky received about 100 emails requesting more information — from community colleges, nonprofits, and “lots of moms.” She’s now working with a student at Harvard Business School to explore creating a national platform. One possibility: Universities interested in the diverse students at community colleges might provide revenue to support the rollout of Pushy Moms.
“You start with what’s in front of you,” Ms. Dubinsky says. “Is this the answer to the massive transfer problem in this country? I don’t know … but it’s one answer.”
EVERETT, Wash. – Dec. 23, 2016 – This semester, Washington State University (WSU) Everett’s chapter of the Society of Women Engineers was officially recognized as an affiliate chapter by the national non-profit.
Executive Director Karen Horting wrote to the members of WSU’s local undergraduate student organization: “Congratulations Washington State University North Puget Sound at Everett, welcome to the Society of Women Engineers!”
The club, whose mission is to promote and support women to achieve their full potential in their careers as engineers and leaders, was recently founded at WSU’s newest campus in Everett. LaRei Branham, Ryan Durkoop, Lyndi Richmond and Christina Jordan serves as officers for the club.
“This club provides immense support to our women engineering students,” WSU Everett chancellor Paul Pitre said. “Official recognition of our affiliate chapter is well-deserved by our students and will provide them with a stronger connection to an organization that can support them throughout their engineering careers.”
The club has already supported students through a variety of events promoting career paths for women engineers. WSU’s campus in Everett currently offers programs in mechanical, electrical and software engineering, though membership in student organizations like Society of Women Engineers is not limited to engineering students.
WSU Everett’s Society of Women Engineers club joins Region J of the organization, which includes Alaska, Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.
Dr. Ciera Graham, associate director of Student Services at WSU Everett, serves as the group’s adviser. Learn more about the WSU Everett Society of Women Engineers club online here.
EVERETT, Wash. – Dec. 8, 2016 – Washington State University (WSU) North Puget Sound at Everett mechanical engineering student Mitch Elder, who serves as president of the WSU Everett Mars Rover Team, made the following statement about astronaut and public servant John Glenn:
“John Glenn was one of America’s first space heroes. He will always stand apart as the first and oldest American to orbit Earth.
“I remember photos of the Mercury Seven astronauts and video of Friendship 7 and being so energized by our nation’s trek into space. It was incredible to actually see him go into space in 1998 on a Discovery mission.
“He fully committed and pushed himself to achieve the impossible. That kind of drive motivates me to do better every day.
“He inspired generations of explorers, including me and the engineering students on our Mars Rover Team.
“The space race has reignited in the private sector, and one of their products will even bear his name. His loss will leave one of the largest voids the aerospace community has ever known.”
Elder is a senior mechanical engineering student at Washington State University from Everett. He is the president of the WSU Everett Engineering Club and Mars Rover Team.
EVERETT, Wash. – Dec. 7, 2016 – Today, Washington State University (WSU) announced that Lynne K. Varner is joining the leadership team at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett.
As associate vice chancellor, Varner will focus on our fast-growing campus in the following areas: strengthening student pathways, particularly among underserved student populations; marketing and communications in support of student recruitment and retention; and community engagement throughout the region to boost public and private support.
Varner has been with WSU since 2014 leading in marketing and communications. Prior to that, she was an award-winning journalist who worked for the Seattle Times, The Washington Post and United Press International. During her news career, Varner was nominated twice for a Pulitzer Prize, journalism’s highest honor. She was one of 18 journalists worldwide awarded a John S. Knight fellowship to study race, healthcare and politics at Stanford University. She is a graduate of the University of Maryland, College Park.
“Lynne is a credible voice on public education,” WSU North Puget Sound at Everett chancellor Paul Pitre said. She has served on a number of boards and coalitions that intersect with WSU’s mission, including most recently the Seattle Chamber of Commerce Board of Trustees.
“I look forward to leveraging Lynne’s unique skills and community relationships to help WSU North Puget Sound at Everett advance its mission serving students throughout the western Washington area,” Pitre said.
EVERETT, Wash. – Dec. 2, 2016 – A trio of new Everett University Center (EUC) hires will assist in student outreach, support and recruitment.
Holly Longman is the new associate director of Student Services for Washington State University (WSU) and EUC. Her focus will be on recruiting students for EUC programs, helping them to identify financial aid opportunities and assisting students in the application and transfer processes.
Anna McLeod will serve as the new academic coordinator for the WSU Everett Hospitality Business Management and Data Analytics programs.
Brandon Buckingham, who worked at EUC while earning his Bachelor degree in Interdisciplinary Studies from Central Washington University, will serve full-time as the new program manager and will be stationed at the front desk in Gray Wolf Hall.
“Holly, Anna and Brandon each bring incredible talent working directly with students to improve their educational experiences,” WSU North Puget Sound at Everett and EUC chancellor Paul Pitre said. “These three will help us grow our student body in Everett and provide those students the support they need graduate ready to enter the workforce.”
Longman holds degrees from Ohio University, including a Master in Education and Bachelor in Organizational Communication. She previously served as a career coach at the University of Washington and spent more than eight years as an academic adviser and program manager at Ohio State University. She is located in Gray Wolf Hall room 118.
McLeod holds a Master of Adult and Higher Education from Western Washington University and Bachelor of Applied Development Psychology and Children Studies from Eastern Washington University. She previously served as an academic adviser for Eastern Washington University and said she aims to provide helpful and empowering support to students who are on their educational journey. She is located in Gray Wolf Hall room 106.
All three will move with EUC faculty and staff to the new, state-of-the-art building on the east side of North Broadway before the 2017-18 academic year.
PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University is one of two research universities in the country offering a bachelor’s degree focused on data analysis and application, after recently receiving accreditation for the unique interdisciplinary degree.
“The new WSU bachelor of science in data analytics brings together experts from all across the university – from business to agriculture to education to STEM and more – to provide one of the broadest interdisciplinary programs in the nation,” said WSU president Kirk Schulz.
“Our program will transform the student learning experience and expand career opportunities for graduates,” he said. “It showcases another of WSU’s many contributions to the 21st century global economy.”
Graduates will be trained to “speak the language” of both data science and one of eight domain specializations. WSU-educated data analysts will be prepared for employment in manufacturing, e-commerce, transportation, retail, healthcare, government, insurance, finance, education and environmental management.
The degree (https://data-analytics.wsu.edu/) is available on the Pullman and Everett campuses and will be expanded to the online Global Campus in the fall.
Investing in students, industry, the future
With the continual increase in data generation and capture, businesses across the Pacific Northwest and beyond have a growing need for skilled professionals who can apply sophisticated data science techniques to address specific industry needs. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, data-related employment opportunities are expected to rise dramatically over the next decade.
Additionally, the 2016 Harvey Nash/KPMG CIO Survey found data analytics was the highest priority for two years in a row and almost 40 percent of information technology leaders are unable to meet their data workforce needs.
“We are excited about expanding opportunities for students and equipping WSU graduates to meet employer workforce needs both now and in the future,” said David Brown, director of the data analytics program and associate professor of crop and soil sciences.
The curriculum of the WSU degree includes hands-on experience managing and analyzing real industry datasets to solve problems, guide decision-making and make predictions. For example, students might comb through diverse public datasets to improve insurance models, assess real-time customer behavior to optimize supply chain management or design data-driven maintenance schedules that reduce equipment downtime.
Partnerships with industry leaders will provide critical insights into the rapid evolution of big data in the workplace.
Collaborative innovation
A truly interdisciplinary effort, the data analytics program supports WSU’s mission to extend knowledge through innovative educational programs.
“It’s been a collaborative effort from the beginning,” said Daryll DeWald, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, the administrative home of the multifaceted degree. “With the support of the president and the provost, faculty (https://data-analytics.wsu.edu/faculty-in-data-analytics/) from disciplines as diverse as chemistry, economics, sociology and educational psychology worked hand-in-hand with statisticians and computer scientists to create an exceptional program.”
Academic responsibility for students is shared by the College of Arts and Sciences and the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture.
The university also received critical legislative financial support to expand the degree to the WSU North Puget Sound at Everett campus.
“We are immensely grateful to the state legislature for investing in WSU and helping us offer this valuable degree to more students for the 2016-17 academic year,” said Schulz.
WSU bachelor of science in data analytics specializations
All eight specializations are available on the Pullman campus (https://admission.wsu.edu/academics/fos/Public/field.castle?id=41808):
• Actuarial science
• Agricultural and environmental systems
• Business
• Computation
• Economics
• Life sciences
• Physical sciences
• Social sciences
Actuarial and business tracks are offered at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett (everett.wsu.edu/majorsdegrees/data_analytics/) and will be expanded to the Global Campus in the fall.
News media contact:
David J. Brown, WSU data analytics program director, 509-335-1859, dave.brown@wsu.edu
When Sno-Isle Libraries officials considered getting into TEDx, a key criteria was that the effort must be community-focused.
“The TEDx model allows us to both serve and partner with our communities,” said Sno-Isle Libraries Executive Director Jonalyn Woolf-Ivory. “These events are significant undertakings and we knew we’d need help. We are honored by the response from the creative and innovative organizations who have joined us.”
For the inaugural TEDxSnoIsleLibraries in 2015, 22 businesses and agencies joined Sno-Isle Libraries and the Sno-Isle Libraries Foundation to bring forth 23 innovative and interesting community members with, as the TED mantra says, “Ideas Worth Spreading.”
“What we’ve found is that there are a lot of people who want to create connected communities and TEDxSnoIsleLibraries provides a venue for engagement,” said Ken Harvey, Sno-Isle Libraries Communications Director and TEDxSnoIsleLibraries licensee.
For the 2016 event, 12 more partners joined the original group bringing the total to 34 business and agencies contributing more than $120,000 in financial and in-kind support.
While tickets are sold out for the live audience presentation, the whole event can be viewed remotely in Jackson Center/Wilderness Room from 9:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Paul Pitre, chancellor for WSU North Puget Sound at Everett, said, “Partnering with Sno-Isle Libraries makes sense for us. The TEDxSnoIsleLibraries event and WSU are both focused on the people and ideas that come from the communities we serve.”
That a library district would provide the catalyst for such an event is innovative. Sno-Isle Libraries received a 2016 Innovator award from the Urban Libraries Council, an organization for the nation’s largest public library systems.
Woolf-Ivory said TEDxSnoIsleLibraries may be innovative, but not out of step with the library district and values, purpose, core services and strategic focus.
“It’s critical to the purpose and values of the library district to make this event free for everyone, ensuring free and equal access to information and ideas,” Woolf-Ivory said. “Because at its essence, TEDx is a library without walls providing ideas worth spreading.”
For more information
- Susan Hempstead, Sno-Isle Libraries Strategic Relations Manager, 360-651-7013, shempstead@sno-isle.org
- Jim Hills, Sno-Isle Libraries Public Information Manager, 360-651-7050, jhills@sno-isle.org