PUB Renovation Project pre-design process is continuing on schedule, with architect Perkins+Will hosting the third round of workshops in February, sharing the latest renderings to the student community, and conducting student intercept surveys to gauge reactions. The renderings and latest project plan have been met with favorable responses from student and university leadership. Students will vote on a fee to support the project in early May.
Eagle Entertainment, ASEWU and ASWSU hosted a Family Game Night at the EWU Riverpoint campus on Friday, February 21, with 102 attendees. We hope this will evolve into an annual event, in our ongoing efforts to increase Riverpoint student programming—particularly those with a family-friendly focus.
Our celebrated annual EWU Drag Show and related event kicked off on Wednesday, February 6, hosted by SAIL, Eagle Entertainment, and the Pride Center. The 2014 program launched this year with comedian Jeffrey Jay and included the popular and educational “History of Drag” workshop, which informed students about the evolution of drag and drag culture, included a historical perspective dating back to the Stonewall Riots. The annual Drag Show charity event took place on Thursday, February 27, had 515 people attend and raised $3,738. All proceeds were donated to the Spokane Aids Network (SAN).
Our firstSTEP orientation dates for summer 2014 are set; new students began registering March 1. In order to better meet the needs of our transfer student population, we have two more transfer student orientation dates, bringing our total number of programs to 10 (7 for first-year students; 3 for transfers). Last year, we made significant changes to the program to place a clear focus on academic expectations and student success. Due to strong assessment data and results from our program review, we’ll continue this revised model and work on enhancing opportunities for new students to form important connections with faculty, staff, and current students, as well as creating online/other opportunities to extend students’ orientation experience.
Neil Woolf (AVP/ES) and Toni Habegger (CFO) presented to the Washington State Senate’s Committee for Higher Education on January 30, 2014. The Committee requested information related to EWU’s utilization of the State Need Grant as well as our process for notifying prospective and current students of the available financial aid resources. EWU was selected by the Committee to represent Washington’s regional universities in providing information to the Committee. The Committee commended EWU for its practices.
Strategic Enrollment Management (SEM) Planning is underway. Currently, the SEM Council is identifying available and needed data to inform future strategies. Additionally, an RFP was recently closed to find a vendor to provide market analysis for academic and co-curricular offerings. Working groups surrounding the development of annual plans for recruitment, retention, marketing, academics, and fiscal planning were identified and work will begin on plan development shortly.
On March 22, 2014, the Office of Admissions in partnership with the Community Colleges of Spokane will host the Inaugural Inland Northwest Black and Brown Summit. This intervention program serving young men of color is designed to empower and motivate young men to excel in academics and social achievement. Participants will acquire tools for personal development, acceptance, and academic success.
Financial Aid continues to improve outreach and communication to students and parents:
- Conducted 11 financial aid outreach events and FAFSA completion workshops for approximately 400 students and parents.
- Implemented new net price calculators for freshmen and transfers and posted to the EWU web site.
- “Financial Aid News” email, including FAFSA/scholarship reminders and financial aid tips were sent to approximately 10,100 students.
Spring quarter registration is underway with some improvements for notifying students if they have been dropped from a course. Students who have been dropped from a course for one of the following reasons: course cancellation, non-attendance, lack of prerequisite will be automatically notified of the drop via their Eagles email account. Their advisor will also be notified via email. This will help students know their current registration status and keep their advisor in the loop to assist with any problems.
The EWU Veterans Resource Center is the recipient of a $5000 grant from The Aurora Foundation. The Aurora Foundation assists colleges and universities who are dedicated to providing a veteran-friendly campus with resources that enable veteran students to succeed. A portion of this grant will be used to enhance our “Got Your 6” program which helps educate our staff and faculty on campus in regards to military culture and student veterans’ needs.
EWU received and distributed $835,025 in tuition and fees from the GI Educational benefits in support of student veterans at EWU for Winter Quarter 2014. This is an increase of $55,000 from Winter Quarter 2013.
This February marked the 20th anniversary of the Partnership in Employment Career Fair, a collaborative fair with EWU, Gonzaga University, Whitworth University and WSU Spokane. A total of 221 students and alumni attended from EWU, and a total of 464 from all schools combined. EWU accounted for almost half. 50 students attended the Partnership Preview networking event on the evening prior.
“Survivor” was the theme for this year’s Library Lights Out event. 95 students and 8 Faculty/Staff joined the festivities that included a Scavenger Hunt, Capture the Flag, Team Builders, Zumba, and more. Highlights of recent LLC activities include the following: alumni panel from exercise science, social excellence leadership certification program set up by SAIL, overnight skiing and snowboarding trip, and students rolled out the red carpet and hosted an academy awards night.
