Western to pursue Changemaker Campus status

Western Washington University has always been about social change.

Students have always been leaders here -- take, for example, the groundbreaking Associated Students club Students for Renewable Energy, which led Western to become one of the first universities to offset 100 percent of their energy use with renewable energy; and the AS Recycle Center, a student-led group that has been running recycling programs on the WWU campus since the 1970s; and the WWU chapter of To Write Love On Her Arms, which recently held its third Walk of Hope suicide awareness event; and many, many more student groups -- and continue to join motivated faculty and staff as driving forces for social change at Western.

In recognition of that great ongoing work, WWU hopes to become certified as a Changemaker Campus through AshokaU.

Through the certification itself, Western will gain international notice and become better recognized as a magnet community for people who want to learn how to make the world a better place, further enhancing the university's opportunities to collaborate with other organizations and individuals who are making social change.

More important, this process encourages the WWU community to openly reflect on Western’s strengths and growth opportunities campus-wide.

To meet its goal of completing the certification process by June, the Changemaker leadership team would like to hear from as many members of the campus community as possible by the end of March.

Through small group discussion, interviews, surveys and open dialogue, they hope to hear dreams, visions and wisdom about how the university can foster a campus-wide culture of social innovation.

After certification, the team will revisit these discussions as often as necessary to maintain and continually develop Western's potential as a Changemaker community.

First steps include open dialogues across campus: Share your perspectives about what Western is doing to foster the heart and mind-space of people who want to make the world a better place. What is happening within your department, classes and college? What would help you cultivate an environment of well-being? What paths will help us move forward from a foundation of humility, deep listening, and reflective curiosity? What approaches can we use to identify and create opportunities, and manifest them in productive ways? As you share, the Changemaker team will create a collective snapshot of the campus community and begin to draw a roadmap for future institutional growth.

Look for more information in the coming days on dialogue times and locations. Get started now by filling out this online survey. For more information, contact Danica Kilander in the WWU Provost's Office at 360-650-3230.