General Stories

Lab Courses Bringing Their Own Unique Challenges to the Online Learning Model

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Hla Win-Piazza, the CHEM 354 lab coordinator, works with her class in the lab via Zoom.

Published Tuesday, June 2, 2020 - 9:23am

Western’s transition to online coursework and instruction for spring quarter was not an easy task; in lieu of in-person education, courses have had to adjust their class structure to overcome the challenges the pandemic has posed. Those challenges have uniquely affected lab courses in the biology and chemistry departments.

Dan van Hees, an instructor in Western’s Biology Department, is currently teaching BIO 101 and BIO 326, an ecology lab. Both of these courses have lab components that normally require students to meet in person in order to run experiments and collect data.

Biology Department, Chemistry Department, College of Science and Engineering

Western Provides Student Food Access with Weekly Food Pantry Pop-Up at Viking Commons

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Jamie Smith, Jeremy Honey, and Steve Erbe staff the table at the pop-up food pantry in front of the Viking Commons

Published Friday, May 29, 2020 - 10:17am

With the closure of Western’s campus came a myriad of challenges and problems for the campus community.

One major issue that affects nearly one-fourth of Western students is food insecurity, according to the 2017 WELS Second Year Survey results. A pop-up food pantry, created in collaboration with the Office of Student Life, Student Representation and Governance, Dining Services, and the Outback Farm, has been created to provide meal kits for students experiencing food insecurity.

AS Outback Farm, Associated Students, Dining Services, Residence Life

Transient orca pod makes a splash with visit to Bellingham Bay

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The pod's large bull cruises off Post Point.

Published Wednesday, May 27, 2020 - 1:15pm

Bellingham residents were given a rare treat on Tuesday when Transient orca pod T46B spent most of the day in Bellingham Bay, much to the delight of hundreds of onlookers from shore and a few lucky kayakers.

Biology Department, College of Science and Engineering, Huxley College of the Environment, Jennifer Tennessen, John Rybczyk, Marine and Coastal Science, Salish Sea Institute, Shannon Point Marine Center

Department of Design to hold virtual Design Days event May 25-29

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Design Days switches to virtual format for 2020

Published Tuesday, May 26, 2020 - 9:16am

Design is a profession that, at its heart, is all about problem solving, and that is just what Western’s Department has done with their annual Design Days event. They have taken an event that is usually held in person and built it into an interactive virtual event to showcase the work and accomplishments of Design students.

Design Days will be held May 25-29 at wwu.edu/design/designdays.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Department of Design

Compass 2 Campus, K-12 partners adjusting to remote mentoring during coronavirus crisis

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Beatriz Morales, a Biology major and lead mentor for Compass 2 Campus, works on a math problem earlier in the school year with one of the students she mentors.

Published Wednesday, May 13, 2020 - 12:52pm

The transition to online courses this spring for Western Washington University has created many challenges and obstacles for families, professors, and students to overcome. Compass 2 Campus (C2C), a mentoring program at Western that places WWU students in 33 Title I schools across Whatcom and Skagit counties, is no exception.

Compass 2 Campus, Woodring College of Education

WWU Entrepreneurship and Innovation Students to Host ‘Creators Collide’ May 22-23

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Published Tuesday, May 12, 2020 - 11:07am

A team of students in Western’s Entrepreneurship and Innovation program are putting on a virtual collaboration event, “Creators Collide,” to show that you can still connect and meet new people while learning remotely.

College of Business and Economics, entrepreneurship program

DormCraft providing on online escape and friendly community for WWU students

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Published Friday, May 8, 2020 - 1:13pm

Video games have always been a great way for gamers of all ages to connect and meet new people, and with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping most Western students inside, many are looking to create and build new virtual communities online.

Cole Levy, a Computer Science major from West Seattle, and Emmanuel Buell, a Computer Science pre-major from Mountlake Terrace, are the co-founders of DormCraft, a WWU-dedicated Minecraft community that first debuted last November.

Western Students Jump into Work at Northwest Laboratory’s COVID-19 Testing Facility

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Western graduate students Madelyn Voelker and Ian Taylor get instruction from Northwest Labs lead molecular biologist Ryan Fortna.

Published Wednesday, April 29, 2020 - 12:19pm

With almost 300 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Whatcom County, the need for greater testing capacity has grown in order to find and then treat those who have contracted the virus.

Northwest Laboratory in Bellingham has stepped up to fill that need – along with a team of student workers from Western.

Biology Department, College of Science and Engineering, David Hooper

Scholars Week 2020 Goes Virtual

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Published Monday, April 27, 2020 - 9:40am

Western will celebrate Scholars Week, an annual campus event showcasing the best of student scholarship, as an online event this year for the first time.

An online gallery will feature a virtual poster session of outstanding scholarly research and creative works by Western students. The event is intended to honor student success while reaffirming the university’s commitment to academic achievement despite the ongoing coronavirus crisis.

College of Business and Economics, College of Fine and Performing Arts, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, College of Science and Engineering, Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies, Graduate School, Huxley College of the Environment, Maria McLeod, Scholars Week, Woodring College of Education

Western’s Anne Marie Tietjen Receives Golden Apple Award

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Anne Marie Tietjen with some of her students in Bhutan

Published Sunday, April 26, 2020 - 9:32am

Health Volunteers Overseas has announced that WWU Instructor and Research Associate in the Department of Psychology, Anne Marie Tietjen, is this year’s recipient of the HVO Golden Apple Award.

College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Psychology Department