Videos
Finals stressing you out? Pet a bunny! Associated Students Productions brought in a petting zoo from Animal Encounters and set it up on the Communications Facility Lawn March 4, 2015.
"Animals in general, people just love them for therapy," says AS Special Events Coordinator Danielle Oyama, who spearheaded the event. "It just kind gives them the time to relax, let go of the stress and see an animal they don't get to see very often."
Video by Rhys Logan / WWU
Students from Western Washington University's Intensive English Program are asked questions about living in America.
Here's what they had to say.
In this segment from episode 4, Viking Television talks with students and professors involved in various student publications around campus.
Featured: Fairhaven Free Press, The Western Front, The Planet, and Klipsun.
Ever wonder how you can get involved in keeping bees?
The 2015 "Spring Bee-In" workshop will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Wednesday, March 4, in Fairhaven Room 318.
Discussed at the workshop will be the Outback Apiary Project, beekeeping in general and how the WWU community can be a part of it. Michael Jaross, the Outback beekeeper, will show some slides and talk briefly about the Outback bees and how students, community staff and faculty can be a part of Western's small apiary at The Outback Farm.
The presentation will be short, and then there'll be time for questions. Students who have been working with the bees throughout the past year will be on hand, and attendees will be able to look at and try on some equipment and bee paraphernalia.
When Blake Young, owner of NuCanoe, needed business advice, he turned to the Small Business Development Center at Western Washington University.
Based in Bellingham, the business has 120 dealers in the U.S. and Canada, and the boats also are distributed in five other countries. Recently, the company turned to the SBDC for expertise in business analysis and in lining up financing.
"The people at the Small Business Development Center a real broad perspective, and that's really valuable," Young said. "Just being able to talk to somebody, get some ideas, some encouragement. It's definitely worth it."
Video by Rhys Logan / WWU
The Peace Corps today released the 2015 rankings of the top volunteer-producing colleges and universities across the country, and Western Washington University was ranked No. 1 among medium-sized schools, with 47 alumni currently volunteering worldwide.
This was the third consecutive year that WWU has held the top spot overall in its category. Over the past 10 years the university has been ranked seventh or higher each year among medium-sized schools nationwide.
“We’re very proud to once again receive this recognition, because making a positive difference in the lives of others is a core Western value. We’re fortunate to have many students come to Western looking to put their higher education to higher purposes. Our job is to empower them with skills and learning experiences that can help them do just that here at home, and around the world,” said Western President Bruce Shepard.
Alumni from more than 3,000 colleges and universities nationwide have served in the Peace Corps since the agency’s founding in 1961, including 934 alumni from WWU.
Laura Kirk is a WWU graduate currently serving in Guatemala as a Youth in Development volunteer. She says she wanted to shake things up after college and found the perfect outlet through Peace Corps service.
“Western helped prepare me to go abroad by having such encouraging, open-minded, and social-justice oriented faculty,” said Kirk. “I always felt empowered that I could make a change; in fact, that is Western’s motto: ‘Active Minds Changing Lives.’”
Jill MacIntyre Witt, Peace Corps campus representative at Western, said: “I couldn’t be more proud of Western alumni who take what they learn here at the university and extend their service learning to help communities in need through the Peace Corps.”
This year also marks the second time that the top schools in the large, medium and small categories are in the state of Washington. The University of Washington reclaimed the No. 1 ranking for large schools with 72 volunteers and Gonzaga University took the top spot for the small category with 20 volunteers.
“Every year the Peace Corps unveils the upper echelon of colleges and universities that have distinguished themselves at the top of its volunteer-producing schools,” said Peace Corps West Coast Regional Manager Erin Carlson. “We take enormous pride in recognizing Western Washington University as one of the 23 universities from the West Coast producing dedicated individuals who personify the Peace Corps mission of promoting world peace and friendship. It’s an honor to congratulate the university for claiming the No. 1 ranking for the third consecutive year.”
“The Peace Corps provides an indispensable opportunity for young people out of college to gain work experience, learn a foreign language, and develop intercultural skills,” Peace Corps Director Carrie Hessler-Radelet said. “International service helps volunteers refine qualities that can be difficult to measure, but are critical to long-term success, all while impacting the lives of people around the world.”
Peace Corps recruiting at Western operates out of the Career Services Center.
Below find the top five colleges and universities in each category and the number of alumni currently serving as Peace Corps volunteers. View the complete 2015 rankings of the top 25 schools in each undergraduate category here.
Large Colleges & Universities – Total Volunteers:
More than 15,000 undergraduates
1. University of Washington (72)
2. University of Wisconsin–Madison (69)
3. University of Florida (66)
4. The Ohio State University (64)
5. University of Minnesota Twin Cities (63)
Medium Colleges & Universities – Total Volunteers:
Between 5,000 and 15,000 undergraduates
1. Western Washington University (47)
2. American University (41)
3. George Washington University (36)
3. University of Virginia (36)
5. Cornell University (33)
Small Colleges & Universities – Total Volunteers:
Less than 5,000 undergraduates
1. Gonzaga University (20)
2. Carleton College (17)
3. Middlebury College (16)
3. University of Puget Sound (16)
5. Macalester College (15)
*Rankings are calculated based on fiscal year 2014 data as of September 30, 2014, as self-reported by Peace Corps volunteers.
Western Washington University emphasizes excellence in undergraduate education and graduate programs. The third-largest university in the state, WWU offers degrees in more than 160 programs through its seven colleges. About 15,000 students attend Western, which U.S. News & World Report has consistently ranked as the top public master’s-granting university in the Pacific Northwest. Western serves the local community, state and region through partnerships, innovative research, mentoring and community service activities.
The Summer Youth Theatre Institute at Western Washington University is presenting a pair of films on Sunday, Feb. 15, that came out of the institute's recent "Monster Keeper" stage performances.
At 2 p.m., there'll be a screening of "Monster Keeper: Live on Film!", and at 3:15 p.m., there'll be a screening of a behind-the-scenes documentary made of the play. A raffle will preceed the second screening. Doors open at 1:30 p.m.
The first event will be a film version of the new "Monster Keeper" stage play, adapted from the best-selling young adult novel "Demonkeeper," which was written by local author Royce Buckingham. A museum will be set up in the Performing Arts Center lobby with props, artwork and puppets from the show. Attendees will get to meet the actors, take pictures with puppets from the play and get autographs from Buckingham.
A basket full of goodies from local vendors will be raffled off.
These events are free and open to the public, and no tickets are needed.
The Gulf of Alaska supports some tremendously important fisheries.
Suzanne Strom, a senior marine scientist at Western Washington University's Shannon Point Marine Center, is among a team of scientists working on an $18-million research project to study five commercially and ecologically important fish species and the Gulf of Alaska ecosystem that supports them.
Specifically, the Gulf of Alaska Integrated Ecosystem Research Project is studying the gauntlet faced by walleye pollock, Pacific cod, Pacific ocean perch, sablefish and arrowtooth flounder during their first year of life as they are transported from offshore areas, where they are spawned, to nearshore nursery areas.
The first-ever Active Minds Changing Lives week at Western Washington University kicks off April 11 with TEDxWWU.
Do you have a big idea you'd like to share with the community and world? Apply to become a presenter at TEDxWWU. The application deadline is Feb. 17.
The special week, designed to celebrate and showcase how Western lives its tagline "Active Minds Changing Lives," is an opportunity for WWU students, faculty and staff to show their stuff. Through workshop, performance, film, discussion, game or any other engaging means, members of the Western community are invited to share their good work with others. Ideal sessions are active and interactive. Submit your proposal by completing the form attached below and submitting it to Danica.Kilander@wwu.edu by 5 p.m. Feb. 17.
Activities already scheduled for the week include TEDxWWU, Tech Tonic, a sustainability workshop, a global games event, an ethics case competition, the launch of Connecting Communities and IDEA: InterDisciplinary Entrepreneurship in Action. Look for more information on each of these events in the coming weeks.