Hello, UW community of professional staff! On behalf of the PSO Board of Directors, we are excited to reach out to you as we begin our year together. In this moment it’s more important than ever to stay connected and be there for each other. The PSO is working to understand, amplify, and address the needs of professional staff–that’s *you*, and over 10,000 others on our Seattle, Tacoma, Bothell, and Harborview campuses.
The all-volunteer PSO Board works to highlight the essential role of, enriches the experience of, and serves as a resource for professional staff at the University of Washington–the mission of this 30-year-old 501c(5). Through our values of Advocacy, Communication, Education, Professional Development, and Representation, we develop events, programs, scholarships, partnerships, and other resources to ensure that professional staff are seen, heard and appreciated for the immense value you all bring to our campuses.
Last year, some of the ways in which we served this community included:
- 3rd annual Diversity Forum, featuring speakers on allyship and accomplice-ment
- Spring Celebration, with speaker President Ana Mari Cauce
- Professional Staff Awards, where peers nominate each other for their outstanding contributions to the UW
- Over $3,000 in scholarships to pro-staff for professional development
- Successful advocacy to avoid increases in the cost of U-PASSes
- Advocacy for professional staff of color and caregivers during the COVID-19 pandemic
- Regular welcoming of new UW professional staff, in partnership with UW-HR, at orientation events
This wouldn’t be possible without the support of PSO members. Each year the majority of the contributions you give are funneled back into the professional staff community. Thank you for making our work possible!
During our annual board retreat, we discussed the primary ways we plan to support professional staff in the coming year, under the themes of Equity, Advocacy, and Engagement. We plan to reach out to adjacent communities and UW leaders to listen and share resources and ideas; we plan to increase the number of conversations we host about how to support BIPOC professional staff; and we plan to stabilize and grow our scholarships program so that the efforts of pro-staff to improve their professional skills are celebrated and rewarded. Importantly, the upcoming legislative session looks to be a difficult one for UW and higher education. The PSO Legislative Committee is working to make sure your voices are heard in Olympia. Legislators need to hear from UW staff that funding UW and higher education is vital for the economy and future of this State.
We want to hear from you! How can we advocate for your needs, to UW leadership, state legislature and beyond? We hope to hear more about your experiences during the pandemic and the uprisings due in response to continued injustices toward Black and brown bodies, and intend to reach out specifically later in the quarter.
Finally, if you’d like to get more involved with the PSO, we welcome you to volunteer at our events or join any of our committees. Or just reach out–we would be happy to hear from you.
Best wishes for a meaningful and productive start to our academic year,
Leyla Salmassi, President, and Jen Davison, Vice President, on behalf of the PSO Board