Last week, more than 30 faculty members new to the University and state participated in the Faculty Field Tour, a five-day immersive tour of the state of Washington. The tour highlights the state’s diverse geography, economy, history, and cultures and allows the faculty to see the places their students call home to help them be even better teachers and mentors. It also allows them to meet other new faculty from various disciplines and campuses and to talk one-on-one with University and state leaders.
Throughout the tour, the faculty had the opportunity to meet and engage with members of Washington’s state government. On the first day, the tour stopped at Olympia where faculty met with Deputy Secretary of State Randy Bolerjack to learn more about the state’s legislative process. They also took a tour of the capitol building to learn of its history and to see where state legislators convene to debate and pass policy and the state’s budgets.
In Vancouver, Reps. Paul Harris and Sharon Wylie had dinner with the faculty members and participated in an after-dinner lecture by Assistant Professor Miranda Belarde-Lewis, an expert on Indigenous systems of knowledge, Native American art and artifacts, and tribal museums and Indigenous curation.
Across the mountains, Sen. Mark Schoesler hosted the faculty at his fifth-generation dryland wheat farm in Ritzville. While at the farm, Sen. Schoesler shared the history of his family farm and the region and talked about farming practices and economics. He also brought out and demonstrated some of the equipment used on the farm.
The tour covered roughly 1,000 miles of Washington state and connected UW’s new faculty members with the local communities and people that the University serves.
Thank you to Deputy Bolerjack, Sen. Schoesler, and Reps. Harris and Wylie for participating and for your continued support of the UW.
