The 27th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium showcased a diverse array of more than 1,200 student presenters, including nearly 200 UW Honors Program students, representing an impressive spectrum of majors, research projects, fellowship and scholarship awardees.
Category: Features
Typically longer in length and relevancy than content in the news category. Features content is more likely to be republished over time.
The intersection of service and leadership
On May 23, the University of Washington’s Community Engagement and Leadership Education (CELE) Center will present the 2024 Spring CELEbration, a forum for undergraduates to showcase their contributions to service, leadership and activist work conducted in partnership with the community.
UAA’s LeAnne Wiles receives Thorud Leadership Award
We are delighted to congratulate LeAnne Wiles on being named one of two recipients for the Thorud Leadership Award, the highest award for leadership at the University of Washington! Wiles is the executive director of First Year Programs and Strategic Initiatives in UAA’s Student Academic Services. Wiles began her UW career in First Year Programs in 2009, managing parent orientation, the First-year Interest Group program and other elements of First Year Programs. In the last 15 years, she has made an indelible mark on how new students are welcomed to campus and how they find a sense of belonging in their first year. To be effective in this work, Wiles and the First Year Programs team she leads reach out across campus, developing partnerships with academic and administrative units with the vision of creating a campus-wide welcome and culture of belonging for first-year students.
Innovation revealed at the 27th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium
On May 17, over 1,200 undergraduates will present cutting-edge research and scholarship at the 27th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, a signature event for the University of Washington.
University of Washington’s Jumpstart welcomes Kinders to College!
The University of Washington’s Jumpstart program recently welcomed kindergarteners from the Federal Way Public Schools (FWPS) to the Seattle campus. The visit was part of the FWPS’s new Kinders to College initiative that launched this academic year and aims to promote the importance of early college and career readiness.
“Our new Kinders to College program allows young kindergarten students to begin learning about the college and career opportunities available to them,” said FWPS superintendent Dr. Dani Pfeiffer. “With repeated exposure to multiple post-secondary pathways, over time students will build an appetite for success, and it’s important that this process begins early,” she said.
The collaboration between Jumpstart and FWPS extends Jumpstart’s commitment to providing equal educational opportunities to all young children and breaking cycles of poverty. Jessica Hunnicut Batten, director of Local P12 Education Partnerships at UAA’s Community Engagement and Leadership Education (CELE) Center, expressed her excitement about the partnership and the benefits it will bring.
Batten emphasized the importance of exposing young scholars to college and post-secondary pathways early, as studies show that children begin contemplating their future careers in elementary school. “By offering students early exposure to a college environment, they can get excited about education and develop career aspirations, which will motivate them as they navigate their educational journey,” Batten said.
Nicole Collopy, a UW alum, cited her time as a former career and college readiness assistant with the Dream Project, which has been going to schools in the Federal Way School District for over a decade, as instrumental in shaping her approach to fostering educational equity and inclusion.
Supporting the amazing communities she worked with through the Dream Project allowed Collopy to evolve her understanding of the systems and structures that create barriers to educational equity. This brought her to her current position as FWPS’s college and career readiness facilitator, “The experiential learning I participated in, through what is now the CELE Center, shaped my journey by allowing me to apply my knowledge and explore my passions, eventually leading me to discover my love of college access work,” Collopy said.
The Kinders to College event was organized in partnership with Batten and Collopy, with the help of the Dream Project’s sister program, UW Jumpstart. Jumpstart students designed and led groups of kindergarteners in hands-on classroom activities, introducing them to different careers such as dentistry, art, archeology and pediatrics. The event also included a visit by UW mascot Harry the Husky and a walking scavenger hunt to the fountain.
Magnolia Wood, ‘25, a Jumpstart leader majoring in speech and hearing sciences, shared her experience of the event. “I had a lot of fun watching the kids’ faces light up as they entered and again during our readings and activities,” Wood shared. She expressed her hope that such events will become a lasting memory for the children as they grow up and pursue their dreams.
Emely Dominguez, ‘25, Jumpstart leader majoring in education communities and organizations, echoed these sentiments, emphasizing the value of exposing young minds to various career possibilities. “Seeing how happy they were in a college environment was satisfying because this not only helps the students have a positive view towards their education but also the belief that they can achieve any dream,” Dominguez said.
Jumpstart leader Carmela Paz, ‘24, reflected on the fulfilling experience of the Kinders to College event. She highlighted her role in preparing materials and creating a fun learning environment, particularly in the Bob Ross room where kids could express their creativity through art. “We had the children engage and apply what they read about by giving them canvases and watercolor paint to create their pieces of artwork,” Paz said. “I loved working alongside them and seeing their creativity roam, sharing with us and their classmates!” she said.
“It was a great start to our student’s educational journey toward success and we are thankful for our partnership with University of Washington’s Jumpstart program for joining us in this effort,” said Dr. Pfeiffer. The UW Jumpstart program remains committed to the ongoing partnership and advancing education equity across the region.
About Jumpstart
Through Jumpstart, UW students provide language, social-emotional and literacy programming for preschool children from under-resourced communities and promote quality early learning for all children. UW students gain experience in preschool classrooms, setting goals, teamwork and leadership skills.
Bitaniya Giday, UW junior, scholar, community organizer and poet, selected as Truman Scholar
When University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce, Provost Tricia Serio and Vice Provost and Dean Ed Taylor appeared in the Zoom room of Bitaniya Giday’s African American studies class, Giday was confused and even wondered if she was in trouble for something. But then President Cauce excitedly announced that Giday had been selected for the prestigious Truman Scholarship, a national award recognizing past accomplishments in and future commitment to public service and leadership.
Three UW students named 2024 Goldwater Scholars
Three University of Washington undergraduates have been honored as Goldwater Scholars by the Goldwater Foundation, continuing the longstanding tradition of UW students receiving this honor. This year’s UW Goldwater Scholars are Dania Ahmed, Annabella Li and Masa Nakura-Fan. Their undergraduate research projects with faculty cover a range of topics such as the mechanisms underlying heart disease, designing, producing and testing novel protein-based systems, and computational fabrication and artificial intelligence.
Uplifting one another
Reese Johnston’s early childhood years were spent in traditional schools studying standard curriculums. Yet at a young age, he knew something was missing.
UW senior Abby Burtner selected to be 1 of 16 Churchill Scholars
Abby Burtner, ‘24, has been awarded the prestigious Churchill Scholarship in recognition of her outstanding achievements in the field of biochemistry. As a Churchill Scholar, Burtner’s next step is to complete a fully-funded master’s degree in pathology at Cambridge University.
The Churchill Foundation selected 16 exceptional students as Churchill Scholars from a pool of 121 candidates this academic year. This year’s competition highlights the dedication, talent and exceptional accomplishments of the scholars, setting the stage for an even brighter future in the STEM fields and scientific exploration.
Burtner came to the UW from her hometown of Olympia, WA, and will be graduating in spring 2024 with a B.S in biochemistry with Interdisciplinary and Departmental Honors, along with minors in data science and chemistry. She got her start in research in Professor Sharlene Santana’s lab in the Department of Biology her freshman year and fell in love with the power of evolution to fine-tune and function on a macroevolutionary scale. By the end of her sophomore year, Burtner realized that a research career was the right fit for her through her work on computational biology projects supervised by Dr. Chris Law and Dr. Kelly Diamond.
As Burtner advanced in her college coursework, she became increasingly drawn to the microscopic level of life, leading her to join Professor Neil King’s group at the Institute for Protein Design in the Department of Biochemistry. There, she works on a project designing de novo proteins to bind toll-like receptors, key receptors that activate the innate immune system, for groundbreaking applications in vaccine development.
“The Churchill scholarship,” says Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs, “is a prestigious opportunity for Abby to continue expanding her biochemistry skills. This award reflects her capacity to draw from her research and the mentorship she’s experienced, to fuel her work toward a greater understanding of our world in critical ways. The UW’s research community and campus-at-large are proud of Abby and encourage her as she continues to live out UW’s mission at Cambridge.”
Burtner is a past recipient of the DAAD Rise internship, Goldwater Scholarship, Washington Research Foundation Fellowship, Mary Gates Research Scholarship, and has been an undergraduate research leader at the Office of Undergraduate Research. Burtner intends to chart a career pathway investigating immunological systems through a biophysical lens as a principal investigator at an academic or industrial research lab.
“Pursuing a master’s at the University of Cambridge,” says Burtner, “will help me achieve my goal of obtaining a Ph.D. in biophysics. By learning foundational immunological techniques and techniques at Cambridge, along with the experimental and computational biophysical approaches I’ve learned here at UW, I will be working toward solving medical issues with broad impacts such as vaccination and cancer immunotherapies.” As she prepares for life in the UK, Burtner is excited about learning biomedical issues of global importance in an international context.
“I feel incredibly honored to receive the Churchill Scholarship”, says Burtner. “I could not have made it to this point without the stellar mentorship and support from the King Lab and Santana Lab at UW, particularly from my mentors Chloe Adams, Dr. Chris Law, Dr. Kelly Diamond, Robin Heiringhoff, and PIs Dr. Neil King, Dr. Sharlene Santana, Dr. Murat Maga, and Dr. Dietmar Manstein from the various research labs I have had the pleasure to work in. I would also like to thank my excellent honors chemistry and biochemistry professors, particularly Dr. Andrea Wills, for inspiring me to love this field and see a future for myself here, and the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards, particularly Robin Chang, for her excellent guidance and advice. Finally, I am so grateful for my family and friends, particularly those from the honors chemistry/biochemistry community here at UW — it is truly a wonderful place to be learning how to be a scientist.”
Outside of the lab, Abby is an officer in the student club Biology Students for Equity. She can often be found embracing the beauty of Washington state, be it hiking and skiing in the majestic mountains, or running across the city with the Husky Running Club, of which she was president her junior year.
The Churchill Scholarship application process is supported by the Office of Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards (OMSFA), a UAA program. OMSFA works with faculty, staff and students to identify and support promising students in developing the skills and personal insights necessary to become strong candidates for this and other prestigious awards.
The UW campus application process for students interested in the Churchill Scholarship (and other scholarships supporting studies in the UK) will open in spring 2024 for 2025-2026 awards.
Narrowing the education gap
Transfer students play a crucial role in the research conducted by Community College Research Initiatives (CCRI), spurring advancement in higher education by addressing the gaps in access to a college degree and the societal mobility it offers. Through their focus on the transfer student experience at community colleges, CCRI is at the forefront of innovation, identifying strategies that enhance postsecondary outcomes for these students, enabling them to thrive in their chosen paths.
Situated at the University of Washington in Undergraduate Academic Affairs, CCRI leverages their research to improve educational outcomes locally and nationally, while serving as a valuable resource for community colleges and state systems. In this Q+A session, Dr. Lia Wetzstein, director of CCRI, delves into the critical work of narrowing the equity gap and creating lasting systems change.
Editor’s note: This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What are the issues surrounding transferring from a two-year to a four-year institution and how do they impact students and the broader community?
Transfer barriers are a major equity issue because access to an affordable bachelor’s degree is critical in creating economic mobility for individuals and vibrant communities. A major concern is the number of two-year students who intend to transfer and complete a bachelor’s degree, but do not (31% of degree-seeking transfer students transfer to a four-year [college or university] and 14% complete bachelor’s degrees in six years). The issue is exacerbated for low-income and minoritized students.
Reasons behind these rates include a lack of clear understanding of transfer pathways or access to the courses [students need] to be major-ready. This leads to credit loss once students transfer, impacting the cost and length of time to finish. In some cases, students run out of financial aid before they are able to finish their bachelor’s degree. In addition, most students at two-year schools must work to pay for college while also supporting themselves or dependents. Many institutions do not design their course schedules or student supports with this reality in mind, thereby setting up additional obstacles to academic success and degree completion.
What are specific ways CCRI’s research contributes toward educational equity?
We focus our research and the application of our research on improving the educational pathway that most first-generation, low-income and minoritized students take, namely the transfer pathway.
Our research on transfer partnerships [between two-year and four-year institutions] led to an understanding of the multiple ways partnerships are enacted and maintained. That understanding is being put to use to build sustainable STEM partnerships in our state [that improve] the transfer process and outcomes for low-income STEM students.
What role do collaboration and partnerships play for CCRI?
Partnerships are central to all of our work. We could not conduct our research or help facilitate transformative change without the collaboration of individuals, institutions and state-level systems. Our current Stem Transfer Partnership project brings together teams of STEM faculty and staff from nine pairs of two-year and four-year partner institutions in Washington state, who are working to improve outcomes for low-income transfer students. CCRI’s role in this work is to assist them in building sustainable local partnerships, as well as a larger, statewide community of practice that can serve as a network where they can share resources and ideas about praxis.
CCRI doesn’t work with students the same way that faculty, advisers or others in the University might. Yet you talk about the importance of centering the student experience in your work. How do you do that?
In all of our research and evaluation endeavors, we are committed to deeply understanding the student experience and drawing upon it to shape practice and policy. Only students can provide us an understanding of how their lived experiences interact with the institutional context.
Some key insights learned from our STEM transfer partnership include many students crediting a faculty member for their successful transfer, prevailing misconceptions surrounding transfer and associate degree options, the diverse sources where students gather information about transfer, and the remarkable willingness and enthusiasm of transfer students to share their experiences.
You were one of 200 higher education leaders invited by the U.S. Department of Education to attend the first-ever national summit, Raise the Bar Transfer Summit, on improving the student transfer process. Can you share any details or key takeaways from this event?
It was exciting for me to see federal recognition of the notion that improving transfer can level the playing field for access and success in higher education, and of the need to fix the transfer process, rather than transfer students.
Representatives at the Transfer Summit recognized that this work will take collaboration, partnerships and relationships between institutions and systems to make transfer work at scale. Given the recent ruling on affirmative action, improving community college transfer remains one of the most powerful tools to increase widespread access to four-year degrees, particularly for marginalized populations.
What are your hopes for the long-term impacts of CCRI’s work?
I hope CCRI continues to be a collaborator with community colleges, state systems and communities to engage in research to improve higher education access and completion for those farthest from educational justice. And that work is part of making educational equity gaps a thing of the past.
I hope our current work with STEM transfer partnerships leads to more two-year and four- year partnerships in the state and beyond, creating long-term sustainable and adaptable solutions for their shared transfer students.
To learn more about CCRI, visit their website.