By Kathryn L. Herron
The process of writing an academic statement is a relatively new responsibility for Evergreen students. According to faculty member Shaw Osha, the academic statement initiative was the first requirement Evergreen passed in almost forty years.
“Since students don’t get to declare a major, the practice of writing an academic statement that must be continuously updated gives them a chance to make sense and meaning of their education,” said Osha.
The academic statement is designed to help students stay on the right track. Before Evergreen made writing an academic statement a requirement, it was easy for students to become lost. Evergreen offers a wide variety of interdisciplinary courses and it can be challenging to figure out which programs or classes are best. “It’s important for you to be a little lost as an undergraduate so that you can be open to new ideas, but to an outsider it can look like you’re dabbling,” said Osha.
Evergreen students who are unsure of how to make their transcript look like it makes sense to people outside of Evergreen are encouraged to attend the All-Campus Mentoring Day, an annual event initiated and run by the faculty of Evergreen. This years event will be held on Wednesday, March 4 and will consist of two fifty-minute faculty advising sessions that will start at 2 and 3 p.m.
Student Wil Houdeshell attended the first All-Campus Mentoring Day event that was hosted last year. “This event gives students the opportunity to get guidance from people who are knowledgeable in their field that goes well beyond the general advice offered by Academic Advising,” said Houdeshell.
“Evergreen feels like a commuter college. There’s not a lot of cohesive campus spirit. We’re working toward creating a sense of belonging,” said Osha. As part of their plan to accomplish that goal, the provost will be bringing the attendants of the event together in an assembly, which is usually only done during convocation and graduation.
Houdeshell is grateful that he attended last years session and said, “Mentoring Day is an excellent way for students to get more out of their time at Evergreen and I encourage my peers to check out the schedule, find sessions that interest them, attend, and ask tons of questions.”
Students can find the full schedule of events online here.
