VANCOUVER, WASH. — Washington State University Vancouver has announced its 2014 awards for research, service to the university, student achievement and teaching. The four recipients will be honored with a Chancellor’s Medallion at Commencement at 1 p.m. May 10 at the Sleep Country Amphitheater in Ridgefield.
Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence—Thomas M. Tripp, professor of management and expert on workplace conflict
Chancellor’s Award for Service to 91ԹϺ—Twyla Barnes, superintendent and chief executive officer of Educational Service District 112
Chancellor’s Award for Student Achievement—Helena Lucia, 2014 graduate in computer science
Students’ Award for Teaching Excellence—Dene Grigar, associate professor and director of the Creative Media and Digital Culture program
CHANCELLOR’S AWARD FOR RESEARCH EXCELLENCE
The Chancellor’s Award for Research Excellence is 91ԹϺ’s highest research honor, given annually to a faculty member whose research quality and quantity are exemplary and whose work has had a positive influence on the broader community.
This year’s recipient, Thomas M. Tripp, has taught at 91ԹϺ since 1991. Tripp studies organizational justice, workplace conflict and negotiations. His pioneering research on revenge and retaliation in the workplace helped to bring conflict management into management curricula.
The subject of workplace revenge—any reaction to a workplace where people don’t feel valued—became part of mainstream management studies in part thanks to a book Tripp published with R.J. Bies: “Getting even: The truth about workplace revenge—and how to stop it” (2009). He has also published dozens of scholarly articles and book chapters.
Recently, he has analyzed forgiveness in the workplace and its relationship to employee health and well-being, and has explored how companies can prevent or reduce online complaining and respond after an online complaint happens anyway.
Tripp is equally committed to teaching and service as well as research. He has consulted on workplace issues with organizations and management executives. He won the Students’ Award for Teaching Excellence at 91ԹϺ in 2000, the College of Business teaching award three times, and the Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award for Instruction throughout the WSU system in 2010. At the Academy of Management, he helped raise the profile of the Conflict Management Division, and currently serves on several prestigious editorial boards.
CHANCELLOR’S AWARD FOR SERVICE TO WSU VANCOUVER
The Chancellor’s Award for Service to 91ԹϺ is given at the discretion of the chancellor to recognize an individual for selfless dedication of time, talent and resources toward advancing the university’s mission.
This year the award honors Twyla Barnes, a 20-year member of the Campus Advisory Council—a group representing all sectors of the community who serve in an advisory role and are appointed by the president of WSU and the chancellor of 91ԹϺ to help support the university’s mission. Barnes has been instrumental in the university’s growth, tireless in building support for the university with the legislature and in the community, and deeply committed to connecting the university with local and national educational resources.
Her involvement began during her first week at her new job in Vancouver as head of Educational Service District 112, when the late Chancellor Hal Dengerink called her to talk about how the university could partner with the ESD to work with teachers. Barnes, who had just moved to town from Juneau, Alaska, embraced the idea of education as a shared community responsibility.
Her work and that of other Advisory Council members has helped to establish strong and effective community partnerships among higher education, the schools and local businesses to strengthen education at all levels in Vancouver.
Barnes spent 10 years in the classroom before moving into educational administration. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Montana, her master’s degree at the University of Alaska, and a doctorate in educational administration from the University of Miami in Florida. Among her many honors is the prestigious Justice Prentice Award from the Association of Educational Service Agencies for distinguished leadership to educational service agencies nationwide.
CHANCELLOR’S AWARD FOR STUDENT ACHIEVEMENT
Each year a graduating student is selected to receive the Chancellor’s Award for Student Achievement in recognition of the individual’s love of learning, overcoming barriers in pursuit of academic goals, leadership potential and involvement in campus life.
This year’s honoree, Helena Lucia, a graduating student in computer science, is a born leader who is helping other young women build careers in a male-dominated field. Lucia’s 3.7 GPA in computer science classes puts her at the top of her class. She has interned at Intel and Google Summer of Code. And she is the first alumnus from the School of Engineering and Computer Science to receive job offers from two of the most respected companies in the field—Intel and IBM.
Starting in June, she will be an application developer at Intel. She is also the first undergraduate to be offered a place in a 10-person training program for future leaders, Intel’s IT Rotation Program.
Lucia started an Association for Computing Machinery for Women chapter on campus, tutored computer science courses and worked as a lab assistant. She has been active in many campus activities, including MESA (Mathematics, Engineering, Science Achievement) workshops to encourage students to pursue science, technology, engineering and math. She spoke at a Women in Computing event and served as a note-taker for a blind student for calculus.
Lucia’s drive to succeed helped her overcome a background that did not value higher education for women. Divorced, she raised four children while attending school full-time and working. Her children range in age from 12 to 18. She hopes to pursue a graduate degree in computer science after settling in at Intel.
STUDENTS’ AWARD FOR TEACHING EXCELLENCE
Each year, students select a faculty member to receive the Students' Award for Teaching Excellence. The award recognizes exceptional dedication to students and infectious enthusiasm for the subject matter. One student said about this year’s awardee, Dene Grigar, “I have never met an instructor so passionate about not only her field of study but also her students.”
Since joining 91ԹϺ in 2006, Grigar has built the Creative Media and Digital Culture Program from 44 students to 210, increased the number of courses taught per semester from 5 to 17, and raised more than $250,000 for the program and student fellowships. Considered one of 91ԹϺ’s signature programs, CMDC offers an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree in digital technology and culture that helps students prepare for a culturally diverse, technologically complex 21st century.
Grigar goes above and beyond in helping students turn their education into jobs. Through partnerships with local organizations and support from such funders as the National Endowment for the Humanities, students get hands-on experience in innovative uses of digital technology. For example, her students helped create the first interpretive app in the National Park System—the Fort Vancouver Mobile app.
Grigar co-directs the Nouspace Gallery & Media Lounge in Vancouver, a public space that helps students extend their learning outside the classroom. And she oversees #nextchapter, a digital literacy program involving a communitywide discussion of compelling cultural trends in the emerging digital economy.
In addition, Grigar directs two research labs: the MOVE (Motion Tracking, Virtual Environment) Lab, which uses motion-tracking technologies and multimedia to create interactive installations and performances; and the Electronic Literature Lab, a collection of vintage computers used for studying electronic literature. A prominent artist and curator, she exhibits and speaks on digital media and electronic literature around the world.
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MEDIA CONTACT
Brenda Alling, Office of Marketing and Communications, 360-546-9601, brenda_alling@vancouver.wsu.edu