[GuidedPathways] FW: It's (Arguably) the Most Important Job at the State Board ...

Fri Jan 21 13:57:08 PST 2022

Dear CTC Family,

Please find an amazing opportunity to become a team member at SBCTC as Director for Policy Research.

The value of your personal time is priceless, please feel obliged to not reply to this email outside of your working hours.

Respectfully and Humbly,

[signature_198601869]Claudine Richardson, Ph.D., M.S., M.P.A.
Pronouns: they |them |theirs
Policy Associate | Student Success Center
Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges
PO Box 42495 | 1300 Quince Street SE | Olympia | WA | 98504
crichardson at sbctc.edu<mailto:crichardson at sbctc.edu> | c. 509.230.3690
sbctc.edu • Twitter: @SBCTCWashington • Facebook: @WASBCTC

SBCTC Vision: “Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities.”

From: 'Jennifer Whetham' via DEHPD-WACTC <dehpd-wactc at googlegroups.com>
Sent: Friday, January 21, 2022 1:19 PM
To: dehpd <dehpd-wactc at googlegroups.com>; atlc at lists.ctc.edu; 'Articulation and Transfer Council of IC (atc at lists.ctc.edu)' <atc at lists.ctc.edu>
Subject: [DEHPD] It's (Arguably) the Most Important Job at the State Board ...

My dear friends and colleagues:

The director of policy research (Job ID 10916) at the Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges plays a pivotal role in fulfilling the SBCTC vision<https://bit.ly/3GKx8Fb> to lead with racial equity and create cultures of belonging for our Black, Indigenous, and Students of Color. The job description is below.

Keeping in mind this is just my perspective, if what I write in this e-mail, and/or the job description, resonates with you in any way, I hope you'll consider applying ... or spread the word to colleagues who possess both research backgrounds and the will to be ever-more actively antiracist.

While the landscape of equity work in higher education has evolved dramatically since its publication, as well as the language we use to frame it (achievement gaps), Dr. Estela Bensimon's landmark article<https://bit.ly/3tHutZg> about the role of evidence and data in transforming our cultures of teaching and learning remains foundational to how I see and understand this position from time at SBCTC-- 9 years this August of 2022.

Bensimon points out that historically, we have approached the work of addressing our skewed and inequitable student outcomes, caused by opportunity gaps exacerbated by systemic racism, primarily through the lens of "student learning problems." Rather than pathologize our students, she asks us to examine ourselves and our institutions using an organizational learning perspective. Specifically, Bensimon charges us to identify and address "institutional learning problems." As a foundational move, Bensimon urges us to make examining disaggregated data through an equity lens an institutional practice. This move, done well, renders what was “previously invisible” visible. And then, the institution, and its practitioners, must “discuss the undiscussable.”

Those of you who know me know that over the course of the pandemic, I've had the honor of working closely with Asao B. Inoue<https://bit.ly/2Auk9dz> and Dr. Joe Lott<https://bit.ly/3rH0uxO> thanks to generous funding from College Spark Washington and now the legislature. And I've been reading every word of Adrienne Maree Brown<https://bit.ly/3DlSh65> I can get my hands on. All three scholars are deeply committed to employing ecological theories to the work of antiracism.

  *   From Asao, the 7 elements of antiracist assessment ecologies (aka "How to Stop Harming Students<https://tinyurl.com/antiracistelements>") as crucial tools that us map our current assessment ecologies and pose what he calls "antiracist problems" before we implement ANY kind of changes to our current ecosystem, be it classroom, department, program, or campus.
  *   I'm particularly struck by Adrienne Maree Brown's use of fractals<https://bit.ly/3FZepVn> as a theory of change and the notion of "critical connections<https://bit.ly/3fP7d3n>."
  *   From Dr. Lott, I'm getting a crash course in how to collect and analyze data with the antiracist goal of transcending the traditional linear time and space boundaries of projects and initiatives to intentionally forge a movement of people eager to be the change.
So to translate all that into how I see the invitation of this position ...

Each of our 34 community and technical colleges has its own ecosystem of teaching and learning. Together, we make up one big ecosystem. But what IS the nature of that ecosystem? We must have access to robust qualitative and quantitative data at the institutional and system level to even begin to answer that question. The quality of our data infrastructure at the college and system level is critical, as is the kinds of data and evidence we collect, the questions we ask of it, and how we analyze it. The person who holds this position will play a critical role if SBCTC's policy level data collection and analysis efforts ... as well as support each college in the same endeavor.

To frame it another way, the work we are doing, right now, even as we navigate the most significant challenges in the history of education, is visionary: our CTC system is leading the nation in our antiracist efforts and our big dream of completely (re)Visioning our institutions as we work within them. We are forging the way not just for other institutions of higher education, but for other sectors. And we will live and die by the quality of our data. So here we are at a yet another critical moment (one in a long string of critical moments). Our evidence will be one of the many tipping points that determines if we collectively forge an even stronger foundation for living into the SBCTC Vision ... or if our efforts will founder.

I'll conclude with an invitation to the Education division. We are not perfect, but then again perfection is a characteristic of white supremacy culture<https://bit.ly/3Am8QPh>. But to end where I began ... we are committed to organizational learning. As we make mistakes, we learn from them. Something Joe Lott often says, in the context of the work, is "keep it moving." In the Education Division, we keep it moving. And as the division grows and changes, each of us, individually and collectively, are shaped by the challenges we face: we evolve with our solutions.

So if you want to take on arguably the most important role at SBCTC, IMHO ... please do take a look at the job description. I'm here to answer any questions you may have to the best of my ability, and I'd love to imagine with you about all the potentials of what you might bring to the work.

With great respect and love for all of us in the Washington State CTC system.

Jennifer

PS-- And because everyone reads the PS ... I'd be remiss if I didn't express in what is arguably the most important position in an e-mail, rhetorically speaking ... my favorite way to read Adrienne Maree Brown is hearing Dr. Xyan Neider and SBCTC equity consultant Ambar Martinez discuss and apply Brown's ideas from Emergent Strategy<https://amzn.to/2KDFNB5> to our work, be it the Constellations Framework<https://bit.ly/2QDUFTf> or the Antiracist Curriculum Initiative. I'm particularly grateful to Xyan for helping me understand Brown's metaphor of murmuration<https://bit.ly/3nLlrXa> for systems leadership ... and I am ever in Ambar's debt for reading me "not busy, focused; not busy, full<https://bit.ly/3rHhK66>" aloud on a day when I wanted to give up. Love you, Ambar and Xyan! You keep my heart in the work when it is hardest.

[Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges compass]Jennifer Whetham (pronouns: she/her/hers)

Student Success Center & Strategic Initiatives | Policy Associate

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC)

jwhetham at sbctc.edu<mailto:jwhetham at sbctc.edu> • o: 360-704-4354 • c: 206-310-1291

Applications Open Until 10/29/21 for the ENGL&101 Antiracist Curriculum Initiative<https://bit.ly/ACIOverviewforFaculty>!

SBCTC Vision: “Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities.”

________________________________
From: Pam Kelly <pkelly at sbctc.edu<mailto:pkelly at sbctc.edu>>
Sent: Monday, January 17, 2022 4:05 PM
To: SBCTC All Staff <SBCTCAllStaff at sbctc.edu<mailto:SBCTCAllStaff at sbctc.edu>>
Subject: SBCTC Job Opportunity | Job ID 10916 | Director (Policy Research)

The Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) invites applications for its Director (Policy Research<https://hcprd.ctclink.us/psc/tam/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRAM_FL.HRS_CG_SEARCH_FL.GBL?FOCUS=Applicant&SiteId=200>) position.

The Policy Research Director's primary role is to support and contribute to data-informed decision making and policy development in alignment with the SBCTC vision:

Leading with racial equity, our colleges maximize student potential and transform lives within a culture of belonging that advances racial, social, and economic justice in service to our diverse communities.

The Policy Research Director provides leadership for policy research activities and related research that align with the vision, mission, goals, and emergent priorities of the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges. The Policy Research Director collaborates with internal and external partners to support data governance and research that:

  *   Advances education policy in the community and technical college sector through data analysis and research;
  *   Focuses on policies and practices that connect racially and socially just evidence-based and emergent strategies designed to positively impact student outcomes;
  *   Engages stakeholders to inform data-driven equity-minded decisions and policy making that recognize community diversity, equity, and inclusion and student success; and
  *   Ensures ongoing data governance, compliance, and integrity.

This position reports to the Deputy Executive Director of the Education Division, and leads and supervises the Policy Research team that includes policy research analysts and associates.  This position will ideally be headquartered in Olympia. However, hybrid or remote work can be negotiated.

The annual salary is $121,632.

Washington State has a generous benefit package including health, dental, life insurance, long-term disability, retirement, and two optional deferred compensation programs.  For health benefit information go to Washington Health Care Authority<https://www.hca.wa.gov/>. The position is eligible to participate in the State Board Retirement Plan<http://www1.tiaa-cref.org/tcm/sbctc/> (SBRP) and Department of Retirement Systems<http://www.drs.wa.gov/> (DRS).

Applications will be accepted through 5 p.m., Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, or until filled.

Internal applicants apply through the SBCTC Careers tile located in Employee Self Service.

For more information about this position and the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, visit SBCTC.edu<http://www.sbctc.edu/default.aspx> or contact Pamela Kelly at (360) 704-4301 or pkelly at sbctc.edu<mailto:pkelly at sbctc.edu>.

[Compass]Pamela J. Kelly

Human Resource Consultant 4

Washington State Board for Community and Technical Colleges

pkelly at sbctc.edu<pkelly at sbctc.edu%20> • office: 360-704-4301 • fax: 360-704-4415

sbctc.edu<https://www.sbctc.edu/> • Twitter: @SBCTCWashington<https://twitter.com/SBCTCWashington> • Facebook: @WASBCTC<https://www.facebook.com/wasbctc/>

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DIVERSITY & EQUITY IN HIRING & PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
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