Planning Committee

The Scholars Week Planning Committee facilitates the organization of Western’s annual Scholars Week activities in coordination with the Office of the Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs. The committee helps organize the following Scholars Showcase activities: The Poster Session, a symposium for undergraduate and graduate students; Three-Minute Thesis Talks for graduate students; MFA/MA Creative Writing Presentations, and the Faculty/Student Group Collaborations, presentations featuring professors and student groups reporting upon research or creative work performed collaboratively in the lab, field, studio, or similar setting. The committee welcomes new ideas and new members. If you are interested in joining the committee or contributing an idea for a Scholars Week activity, please contact the committee at  scholars.week@wwu.edu.

Committee Members  

• Jon Dillon, information technologist, Western Libraries
• Sabina Gupta, A.S. Student Senator for Fairhaven College of Interdisciplinary Studies
• John McLaughlin, professor, Department of Environmental Sciences  
• Rebecca McLean, program manager, Office of the Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs
• Nipun Goel, assistant professor, Department of Engineering and Design, committee chair
• Kimberly Lynn, director, Honors Program
• Jenny Oleen, scholarly communications librarian
• David Patrick, dean of Graduate School and vice provost of Research and Sponsored Programs
• Megan Spiegel, head of the Kitto Graduate Student Hub  
• John Thompson, assistant director, University Communications and Marketing
• Mariah Warner, desktop support specialist, Information Technology
• Zev Valancy, program coordinator, Graduate School