Saying goodbye: CWU faculty and administration reflect on their experience

Gail Mackin:

Associate Vice Provost

How long have you been at CWU?

It will be exactly six years when I leave.

What is your favorite thing about your position?

I’m behind the scenes, but I know that I’m impacting every single student who’s here on campus, and to me, that’s incredibly important. I spent 20 plus years teaching mathematics. I always loved that. Loved engaging students. But I learned very quickly that as an administrator, even though I’m not interacting on a daily basis with students, I actually have more power to make a good and positive impact.

What is your favorite memory from CWU?

Last year, I stepped in as the interim dean for the College of Education and Professional Studies (CEPS) from February until June, with the passing of Dr. Heidi Henschel Pellett. One of the things that I was able to do as Interim Dean was actually stand on stage and shake every single CEPS graduate and congratulate them. It was an amazing experience.

What will you miss most about CWU?

I think it’s the people that I work with. They’re amazing. Faculty and staff, administrators and the students who come through as well. We have student workers in our office. I have great relationships with many people and not only academic affairs, but other divisions on campus. And I’ve identified good people in strategic places that are partners in crime in terms of solving things.

What do you plan to do next?

Other than a vacation in Maine with my children. As of Aug. 1 I will be Provost and Executive Vice President of Colorado State University-Pueblo.

What is the best piece of advice you would give students?

Just be as tenacious as possible. When you find something that you love, just dig into it with your teeth and rattle around until you figure out how best you can use that information and follow your passion.

Ediz Kaykayoglu:

Dean of Extended and Global Education

How long have you been at CWU?

A little bit over five and a half years.

What is your favorite thing about your position?

The people overall…which means students, my team, and colleagues, including faculty and staff.

What is your favorite memory from CWU?

We’ve been doing this globalization appreciation event every year, where we bring students, faculty and staff together, where we celebrate International Education, and share our experiences around the traditional education, so I think that’s one of the nice remarks about my time here.

What will you miss most about CWU?

CWU is one of the nicest [and] probably one of the best institutions that a student, faculty and staff member could be at. Because our faculty to student relationships, our relationships with our colleagues, our campus, including also our university centers, our work around access inclusivity [and] equity. All of that just inspired me a lot, motivated me towards what I do. And also, CWU gave me a lot and I’ll be missing a lot of the work that we do around international education with our international students and domestic students interacting.

What do you plan to do next?

I will be the Vice Chancellor of enrollment and strategic initiatives at the University of Wisconsin Stout.

What is the best piece of advice you would give students?

Enjoy the moment. Enjoy it while you’re studying here, and you will all find a job, but you want to find a job where you’re happy on a Monday morning.

Joshua Nelson:

Professor of Japanese

How long have you been at CWU?

I came for one year, [from] 1989 to 1990. Then I went away for two years to complete my coursework for my Ph.D., but since 1992, I’ve been here unbroken, so that would be 31 years.

What is your favorite thing about your position?

Bright students, bright students that are fun to teach. They’re fun to find out who they are, where they’re from. That really has made the job of being a professor…a joy, something that is more than just a job.

What is your favorite memory from CWU?

I went to the elementary, the laboratory school Hebeler for four years. I’ve watched the university [CWU] grow. And I’ve known people now for what’s close to 65 years.

Sometimes I find myself walking on steps in Hebeler and Language and Lit or in Barge Hall. And I imagine all the people that I know who have climbed those same steps and who aren’t alive. And I can see myself…I’m part of that.

What will you miss most about CWU?

The bright students. I enjoyed also, the colleagues that I interacted with who would teach. I began to appreciate education early on but when I realized how much my colleagues knew, and some of them would teach me, and I realized I didn’t have to pay for it. I’m going to miss the collegial colleagues who would take time to share their information, their knowledge.

What do you plan to do next?

I’m going to age in place. I’ve got some grandkids and hopefully one on the way. I have a family to attend to, two dogs and two cats. 12 cows. So I’ve got plenty to do.

What is the best piece of advice you would give students?

Shut your phones off every once in a while.

Marc Haniuk:

Associate Professor of Theatre Arts in Design and Technology, and Resident Scenic Designer

How long have you been at CWU?

15 years

What is your favorite thing about your position?

I’ve had the privilege of being an artist and teaching art to others throughout my career.

What is your favorite memory from CWU?

Teaching them [students] the creative process. I’ve designed, I think, about 25 shows here.

What will you miss most about CWU?

I came here from other universities, and the other universities were larger and I think I like this size of university [CWU] best. I like the size of town. I like Washington. Our class sizes, at least in the Theatre Arts Department, are small. And that’s always very nice to work in. Where you know everybody’s name and get to know the students well.

What do you plan to do next?

My job is both classroom teaching and it is also physical. And the physical part of my job has kind of taken its toll on my body. I think what I need to do is to slow down and heal my body. That said I will always continue to do what I do. When you’re an artist you’re an artist for life. I do plan on continuing to teach individuals and also freelance as I’ve been doing throughout my career for other theatre companies.

What is the best piece of advice you would give students?

I believe that students need to learn to the creative process and know where they are in the creative process and that failure is part of the process. So not to try to be perfection. Not to try to achieve perfection because you will never achieve it.

May 31, 2023