By Maegan Murray, 黑料社 Tri-Cities

RICHLAND, Wash. 鈥� Boeing executive Fariba Alamdari will present on her path to success by means of embracing her own diversity as part of a lecture at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Nov. 15, in the East Auditorium at Washington State University Tri-Cities.

Alamdari serves as the vice president of of the Boeing Global Learning Institute. She joined Boeing in 2006 after serving as chair of the department of air transport and dean of the faculty of engineering, manufacturing and science at Cranfield University in the United Kingdom.

As a woman and an immigrant originally from Tehran, Iran, she said she sees herself and all immigrants as assets, not liabilities. She said she resolved, at a very early age, to ensure her father would not suffer because he had a daughter as a middle child and that he would be very proud of her.

鈥淚n a world in which many are raised to believe that our workplaces are responsible for raising us up, recognizing our value and promoting us accordingly, we are missing a key step in diversity and inclusion efforts,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen we are fully accountable for our successes, when we own our value and express our capabilities, the 鈥榮ystem鈥� will advance and support us so we can do the work we are most called to do. If we wait for inclusion to come to us, we may wait a lifetime.鈥�

Alamdari is the recipient of several awards including 鈥淲oman of the Year鈥� by Air Transport News in 2016, 鈥淓llis Island Medal of Honor鈥� from The National Ethnic Coalition of Organizations in 2016, the 鈥淟eadership Award鈥� from the Centre for Women and Democracy in 2015, the 鈥淧rofessional Award鈥� from Career Communication Group, Inc., in 2011, and the 鈥淧rofessional Practice Recognition Award鈥� from State University of New York Institute of Technology School of Business in 2010.

She received a Ph.D. and a master鈥檚 degree from Cranfield University. She resides in the Seattle area with her family.

By Maegan Murray, 黑料社 Tri-Cities

RICHLAND, Wash. 鈥� As part of their new leadership though the Associated Students of Washington State University Tri-Cities, President Zachary Harper and Vice President Savanna Kresse are changing the way that student government serves its students, focusing more on advocating for students and less on the promotion and hosting of activities and events.

Harper, a junior business major who served as the AS黑料社TC vice president last year, and Kresse, a junior history major with a focus on pre-law who served as director of legislative affairs last year, are preparing a five-year plan, which they hope will lay a foundation for positive changes to the structure by which they can serve students through warranted systematic and structural improvements. They also hope that their plans will better improve how AS黑料社TC interacts with students and how AS黑料社TC communicates student wants and needs to university administration.

鈥淲e really are a transitioning organization,鈥� Harper said. 鈥淏ecause we are a small but growing campus, we have to adapt to what is available to us, as well as where we want to see this organization head. Because of our recent growth and now that we have a new chancellor, we are focusing more on advocacy and changes for students. We anticipate that the big changes will improve the structure for our students, and as a result, our campus.鈥�

Positive change

Part of their first work in their new positions is to separate the student entertainment board from student government so that the SEB organization can more efficiently focus on student events and entertainment. Before, the student entertainment board, which is responsible for booking and hosting student entertainment options, was merged with AS黑料社TC, and some of the work was blurred between the two organizations. As a result, AS黑料社TC was seen more of an events-based organization. Although AS黑料社TC will continue to host events, their goal will be to make sure those events cater to the larger student body and that they serve a purpose for the overall student voice.

And secondly, they are removing the position of director of student affairs and are repurposing that position鈥檚 duties onto the student senators for each of the academic colleges.

鈥淭he student senator positions have been more of a rubber stamp in years past for things that we want to accomplish,鈥� Kresse said. 鈥淲e are changing the way that they work within the organization and are giving them more responsibility.鈥�

Advocating for students

As far as advocacy, they hope to request more student feedback and discussion on issues ranging from small to large. Kresse said examples could range from identifying more healthy options for the campus caf茅 to larger topics like the type of legislation that AS黑料社TC would like to fight for and support.

鈥淲e hope to utilize things like the student survey, which has one of the largest responses of any of the things we do on campus, to identify those needs and challenges and then using our improved AS黑料社TC structure to tackle those things, including big-picture items,鈥� she said.

And some of those big-picture ideas could be in identifying needs that students may not voice, but that are needed for the campus.

鈥淪ome of those unspoken needs could include advocating for additional classroom space, components of a diversity center to better represent and provide resources for 黑料社 Tri-Cities鈥� diverse student community and more,鈥� Harper said. 鈥淭hese are things that are in the realm of student affairs and that students may not specifically state that they want, but are needed.鈥�

Revamping communication

Harper said AS黑料社TC is also in the process of revamping their website, which, beginning this fall, will feature the AS黑料社TC meeting minutes, current resolutions they鈥檙e working on, upcoming initiatives and more, in order to better connect with students about the things they are working on.

Steps for the future

Harper said with these changes, they hope AS黑料社TC鈥檚 work will be a lot more meaningful and will set students up for success into the future.

鈥淲e want to address the issues of what students are facing, but also the struggles that the university administration has in meeting those struggles,鈥� Kresse said. 鈥淭hese are the first steps in that overall process.鈥�

Harper and Kresse said they hope to present their five-year plan to university administration beginning in August, and then to students later in the year, where they will welcome feedback.