Contact: University Communications, (360) 650-3350         

BELLINGHAM - Steven VanderStaay has been appointed Western Washington University's vice provost for Undergraduate Education, Provost Dennis Murphy announced.

VanderStaay, an English professor at Western, will serve a two-year term as vice provost, with possible extension, starting Aug. 11. He succeeds Kris Bulcroft, who left the position in late June to take a new job as provost and vice president for Academic Affairs at Franklin College Switzerland in Lugano, Switzerland.

"I am very pleased that Dr. VanderStaay has accepted this position.  His dedication to the university and our students is impressive and I look forward to him becoming a very valuable member of the Provost Office. Working together with our outstanding faculty he will be filling a position central to the continued excellence of undergraduate education at Western," Murphy said.

VanderStaay, who has been at Western since 1995, has a master's in English literature from the University of Washington and a doctorate in English education from the University of Iowa.

"Western's stated vision is to become the premier public comprehensive university in the nation. As vice provost for Undergraduate Education, my job is to work with faculty to align our curriculum and courses with this mission," VanderStaay said.

"Western has great faculty, great academic majors and a great home in Bellingham," he added. "I believe we can build on these strengths while improving the experience of coming to Western as a freshman or community college transfer student."

An educational scholar, VanderStaay has published research on effective college teachers, high-achieving students of color, research methods, and the shaping influence of literacy and schooling upon public health and crime prevention. He is the author of "Street Lives: An Oral History of Homeless America," and was named a National Academy of Education/Spencer postdoctoral fellow in 1999.

VanderStaay taught high school in urban, rural and bilingual communities before becoming a college professor. He teaches courses in language arts methods, linguistics and literature.  

The vice provost for Undergraduate Education, working with the provost, helps coordinate undergraduate academic programs at Western.

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