Message from the Dean (cont.)

This group of 30 students began their academic journey with us on July 1; and will attend classes on campus this weekend. These students will complete most EdD coursework online with additional required on-campus residencies. We are proud to have this cohort as part of the Northeastern University – Seattle experience and proud to help improve educational outcomes in our community through the academic rigor provided by this program.

We recently launched from our Seattle campus the national initiative we call G.A.M.E.S. – Girls Advancing in Math Engineering and Science.  Our long-term goal is to work with the other pioneering STEM organizations and girls’ advocacy groups and use the medium of video games to encourage girls in grades 4-7 to pursue careers in the STEM fields.  We know that girls (and boys) spend a lot of time each day on social, casual and recreational video games – an average of two hours!  We also know from many successful video games, such as the Nancy Drew video game series (9 million units sold) that video games, if properly designed and produced, can be a life-changing experience for girls.  Given this we assembled about 200 gamers, K-12 and STEM leaders, girls’ advocates and civic leaders in Seattle, Charlotte, and Boston on June 28 to launch this initiative.  It was a resounding success in terms of energy and commitment by most to help in coming months and years in one of four areas – gamers, research/assessment, G.A.M.E.S. network builders, and grants and inkind services.

We have created a webpage for G.A.M.E.S. here, which includes the Seattle Times article describing the launch event.  The founding partners of this are Northeastern University, the National Girls Collaborative Project and the Institute for Systems Biology.  Email me or sign up on our G.A.M.E.S. web page if you would like to join our G.A.M.E.S. network and make our goal a reality.

-Tayloe