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Distinguished Teaching Awards
David Domke
Erika Goldstein
James Green
John Peterson
Priti Ramamurthy
Barry Witham
Carol Zander

Excellence in Teaching Awards
Chia-Hui Huang
Steve Wolfman

Distinguished Staff Awards
Brian Davis & James Boeckstiegel
Gary Ausman
Felicia Hecker
Sandra Kroupa
Keith Ward

Distinguished Graduate Mentor Award
Thomas Daniel

S. Sterling Munro Public Service Teaching Award
Sergio Palleroni

Outstanding Public Service Award
Anita Ramasastry

Brotman Diversity Award
Business Educational Opportunity Program
Student Outreach Ambassador Program

Brotman Award for Instructional Excellence
Dance Program
Research Apprenticeship Program

Alumni Association Distinguished Service Award
Geoff & Judy Vernon

Alumna Summa Laude Dignatus
Donald Baker

UW Recognition Award
ARCS Foundation, Seattle Chapter

President's Medalist
Roy Chan

Business Educational Opportunity Program

Brotman Diversity Award

The Brotman Awards were made possible by donations from Jeffrey and Susan Brotmman. Jeffrey Brotman is a UW law school graduate and a regent. Susan Brotman is on the UW Foundation Board of Directors. The Brotman Diversity Award recognizes outstanding programs that advance diversity in the UW community.

Whether it’s following up with a student to see if he or she landed that coveted summer internship or meeting with community college students interested in getting into the UW, Business Educational Opportunity Program Director Jai-Anana Elliott and her support staff take their roles beyond academic counseling.

Elliott — who in February 2001 joined the program that reaches out to minority students interested in enrolling in the University’s business school — is credited in part with widening the circle of support for underrepresented and minority students applying for and enrolled in the University’s Business School.

“In the beginning, it was really discouraging to apply to the highly competitive top-ranked UW Business School,” Pamela Lacson, a senior marketing major, wrote in a letter of recommendation to the award committee. “However, the Business Education Opportunity Program gave me the support that I greatly needed by helping me realize my full potential and succeed academically. After all that hard work I finally got into the school and the support didn’t end there. Every Monday morning, there was Jai ready to listen and give me advice.”

Along with establishing a group e-mail to keep underrepresented students informed about events, programs, services and scholarships, Elliott implemented an annual welcome reception where students can meet with faculty, staff and senior business school students. Most importantly she founded the business school’s first Multicultural Alumni Council intended to reconnect multicultural alumni with current students and professors.

These recent initiatives along with a long history of commitment toward diversifying the business school’s enrollment led to the Business Education Opportunity Program’s winning of a 2002 Brotman Diversity Award.

For the past 16 years the program has worked to increase minority enrollment in the UW Business School and support the students once they arrive. At the time the program was created in 1986 there were 58 underrepresented students enrolled in the competitive program. Today the business school minority enrollment numbers remain strong with 193 underrepresented students enrolled in the fall of 2001.

The business school’s undergraduate program is currently ranked 16th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report and is one of the most competitive majors on campus. Admission to the program requires students to complete a rigorous application process. The school received more than 1,450 admission applications with only 50 percent of those applicants accepted into the undergraduate program.

The competitive nature of the the school, restrictions of Initiative 200 — which eliminated state preferences for minorities in contracting, education, and hiring — and limited scholarship support, provide additional challenges in recruiting a diverse student population.

“There are a lot of resources available to students if they ask, but there are a lot of students who are first generation college students and they often don’t know to ask,” Elliott said.

“What is really important about this program is that there are a lot of first-in-their families underrepresented college students who think, ‘I made it into the UW. I’m set to be a business major,’ ” Elliott said. “But if that mind-set isn’t corrected when they are freshmen the likelihood of them applying successfully to the program declines.”

The program begins early by reaching out to middle school and high school students.

Once students admitted to the UW express an interest in applying to the school they are taken under the program’s wing for guidance and support. Quarterly information sessions are held to inform them of steps they need to take to prepare to apply to the business school. Topics usually include information on prerequisites, the application process, the writing/essay preparation workshop, course scheduling, tutorial services, scholarship information, student organizations within the business school and how to declare pre-business status.

The program has also led to the creation of a basic accounting course intended for pre-business majors. The two-credit course, Accounting 199, provides tutorial lectures to increase understanding of the discipline before taking Accounting 215, an integral course for an applicant’s grade-point average.

“Because financial accounting accounts for a large percentage of your chances of getting into the school, if a student didn’t know that and did horribly, it could leave them without a chance to get in,” Elliott said.

Elliott said the award money will help enhance the program’s writing workshops and outreach efforts at community colleges.

– Robyn Eifertsen
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