Hayley Bowring
Advocacy and Leadership Inspires Art & Design Major
Hayley Bowring is a fourth-year student at the University of Idaho studying art & design and minoring in advertising who has dedicated her time at U of I to pursuing leadership opportunities that allow her to advocate for others.
Bowring is currently completing her senior capstone experience on accessibility design at U of I. Her work focuses on making information on university websites easier to access and view. She is working with the Center for Disability Access and Resources (CDAR) and U of I’s Web team on the project.
Another campus initiative Bowring participated in is the design of the MyUI student dashboard, an interface for U of I students and employees. As a student in the Interaction Design class, she collaborated with the International Programs Office to design a card for international students with information on how to become a Vandal and enroll at U of I.
As part of her career development journey, Bowring worked with Career Services’ Jen Goodwin on job applications, cover letters, resumes and her personal portfolio. Smith helped her decide her academic and career direction by suggesting certain roles to be involved in.
Career Services has also provided Bowring the opportunity to attend an Etiquette Dinner to learn about proper dining conduct and how to engage with employers in a professional setting over a meal. She has also attended college-specific Networking Nights.
“Those have been very useful, talking with alumni and some other potential employers, and getting to know people and switching information,” Bowring said.
Bowring plans to graduate in Fall 2023 and would like to stay in Moscow temporarily to pursue work at U of I in the Career Services office.
“I've been interested in helping with Career Services, like being a career advisor or academic advisor, or being involved with student enrollment for recruitment, just something university-related, because I love advocacy,” Bowring said.
One way Bowring fostered her love of advocacy and solving student issues is through long-standing involvement and leadership with the campus Residence Hall Association (RHA). As a freshman, Bowring joined the RHA as a community representative for Willey 4 in the Wallace Residence Center to help students enjoy the dorms more and advocate for more resources for residents. During her sophomore and junior years, she was director of leadership on the RHA Board of Directors. In this role, she held a workshop once a semester for community assembly members, as well as other workshops throughout the year, and acted as the liaison between the board and the community assembly. As a senior, Bowring is serving as the RHA president and has helped revitalize the RHA board and student involvement after reduced participation during the pandemic.
“As president, I really wanted to sit down and reorganize everything. This is the first year we had a full board, and through my experience, (we) decided (that) there are some things that need to change within the organization in terms of consistency, how we communicate and working with students, staff, and ASUI,” Bowring said. “That's been something we've really been focusing on this year, and we've been doing absolutely amazing.”
Bowring and her team’s work paid off. They were listed by the National Association of College and University Residence Halls as the most-improved RHA in their region last November. In February, the group also received three nominations from NACURH, including President of the Year for Bowring, National Communication Coordinator of the Year and RHA Building Block of the Year, created to recognize tremendous effort and improvement from one academic year to the next.
“That's been exciting, just rebuilding and getting more of a presence on campus,” Bowring said.
Outside of her service work, Bowring has also played in U of I’s orchestra as a violinist.
This semester, the orchestra collaborated with the VTD (Virtual Technology and Design) department. Student composers created music to accompany animations produced by the VTD students.
“We also did a combined concert with the WSU orchestra, which is the first time it's ever happened, and that was really cool. We have another concert coming up on May 4, and that will be with the university’s choir,” Bowring said. “I do it for fun, I really enjoy it and have been playing violin for a long time.”
Bowring has advice for incoming students and current Vandals who may be unsure of their career path.
“Don't be afraid to reach out. We are a Vandal family and we all want each other to succeed.
Reach out to Career Services, it’s absolutely amazing. They're all driven to help anybody, whether (in the) current, past and future,” Bowring said. “Don't be afraid to step out of your comfort zone. There's a lot of opportunities all around campus for leadership roles, advocacy, or anything in general... Don't take this for granted, and have fun. Do what you want to do.”
Katarina Hockema
Career Services Marketing Intern