TCAC
Index of Commentaries
Intel Science and Math Summer Institute
The Intel Science and Math Summer Institute is a collaboration between the Intel Foundation, UW Tacoma, UW Educational Outreach, the Office of Educational Partnerships, the Tacoma-area school districts. The Intel Institute will offer professional development opportunities for K-12 teachers from ten south sound districts. These week-long math and science seminars will train over 140 K-12 teachers during the weeks of July 12, 19, and 26, 1999. The seminars will be designed and taught by UW faculty and district math and science curriculum leaders, all of whom have extensive content knowledge in math, science and expertise in the use of technology-based tools in the classroom.
The North Snohomish, Skagit, and Island Counties (NSIS) Higher Education Consortium
UW Bothell, the Office of Educational Partnerships, and UW Educational Outreach division are leading the University's participation in the NSIS initiative, which is dedicated to increasing higher education access for residents of North Snohomish, Island, and Skagit counties. A multi-institutional consortium comprised of three community colleges and four public universities, its primary mission is to develop, coordinate, and promote high quality degree and continuing professional education programs at the associate, baccalaureate, and graduate levels.
The NSIS project is an innovative experiment in providing high-quality, cost-effective education to an underserved region. This initiative grew out of an 1997 legislative directive asking educational institutions to form a consortium to meet the growing demand for higher education across the vast tri-county area. The seven participating community colleges and universities have since honed a collaborative approach that stresses the educational needs of the region's residents, draws upon the institutional strengths of the participating colleges and universities, and matches these strengths to community needs. During the next several years, the institutions plan to build a collective presence across the NSIS region, offering academic programs and services at four "College and University Centers": at Skagit Valley College, Everett Community College, Edmonds Community College, and at the new downtown Everett transit center (Everett Station). In addition, as distance education technology evolves, greater numbers of NSIS students will be able to access educational programs from their homes and workplaces.
Funding for this initiative is now pending in the Washington State Legislature. The first set of NSIS academic programs and related student services is scheduled to begin this fall.
Uwired Engagement with UWB and UWT
Uwired staff members consult regularly with key personnel in the libraries and technology support divisions at both UW Bothell and UW Tacoma. These relationships have resulted in ongoing information-sharing and other informal instructional technology partnerships across the three campuses. During the past year, Uwired staff has:
Proposed K-12 Project
The Office of Educational Partnerships, the UW K-12 Institute, and education faculty from UW Bothell, Seattle, and Tacoma are developing a proposal to the National Sciences Foundation's (NSF's) "Collaboratives for Excellence in Teacher Preparation" program. If awarded NSF funding, the three UW campuses, in collaboration with the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, local community colleges, and Educational Service District 121, would work together to recruit, prepare, and mentor novice teachers in science and mathematics.
