Category: News

Speakers and presenters will engage in discussion centered on how, together with businesses, nonprofits and governments, our region’s public research universities can be strengthened to address the challenges faced by students, our state and nation and the world.

• When: Tuesday, May 2 from 3 to 5 p.m. A hosted reception will immediately following the symposium at the University of Washington Club, Lake Washington room from 5–6:30 p.m.
• Where: Lyceum, Husky Union Building

Please join us for a hosted reception immediately following the symposium at the University of Washington Club, Lake Washington room from 5–6:30 p.m.

The Pacific Northwest symposium will be hosted by University of Washington President Ana Mari Cauce and will feature:

• Robert J. Birgeneau, Co-chair, The Lincoln Project
  and Chancellor Emeritus, University of California Berkeley
• Daniel Greenstein, Director of Education, Postsecondary Success
  Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
• Christine Gregoire, CEO of Challenge Seattle, Former Washington State Governor
• Kirk Schulz, President, Washington State University

RSVP to eaevents@uw.edu or 206.221.5670.

Directions to campus and to the Husky Union Building.

The Lincoln Project: Excellence and Access in Public Higher Education is an initiative of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences which explores the unique challenges facing America’s great public research universities. A series of regional meetings are being hosted around the nation to discuss these challenges and possible solutions.

Learn more about The Lincoln Project.

The University of Washington has announced this year’s Awards of Excellence recipients being recognized for achievements in teaching, mentoring, public service and staff support. The winners will be honored at 3:30 p.m. June 8 at a ceremony in Meany Hall for the campus and general public.

Eve Riskin, University of Washington professor and associate dean of Diversity and Access in Electrical Engineering, was a featured speaker at last month’s “Advancing Women in STEM” seminar at Starbucks.

About 150 people, including UW students and members of the ASUW Women’s Action Commission, visited Starbucks’ headquarters to discuss challenges and solutions for Women in STEM studies (science, technology, engineering and math). The event was hosted by the Starbucks Women’s Development Network, one of several professional affinity groups for Starbucks employees.

“I really appreciate Starbucks’ commitment to supporting different affinity groups including women, African-Americans and LGBTQ people, just like we do at the UW,” says Riskin, an advocate for increasing the number of female faculty in STEM fields. “The future for women in STEM professions is very bright because companies everywhere understand the benefits of having a more diverse workforce.”

Riskin says she was excited to speak alongside another successful female, Gerri Martin-Flickinger, Starbucks’ chief technology officer. Their talks were part of Starbucks’ Women’s Development Network seminar, “Advancing Women in STEM,” an examination of everything from the preparation pipeline to gender pay gaps.

The Women’s Development Network gives Starbucks employees opportunities to engage in the work of diversity, inclusion and accessibility with community partners — including students, faculty and staff at the UW.

In recognition of Women’s History Month, the event was part of Starbucks’ month-long series highlighting industries where women have historically faced barriers to advancement, including business and the military.

“Companies are realizing that they need to change how they do business to ensure that all groups — not just majority males — have successful careers or they will lose out on important talent,” says Riskin.

Posting flyers anywhere but on authorized billboards and kiosks at the UW is prohibited and may constitute defacement of state property.

The UW is continuing its partnership with KinderCare® Learning Centers and Bright Horizons to provide trusted, quality child care services to faculty, staff and students on all our campuses.

Those who register now can receive access to multiple backup child care options as well as savings and discounts through these two nationally recognized leaders in early childhood education.

Backup and sick child care can be especially beneficial when:

• Your child is mildly ill and can’t go back to their care center yet
• Your regular caregiver is unavailable
• Your child’s school is closed
• You are between care arrangements
• You are transitioning back to work after leave

Openings are not guaranteed — advanced registration with both companies prior to needing care is highly recommended.

KinderCare Learning Centers backup child care
Backup care is available in KinderCare Learning Centers everywhere. UW faculty, staff and student families can use 10 days per year, with a co-pay of $20 per child per day.

Plus, save 10% weekly on full-time and part-time tuition when you enroll at a KinderCare Learning Center including select UW priority access Centers.

Simply register online, and you’ll be ready to request care when and where you need it. Please note that space is limited.

Bright Horizons backup and sick child care
When your regular child care is temporarily unavailable, you can take your child to one of the many Bright Horizons centers or affiliates.

Bright Horizons provides in-home care for your children when they are too sick to attend their normal arrangements, and you need to be at work. And, if Bright Horizons is not able to find a placement for your child, they will reimburse you for a percentage of your own personal child care.

Backup care costs $20 per child and $35 per family. In-home care for a sick child costs $32 for up to four hours of care (for up to three of your children). Each additional hour costs $8.

Register now so it is only a phone call or a few clicks on the computer when the coughs and fevers begin.

Learn more about all child care programs offered to our UW community at hr.uw.edu/worklife/child-care/backup-and-sick-child-care/

The University of Washington community is invited to attend this year’s Distinguished Staff Award Reception on Thursday, Feb. 23 from 2-3:30 p.m. in the HUB Ballroom.

Come celebrate the extraordinary accomplishments of our inspirational staff, including incredible efforts from individuals and teams. President Ana Mari Cauce will be speaking at this year’s reception alongside the award’s executive sponsor and Vice President for Human Resources Mindy Kornberg, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration Jeff Scott, and Vice President for Minority Affairs & Diversity Rickey Hall.

Don’t miss this opportunity to enjoy refreshment with your colleagues while cheering on this year’s nominees. All nominees will receive a certificate along with a copy of their nomination.

Learn more on the Distinguished Staff Award website.

Proud Husky partners Starbucks and the United Way joined with the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center to celebrate the MLK Week of Service last month.

University of Washington faculty, staff and students linked arms with more than 800 Starbucks employees to volunteer their time and talents at projects across town including the UW Farm, Capitol Hill Tool Library and 35^th Annual Community March and Rally. Thank you for honoring Dr. Martin Luther King’s legacy through service and solidarity!

Faculty can include a service component to their courses through service-learning with guidance from the Carlson Center. Service-learning is an opportunity for faculty members to pair academic instruction with community engagement. The model aims to build reciprocal relationship between community partner organizations and the university, while also fostering rich learning experiences for students.

Learn more by visiting the Carlson Leadership & Public Service Center.

Welcome to the first edition of UW Insider — a weekly e-newsletter designed to help you find the information you need to make the most of your UW employment experience. ­

Through UW Insider, you’ll receive faculty and staff news, events and information in your inbox every Wednesday, along with a monthly calendar email featuring events from UW Human Resources (UWHR), UW Information Technology (UW-IT), The Whole U, Finance & Facilities (F2) and more.

UWHR, UW-IT, F2 and University Marketing & Communications designed UW Insider with faculty and staff in mind. We used input from reader surveys and user experience studies to create a publication that will reduce email overload and combine crucial employee information into one centrally managed vehicle.

UW Insider replaces information previously shared in IT Connect News, The Resource, The Whole U email, Disaster Digest, UW Recycling newsletter and the UW Combined Fund Drive newsletter. It will also contain updates and information about key UW efforts such as Transforming Administration Program (TAP), Culture of Service, Population Health Initiative, Race & Equity Initiative and the Human Resources/Payroll (HR/P) Modernization Program. UW Insider works with, but does not replace, UW Today, which primarily focuses on external-facing news about the University of Washington.

Share your feedback: Take a quick survey to let us know what you think of this new publication. We’ll make continuous improvements based on your input!

Visit the Faculty & Staff Insider page for more information.

Questions? Send an email to uinsider@uw.edu.

The UW Department of Accounting and United Way King County are hosting a Volunteer Income Tax Assistance site during this year’s tax season.

Located at Paccar Hall, room 297, the site will feature free tax returns, three days a week through the tax deadline in April. UW graduate accounting students — all certified by the IRS — will offer assistance on:

• Mondays and Wednesdays, 6–9 p.m.
• Saturdays, 10 a.m.–2 p.m.

Anyone who earns less than $64,000 per year is eligible; however, individuals with unusual or especially complex tax issues may require assistance beyond this free service.

Learn more at uwkc.org/need-help/tax-help/

Navigating the University of Washington’s Seattle campus just got easier, thanks to 23 new wayfinding signs — and a major cross-campus collaborative effort.

The installation of the signs earlier this fall marked the culmination of a five-year-long project led by University Landscape Architect Kristine Kenney and Associate Vice President of Facilities Services Charles Kennedy — the original visionary and sponsor of the program — who recognized the need for a strong wayfinding system on a campus as large and highly trafficked as the UW’s.

With the help of a long list of collaborators and stakeholders, including Studio Matthews, UW’s Division of Design within the School of Art, the Welcome Campus Experience Committee and several working groups comprised of faculty, staff, students, alumni and others, the new signs were created.

The signs, which are map-based and therefore widely accessible, were strategically placed throughout the UW’s 700-acre Seattle campus, not only benefiting the University by helping visitors find a destination, but also guiding people to discover parts of the campus they may not otherwise explore. This is especially important for student, faculty and staff recruitment efforts since ease of navigating a place and discovering all that it has to offer can ultimately influence a visitor’s desire to come back for a second visit — or to stay.

Built to last and easy to update, the signs are intended to become an integral part of the campus landscape. Along with the physical sign structures, UW’s campus map will also be updated to make wayfinding easier and more convenient and will include icons that direct visitors to viewpoints, dining options, lecture halls and other locations — good news for the nearly 8,000 visitors that come through the UW Visitors Center each year, upwards of 70,000 fans that arrive for each Husky football game, and thousands of UW students and employees who are on campus daily.

Learn more about the project and see additional pictures.