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Tuition-setting authority for Washington’s public colleges and universities

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Dear Members of the UW Community:

Today, the State Senate added its approval to yesterday’s passage in the House of Representatives of E2SHB 1795, granting Washington’s public colleges and universities the authority to establish their own tuition rates for all students the next several years. This is a landmark piece of bi-partisan legislation. The bill is on its way to the Governor’s desk, where it is expected to be signed into law.

The impetus for this important legislation, of course, was the state’s current economic climate and the withdrawal of state tax dollars from our budget. With the tireless help of many internal and external supporters, the Legislature recognized the need for our universities and colleges to be able to manage our way through tough times in order to meet the needs of our students, the citizens, and our state. We appreciate this expression of confidence by the Legislature to entrust to our Board of Regents the authority to establish tuition rates for all of our students.

This is a responsibility I can assure you we will not take lightly. We understand the financial pressures increasing tuition places upon students and their families. We also recognize the necessity to provide increased financial aid for low and middle income families who cannot afford to pay as much tuition. At the same time, we must enable our faculty to offer the kind of learning experience all UW students expect and deserve. It will take careful planning, consultation, and a fine balancing of interests, but I am confident we will produce a reasonable and fair plan to keep this University strong.

This Friday, May 13, I will be holding the second in a series of community conversations to help keep everyone up to date on the latest developments affecting our University. I will begin with an update on this legislation, followed by plenty of time for Q&A. The details for Friday’s meeting and for a third meeting next week are below.

I want to express the University’s thanks to the Legislature, especially those individual legislators who led the passage of this important piece of legislation. Our financial troubles are not behind us by any means. A lot of work remains to be done. But today, we gained a critical tool to be able to plan, manage, and navigate our way through these difficult times as we work toward an improved economy and brighter days.

Sincerely,

Image of Phyllis Wise's signature

Phyllis M. Wise
Interim President

Join me for community conversations, starting May 4

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Dear Members of the UW Community:

First, I want to congratulate UW President-designate Michael Young and welcome him to our community. His impressive background in academia and public service as well as his extensive leadership experience and commitment to collaboration make him a wonderful fit for our University, and I look forward to working with him to secure a strong future for the University of Washington.

As Regent Herb Simon indicated in his announcement to the University community, UW President-designate Young will take office on July 1. Between now and then, a great deal will happen, particularly in regard to our state budget. With our state legislative leaders currently in a special session to finalize a budget, I know there is much interest within our community regarding issues affecting the UW and public higher education as a whole. To help keep everyone up to date on the latest developments in the budget process as well as the presidential transition, I will be holding a series of community conversations, the first of which will be later this week. The format will be similar to a town hall meeting in that I will give a brief presentation followed by Q&A, but these meetings will be on a smaller, more informal scale. They also will be recorded for later viewing on the Web if you cannot attend.

I hope you will be able join me at one or more of the community conversations.

Sincerely,

Image of Phyllis Wise's signature

Phyllis M. Wise
Interim President

Budget update from the president

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Dear Members of the UW Community:

This message is longer than usual and is filled with information about our ongoing budget discussions with legislators; with faculty, students and staff; and with external stakeholders. We clearly face enormous challenges. The most immediate impact will be felt by the time we decide on the UW FY12 budget, and the longer-term impact will be felt for many years. But our students continue to produce wonderful news; their accomplishments remind us why we come to work every day. If you want to read the good news about our students first, you can skip to that section by clicking here, and then come back to read about our budget challenges. The bottom line is we remain committed to figuring out how to provide access to a world-class education to students who want to come to the UW.

Last Tuesday (April 12), the Washington State Senate released its operating budget proposal for the 2011–13 biennium. So we now have proposals from the Governor, the House and the Senate. They had the unenviable task of writing balanced budgets as state revenues have continued to decline. Recognizing that deep cuts were in store, the Governor and legislators tried to mitigate the effects of reduced state appropriations with significant increases in tuition, as they did for the current biennium. The result is that while our state funding has decreased dramatically, our students and their families are paying much more.

We have seen a dramatic shift in recent years in who pays for higher education in our state. Twenty years ago, the state paid 80 percent of the cost of educating a student. Today, that percentage is less than 45 percent and heading downward. We recognize the impact this has on students and are very concerned about it. However, we also recognize that this shift is necessary if the University is to maintain access to and excellence in our programs. Through the unified efforts of many in the higher education community who have worked tirelessly to advocate in Olympia this session, the Governor and legislators understand that a combination of state support and tuition must cover the total cost of education: As state support erodes, tuition will increase to make up for the gap. The UW Office of Planning & Budgeting has prepared two briefs that provide a thorough analysis of the budget proposals from the House and the Senate, which you can read here (House) and here (Senate).

People across our UW community have invested enormous time, thought and energy into planning for the difficult budget decisions expected to be made. Provost Lidstrom has conducted an inclusive, strategic budget review process in which she has met with senior leadership as well as faculty and student leaders from our schools and colleges to discuss how to preserve and strengthen the quality of our academic mission in an environment of rapidly declining state funding. You can read her message about that process here. It has been a good process, and it will enable us to make smart decisions going forward, helping to ensure that we not only stay true to our mission in the short term, but that the University is well positioned to thrive in the 21st century.

Even with all of the strategic planning that has been done, however, it cannot eliminate the impacts of cuts in all of the budget proposals. Indeed, as many of you have already read and seen in the local media, in planning for next year’s freshman class, we made the painful decision to decrease our enrollment target for Washington residents by 150 students and replace them with nonresidents. This means that if we hit our targets, our freshman class will be 68 percent resident, compared with 73 percent last year. We also will continue to admit 30 percent of our undergraduates as community college transfers, so our overall undergraduate resident population will still exceed 80 percent. Contrary to some reports in the media, the nonresident students admitted are just as qualified as the resident students they are replacing. We felt forced to do this because with the historic loss of state funding, we needed to increase our revenue yield from nonresident students to help maintain excellence for all of our students.

There’s still much discussion and negotiation ahead in the state budget process. In the coming weeks, legislators from both chambers will be working to reach agreement on a budget, which will then be sent to the Governor for final approval. During this time, the UW will continue to have an active presence in Olympia as we work with our state leaders and our colleagues in higher education to find creative, sustainable solutions to our economic challenges. We hope in particular that before the session adjourns, the Legislature will enact a different model for funding the University.

To help keep everyone up to date on developments regarding our budget, I will be holding a series of community conversations at different venues across the Seattle campus. The format will be similar to the town hall meeting I held in March, but on a smaller, more informal scale. I will give a brief presentation on the latest information followed by Q&A. The details for three conversations are listed below. I invite you to attend as many as you would like, since the fluid times means that my updates will be different each week, and certainly the questions will be different. They will be recorded for later viewing on the Web if you cannot attend.

• Wednesday, May 4, 2011
Orin’s Place Café, Paccar Hall, 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.
• Friday, May 13, 2011
Foege Auditorium, William H. Foege Genome Sciences Building, 8:30 a.m. – 9:30 a.m.
• Wednesday, May 18, 2011
Microsoft Atrium, Allen Center for Computer Science & Engineering, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.


On a brighter note, in the midst of these turbulent economic times, it has been wonderful and heartening to see our students continue to achieve at very high levels. Four of our undergraduates — Mark Bun, Ben Dulken, Jane Hung and Cameron Turtle — recently earned Goldwater Scholarships, one of the nation’s most prestigious awards for students aspiring to be scientists, mathematicians and engineers. Among some of our other national awardees, Andrew Lewis was selected as a 2011 Truman Scholar based on his outstanding leadership potential and commitment to public service; Anshika Kumar was chosen for a Morris K. Udall Scholarship, which will help her pursue further education and research opportunities in environmental economics; and Byron Gray is one of only 20 students nationwide to receive a Beinecke Scholarship for graduate study in the arts, humanities and social sciences. A team of UW Computer Science & Engineering students recently took first place in the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. And I had the distinct pleasure of presenting the Freshman, Sophomore and Junior Medals to Jennifer Kang, Gracie Ingermanson and Krysta Yousoufian, respectively.

I am so proud to see these and other UW students recognized for their talent and hard work. Likewise, I’m very proud of — but not surprised by — how deeply committed our University community continues to be to maintaining the excellence of the UW academic experience. Although the stress and strain of our ongoing funding challenges have been felt throughout our UW community, settling for mediocrity clearly is not an acceptable alternative to preserving quality for our faculty, staff and students who continue to show remarkable spirit, dedication and creativity. I know that these are difficult times for everyone, and I am greatly appreciative of all that you are doing in the face of our budget woes.

I will continue to keep you informed as the budget process moves along, and I hope you will be able join me at one or more of the community conversations.

Sincerely,

Image of Phyllis Wise's signature

Phyllis M. Wise
Interim President

Statement from UW Interim President Phyllis Wise on House budget

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It is discouraging to see half of the state’s appropriation for the UW disappear in the space of two biennia. On the one hand, we are grateful that the House budget writers recognize the links among tuition, state funds, and financial aid. When the state does not have the funds to support higher education, raising tuition and preserving the state need grant are mechanisms by which we can try to maintain excellence and access. However, it is disappointing that the dramatic shift in who pays for higher education in our state continues and that students will bear an even greater proportion of the costs for education. While it may enable us to weather this storm, it is certainly not a viable long-term strategy. We need a different model for funding the university.

Responding to the disasters in Japan

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Dear Members of the UW Community:

The widespread devastation wrought by the recent earthquake and tsunami in Japan has deeply touched and saddened our UW community. Our hearts go out to the people of Japan as they grapple with the aftermath of these tragic events.

Fortunately, all UW students and faculty who were in Japan when the earthquake struck on March 11 have been accounted for and are unharmed. Since then, on March 16, the U.S. Department of State issued a Travel Warning for Japan, strongly urging U.S. citizens to defer travel to Japan and those in Japan to consider departing. The UW Office of Global Affairs has cancelled all International Programs and Exchanges programs in Japan effective immediately and is working to assist the 17 UW students who are still in Japan to depart.

While we are relieved that our students and faculty who were in Japan when the earthquake occurred are safe, we are also mindful that there is a staggering number of people who are not. Thousands of lives have been lost, and thousands of others are injured, homeless, or missing. The nuclear crisis has added even more anxiety and urgency to what was already an all but unfathomable situation. We have more than 200 students from Japan, and it is hard to imagine how much concern they in particular must feel for their family, friends, and loved ones in their home country.

Many of you have inquired about ways in which you can help the international relief efforts being mounted in Japan. I hope you will take a moment to view this list of organizations that are accepting donations for disaster relief and contribute in any way you can to help those in need.

We will continue to update you on news about the disaster in Japan and its effects on our UW community.

Sincerely,

Image of Phyllis Wise's signature

Phyllis M. Wise
Interim President

Town Hall meeting about the UW budget, March 8

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Dear Members of the UW Community:

There has been a good deal of media coverage recently about the possible impacts of significant state budget cuts at the UW. These stories are in response to a request we received from some of our state legislative leaders who wanted to know what state budget reductions would look like at our University at three levels for 2011-13: the biennial cut proposed by the Governor, or $189.8 million; the Governor’s proposed cut plus 15 percent, or $218 million; and the Governor’s proposed cut plus 30 percent, or $246 million. To put these biennial numbers in context, the UW’s current annual appropriation for FY11 is $307 million; without factoring in tuition increases for next year, the highest cut level of $246 million ($123 million/year) would reduce our current appropriation by 40 percent. We provided a thorough, detailed response to the legislators’ request, which you can read here.

To say that the impacts identified in our response are sobering is an understatement, to say the least. Our University is built on a foundation of state investment. State funding keeps the UW affordable and accessible to Washington’s sons and daughters. It helps pay for the costs for faculty who teach and mentor our students. It provides financial aid and access for students who otherwise couldn’t afford college. And it leverages more than $9 billion in economic impact and generates 70,000 jobs to help secure our state’s economic future. Without state funding and strategic solutions, everything is at risk. The opportunities. The economic impact. The future of our state.

As I talk to people throughout our University community, it’s clear that no one can remember a time quite as challenging as this. I understand that everyone has felt—and continues to feel—the pain of our budget challenges. But I want to remind you that this is not our first brush with tough times. The UW was founded during the Civil War, and we’ve weathered two world wars, the Great Depression, and numerous ups and downs in the economy since then. We’ve persevered through all of these things and more, and we’ve emerged as one of the best public research universities in the world. Going forward, our top priority will continue to be maintaining our quality. While there is no question that the next few years will be difficult, we will continue to stay true to our mission to provide the best possible learning experience for our students, and we will continue to position ourselves to address society’s most pressing problems through cutting-edge research and discovery. Essential to doing this is that we maintain our ability to recruit and retain the very best faculty and staff.

Our University and our state are at a critical point. As our state leaders work throughout the remainder of winter and the beginning of spring on the state budget, the UW is fully committed to working with them and our other partners across the state to solve our toughest challenges and to help our state thrive well into the future.

As we work through our own budget challenges at the UW, I want to reassure all of you that the processes we will use will be transparent and that everyone will have an opportunity to stay informed and involved. To this end, I will be holding a town hall meeting for the UW community on Tuesday, March 8, 2011. I will begin the meeting with a brief presentation about our budget situation and then will open the floor to questions. The meeting will be webcast live on UWTV.org. The logistical details are below.

  • When: Tuesday, March 8, 2011
  • Where: Kane Hall, Room 130
  • Time: 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.

I hope you will join me and participate in this important discussion. Public higher education in our state is clearly at a crossroads. The decisions being made now will put us on a path that will not only carry us through the next few years, but will impact our children—and our children’s children—for years to come. I invite you to have your say in those decisions.

Sincerely,

Image of Phyllis Wise's signature

Phyllis M. Wise
Interim President