Category: Presidential messages

The University of Washington’s alumni family got a little bigger this week as we graduated the Class of 2016. Diplomas in hand, these newly minted graduates are leaving the Seattle, Bothell and Tacoma campuses to join your global fellowship. I know you’ll welcome them with open arms as they share not just a love of the UW, but also the values and passions that unite us in our drive to create a world of good.

What a year this has been for your University! We inaugurated our first cohort of Husky 100 recipients — a new program recognizing outstanding students who are making the most of their Husky Experience — and held our first Parent and Family Weekend. We celebrated a wide range of scholarship, breakthroughs and innovations, from deploying an ocean robot to monitor algal blooms, to uncovering the positive effects of music on babies’ development, to the debut of a unique “vertical dance” performance on Meany Hall.

We launched a new vision for improving health and well-being around the world through efforts related to population health, expanded the degree offerings of the Global Innovation Exchange, and strengthened our long-standing medical education program in eastern Washington through a new partnership with Gonzaga University. And, of course, this was the year we all cheered as the UW women’s golf team won its first national championship and the women’s basketball team went to its first Final Four.

As alumni, you are an essential part of making all of these achievements possible. Your engagement in your communities and your support of the UW, including through membership in the UW Alumni Association, helps drive our University. I’m taking part in our 14th annual Faculty Field Tour of Washington this week, and I hope to see many of you along the way. But please also know we always welcome you at any of our campuses and facilities, such as the UW Spokane Center, and at any of the countless places UW alumni gather, here, and around the world.

Thank you for all that you do, and for the warm welcome you’ll give the Class of 2016!

Earlier this year, I wrote to our community about the crisis facing thousands of our neighbors; a crisis that forces many individuals and families to live under bridges, or in cars and doorways.

Tent City 3 hosting

Preferred location: Parking lot W35

When: 90 days in 2017 winter quarter

• Community feedback 2-to-1 in favor
• Organizer must meet safety and operations plan requirements and a city permit must be obtained
• No taxpayer or tuition funds will be used
• Consistent with TC3 code of conduct, no weapons, alcohol, drugs or violence will be allowed, and security will be coordinated with UWPD
• Faculty encouraged, but not required, to incorporate service learning into courses
• Participation in related activities will be voluntary for students and residents

More information

As part of our educational mission and existing work to address homelessness, I asked you whether the UW should host an organized tent city during the 2017 winter quarter. This would build on and respond to the work of students, alumni and residents from the Tent City Collective, and on the positive Tent City 3 hosting experiences of Seattle University and Seattle Pacific University.

Tent City 3 is also the community we’re considering. In fact, they have literally been across the street from us this spring at University Congregational United Church of Christ, NE 45th Street and 15th Avenue NE, providing safe, secure housing to individuals and families.

Nearly 1,000 of you e-mailed thoughts and dozens more attended the town hall meetings. By a 2-to-1 margin responses and attendees favored hosting. Faculty and departments have expressed eagerness to incorporate service learning into curricula, and local elected officials and community leaders also support the effort.

The UW will therefore proceed with plans to host, contingent on the safety and operations plan we establish being effectively implemented and on permit approval by the City of Seattle. We will not use any taxpayer or tuition funds to support this work.

I appreciate the thoughtful nature of your feedback, including concerns that were raised, primarily about safety, parking and the connection to our educational mission. As we plan for hosting next winter, we are taking those concerns into account.

Tent City 3 is an organized community with a strict code of conduct that prohibits weapons, violence, drugs and alcohol. Many residents have jobs, and often families with small children stay there because it is a safe, secure place. It’s important to remember that people facing homelessness are more vulnerable to being victims of crime. For the safety of all members of our community – permanently housed or not – UWPD will closely coordinate with the 24/7 security already conducted by Tent City 3.

The working group I commissioned studied a wide range of sites, with consideration for safety; transit access; logistics; privacy for residents; the need for a hard, level surface; and access for students and faculty who choose to participate in hosting-related learning opportunities.

Based on these criteria, parking lot W35 is the preferred location. Sally Clark, director of regional and community relations, met with faculty, staff and students from adjacent units, and consulted with organizers of the expanded UW childcare center that will be two blocks east. No issues have arisen that would preclude a portion of W35 being used to host Tent City 3, and we will continue these meetings and work to minimize any logistical disruptions.

I recognize some of you may still have concerns and trepidation. That is fair and expected. I only ask that we approach hosting with open minds and take this opportunity to learn from the experiences of our neighbors.

Our educational mission and role as a public university call us to find innovative ways to teach, learn and serve. It is my firm belief as a teacher, a scholar who has studied these issues, and a citizen of our community that hosting Tent City 3 is wholly consistent with our mission. I look forward to continuing this process so that next winter we can join together in welcoming our neighbors to campus.

The end of the academic year is always bittersweet; we say goodbye to this year’s graduates, yet we share their ­excitement as new degree-holders go forth, ready to become the leaders, innovators and change-makers that this world needs and that their UW education has prepared them to be.

I could not be more proud of the Class of 2016 or of the momentous accomplishments of our community this year. Were I to try to list them all here, this email would be too big for your inboxes, so please know that the incredible achievements across every campus, unit and department have made this year more special and rewarding than I can adequately put into words.

Later this week, the UW will award 15,770 degrees to our graduates in Bothell, Seattle and Tacoma. That includes 10,489 bachelor’s degrees, 3,990 master’s degrees, 530 professional and educational specialist degrees and 761 doctoral degrees. Congratulations, graduates! This University is a better place because you were here, and I can’t wait to see you unleash your abilities as you make our world a better place.

This has been a year of many firsts. We inaugurated our first cohort of Husky 100 recipients. A UW glaciologist helped drill the first deep ice core at the South Pole, and UW engineers received a grant to work on the first implantable device to reanimate paralyzed limbs. Burke Museum paleontologists discovered the first dinosaur fossil in Washington, while drama students are premiering plays based on the experiences of U-District residents and community groups. The women’s golf team won the national championship, while the women’s basketball team went to the Final Four. These and countless other superlatives demonstrate how, on every front, the UW is serving the public good with creativity and excellence.

This has been a year rich in innovation and discovery. We launched a new vision for improving population health and are preparing to break ground on the new Global Innovation Exchange facility in Bellevue. Our faculty continue to inspire and astound us with their ideas, discoveries and impact as teachers and scholars, with pioneering research achievements in every college and school. Professor of Medicine and Genome Sciences Mary-Claire King was awarded the 2015 National Medal of Science, while seven UW faculty members were honored by national academies this year.

This was also a challenging year. As a community we are working hard to bring about needed change to improve racial equity and diversity. Change is too slow, but it is happening. We’ve had difficult conversations, and those will continue. I pledge that I will continue to be present, engaged and transparent as we make our collective way toward change.

The end of any endeavor is a good time to look back — at our accomplishments, at what we learned, at that to which we are saying goodbye. But I hope we will also remember to keep looking forward, because all that we have done, together, will help create a world of good in the days and years to come.

Thank you, all, for the contributions you’ve made to our University and to our world — and congratulations to the Class of 2016!

It gives me great pleasure to announce that Gerald “Jerry” Baldasty has accepted the position of provost and executive vice president, a role he has filled on an interim basis for the past 14 months with dedication and distinction.

I offer my sincere thanks to the many of you in the UW community who provided comments and advice throughout the selection process, and extend a special ‘thank you’ to the advisory committee (listed below), chaired by Dean Jim Jiambalvo and Professor Kathleen O’Neill, past Faculty Senate chair, for their thoughtful and diligent work in vetting Jerry’s candidacy.

At the University of Washington, service to the academic mission should be at the core of all we do. With that in mind, Jerry’s excellence as a scholar and teacher, as well as a seasoned administrative leader, makes him the ideal person to serve as UW’s chief academic and budgetary officer. The provost oversees the challenging and crucial work of ensuring our teaching and scholarship is of the highest quality. This is the foundation of our University, and Jerry’s commitment to the UW ensures that work is in safe hands.

Jerry’s commitment to the University of Washington runs deep. A Spokane native, he is a “Double Dawg,” with a UW undergraduate degree and a UW Ph.D. in communications. Appointed to the faculty in the Department of Communication in 1978, Jerry has demonstrated leadership and scholarship that have earned him numerous recognitions and honors, including the Distinguished Teaching Award.

This appointment is for no more than a three-year term, effective June 1, 2016, and contingent on approval by the Board of Regents, to whom I will present my recommendation for confirmation. With Jerry’s appointment, he and I are excited to continue our work on a range of efforts, from enhancing the Husky Experience to transforming our administration to better serve the UW’s academic and research missions. His leadership on innovative initiatives like the Husky 100 and pilot programs including the Teaching Technology Fellows and Evidence-based Teaching is helping to advance the boundless student experience and world-class teaching that are hallmarks of the UW.

Jerry is a truly outstanding leader within our University community and a colleague whose partnership I personally value greatly. With our eyes firmly on the future, I’m excited to begin this next chapter in the UW’s history together.

President Advisory Selection Review Committee on the University of Washington Provost and Executive Vice President

• Jim Jiambalvo, Dean and Kirby L. Cramer Chair in Business Administration,
  Michael G. Foster School of Business (co-chair)
• Kathleen O’Neill, Chair, Senate Committee on Planning and Budgeting;
  Professor, School of Law (co-chair)
• Zoe Barness, Vice Chair, Faculty Senate and Associate Professor,
  Milgard School of Business, UW Tacoma
• Alex Bolton, President, Graduate and Professional Student Senate
• Karam Dana, Assistant Professor, School of Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences, UW Bothell
• Daniel J. Grossman, Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering
• Byron Joyner, Vice Dean for Graduate Medical Education and Professor,
  School of Medicine
• Joe Lott, Associate Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies,
  College of Education
• Linda Martin-Morris, Principal Lecturer, Department of Biology,
  College of Arts and Sciences
• Mark Pagano, Chancellor and Professor, UW Tacoma
• Tyler Wu, President, Associated Students at the University of Washington

Our city is facing a crisis. Thousands of our neighbors are forced to make their homes in doorways or under bridges since they lack affordable housing. Consistent with our public mission, the University of Washington has been seeking solutions to the homelessness crisis through scholarship and service. But we have an opportunity to do more.

Earlier this year, I commissioned a working group to assess the feasibility of hosting an organized tent city encampment on the Seattle campus for 90 days during the 2017 winter quarter. Tent cities are by no means a permanent answer for homelessness, but they do provide a safe place for residents to live as they seek stable housing. This working group met with representatives from Tent City 3, Seattle city government, community organizations and members of the Tent City Collective, as well as with colleagues from Seattle Pacific University and Seattle University, both of which hosted Tent City 3 on their campuses and found hosting to be a valuable educational experience for their students.

I want to single out the Tent City Collective for particular praise. Its members, which include UW students, alumni and Tent City 3 residents, have been steadfast advocates for our neighbors facing homelessness. They have also made many connections with faculty and departments eager to incorporate service learning into their curricula via the opportunities hosting an encampment would present.

The conclusion of the working group is that hosting an encampment is feasible, provided that we have community support; connect with an experienced, responsible organizer; make a decision early enough for faculty to incorporate relevant service learning into their curricula; and have detailed plans for security, safety, health and sanitation to ensure the well-being of residents and community members. Participation in UW activities related to hosting would be voluntary for our students, just as they would be for encampment residents.

I am now seeking your feedback on whether the UW should step forward and host Tent City 3 — which has an extensive track record and clear code of conduct for residents — during the 2017 winter quarter.

No taxpayer or tuition funds would be used to host the encampment, which would be limited to no more than 100 residents. There are several locations under consideration, which you can view on the Regional and Community Relations site.

There will be two open houses where you can learn more:

• Monday, April 11: 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at University Congregational United Church of Christ, 4515 16th Ave. NE
• Tuesday, April 12: Noon to 2 p.m. in Room 250 of the HUB

You can also share your thoughts by emailing regional@uw.edu. The goal is to make a decision by the end of the academic year in order to provide time for logistical and curricular planning.

Service to our community is central to our mission, as is providing students with experiences that help them become educated, engaged citizens. Informed feedback from the campus community and from nearby residents and businesses is vital as we consider whether to host Tent City 3, and I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

All around Washington and points beyond, several thousand high school seniors are experiencing the thrill of receiving a gold envelope — what some students have started calling the “golden ticket” — in the mail. It’s their future arriving, in the form of a letter announcing that they’ve been admitted to the University of Washington.

This is a defining moment for these admitted students — one you can witness on social media via #NewHuskies2016 — and for us, as with each incoming class our University is renewed. Over the coming months, these students will visit our campuses for admitted student preview days and informal tours. I encourage us all to give them a warm welcome. After all, they chose the UW because of you and your reputation for excellence.

Our students are the embodiment of our public promise to serve as an engine for personal growth and societal well-being and prosperity. They will come from every corner of Washington and beyond, though the physical distance many of them will travel will be smaller than the socioeconomic divides they’ll cross on their journey.

For example, last year Seattle’s Franklin High School ranked sixth among all high schools for sending graduates to the UW, which I imagine is a point of pride for Principal Jennifer Wiley, who herself earned two UW degrees. Her students have faced challenges throughout their lives, with 70 percent qualifying for free or reduced-price lunches and an unknown number having faced discrimination, whether because of their race, their nationality or their language.

As someone who knows from personal experience how access to education can change a life, I’m thrilled that we’ll be welcoming students like those from Franklin and beyond who are eager to learn with you. Helping students of modest means achieve their full potential is one of our most important missions as a public university.

As we move forward, we’ll continue to emphasize both access and excellence. And we’ll continue to look for new ways to identify and recruit a diverse range of talented and determined students, including those for whom college applications don’t tell the full story of their potential to be leaders and innovators. This includes at UW Bothell — where I held a town hall last week — and UW Tacoma, both of which have grown over the last quarter century to meet the needs of their respective communities.

Our students chose the UW because they want to learn from leaders in their fields, and at a University dedicated to innovation, discovery and positive social change. Thank you for your commitment to them, to excellence and to our shared and crucial public mission.