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News & Updates

News & Updates

Universities react to Governor Inslee’s 2015-17 budget proposal

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On December 18, Governor Inslee released his plans to fund education in the 2015-17 biennium. You can find information about the Governor’s full budget proposal online here.

This is what Washington’s public universities had to say about Governor Inslee’s plans for funding higher education:

This week’s budget proposal from Governor Inslee makes important investments in early childhood, K-12, and higher education. However, it falls short of providing sufficient funding to expand student access, fund a tuition freeze, and increase degree production in high demand fields to meet current demand and make progress towards the state’s higher education degree goals.

Washington’s public college and universities are united behind a request to increase state investment by $198 million over the next two years. This additional funding would increase degree production in high-demand areas, improve student access and performance through targeted, evidence-based initiatives, and hold the line on tuition increases for an additional two years.

During the most recent economic recession, higher education in Washington state experienced some of the largest decreases in state funding in the nation. During that time, class sizes, time to degree, student indebtedness, and tuition dramatically increased while nearly 2,000 faculty and staff positions supporting the academic mission were lost. In 2013, the Governor and state legislature rallied to reverse this trend. New state investments in higher education allowed for the first resident undergraduate tuition freeze since 1986. Even with this recent funding, Washington still ranks 49th nationally in per student funding, including both state support and tuition.

We look forward to working with the Governor and the legislature to advance this request during the legislative session.

To learn more about how Governor Inslee’s budgets would impact the University of Washington, view the Office of Planning & Budgeting brief here.

The legislature will return to Olympia for a 105-day session beginning January 12. The state budget process will shift into higher gear following the state’s March revenue forecast, which will give lawmakers the most timely sense of how revenue is shaping up for the 2015-17 budget period.

Study supports expansion of UW medical school in Spokane

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The University of Washington’s plan to double the size of its medical school in Spokane is “clearly the most cost-effective option” to meet the physician workforce needs in Eastern Washington and throughout the state, according to an independent study by research firm Tripp Umbach.

Read a 2-page summary of the study.

Read the full report.

Read the press release.

Learn more about UW’s plans.

Genesee Adkins named UW director of state relations

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Genesee Adkins, who brings 12 years of experience in Olympia, has been appointed director of state relations at the University of Washington, effective Nov. 12.

“We are getting an experienced, highly capable government relations professional who understands the subtleties of Olympia and will be able to represent the university’s interests extremely well,” said Randy Hodgins, UW vice president for external affairs. “This coming legislative session will be one of the most important in recent years, and having Genesee on our team will enhance our chances of garnering the support we need to serve our students.”

Adkins most recently served for five years as director of government relations for King County, where she worked on legislative strategies for the county executive and led the county’s state-level efforts in Olympia, securing state funding for key county priorities among other efforts.

Prior to joining King County, Adkins served as state legislative director for the city of Seattle for nearly two years. Before that, she was state policy director at the Transportation Choice Coalition, a nonprofit transportation advocacy organization, and at Futurewise, a public-interest, smart-growth and land-use group.

As UW’s director of state relations, Adkins will be the university’s chief representative in Olympia to both the executive and legislative branches. She will also be a key member of the administrative team advising the university president on legislative strategy and communicating to the university community about higher education issues in Olympia.

Adkins replaces Margaret Shepherd, who served in this position for four years and was recently appointed director of strategic initiatives in UW President Michael Young’s office.

Adkins’ annual salary will be $155,000.

President’s Annual Address

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This week (Oct. 15), President Young gave his annual address to the UW community. He highlighted the University of Washington’s recent successes and discussed how our unique vision, commitment to innovation and shared passion for the work we do is shaping a boundless future for our community, our state and our world.

Read his remarks.

Legislators and staff tour UW’s Clean Energy Institute

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Today (Sept. 30) a group of state legislators and staff had a chance to tour UW’s Clean Energy Institute to learn more about its innovative faculty, students and leading edge research in the fields of next generation solar energy and battery technologies.

In 2013, the Legislature invested $3 million to establish the Institute at UW. In its inaugural year, CEI faculty and graduate student researchers have begun conducting leading-edge research with the power to sustain and grow Washington’s leadership and economic advantages in clean energy.

Tour attendees got a first-hand look at the impact of the Governor and Legislature’s forward-thinking investment, as well as a chance to meet the faculty, students, community and industry partners working to make it all happen.

Several key takeaways from today’s lab tours and research showcase:

  • UW is leveraging state investment to pursue new discoveries and innovations that will grow Washington’s clean energy economy, and enable a new future of high-paying jobs.
  • CEI faculty and students are working to develop efficient, cost-effective solar power and better energy storage systems, creating new materials that will dramatically improve solar technology, while also educating the next generation of clean energy leaders.
  • Shared instrumentation such as advanced microscopes and lasers have the power to accelerate the knowledge and development of new clean energy materials, as well as enable collaborative research.
  • Advances in new materials and battery systems are needed in order to monitor and deploy clean energy to the power grid when needed.

Learn more about CEI by watching this informational video or visiting them on the web at cei.washington.edu. Photos from today’s event follow below…

Continue reading “Legislators and staff tour UW’s Clean Energy Institute”

Correcting the record: WSU consultant’s medical school study deeply flawed

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Last week, Washington State University released a consultant’s study regarding separate accreditation for a WSU medical school in Spokane.

The WSU Board of Regents subsequently took action directing WSU leaders to pursue the report’s recommendations.

Unfortunately, the WSU consultant’s report contains several inaccuracies, concerning assumptions, and at least one critical and highly misleading error that require immediate attention and consideration.

Ultimately, the decision to establish a second medical school in Spokane is a decision to be made by the Governor and Legislature.  We believe it’s important for all parties to have accurate information to consider and make your decisions. This is a significant and important issue for the University of Washington.

Read the response detailing our concerns from UW Board of Regents Chair Orin Smith to WSU Board of Regents Chair Mike Worthy, and UW’s statement released to the media.

Learn more about UW’s plans for Next Generation Medical Education.

Statement from UW Regent Orin Smith in Response to WSU Medical School Proposal

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“We’re disappointed by WSU’s announcement today to pursue a separate, independent medical school aside from the existing Spokane medical school we’ve worked hard to build together in partnership with the Spokane community.

At a time when fully funding basic education and addressing our mental health crisis loom large, we believe creating a second, $47 million medical school raises many questions and concerns about the highest and best use of limited resources.

Addressing our healthcare disparities in Eastern Washington and growing an innovative, sustainable economy in Spokane demand that we put aside individual institutional ambitions and focus on what is best for our students, the Spokane community and the state. WWAMI, our existing UW-WSU partnership in Spokane, is currently recognized as the most efficient, effective community-based medical education program in the nation, with the potential for $1.6 billion in economic impact for the Spokane region.

The UW remains committed to investing in and growing this partnership with the support of the Spokane community and the Washington state legislature to support sustainable economic development for the region.”

Learn more about UW’s Next Generation Medical Education proposal.

UW External Affairs hosts local, state, and federal staff for U District tour

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Legislative Staff Take U District Tour

Last week, a group of 20 legislative staff from local, state, and federal offices joined the UW External Affairs team on a tour of the U District.

Participants visited: The Burke Museum, learning about the Genetic Resource Center, and the museum’s “New Burke” capital project; Sound Transit’s U District Station site for an update on construction and the agency’s light rail plans; Startup Hall to learn about the innovative partnership between UW, UpGlobal, and TechStars that is transforming the space into a hub for startups; Cultivate for conversation and lunch featuring locally-sourced food; The U District Partnership to hear about community engagement and collaboration on a range of issues; the Burke-Gilman Multimodal Connector Project to learn about changes coming to the trail; and finally an overview of the Bryants Park Project on the waterfront for a chance to hear about the future of the park, and the successful partnership to-date between the city, state, and University.

View photos from the tour on Facebook here and here.

If you missed last week’s tour, we hope you can join us for a visit in the future!

As always, please feel free contact us for more information, or to schedule a future visit. Also, be sure to stay tuned for more details on opportunities to visit our campuses this fall, which we’ll post here to the blog!

UW External Affairs staff participates in service project at Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands

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Dubs Up!
Today University of Washington External Affairs staff participated in a service project at the Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands, owned by Seattle Parks and Recreation and co-operated by Seattle Tilth, a non-profit community-run organization. Staff is pictured here after spending the morning helping to restore wetlands by removing invasive plants (bindweeds). The annual service project is a chance for EA staff to give back to the local community.