Office Hours - Winter 2008

Welcome to the first edition of Office Hours for 2008.  I’d like to begin this segment by talking about something really quite extraordinary.  This past month we hit a new milestone at the University of Washington.  Remember we had set a fundraising goal of $2 billion a number of years ago to be reached by June 30, 2008 this year?  Well, we passed that more than a year ago.  And now sitting here with a new goal of $2.5 billion, I’m delighted to say that we’ve already reached that milestone as well… five months ahead of schedule.  It’s an extraordinary milestone for the university and it’s one that speaks very well to the confidence people have in what we’re doing and what we’re about.  

More than 250,000 individuals and organizations have written checks to the UW right now.  Talk about a vote of confidence.  I’m always proud of talking about the fact that the UW and higher education is a team sport.  And if ever that were true, it’s demonstrated in the success of the whole team that’s pulled off this great victory for us. 

I also want to talk about another issue that’s on everyone’s mind this time of year, and that’s of course, the legislative session that’s going on right now.  We have a number of critical issues being debated and discussed down in Olympia.  The first of them that’s gotten much attention is, of course, the potential creation of a new campus that’s part of the UW.  UW North Sound, as we’re calling it right now.  In that debate there’s been much conversation about, first of all, whether there should be a campus and second of all, where it would be.  What we’re doing, as the UW, is we’re participating with legislators and supporters from the governor’s office to first of all, make a determination as to what kind of campus would most effectively serve the citizens of Washington.  And then secondly, we’ve also offered some views on where it should be.  The leading contenders right now are sites in Everett and Marysville, with the recommendation coming forward from a committee that it ought to be in Everett.  We’ll see where the outcome of that really is in the legislative session.  But we’re going to be right in the middle of that debate and it’ll be exciting to see what becomes of it. Of course, there’s always a question of how it will be funded and we’ve been very insistent that any funding for a new campus not come from existing campuses or other universities or colleges.  That’s going to be a critical debate for us as we go forward.  

We’re also looking for funding support for a number of critical issues across all of our campuses.  Safety on our campuses is surely one of them and Governor Gregoire has been very supportive of making sure that we have the kind of systems in place that will allow us to improve campus safety everywhere.  We’re also very interested in trying to expand the opportunities for childcare for our faculty, staff and students.  Something that’s critical to all of us.  We’ve got an initiative down there that I’m especially excited about around E-Science… an effort to add more faculty and staff support in information technology.  Not just in computer science but reaching out to all of the departments across the university.  Something that can have a huge impact in the way we do scholarship in science and the way we teach those subjects.  We’re also interested in trying to acquire some more real estate in Tacoma and a variety of other funding issues and we’ll keep you posted on all of them.

The other piece that you probably read about or heard about that is getting a good deal of attention, is the potential to find some state funding for Husky stadium.  It’s critical that we as the university take care of this landmark facility that so many people enjoy for much more than just football games, but for commencement, and sports activities and social activities.  But that stadium was built in 1920 and it’s showing its age.  It’s indeed… many parts of it that are simply falling apart.  We’ve asked the state to consider whether or not they could continue the taxes that are levied right now on hotels, on rental cars and on restaurants that have been used to build other stadiums; the stadium for the Seahawks and for the Sonics and for the Mariners, for example.  We think it would be appropriate to use some of that revenue that’ll be coming off those other stadiums’ bond payments in the near future, to help us, in part, support Husky stadium.  And we’ll see what the outcome is. 

In the coming months 1400 staff are going to be moving into UW tower – just right over my shoulder here.  With the consolidation of those staff from across the campus and indeed across the whole city of Seattle, first off all, we’ll gain some efficiencies and some synergies that wouldn’t have been possible otherwise, by being able to reconfigure office structures inside the tower.  Secondly, that consolidation will also free up space here on campus that will allow us to be able to deploy those spaces for academic purposes to serve faculty and students more effectively here.

I also want to introduce you to some new deans.  First of all, is Marla Salmon who comes to the School of Nursing from Emery University.  Marla will bring to us wonderful energy and a lifetime of experience working in nursing.  Secondly, is Ana Mari Cauce, someone familiar to many of you.  Ana Mari will be moving from the Provost’s office to become the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences, the largest college at the university.  With her more than 20 years of experience at the UW, she’s just the right person to lead this college.  

As always, I’d love to hear from you about anything we’ve talked about to or other issues that are on your mind.  Please visit the message board for office hours at washington.edu/president.  And if you want to send me a direct email, please send it to pres@u.washington.edu.  Thanks for being with me today.