July 2006

World-class lecture series to debut in 2008

Arthur Paulsen

Beginning Fall 2008, you will be able to attend a lecture series featuring prominent speakers on the UW Tacoma campus, thanks to a $1 million pledge by Arthur R. Paulsen, a native Tacoman and University of Washington alumnus. The gift creates an endowed fund, called the Arthur R. and Anna Mae Paulsen Visiting Chair in Public Affairs, that will bring well-known public figures to campus each year to enhance the intellectual life of UW Tacoma students and the South Sound community. Visiting lecturers will address a range of political and social issues and will also spend time in classrooms working with students and faculty. The plan is for the first lecture to coincide with the opening of the new Assembly Hall in 2008 (see below for more information). Paulsen graduated from the University of Washington in 1940 and received his juris doctor degree from the UW School of Law in 1946.

Assembly Hall campaign kicks off

The Capital Campaign is underway for the new 500-seat Assembly Hall — to replace the old “Dawg Shed” — which will provide a highly visible and attractive entry to UW Tacoma on the 1900 block of Pacific Ave. To complete the building, UW Tacoma must raise $4.75 million to complement the $7.5 million in state funding for construction. In addition to major events, the hall will feature a full-time “commons” designed to be the heart of the campus community, where students and faculty can gather for informal study and meetings. Scheduled to open fall of 2008, plans for the venue include world-class public lectures, community events, arts productions, performances, careers fairs and other campus and public events. For more information about the Assembly Hall project, including gift and naming opportunities, contact the Office of Advancement at (253) 692-5753.

See a drawing of the Assembly Hall

Market Street study

The first stage of a traffic study that identifies the current traffic conditions through downtown Tacoma in the area from 28th Street to 13th Street between South Tacoma Avenue to Dock Street has been completed. Animated traffic simulations have been created based on counts of vehicles at key intersections at different times of day. The simulations will be available for public view online within a few weeks. The next phases of work involve manipulating the traffic model to determine the impact of closing access to streets and various mitigation strategies, and the launch of a study of the economic impacts of closing Market Street between 17th and 21st streets.

UW Tacoma has worked collaboratively with the City of Tacoma staff on the project. An advisory group of people from the community, local merchants, City of Tacoma, Pierce County, UW Seattle and UW Tacoma continues to meet with the consultants.

Court 17 promotes city living

Anyone interested in a downtown apartment can now explore Court 17, corner of 17th & Market streets, which is on schedule to open by January and has published a brochure with rental rates (click here to see it online). Rents are market rate for the apartments, which were built and managed by Lorig & Associates. The coincidence of timing with UW Tacoma’s first freshman class leads some to assume this is a student housing structure, but it’s not. Students, faculty and staff have first choice, but they will pay the same rates as everyone else. The UW Tacoma parking garage underneath the apartments is open for public use. Court 17 is a public-private partnership between UW Tacoma, the City of Tacoma and Lorig & Associates developed to expand living options downtown.

UW Tacoma popular among freshmen

UW Tacoma is proving to be a popular choice for freshmen as 200 students have confirmed they will attend beginning this September, well over the 125 FTE target established by the Legislature. This success comes just over a year after the Governor signed the bill authorizing UWT to enroll freshmen. Overall, more than 500 students applied. Freshmen are visiting campus for advising sessions and are very excited about the curriculum and urban campus environment, according to advisers. The strong response affirms the state's decision to expand UW Tacoma to serve freshmen and sophomores to fill a need for higher education in the South Sound.

Learn about the first freshman class

Key leaders named

IAS interim director
Associate Professor Cheryl Greengrove has been tapped to lead the Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences while the university conducts a national search for a permanent director. Greengrove, who was a coordinator of the Environmental Science Program in IAS, replaces founding IAS Director Bill Richardson, who left in June. She will serve as interim director through June 2008. IAS is UW Tacoma's largest academic program.

New manager for Alumni Affairs
UW Tacoma will expand its alumni programming and annual fund efforts under the leadership of Scott Pinkston, who started July 5. Pinkston previously has coordinated alumni affairs at The Evergreen State College and the Art Institute of Seattle.

Welcome, new advisory board members

The UW Tacoma Advisory Board has new leadership and several new members. Joanne Bamford is serving a two-year term as board chair, and Ray Tennison has stepped in as vice-chair. The new members started July 1 and will serve a three-year term.

New members are:

• John C. Dimmer Sr., managing member of Firs Management, L.L.C., and founder of the Dimmer Family Foundation.
• Larry S. Kopp, managing member of Globe Capital and an advisor to U.S. and international high-growth corporations.
• Stephen P. Moceri, president of Moceri Leasing and a 2001 graduate of UWT's Master of Social Work program.
• Henry Schatz, CEO of General Plastics Manufacturing Co.
• Thomas M. Spilman, president of KeyBank’s South Puget Sound District.