Administrative Snapshot: June 2005
Names of key participants appear in brackets at the end of most items.

2707 implementation planning

A steering committee and working groups have been established to plan the next steps of UWT growth based upon the 2707 report. Three working groups will focus on curriculum, administrative support services and student services. All planning groups met together for the first time Tues., June 14, at a one-day retreat. The retreat consultant, Dr. Terry Rhodes, vice provost of Portland State University, spoke about contemporary research, scholarship and current practices regarding the growth of metropolitan universities. The working groups also met to organize and plan for future meetings. The curriculum committee meets this week, and the steering committee meets again next week. Periodic updates will be posted on the growth planning Web site. [Bob Jackson]

UW study of advising

UWT advisers were recently invited to participate in an online survey and a focus group regarding UW undergraduate advising. The resulting 170-page report is now available online. The questions were primarily geared toward Seattle, but UWT is mentioned several times. [Sharon Fought]

Tall Ships exhibit, lecture at UWT Library

The Tall Ships are coming to Tacoma and the UWT Library is proud to host a photographic exhibit of some of the ships we'll be seeing at the end of June. The photos will be on display until July 9. In addition, the Library hosted a free lecture by tall ships photographer Thad Koza Wed., June 15. Karen Reed has now booked three ships for brief tours for alumni, faculty, staff and friends during the Tall Ships Festival. [Anna Salyer]

• Visit the Tall Ships Festival Web site

Urban Waters

The board of directors of Urban Waters met on campus Wednesday to discuss next steps for making the marine research center a reality. The board discussed a potential property acquisition for the center, ways to finance construction, and alternatives for funding. A core group of scientists on the board, including UWT Environmental Science Associate Professor Cheryl Greengrove, is meeting to update projections for lab and other facilities needs. [Carol Van Natta]

Cafe Indochine

Cafe Indochine, an upscale Thai restaurant under construction in the Cherry Parkes building on Pacific Avenue, is now expected to open, at least partially, next week. [Fred King]

Jefferson Street sidewalk

Late last year the City of Tacoma directed UWT to repair a broken sidewalk along Jefferson Street adjacent to the Old Spaghetti Factory parking lot owned by the university. The paving along the entire length of the parking lot has been replaced. Planting strips at the curb will be planted with street trees and ground cover, and a planting strip at the back of the sidewalk will be planted with hedges to screen the lot. Planting will occur next week. [Fred King]

North entry landscape improvements

Work has begun to improve landscaping and paving at the north end of campus is nearly complete. The Commerce Street turnaround has been revised and additional landscape areas provided. The roadway and parking between the railroad tracks, Grassi's Flowers & Gifts and the Joy Building has also received paving and landscape improvements. All construction in this area will be completed by the end of the month. [Fred King]

Commerce Street

A request was submitted to the City of Tacoma for legal vacation of the south end of Commerce (between 19th and 21st) and the north end of Commerce (outside Dougan). By vacating the street, the city would turn control over to the university. All of the abutting property owners are in support of the street vacation. Final approval by the Tacoma City Council is anticipated in July. Revisions to the parking on the two sections of street are planned after the City approves the vacations. [Fred King]

Library strategic plan

UWT faculty, staff and students attended the Library's strategic planning focus groups and shared their thoughts and suggestions about the Library. Library staff heard positive remarks about staff, services and space and received constructive criticism about how to make the Library a better place. Suggestions that came out of the focus groups will be given careful consideration. [Anna Salyer]

2707 data reports

Data reports providing the basis for a number of the tables and figures in the 2707 report can be made available on request; some of the data are being shared with 2707 implementation work groups. Please contact Sharon Fought if you need any of this information. [Sharon Fought]

Storage on campus: Tacoma Paper and Stationery Building and Snoqualmie Room

The Snoqualmie Room, in the basement of the library, is being cleaned out. UWT units that have stored boxes, equipment, records, and various holiday decorations in this location are being asked to discard or move their material to alternate locations. For a few weeks, no new requests will be processed for storage in the Tacoma Paper and Stationery Building (Spaghetti Factory) as a review of the space is undertaken. [Sharon Fought]

Space Inventory

Sharon Fought and Noreen Slease will continue meeting with unit directors to verify office assignments for incoming faculty as the inventory of office and instructional space on campus is completed. [Sharon Fought]

UWT data reports on SIS

The electronic fact book on the Student Information System (SIS), available for internal use, has recently updated reports on the number of students requesting and using military waivers (of nonresident portion of tuition) for Spring 2005; low scholarship status (for Winter 2005, most recent data available); and courses taught by program for Spring 2005. FERPA training is required to use the database, and use is currently restricted to UWT staff and faculty advisers. Some of the information is confidential. More information is available on the DataPlus Web Site. If you have questions about the SIS application, contact the Director of Information Technology at ppow@u.washington.edu. [Sharon Fought]

Tuition and Fee Policy Committee

The Tuition and Fee Policy Advisory Committee met last week to continue work on draft principles to provide the basis for tuition policy at UW; the report of the committee (not yet available) will be forwarded to the provost. It's anticipated that a broad audience will review the principles across the three campuses in Autumn 2005. [Sharon Fought]

Support for grants and contracts

Electronic approval of grant and contract applications is underway in Seattle and will soon come to Tacoma. Carol Hert, Leo Aguiling, Jan Rutledge and Sharon Fought met with UWS staff to discuss next steps in deploying the system in Tacoma. Training sessions have begun, with training designed for specific groups. Additional sessions will be held on campus, and details will be shared via uwtline and also be available at the Research Web site. Carol Hert is scheduling some training opportunities are being scheduled this summer. These will be announced on uwtline and on the Web site [Sharon Fought]

• Visit the Grants and Contracts Web site

15th-year: Convention Center selected for 15th anniversary event

UW Tacoma is marking its 15th year serving the South Sound, and an array of events are being planned to celebrate this milestone. On Oct. 8, Chancellor Patricia Spakes and UW President Emmert will share their vision for the future of the campus at a festive dinner at the Greater Tacoma Convention and Trade Center. The dinner will celebrate the 15th anniversary and honor members of the Chancellor's Club (donors who have given $1,000 during the fiscal year or $25,000 over a lifetime). Russell Investment Group and Milgard Manufacturing have contributed underwriting for the event. Faculty, staff and alumni will be invited to the event. Tickets are $75. [Carol Van Natta]

Campaign update

2004-05 may be the best fundraising year ever for UWT. As of May 31, UWT has received gifts totaling $3,739,423, just a little short of this year's goal of $3,762,794. Gifts in June are expected to meet or exceed the goal. In May, the faculty and staff giving campaign kicked off with a celebration hosted by Chancellor Spakes and campaign chairs Tony Myers (Student Affairs) and Carolyn West (IAS). Faculty, staff and retiree participation will be tracked on a giant puzzle, now on display in the GWP foyer. To date in this fiscal year, 55 UWT faculty and staff members have made a gift to the university. Three of those donations have set up endowments, which have been made specially accessible for faculty and staff. A $5,000 investment over five years is eligible for a dollar-to-dollar match, establishing a $10,000 named endowment. The UWT campaign goal is 90 percent participation among faculty and staff. [Carol Van Natta]

Accreditation

A small work group, led by Christine Ingebritsen, Associate Dean and Associate Vice Provost, Office of Undergraduate Education at UWS, provided leadership for the interim report to the regional accrediting authority, the Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities. Among the recommendations of the accreditation team, which visited UW in spring 2003, was that the UW continue work on setting learning goals for students and describing progress toward those goals to facilitate continuous improvement. Sharon Fought obtained examples of learning goals, which most programs have posted on the Web, and related changes from UWT programs to share with the workgroup. The final report is not yet posted. [Sharon Fought]

Assembly Hall

The Legislature appropriated $7.5 million to replace the Dawg Shed with a new campus Assembly Hall. $2.5 million in private funds will be raised to complete the project. The multipurpose hall is expected to seat 500 and provide flexible space for a wide range of events and academic functions, including job fairs, lectures and banquets. Architects will be selected and design will begin during the next couple of months. [Fred King]

Housing/Parking

Construction has started on the Court 17 garage. When complete, the project will provide a 309-stall parking garage to be owned and operated by UWT with a 129-unit, privately managed apartment building on top. The garage will be complete and partially operational late this year. The residential units will be complete fall of 2006. Court C will be closed during construction. [Fred King]

• View a PDF of the 2003 campus master plan (CAUTION: Very large file)

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