May
2004 • The monthly newsletter for UWT faculty and staff
Faculty,
staff and more honored at first Founders Day ceremony today
The
Distinguished Teaching and Distinguished Service awards will be
among those presented at UWT’s new Founders/Recognition
ceremony at 4 p.m. today in Carwein Auditorium.
Assistant
Professor Beth Kalikoff will receive the Distinguished Teaching
Award, Assistant Professor Charles Emlet will receive the Distinguished
Researcher Award and OESSA staff members Tony Myers and Cathy
Thompson will receive the Distinguished Service awards at the
special event. Three new awards will also be presented, and the
Environmental Science program will be recognized for winning the
prestigious Brotman Award for Instructional Excellence.
Distinguished Teaching Award: Beth Kalikoff
Distinguished Service Award: Tony Myers
Distinguished Service Award: Cathy Thompson
Distinguished Researcher Award: Charles Emlet
Distinguished Alumni Award: Sally York
Rod Hagenbuch Award: Valerie Burns
Community Founders Award: Bill Philip
Brotman Award: Environmental Science
Emmert meets with staff, faculty and students during campus visit
 |
| New UW President Mark Emmert, right, listens as UWT Director of Public Relations Mike Wark explains expansion plans for the campus. |
When
newly appointed UW President Mark Emmert was a boy, he spent his
Saturdays exploring the neighborhood that is now home to UW Tacoma
while his father worked nearby.
“I
know these buildings,” Emmert said during a visit to campus
May 4. “It is an absolute delight to see what you’ve
done with them.”
After
28 years of working at college campuses around the country, the
Fife native has returned to lead his alma mater. On May 4, the
future president fielded questions from staff, faculty and students.
Emmert
said there are many challenges coming up for both UWT and UW Bothell.
Among the most important is the impending self-study recently
mandated by the Legislature.
“A
lot of people are wondering what UWT is going to become,”
he said. “We’ll have to ask a lot of hard questions,
but they must be asked. If we don’t do this, somebody will
decide the future for us, and we may not like what they do.”
Emmert
said the self-study and a strategic plan could address many issues
of deep interest to faculty and staff, including those related
to research, multiculturalism, state funding and collective bargaining.
“This
institution has a great advantage because it’s young,”
he said. “You get to do what other people at more established
campuses don’t get to do. But people still want to see a
plan in place, and we have to get that out there.”
House Higher Education Committee visits UWT
The
House Higher Education Committee visited UW Tacoma April 28 to
talk with administrators, faculty, students, staff and community
leaders about how the campus may look in the future.
The
Legislature passed a bill in March, Substitute House Bill 2707,
that calls for UW Tacoma, UW Bothell, WSU Vancouver and WSU Tri-Cities
to study themselves and write reports that suggest clear direction
for future development.
During
the daylong session at UWT, legislators learned about UWT’s
plans for conducting the study, toured the campus and heard the
views of UWT faculty, staff, and administrators, as well as those
of community leaders and community college presidents.
“In
many ways, you could say UW Tacoma is in its early adolescence,”
Steven Olswang, interim chancellor for UWT, told the House Higher
Education Committee. “Fourteen years is like a blink of
an eye in the life of most universities, and we have accomplished
a tremendous amount in a short time. The study mandated by SHB
2707 comes at an appropriate time to help us clearly articulate
how we will grow and mature as a campus.”
Read
more about the House Education Committee visit to UWT
UW
Tacoma helps region be 'Most Livable'
UW
Tacoma’s contributions to quality of life in Tacoma and
Pierce County were not lost on a crowd of mayors and community
leaders from throughout the nation gathered at the National Press
Club in Washington, D.C., April 21 to celebrate the country’s
most livable communities.
Tacoma
Mayor Bill Baarsma accepted a “Most Livable Community”
award on behalf of our region from Partners for Livable Communities,
a national organization gives the awards only once every decade.
Neal
Peirce of the Washington Post Writers Group presented the award
to Tacoma-Pierce County. After Mayor Baarsma touched on the amenities,
including UWT, that contribute to our region’s success,
Peirce commented on the interesting and important role metropolitan
universities are playing in establishing livable communities.
Peirce is a nationally syndicated columnist who is noted for identifying
important trends in how cities and states govern themselves.
The
Tacoma/Pierce County area is one of 30 cities, towns and regions
to win the coveted awards. Mike Wark, director of Public Relations
and Communications, represented UWT in the delegation that received
the award and participated with the city, Chamber of Commerce
and Port of Tacoma in interviews with a variety of publications,
including Barron's Business & Financial Weekly, Kiplinger
Washington Letter, and Governing magazine. Tacoma had already
been featured in a USA Today story announcing the awards. USA
Today also gave UWT some credit for Tacoma's renaissance.
Visit the Most Livable Communities Web site.
Administrative
Snapshot: A look at issues and projects at UWT
If
you are working on something you think should be included here,
please contact Inside Track at uwtnews@u.washington.edu.
Choose
an issue/project:
Faculty
and staff notes
Naarah
McDonald has joined the Milgard School of Business as
an office assistant.
Larry
Peters has joined the KeyBank Professional Development
Center as a program manager.
Mike
Wark (Public Relations) has been selected to host the
TV Tacoma talk show "Business Matters," which airs weekly
on public cable channel 12. The show features business leaders
and works to provide an inside perspective on Tacoma's economy
and business community. The show was previously hosted by Juli
Wilkerson, former head of the City of Tacoma's Economic Development
Department.
Shawnessy
Westcott (OESSA) received her MA in Organizational Leadership
from Chapman University May 7.
