Administrative Snapshot: November 2007
Names of key participants appear in brackets at the end of most items.

>> NEW THIS MONTH

Strategic Planning Committee prepares final draft

The UW Tacoma Strategic Planning Steering Committee is preparing to submit a final draft of the strategic plan to the campus community and the UW Tacoma Advisory Board in December. The draft plan evolved from a lengthy and inclusive process that began in summer of 2006. The Steering Committee believes that it is a consensus document that charts our direction for the next ten years based both on current realities and manageable aspirations.  It is intended to be flexible with changing circumstances. The final complete draft will distributed by email and on the Strategic Planning Web site on Dec. 10.  Each constituency—faculty, staff, students, administration and advisory board—will then be asked to affirm the document by procedures of their choice early in the Winter 2008 quarter. [Jim Coolsen]

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Endowment fund continues to grow

UW Tacoma’s endowment grew to just over $24 million this year, increasing nearly $6 million since this time last year and greatly enhancing the university’s ability to support its programs and students. The fund consists of 24 individual endowments, which are permanent funds established to support a specific purpose, such as an academic chair, deanship or scholarship. The principal of an endowed fund is invested to grow over time while income it produces is used to support the endowment’s purpose. Endowments also grow when new gifts are received. Endowments at UW Tacoma include the First Step Scholarship Endowment for freshmen, the Port of Tacoma Chair and individual scholarship endowments being created through the Faculty, Staff, Retiree Campaign for Students. [Carol Van Natta]

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Global Honors offers 200-level class

The Global Honors program, which has served highly motivated students in most programs on campus for the last two years, is taking its first step toward become a four-year program by offering a 200-level course this spring. Global Honors 203, called "Themes in Global Honors," will explore an interdisciplinary idea each time it's taught (e.g., notions of the family, the idea of Hell, madness, water—all through lenses of science, humanities, and social science). The course aims to entice talented home-grown freshmen and sophomores into the joys of sophisticated global approaches to learning. Associate Professor George Mobus will teach this new course on its maiden voyage, exploring the idea of maps – concepts of mapping spaces and the human mind, mapping and power relations, maps in literature and the arts, etc. The course will include an experiential learning process called "the city as text," sending students out into neighborhoods around UWT and mapping them according to their people, buildings, thoroughfares, economic and social exchanges, and histories. [Claudia Gorbman]

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Leadership Changes

A national search for a new director of the Social Work Program is under way. Shahrokh Saudagaran, dean of the Milgard School, is chairing the search. Tom Diehm,interim director of Social Work, Brian Coffey, director of Urban Studies, and Marylou Balassone (from UW Seattle) are serving as an interim management team for the program while the search is conducted. Interim leadership for the Education Program has also been established. Education faculty members Jose Rios and Diane Kinder are serving as co-directors for that program. [Beth Rushing]

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Changes to Social Work Program

After conducting considerable research among the Social Work Program’s various constituencies this summer, Social Work is putting together plans for some new program directions and shifts in focus for current offerings. More details will be forthcoming. [Thomas Diehm]

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New Programs

There are several new degree programs in various stages of the approval process. These include a minor in Business and majors in the following disciplines: Arts in Community, Human Rights, Creative & Professional Writing, Information Technology & Systems, Sustainable Urban Development, and Health Care Leadership. [Beth Rushing]

>> STILL CURRENT FROM LAST MONTH

Combined Fund Drive

The Combined Fund Drive at UW Tacoma began Oct. 2 and runs through Dec. 7. Through this drive, UW Tacoma faculty and staff can give to a number of charitable organizations through one easy form. Last year our CFD supported more than 100 charities and organizations, including Community Health Care, United Way of Pierce County, the Salvation Army and more. You can even give directly to your favorite program at UW or UW Tacoma. To give to the Combined Fund Drive online, visit the Giving Station and log in with your UW NetID. UW Tacoma coordinators are Ysabel Trinidad, Shelby Fritz and Michelle Brittany. [Ysabel Trinidad]