Category: Provost Messages

I still remember the key event that sparked what would become a passion for understanding prions. It involved a bet for a slice of pie, which I lost to a postdoc in the lab where I was conducting undergraduate research on lipid metabolism. 

To say he was eccentric would be an understatement, and when he asked me one day if I had heard about infectious proteins, I was skeptical (and am now dating myself). He was adamant that he could prove it to me, hence the bet, and after a trip to the library to photocopy a few research articles (another anecdote that dates me), he convinced me. And I have been hooked ever since. 

I was reminded of this story when I read interviews with 12 UW researchers who described how they fell in love with their research. For Katya Cherukumilli, outdoor experiences as child inspired her to research access to drinking water. Frequent power outages and surges prompted June Lukuyu to develop sustainable energy solutions for underserved communities. And Bára Šafářová became an expert on Chagas disease, thanks to a bug who bit her in the middle of the night. You can read their stories, and others, published by UW News. 

Across our campuses, more than 62,000 students are falling in love with science, the humanities, the arts, medicine. They are discovering passions and interests that may last a month, or a lifetime. In addition to sunny weather, cherry blossoms and the excitement of commencement ceremonies, spring quarter brings us many opportunities that are open to the public to see what our students are doing and the impact they are having on advancing knowledge and understanding for the benefit of all.

Undergraduate engagement and research are the focus of two celebrations on the Seattle campus. The Spring CELEbration, 4:30-7:30 p.m., Wednesday, May 7 in the HUB, will feature student presentations on their community-based service, leadership and advocacy as part of the Community Engagement and Leadership Education (CELE) Center and Mary Gates Scholars program – housed within Undergraduate Academic Affairs (UAA). 

On May 16, more than 1,200 undergraduates from 100 disciplines across our three campuses and other institutions will set up their posters, give 10-minute oral presentations, hang their visual art and designs, and take the stage at the Undergraduate Research Symposium, also sponsored by UAA. I am looking forward to attending the opening of this daylong symposium, which has taken place for nearly 30 years.  

Another is the Graduate School’s Three-Minute Thesis , which challenges graduate students to explain their research – in everyday language – in just three minutes with one slide. This competition, May 22 in Alder Hall, celebrates the exciting capstone and research experiences of master’s and doctoral students at the University of Washington from all three campuses. I am excited to serve as a judge at this year’s competition. 

iSchool students will give in person and virtual presentations on their milestone projects, such as capstones, volunteer work, portfolios, research and study abroad, at the iSchool Showcase, 5:30-9 p.m., Wednesday, June 4, in the HUB. 

 Art and design students graduating this year will showcase their best works in the 2025 Graduation Exhibitions. This series of shows takes place through June 15 at the Jacob Lawrence Gallery and the Henry Art Gallery to celebrate students in the School of Art + Art History + Design’s bachelors, master’s of fine arts and master of design programs. 

Each quarter at UW Tacoma, undergraduates majoring in environmental sciences, biomedical sciences, environmental sustainability, and mathematics present their research, internships, community service and innovations. Spring quarter’s Sciences and Mathematics Undergraduate Research Symposium (SAMURS), will be at 10 a.m.-2 p.m., Thursday, June 12, in Milgard Hall.

Through film screenings, student-led talks, exhibitions, presentations and poster sessions, UW Bothell students from across disciplines will present their research and learning at the campus-wide Student Academic Showcase May 13-15. 

And if you did not have an opportunity to join President Cauce and me, along with other UW leaders, faculty and staff, to celebrate the 10th cohort of the Husky 100, please read the amazing stories of how these undergraduate and graduate students are making the most of their time at the UW. 

These showcases are tangible examples of why we are here — to teach, mentor and guide our students so they can keep innovation, research and creativity moving forward for not only their generation but also for those to come. Almost nothing is more rewarding than seeing this passion come alive in our students, watching them ask questions, and pursue answers, solutions, and new expressions. 

At a time when the value of this work is questioned and the weight of that lost trust is felt every day, we must not be distracted from these opportunities to engage with our students and to celebrate their accomplishments. As was the case for each one of us, these experiences mark the beginning of a lifetime of contributions built from an initial interest, nurtured by opportunities to explore it in depth, and serving as the foundation for endless paths to realize its impact in the world. This continuum forms the core of our mission, and together we have always and will continue to ensure its resilience. 

I look forward to sharing in the joy of these events with you.  

 

Across the University, we work collectively to provide a welcoming, supportive environment that encourages curiosity, creativity, discovery, and innovation. It is within this environment that students find their passions and chart their futures, faculty advance knowledge and make discoveries, and staff support and strengthen all aspects of the University. The different perspectives and experience each of us contributes enrich and inform the environment — and the impact that comes from it. 

As I noted in my town hall presentation last month, we must encourage, maintain and protect our connections to each other in this moment and for the future. And in unpredictable times, we must use our differences as our guide to expand the relevance of our mission to all. 

Because we are committed to fostering a culture where each person feels confident in expressing their opinions and concerns — and because faculty play a vital role in that outcome — the Office of the Provost is piloting two programs that we plan to continue in years to come. One is training to assist faculty in navigating and resolving conflicts in academic settings, and the second is the Provost’s Academy to cultivate the next generation of UW academic leaders and bring additional perspectives to University-wide work. 

Conflict Engagement and Resolution Training 

Deans, associate deans, chairs, and faculty from all three campuses are learning how to navigate conflict effectively in academic settings through the Conflict Engagement and Resolution Training Program. This program is sponsored by the Office of the Provost and Academic Personnel and Faculty, in partnership with Professor Christine Cimini and Emeritus Associate Professor Alan Kirtley from the School of Law’s Mediation Clinic. 

These in-person, hands-on training sessions cover the basics of conflict theory, as participants learn to: 

• engage in difficult conversations in a respectful and productive manner, 
• de-escalate situations that may become hostile or inflamed, 
• and approach conflict constructively to reach resolutions that benefit all parties. 

Seventy-two participants will engage in the training in three cohorts, meeting in March, May, or June.   

Provost’s Academy 

Because our University’s greatest strength is the people who create our unique take on the academic mission, elevating diverse perspectives from different vantage points is key to our continued excellence. 

To provide a pathway for integrating those perspectives into institution-wide projects, the Provost’s Academy is designed to recognize and engage emerging faculty leaders throughout the University. The Provost’s Academy provides a dynamic experience that blends experiential learning, collaborative projects, networking and mentorship to foster both personal and professional growth for participants and to advance our academic mission. 

The participants are engaging in strategic thinking and planning alongside senior UW leaders as they develop a deeper understanding of the issues that affect the administration of UW programs and initiatives and their interconnectivity. 

The six faculty, listed below, in this inaugural cohort are gaining insights, through direct participation in a project, into one of the major functional areas of the Office of the Provost, each led by a vice provost.

Cecilia Aragon, professor, Human Centered Design & Engineering
François Baneyx, vice provost for innovation and director of CoMotion
UW faculty consistently develop ideas, algorithms, designs, and methods with significant potential, yet many faculty remain hesitant to pursue commercialization due to unfamiliarity with entrepreneurial processes and terminology. Cecilia Aragon is identifying barriers, friction points and challenges from the perspectives of CoMotion staff and faculty participants. Then, she will develop either a low-stakes, time-efficient entrepreneurial environment or enhancements to CoMotion’s existing programs to reduce barriers to faculty engagement and accelerate the translation of academic innovation into market-ready solutions. 

Ted Poor, associate professor, Music
Ed Taylor, vice provost and dean or undergraduate academic affairs
At the core of great music lies many principles, skills and perspectives that transcend the field of music to other areas of study – intensive listening, improvisation, and sustained focus, to name a few. Ted Poor is gathering ideas from faculty and undergraduates on creativity, improvisation, and how individuals can leverage their perspectives to work towards excellence and discovery. This work has the potential to spark new collaborations in faculty research and interdisciplinary, project based, research-forward courses.  

Emma Spiro, associate professor in the iSchool and a co-founder and faculty director of the UW Center for an Informed Public
Fred Nafukho, vice provost for academic personnel and faculty
Mari Ostendorf, vice provost for research
Building on her center’s collaborations with units across campus, Emma Spiro is designing UW policy for developing proactive measures and responses to incidents of researcher intimidation and harassment. In addition, she is gaining a deeper understanding of the Office of the Provost’s responsibilities, especially those related to academic personnel and faculty. 

Casey Self, teaching professor, Biology 
Becca Price, professor, Interdisciplinary Arts & Sciences at UW Bothell 
Phil Reid, vice provost of academic strategy and affairs 
Course and program learning outcomes are essential in defining our general education curriculum. They are a critical component of instructional quality and are requisite to meet certain accreditation standards. In light of this, a task force, co-chaired by Becca Price, is identifying a process to define and curate undergraduate learning outcomes. At the same time, Casey Self, who is a member of the task force, is focusing on ensuring that learning outcomes are aligned with the core elements of effective teaching, as defined by Faculty Senate’s recently approved Class A legislation. Subsequent work will involve implementation of the task force recommendations. 

Heather Hill, professor, Evans School 
Mari Ostendorf, vice provost for research 
Heather Hill is helping the Office of Research expand and rethink efforts to communicate the breadth of UW research impact to the public, including telling stories of the people who benefit from UW research and fostering conversations that help researchers see new opportunities for their work to benefit the people of our state. 

Already, Mari Ostendorf has found value in working with the Provost’s Academy participants. “They bring perspectives of different research disciplines that contribute to my decision making and problem solving. It’s also an opportunity for the fellows to learn about the variety and complexity of challenges facing leadership, particularly right now.” 

Open to full-time faculty members on all tracks and all three campuses who have been appointed at the UW for at least three years and are beyond the first promotion review, the program received more than three dozen applications for the six spots in inaugural cohort. 

UW faculty are renowned for their innovative thinking and collaborative approach. These programs highlight faculty enthusiasm for expanding the reach of these assets to advance all aspects of our University. Especially during these times, I know that it will be the engagement of our faculty that will pave the way to our continued success. 

 

Just over five years ago, the University was on the precipice of a shut down at the leading edge of what would become a global pandemic. The devastating health outcomes of COVID-19 combined with the unknown impact of the emerging response on day-to-day life was overwhelming. The path forward was uncertain. That period will always be a somber one for the world, marked by both personal and collective loss. It is also a period in which people banded together with a shared purpose of getting through the crisis by thinking differently about their work and finding a way to continue it for the benefit of all.  

At our own University, this resilience saved countless lives, symbolized our commitment to the public good, and protected our educational and research missions for the future. This remarkable achievement was only possible through the commitment and heroic work of faculty, staff, and student workers. President Cauce and I thank all of you, who not only kept our mission going during that time but also ensured our recovery in the years that followed. Today, we are in a strong position not only in delivering our mission but also financially, with robust enrollment, growing patient care, record research activity, and important philanthropic support. 

Today, we face a different type of challenge that will require us to find the same resiliency that we now know is possible. Despite a good financial position, unprecedented and rapid policy changes at the federal level have increased the risk of funding cuts that threaten the University’s financial stability. At the state level, a significant budget shortfall is leading our legislature to grapple with a range of measures including budget cuts and furloughs, although the latter are particularly ill-suited to higher education because the cost of implementation minimizes the actual savings realized. Nonetheless, these risks together have the potential to jeopardize the full scope of our work, including existing and new research projects, patient care, instruction and basic operations.  

We are advocating for the UW by communicating the importance of our work for a thriving and secure future, including keeping the economy strong and the population healthy, for our communities, the state of Washington, the nation and the world. At the same time, we must also do our part to protect our future in the face of these unknowns.  

We are entering this period of uncertainty with the benefit of some advanced planning already in progress. Early this year, we initiated the Together We Thrive program, aiming to put the University on a path to better align expenses and revenue, while supporting new opportunities for growth. This program focuses on both operational and administrative adjustments to improve the UW’s long-term financial health. 

Given the challenges we now face at the federal and state levels, we expect that some level of budget cuts will become necessary, and the time has now come to expand our financial sustainability efforts. President Cauce and I outlined several measures to be undertaken immediately in a message to University leadership on Friday. These include modeling potential future reductions in core funding and acting now to manage costs proactively, including: 

• Pausing non-essential staff hiring 
• Limiting faculty hiring as previously directed and communicated 
• Cancelling non-essential travel and training 
• Reducing food purchases and other discretionary spending 
• Renegotiating or ending non-essential external service contracts 
• Opting into shared services  

Chancellors (or their designees), Seattle campus deans and other President’s Cabinet-level officials shall oversee implementation of these measures for their campuses, schools and units, including assessment of essential positions and activities. If you have questions or concerns about these measures, please reach out to your unit’s leadership.

I recognize that the ups and downs of public funding – and the uncertainty of this moment, in particular – prompt stress, worry and anxiety. By using this time to proactively save our resources and thoughtfully plan, we will be better prepared to manage any future funding cuts to protect our mission for the public good. While it won’t be easy, working together with a common purpose and supporting one another is the path to overcoming adversity, as we proved five years ago. Let’s trust in that Husky resilience, innovation, and determination again today.