Office of the Dean
Graduate School of Public Affairs
April 14, 1997
Richard L. McCormick
President
University of Washington
Gerberding Hall
Dear Dick,
It is with great pleasure that on behalf
of the University Task Force on Public Service and Outreach, I
transmit our summary and final report, "With Community
Partners: Building Washington's Future." The Task Force
hopes that the report will provide the foundation for a new strategy
which takes full advantage of the University's extensive public
service and outreach efforts and at the same time charts a deliberately
collaborative path for the future with our constituencies.
The Task Force adopted as a basis for the
report the firmly held belief that public service and outreach
are integral components of the institution's missions of teaching,
research, and service. In this context, our recommendations are
designed both to enhance the integration of public service and
outreach into all three components of the mission and to ensure
that these activities become a systemic part of the UW's partnership
with the diverse set of communities it serves.
We have consulted broadly within the University,
and to a lesser extent beyond the University within the State
and nationally. What we have learned prompts us to urge a set
of more focused dialogues to raise levels of awareness, to build
consensus and to strengthen partnerships.
We also think it is important to take great
care in publicizing the report in order to avoid the perception
that the recommendations are already University policy. These
documents should instead be viewed as a window on the process
of developing a strategy to work more collaboratively. That is,
our work is only the first step in what must be many to link the
University and its constituents in mutually beneficial ways.
Therefore, the Task Force suggests you take
the following steps:
1. Distribute the Summary and Report
broadly within the University community. As you have with other
task force reports, we suggest that you announce the receipt of
the report and distribute it throughout the University seeking
comments, while emphasizing the critical importance of public
service and outreach to both the UW and the community. You may
wish to note that the report calls for each unit to assess public
service and outreach in terms of its own mission, and suggest
that process be initiated this Spring and completed in the Fall
term.
2. Seek external review. Because
of the particular nature of this Report, the Task Force suggests
you distribute it widely outside the University. The summary,
full report and appendices are available on the University's Home
page (www.washington.edu/reports/outreach). You also
may wish to inform the public of its existence through the news
media, emphasizing that it is currently undergoing a thorough
assessment by faculty, staff, and students and that you are seeking
community input.
We also urge you to seek external
counsel from a well-constructed and specifically directed focus
group of 10-12 community leaders. We urge a tone of openness tempered
with caution about avoiding promising more than the University
can deliver. We also suggest employing each Visiting Committee
to obtain external reactions to the Report.
3. As soon as possible, establish
an interim committee. This body could manage the review process
with the internal and external groups. Membership might be drawn
from senior members of the administration and some volunteers
from the Task Force.
4. Create the public service directory
and Web page described in the report. These will be immediately
useful in facilitating communication internally and externally.
5. Finally, following completion
of the reviews, described in 1 and 2 above, consider appointing
the Advisory Committee as described in the Report. The Task Force
suggests the establishment of this body as a permanent replacement
for the interim committee, to oversee and carry out our recommendations.
Once reactions to the Task Force Report
have been gathered and digested by the Advisory Council, you could
then complete the development and begin the implementation of
the University's long-term public service and outreach strategy.
We look forward to working with you on this
important activity.
Sincerely,
Margaret T. Gordon
Dean, Graduate School of Public Affairs
Chair, Task Force on University Public Service
and Outreach
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