UW News

December 27, 2013

News digest: Fight hunger site, MyPlan extension, Energy Star rating, lecture nominations due

Letters UW and Farm with plants growingCheck Huskies Fight Hunger site as part of game day
The green-thumbed students, faculty and staff of the UW Farm, who donated more than 460 pounds of produce to the U District Food Bank, and the UW volunteers with Teen Feed, who offer nutritious meals and other basic support to homeless youth in the U District, are among the 16 examples on the new Huskies Fight Hunger website. The resource was created in conjunction with today’s Fight Hunger Bowl.

UW research into nutrition, global hunger and land-ownership laws are among other items highlighted on the page.

For every game ticket sold, the organizers of the Fight Hunger Bowl donate a meal to help feed the hungry in the San Francisco Bay area. The game, pitting the Huskies against Brigham Young University, starts at 6:30 p.m., at the AT&T Field in San Francisco.

Hand on computer keyboardUW online academic planner to be extended
A new version of MyPlan, an online academic planner that UW students use to map the courses they need in coming quarters to fulfill degree requirements, is being developed to serve students at Washington’s 34 community and technical colleges interested in attending and obtaining a UW degree.

The new version called “CTC2UW,” with “CTC” standing for community and technical colleges, aims to help students get ready to transfer to the UW, apply for their chosen major and plan their four-year degrees. Among other things, prospective students will be able to see how their credits transfer to UW course equivalencies and identify courses they can take prior to transferring that will help them with their UW degrees.

The tool is being developed in the next two years by UW-IT in conjunction with UW undergraduate admissions, the registrar’s office and advising as well as key liaisons at community and technical colleges. The work is being funded with $1 million from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation through its program that has a goal of doubling the number of students in south King County and south Seattle on track to graduate from college or earn a career credential by 2020.

UW Tower data center now ENERGY STAR certified
The UW Tower data center is one of 27 data centers in the country to have earned a 2013 Energy Star certification from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. This recognizes reduced power consumption, lowered carbon footprint and slower growth of future power needs. The UW Tower data center, operated by UW-IT, provides managed space, power and cooling of critical infrastructure supporting IT departments campus-wide. The UW is one of only two universities in the country to have ever received this certification.

Nominations due Jan. 31 for graduate school public lectures
The Graduate School Public Lecture Committee is accepting nominations for the Walker Ames Scholars Program, Jessie and John Danz Lecture Series and Mary Ann and John D. Mangels Lecture Series. The deadline for all nominations is 5 p.m. Jan. 31.

Nomination instructions can be found at the graduate school’s lecture series website and clicking on the nomination information link. For questions, contact Yvette Moy, 206-372-8609 or yvettef@uw.edu.