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Provost’s blog

Working together to address the financial risks facing our University

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. 

 

For faculty: Expectations for making digital content accessible

Provost Serio recently sent this message to all UW faculty and instructors and a companion message to all UW staff.

Dear Colleagues,
I am writing to share information about the University of Washington’s efforts to respond to the standard for digital accessibility — in our course content, websites, programs, services and activities.

On April 24, 2024, the Department of Justice published a rule on digital accessibility under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This rule requires the University’s digital content to be accessible starting on April 24, 2026. Of note for instructors, this applies to course content such as videos, images, slide decks, documents, audio files, e-textbooks, course webpages and online tools.

Meeting this standard is not only a legal expectation but also an action consistent with our mission and values. Students with disabilities leave college at much higher rates than their peers. We all have an important role to play in meeting their accessibility needs by removing barriers at all levels. Together, we can ensure that the UW is a welcoming place to work and study — one where people with disabilities can thrive and make meaningful contributions unhindered.

This is, admittedly, a major effort, and you are not in this alone. It will take the combined effort of individual faculty, academic units, central groups that support accessibility and instruction, UW-IT, and others. New resources will be available in the coming months.

ADA Digital Accessibility Initiative will support the transition

To support this work, I have established an ADA Digital Accessibility Initiative whose action teams, composed of staff and faculty, are working now to develop recommendations for new resources, training, policies and tools — work that will be shared broadly as it evolves on the Digital Accessibility website. Faculty are deeply involved in the course content and innovation and research teams, in particular.

This initiative will help the UW:

  1. Chart the course toward substantial compliance with the revised standards by April 2026.
  2. Implement sustainable processes and tools to manage digital accessibility effectively.
  3. Provide training, tools and resources to faculty, staff and students.

Over the next several months, you may be invited to participate in information gathering efforts to inform the recommendations developed by the action teams. If you are interested in contributing, please send a message to digitalaccess@uw.edu.

What you can do now to prepare

While the action teams are in the process of developing tools, support and resources that will be put toward this new rule, there are initial steps we encourage you and your department to take as you prepare to teach upcoming courses:

  1. Delete or archive digital course content that you no longer use in that course (e.g., old versions of assignments, readings that are no longer required, duplicates). Tidying up your digital course materials now helps to clarify what needs attention.
  2. View the Ally Course Accessibility Report in Canvas to identify the most common type of accessibility flags in your courses where you can have an immediate impact. If you don’t use Canvas, now is a great time to start. At a minimum, please use the accessibility tools in your current platform (e.g., Microsoft Office).
  3. Watch for updates about this initiative and take advantage of opportunities to learn more about digital accessibility best practices.

Creating a campus culture of digital accessibility is an opportunity for us to more fully live our values and support the access needs of students with disabilities.

I am deeply grateful for your support and dedication as we undertake this important work. We welcome feedback about this initiative and encourage you to reach out to digitalaccess@uw.edu if you have concerns or ideas.

Thank you for your partnership in this vital initiative. With steady progress, working together, we’ll get there.

Sincerely,

Tricia R. Serio
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor, Biochemistry

For staff: Expectations for making digital content accessible

Provost Serio recently sent this message to all UW staff and a companion message to all UW faculty and instructors.

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to share information about the University of Washington’s efforts to respond to the standard for digital accessibility — in our course content, websites, programs, services and activities.

On April 24, 2024, the Department of Justice published a rule on digital accessibility under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). This rule requires the University’s digital content to be accessible starting on April 24, 2026. It encompasses public-facing digital platforms such as the UW website and mobile apps, in addition to content shared with colleagues and students on UW digital platforms, including academic course content.

Meeting this standard is not only a legal expectation but also an action consistent with our mission and values. Students with disabilities leave college at much higher rates than their peers. We all have an important role to play in meeting their accessibility needs by removing barriers at all levels. Together, we can ensure that the UW is a welcoming place to work and study — one where people with disabilities can thrive and make meaningful contributions unhindered.

This is, admittedly, a major effort, and you are not in this alone. It will take the combined effort of individual staff members and administrative unit leaders, central groups that support accessibility, UW-IT, faculty and academic units, and others.

ADA Digital Accessibility Initiative will support the transition

I have established an ADA Digital Accessibility Initiative whose action teams are developing recommendations for new resources, training, policies and tools. Information on the initiative and related work is available on the Digital Accessibility page and will be updated regularly. This initiative will help the UW:

  1. Chart the course toward substantial compliance with the revised standards by April 2026.
  2. Implement sustainable processes and tools to manage digital accessibility effectively.
  3. Provide training, tools and resources to faculty, staff and students.
What you can do now to prepare

While the action teams are in the process of developing tools, support and resources that will be put toward this new rule, there are initial steps we encourage you and your unit to take as you prepare. More information on the following steps can be found on this What You Can Do Now page:

  1. Learn what your unit is already doing to address digital accessibility. Many units have a coordinator for this work and have developed unit-specific approaches.
  2. Build your understanding of digital accessibility through new training opportunities, as well as in-depth information about specific topics such as documents, social media and websites.
  3. Review and inventory digital content for which you are responsible — this may include webpages, documents, videos, social media, training content and more. This will help you know what kind of resources, support and training to seek to help you improve the accessibility of your content.
  4. Delete or archive digital content that is no longer accurate, up-to-date or relevant. A webpage without extra pages and files is easier to make accessible.

Over the next several months, you may also be asked to participate in training sessions, contribute to accessibility reviews or adopt new tools and practices designed to ensure compliance. I urge each of you to embrace this effort as a reflection of our shared values and commitment to creating a campus culture of accessibility that meets the needs of members of our community with disabilities.

I encourage you to reach out to digitalaccess@uw.edu if you have suggestions about this initiative, and I am deeply grateful for your support and dedication as we undertake this important work. With steady progress, working together, we’ll get there.

Sincerely,

Tricia R. Serio
Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Professor, Biochemistry

AI Task Force Town Halls: Recordings & Upcoming Events

AI Task Force Speaker Series

AI at Work @ Microsoft
3-4 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 5, online.
Register for this event.

Microsoft’s Jared Spataro, chief marketing officer for AI at Work, and Kimberly Mishra, chief of staff and chief communications officer for UW Human Resources, discuss how AI can enhance productivity at work, followed by a moderated question-and-answer session. Please send your comments and questions prior to the event to townhall@uw.edu.

How AI Is Powering Business Systems in Industry
1-2 p.m., Tuesday, March 11, online.
Register for this event.
Matt Hull, vice president of global AI solutions at NVIDIA, and Emer Dooley, faculty member in the UW Foster School of Business and Foster’s Creative Destruction Lab, a mentor-driven program for early-stage startups rooted in computational health and manufacturing.

Recordings of past AI Task Force Town Halls

Thank you for joining us at the AI Task Force Town Hall series offered in autumn 2024. Each town hall explored a different aspect of the future of AI at the UW. If you were unable to attend or just want to review the conversations, please click the links below.