Category: Uncategorized

Meet UW’s new Dean of Education Mia Tuan.

Watch more episodes of UW 360 at UWTV.

Tiny Tots Development Center is a non-profit center dedicated to servicing underprivileged families in the Puget Sound area. It is receiving some fresh ideas and assistance from students at the Foster School of Business.

Watch more episodes of UW 360 at UWTV.

“On behalf of University of Washington students, faculty, staff and alumni, I want to express my thanks and appreciation to our elected officials for making investments in higher education a true budget priority during the 2015 legislative session. While the previous budget began to reverse the long-term trend of shifting the burden of paying for college from the state to students and their families, this new spending plan truly recommits the State of Washington to supporting public higher education. This historic tuition reduction is outstanding news for our students and their families, and I applaud the governor and legislators who came together to make this possible.
“I also want to thank policymakers for their support of UW’s efforts to educate the health professionals Washington needs to be healthy and prosperous. The budget agreement enables us not only to continue medical education in Spokane and eastern Washington through WWAMI, but to expand our ability to educate physicians for all of Washington State. I am also grateful for the legislature’s support for expansion of our computer science program through investments to expand enrollment to help us meet another critical workforce need for the state.”

The University of Washington is hosting a series of events in Spokane this week and next.

On Wednesday (June 17), UW Interim President Ana Mari Cauce hosted a kickoff reception at the new UW Spokane Center (201 W. Main). It was a wonderful gathering of state and local elected officials, business and community leaders, UW faculty and staff, and friends of the University. View photos from the event here.

On Wednesday evening, the UW Alumni Association hosted its annual Welcome to Washington dinner at the Spokane Club. Over 200 alumni, parents, incoming students, and UW faculty attended — and had the chance to hear from Pres. Cauce as well as Dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs Ed Taylor.

Next week, on Wednesday, June 24 the UW Spokane Center will host an Open House from 2PM-5PM.

The afternoon will feature fun for all ages with great music, food and beverages, purple-and-gold prizes, apparel discounts and visits from some of your Husky favorites — including the UW Husky Marching Band, the UW Cheer Team and Harry the Husky!

Learn more about the Open House and the Spokane Center here.

UW State Relations was pleased to attend Governor Jay Inslee‘s signing of HB 1813, a bill that expands computer science education in K-12 schools. The bipartisan bill was sponsored by Reps. Drew Hansen, D-Bainbridge Island, and Chad Magendanz, R-Issaquah, and intends to help prepare more Washington students for jobs in the high-tech industry. Read more about the bill in news releases from the members here and here.

In related news, the Legislature has now turned the corner into the second half of the second special session (today is day 14 of 30).

Stay tuned to the blog and our Twitter and Facebook streams for updates!

A group of UW Regents were in Olympia this week to advocate for UW and public higher education. Regents met with a bi-partisan cross-section of state legislators in both the House and Senate.

Discussions centered on the state budget and the need for reinvestment in public higher education, as well as medical education and UW’s capital funding requests.

The meetings come at a key time in Olympia, as legislators are in the midst of floor action, considering a wide range of proposals that have been passed out of policy and fiscal committees.

In the coming week, legislative members will continue apace with floor action, debating and voting on bills.

For more detail on the state’s recently released revenue forecast, read this brief from UW’s Office of Planning & Budgeting.

Now that decision-makers have a better idea of the state’s fiscal picture following the forecast, in terms of a timeline for the state budget, the House goes first this year in releasing its plan. At present, the House is anticipated to release its plan sometime later this month (March). As a reminder, the House’s proposal will be the second step in a lengthy state budget process; the first being the Governor’s budget plan released in December (Read OPB’s brief on that proposal here). Following the House plan, the Senate will then likely respond with its plan, and then negotiations will ensue to find a compromise.

State Relations and OPB will continue to monitor developments in Olympia as House and Senate leadership in fiscal committees work toward release of their initial budget proposals.

Check the Session Cutoff Calendar for other important dates coming up. For a refresher on the legislative process, read more about how a bill becomes a law in the Washington State Legislature.

The Senate Health Care committee held a hearing and passed SB 5909 today, a bipartisan proposal intended to comprehensively address the critical need for primary-care access and healthcare-workforce shortages in Washington’s rural and underserved communities.

Specifically, the proposal would:

• Expand the UW School of Medicine and Dentistry in Spokane to train more rural doctors and dentists at about half the cost of the national average. The legislation would, over time, expand the number of UW medical school slots in Spokane from 40 to 120 students per year, providing greater opportunities for Washington students to have access to medical school in their home state. The UW is also directed to increase the number of dental students from 8 to 30 students per year at its dental program in Spokane; 90 percent of the program’s graduates practice in rural and underserved areas across Washington.
• Increase investment in residency programs, the greatest predictor of where medical school graduates will stay and practice medicine, to encourage students to stay and practice not only in eastern Washington but in other rural and underserved areas of the state. Subject to state funding, the legislation would increase the number of family medicine residency positions, including positions for osteopathic providers, in underserved areas.
• Fund loan-repayment and scholarship opportunities for students who choose to serve in rural and underserved communities. Underserved communities would be provided additional resources to recruit and retain qualified health professionals. The legislation also would fund a rural medicine incentive program for students to help remove the financial barriers related to practicing medicine long-term in healthcare shortage areas.

Watch video via TVW’s website of testimony in support of the proposal from UW State Relations, UW School of Medicine, and UW School of Dentistry. Greater Spokane, Inc. testified in support of the expansion of UW School of Medicine in Spokane, which is included as a priority community initiative in their annual legislative agenda. The Washington State Medical Association also testified in support of increasing investment in residency programs.

Four current first year UW School of Medicine students also made the trek to Olympia today to register their support for the proposal. Watch video of the student panel’s testimony in support of SB 5909 via TVW’s website.