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Bjong Wolf Yeigh (pronounced "YAY") was named UW Bothell's third chancellor on May 21, 2013. He officially joined the University of Washington Bothell on Sept. 3, 2013. Learn more about the chancellor.
Enrollment and Student Affairs
Susan Jeffords, Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
The Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs is responsible for the academic components that contribute to fulfilling the University of Washington Bothell's mission to "provide access to excellence in higher education through innovative and creative curricula, interdisciplinary teaching and research, and a dynamic community of multicultural learning."
Since launching The 21 Century Campus Plan in 2007, academic affairs units, whose total budgets now come to over $30,000,000, have accomplished the following:
The Office of Academic Affairs is designed to support the goals, needs, and aspirations of all units involved in the academic enterprise through providing timely, precise, and thoughtful information regarding institutional policies, practices, and strategies. This is accomplished through the work of individuals and teams, including the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Learning, the Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research, the Director of Institutional Research, the Faculty Affairs Director, the Director of Strategic Initiatives, and the Curriculum Development Director.
Significant challenges await as we continue to fulfill the academic goals we have set as a community. Chief among them are:
Organizational Chart
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Sandeep Krishnamurthy, Dean
To become a top 25 business school in the country.
Our mission is to be a nationally-reputed and influential AACSB-accredited School of Business affiliated with the PRME initiative (www.unprme.org). We will aim for and reward excellence in faculty research and educational programs. Our school shall have a transformative influence on the region through our community engagement and thought leadership.
Inspiring Business Excellence.
We are an undepartmentalized business school with undergraduate and MBA programs in two locations east of Seattle, WA (Bothell and Bellevue). The school includes a BA, MBA, and executive education programs.
Strong Research Culture
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Bruce Burgett, Dean
The School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences provides a rigorous liberal arts education that draws connections across academic disciplines and links classroom learning to practical experience across diverse fields. As a faculty and staff, we inspire our students to engage creatively and ethically with the concerns of the region and the world. We dedicate ourselves to integrative research, innovative and effective pedagogy, and dynamic curricula that prepare students for careers and lives in complex and changing environments. As part of a public university, we provide access to this unique educational experience for an inclusive community of students, staff, and faculty. – IAS Mission Statement
As the founding academic unit at the University of Washington Bothell, the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences (IAS) benefits from two-and-a-half decades of experience and experimentation with interdisciplinary and engaged forms of research, teaching, and institution-building. Our undergraduate curriculum provides the arts and sciences core of the campus, with degrees ranging from a Bachelor of Science in Environmental Science to a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Arts. Our structure as a non-departmentalized school of interdisciplinary arts and sciences allows us to deliver our curricula in flexible and innovative ways. We house nearly one-third of the campus's full-time faculty and account for one-third of the student FTE, while our budget represents one-tenth of campus resources.
The IAS faculty and staff develop, teach, and oversee interdisciplinary curricula that encourage all UW Bothell students to connect academic disciplines and to hone their learning in non-classroom settings ranging from environmental restoration sites to performance venues. We are unique among arts and sciences units nationally in that all of our undergraduate and graduate degrees stress the integration of academic disciplines, while linking learning to experience across diverse fields. This integration of interdisciplinary and practice-based education allows our students to create new knowledge about the world as they make a difference in it. It also allows us to hire and promote faculty members who want to research and teach in ways that are meaningful to debates within the university and beyond its walls.
Beginning in 2008, the growth of UW Bothell has been guided by the 21st Century Campus Initiative: UW Bothell Priorities Plan: 2008-2020. Since the adoption of the 21st Century Campus Initiative, IAS has contributed to this growth by achieving the following key benchmarks:
Full achievement of the mission and strategic goals for the unit is constrained by several factors, all of which are exacerbated by the need to enhance educational quality in the context of rapid growth, severe budget constraints, and short-term planning/budget cycles. These factors include issues related to staffing, facilities, funding for students, and support for faculty scholarship.
To execute our unit goals, we will need to continue to hire and retain faculty and to develop new degrees at a steady pace. This growth will require multi-year academic planning and budgetary commitments.
To achieve this growth, we will need additional specialized instructional and research space on or off campus. This need is most pressing in curricular areas related to media production, environmental science, and the arts.
To ensure that growth does not come at the expense of quality, we will need to enhance resources and staff support for faculty scholarship and student learning across the areas of research, teaching, and engagement. This initiative will require staffing for constituency relations and advancement activities.
To maintain our campus commitment to interdisciplinary and engaged scholarship, we will need to develop mechanisms to catalyze cross-unit collaboration and coordination as the campus grows.
Elaine Scott, Dean
Our vision is to be a focal point for innovative STEM education and research that promotes responsible engagement with our world and society - School of STEM Vision Statement
While the Puget Sound region boasts of numerous aerospace, biotech, and computing companies, there is a shortage of skilled professionals within Washington State to fill the employment demands of these industries, prompting many companies to recruit from outside the region or move elsewhere. We aim to address these needs by increasing access and capacity for critical STEM degrees and by engaging in research that addresses important issues of our society. We seek to create opportunities for students from a variety of backgrounds to succeed in completing STEM degrees through engagement in experiential learning within a collaborative environment that promotes reflection of the impact of their work on society and the environment. Building on a strong foundation in computer science, biology, and electrical engineering, we are in the process of increasing our facilities through the completion of UW3 and developing and implementing new degree programs in areas such as mathematics, cyber security, integrated media design, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, chemistry, consciousness, neuroscience, and physics.
We continue to build our programs through our four core values of collaboration, opportunity, relevance, and engagement. We promote collaboration among our students, faculty and community partners, provide opportunity for students to succeed in STEM fields and become responsible citizens, reflect on the relevance of our research efforts on our students and society, and stimulate student engagement through innovative education experiences in and out of the classroom.
Approved by the Board of Regents in March 2013, the School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics was formed from a merger of the Computing and Software Systems (CSS) and the Science and Technology (S&T) Programs. The CSS program was formed in 1996 with degrees in Computer Science and Software Engineering (B.S., M.S.) and Applied Computing (B.A.), along with a graduate certificate in Software Design and Development. S&T was formed in 2009 with degrees in Biology (B.S.), Climate Science (B.S.) and Electrical Engineering (B.S.). Once these two programs were joined, four Divisions (Biological Sciences, Computing and Software Systems, Engineering and Mathematics, and Physical Sciences) were formed within the School with responsibilities for curricula, faculty recruitment, tenure and promotion. By the fall of 2013, the School will have 40 full-time faculty members and eight degree programs, including new degree programs in Cyber Security Engineering (M.S.), Integrated Media Design (B.A.), and Mathematics (B.S.).
By integrating most of the campus's STEM faculty into a single unit, the School will
• Strategically orient the campus's STEM activities around a common set of goals, priorities, and values.
• Increase the visibility and availability of STEM curricula and research at UWB for future students and academic stakeholders.
• Efficiently support future campus growth.
• Encourage and reward collaboration among STEM faculty within and across disciplines.
• Enhance capacity for interdisciplinary, collaborative research endeavors for faculty and students.
• Create opportunities for innovation in curriculum that optimizes efficiency and student access.
The goals for the School stem from the campus mission and strategic plan, which focuses on Growth, Resourcefulness, Diversity, Student-Centeredness, Community, Innovation, and Sustainability. Efforts for 2013-14 will focus on the following areas:
The chief challenges facing the School of STEM first include inadequate funding equipment in UW3. We estimate that it will cost over 2.5 million to fully equip the labs, and the State did not include equipment costs when providing funding when the building. Another concern is the lack of sufficient tenure-track faculty to support our degree programs despite our rapid growth. This is not only important to ensure the quality of our programs; it is an important safety concern as well. A third challenge is the lack of sufficient staff to support the goals of the School. Our programs have been growing rapidly, and our staff is struggling to keep up with the increasing demands. It is possible that morale will fade if this is not addressed. A final concern is the lack of research space. Although UW3 will greatly improve our classroom capabilities, it lacks in sufficient laboratory research space to support our growing faculty.
Marc Servetnick, Chair and Associate Professor, Division of Biological Sciences
The Division of Biological Sciences was formed as part of the School of STEM in March 2013. The Biology degree program is only three years old, but we have grown significantly in this short time. We have a broad curriculum, with a focus on hands-on undergraduate research that prepares students across a range of areas in biology. Our goal is to train students for post-baccalaureate studies in the health professions (medicine, dentistry, etc.) or graduate school, or to work in a broad range of biology-related careers, from biotechnology, lab research and field work to secondary school teaching. Enrollments have increased rapidly, as have graduates: we graduated 5 students in Spring/Summer '11, and only two years later, we expect to have approximately 60 graduates in Spring/Summer '13.
To address this growth, we have rapidly added courses and lecturers, but we have a pressing need for more research-active faculty. One of our faculty members has been able to get NSF funding, and we aim to build a much stronger research presence.
We also hope to expand degree offerings with a minor in Neuroscience, a minor in Consciousness, and a program in Biotechnology. We need to improve collaboration with local industry – especially given that we are part of the Biomedical Manufacturing Innovation Zone – to better meet their needs, and to find meaningful internship opportunities for our students. And, we need to assess our progress thus far to be sure we are meeting our goals.
We would like to expand our curricular offerings into several areas:
The biggest challenges that face the Division are
Michael Stiber, Associate Dean, School of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, Interim Chair and Professor, Division of Computing and Software Systems
We believe that computing is an increasingly essential element across all aspects of society, that it is an enfine for economic growth and social change, and that broad access to a computing education is a matter of social justice. Towards this end, we are committed to maintaining a faculty who lead the state of the art in the profession and play a unique and important role in the university's academic mission.
CSS was founded in 1996 as only the second academic unit at any UW campus producing computing graduates. Our initial degree offering was what is now named the B.S. in Computer Science and Software Engineering (B.S. CSSE). We proposed a career transition M.S. degree in 2003; it was approved then by the UW Regents but did not have any UW Bothell resources assigned to it and therefore did not admit any students. It was eventually started as the M.S. in Computer Science and Software Engineering (M.S. CSSE) in fall 2011 as a self-sustaining degree. The CSS Program initiated a second bachelor degree, a B.A. in Applied Computing (B.A. AC) in 2007.
CSS and its faculty were heavily involved in campus discussions surrounding broader UWB STEM education. We developed a proposal for a B.S. in Electrical Engineering that was approved in early 2009 within a newly created Science and Technology Program. Conversations commenced shortly thereafter about campus-level reorganization and a merger of CSS and S&T, which culminated in spring 2013 with the creation of the new School of STEM and CSS becoming a Division within that school.
Degrees: We currently have students enrolled in two undergraduate degrees (B.S. CSSE and B.A. AC), one graduate degree (M.S. CSSE), and one transcripted graduate certificate (Graduate Certificate in Software Design and Development). We are participating in the start-up of two new degrees for fall 2013: our M.S. in Cyber Security Engineering (M.S.CSE, a self-sustaining degree) and a joint (with the School of IAS) B.A. in Interactive Media Design. CSS is collaborating with the Engineering and Mathematics Division on the creation of a B.S. in Computer Engineering, which we believe will finish its approval process in late 2013 or early 2014.
Research: For fall 2013, CSS will have 15 full-time faculty, including 10 tenure-track faculty. Research areas span the breadth of computer science and software engineering, including software traceability, eScience, social computing, parallel and distributing computing, computational biology, cyber security, pervasive systems, knowledge management, computer vision, human and social aspects of software development, computational neuroscience, computer graphics, sensor networks, and computer science education.
Enrollment: UWB CSS has consistently been among the largest producers of bachelor's degrees in computing fields in Washington State since its founding. As the figure illustrates, since recovering from the dot-com bust around 2003–06, our graduation numbers have grown at a dizzying pace, and we are on track to become the largest producer of such degrees. As IMD and computer engineering come on line, this trend could accelerate even beyond its current pace.
CSS faces a unique opportunity to capitalize on chronic underinvestment in public higher education — computing education in particular — in Washington. With our location in the heart of a high technology corridor that combines virtually every aspect of the technology industry, we can become the premier program in this area for undergraduate education and career transition in computer science related fields. Moreover, given the relatively small size of other computing units and UWB's support of interdisciplinary and community-engaged scholarship, we have a realistic prospect of becoming a center of strength in carefully selected research fields. Specific initiatives in planning include:
To achieve these goals, we will need to secure sufficient resources. Specifically, we will need significant growth in faculty numbers. While we have hired faculty steadily over the last few years, we have also lost two faculty to retirements and one faculty member to STEM expansion (a CSS faculty member who went on to coordinate the electrical engineering start-up). Four of our recent hires have been dedicated to, and supported by, CSS self-sustaining graduate degrees and one has been dedicated to the B.A. in IMD. Thus, though there are 15 full-time CSS faculty, we have experienced a net gain of only one faculty member during the massive increase in undergraduate enrollment — and all of the recent tenure-track hires have been devoted to the new degrees. As a result, we project that substantially more than half of our courses during 2013–14 will be taught by part-time faculty. Not only is this unsustainable, but it has adversely and noticeably impacted student learning and we are on the verge of having word of poor student experiences interfere with our student recruitment efforts. Moreover, because of the extreme difficulty of finding qualified computing professionals to teach part-time, it is clear that we cannot offer enough classes to support further enrollment growth using contingent faculty.
We believe that SPEAR Cloud has the potential to grow beyond the bounds of supporting the MSCSE (which funds its baseline operations). We have already been actively using it in training exercises with the WA Army National Guard and the Hawaii National Guard and to support the Pacific Rim Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition. There is strong interest in using SPEAR Cloud by other UW academic units for teaching and research. Here, we primarily need assistance with start-up expenses to enable us to build and run an externally-facing operation that can secure sufficient community support to become self-sustaining.
Leslie Ashbaugh, Director
The Center for University Studies and Programs (CUSP) supports the successful transition to college of the most diverse student body in Washington State. Our unit provides the foundation on which First Year and Pre-Major transfer students develop personal, scholarly, and professional growth. In just seven years, and in keeping with UW Bothell's mission, we have significantly increased access for first-generation college students and underrepresented groups.
The Center for University Studies and Programs (CUSP) supports innovations in curriculum, teaching, assessment and student support and ensures the overall academic experience at UW Bothell achieves the goals of a broad liberal education as students fulfill general education requirements. CUSP is intended to serve as a support system for individual students and a focal point for collaboration among the faculty of the various academic programs and the staff of student and academic services. The CUSP curriculum reflects our campus mission, emphasizing close student-faculty interaction, collaboration among students, high-impact experiential learning opportunities, diverse course offerings and assessment of student learning and best teaching practices.
The Discovery Core, a foundational seminar of sequenced courses, defines the first year undergraduate experience. The sequence is designed specifically for first year students and is intended to increase a student's capacity for active learning, critical and creative inquiry, encountering diversity (of perspectives, of people, of world views and of ideas), quantitative and writing skills, interdisciplinary practices, and communication across different media platforms. The Discovery Core are interdisciplinary, team taught, small learning communities with a faculty-student ratio of no more than 1:30.
Through the Discovery Core, students begin to fulfill General Education Requirements, improve academic skills and gain a sense of belonging to peers and to the university. Faculty from across the campus are invited to teach Discovery Core courses through a Call for Proposals intended to encourage innovative curriculum design that speaks to faculty research and interest while guided by a set of First Year Learning.
Student Success Services support all First Year and Pre-Major students by helping them enroll, succeed, stay in the university and complete a degree. Many students, particularly students of color, first-generation and low-income students, may require additional support to make the transition to university. Workshops, Boot Camps, Early Fall math support courses, faculty/staff mentoring, as well as a cohort model for provisionally accepted students are part of the Student Success Unit and Academic Transition Program's offerings.
While proud of our successful drive to increase access to higher education for underrepresented populations, our current priority is to promote the timely and successful completion of a degree in one of our growing number of majors at UW Bothell.
An immediate priority is implementing a comprehensive and integrated retention plan to address our second year retention numbers (65%). Autumn Quarter sees the adoption of an online resource, Campus Labs, as a tool designed to more efficiently connect and mobilize campus resources that will support students' social, academic and financial well being. As this resource is being piloted in CUSP, we are dedicating significant human resources to tailoring the program to our campus by training advising staff, faculty and students with a goal of 100% participation in the program for incoming first year students.
To prepare to accommodate the growth in student numbers, we are undergoing an organizational move to a Student Success Center model where coordinated advising for First Year and Pre-Major students will take place. We are developing an advising standard based on best practices for developmental advising that includes the creation of a set of shared policies and procedures, an Advising Manual, an Advising syllabus for students, and a Student Handbook. We will be implementing a peer advising "moment" during Fall First Year Advising (Required) that delegates the sharing of a set of talking points to student workers as a way to accommodate larger numbers of students. Our goal is to have a lead advisor in CUSP.
Following a first year of discovery, and to enhance the second year and pre-major experience, CUSP is in our inaugural year of promoting a Sophomore Select-a-Quest experiential learning opportunity (Internships, Community Based Learning, Study Abroad, Undergraduate Research, Student Journalism, Debate, etc.). Intended to support student exploration and opportunity prior to declaring a major, we advise students to engage in academically rigorous extracurricular offerings as a means of exploring a variety of fields of interest as they approach declaring a major.
Brad Portin, Director
Washington's K12 schools currently serve over one million students. Since its establishment, the Education Program has prepared over 900 teachers and principals for these schools across the region and supported other educators with their continuing professional growth (e.g., adding content area expertise, National Board Certification, and leadership development). Education is the state's largest financial commitment and the key to both economic growth and a civil society.
The Education program faculty and staff take this mission seriously and are attending to a persistent "canary in our education coal mine." Washington lags nationally in educational attainment and despite our efforts, nearly a quarter of the students in Washington still do not complete high school. While this is a problem with deep roots in social conditions and poverty, educators and our schools have to rise to a new challenge. This means that educators need to be well prepared to support the learning needs of an increasingly diverse student population and lead schools as both safe and engaging environments that support learning. To meet that end, we are focusing on the following:
There are four interrelated areas of program strength and strategy. We see these as also forming a foundation for our transition to a school.
Preparation and licensure for teachers and principals is a rapidly changing field. What formerly tended to divide the knowledge of our field from the practical realities of schools is now oriented around a seamless connection between deep content and learning in context. The next steps for us include an undergraduate teacher licensure program and implementing a residency model of our LEDE program in partnership with a high-needs school district.
As noted earlier, we've committed ourselves to pursuing state approval and building the resources necessary to ensure that our graduates have expertise in working across cultural and language groups and with students with special educational learning needs. In addition, two other elements of engagement are vital for us. One is learning that occurs outside of school, and the second is partnering with the schools and community based organizations that bridge school and homes. An example of the former is the "Backpack Project" led by Prof. Carrie Tzou that brings science learning to families in some of the least served communities in South Seattle, and the latter is our community-based partnership with our local school district (Northshore) that includes such activities as extended learning for middle school students known as "Hang Time."
We can't imagine doing our work in Education without a hand-in-hand partnership with our communities, schools districts, and affiliated organizations. The Education Program works with three boards that advise, guide, and partner in our work. These boards include UWB graduates and current students, school district leaders, and broad professional representation. Another vital partnership for us is with the Technology Access Foundation, a local non-profit that is a leader in our region, which has established a public school designed to address barriers to STEM learning that are often experienced by students of color.
UW Bothel has an impressive collection of scholars in the STEM disciplines and a unique culture of cross-unit collaboration. The Education Program is proposing and planning to launch the UW Bothell Consortium in STEM Learning. The consortium is a coalescing agent to bring together the scholarship of our faculty in STEM learning, cross-unit innovation and collaboration for STEM learning, and to act as a support structure for research and program development such as with the UW Bothell Digital Future Lab and the Technology Access Foundation.
The rapid escalation of UW tuition is affecting the students we recruit. It is not uncommon for an Education graduate who completes with up to $30,000 in student loans for a job that starts as low as $34,000. This has the greatest negative effect on those we most need in teaching–those from diverse and underrepresented backgrounds. To meet this challenge, the Education Program is developing diversity scholarship resources to ensure that costs don't crush the dreams of those who we most need. As a starting place, the Education Program is partnering with The Martinez Foundation who provides three scholarships each year to future teachers of color who will work in some of our most diverse schools and communities.
There is no shortage of those in legislative, policy, and business circles who believe that they have the answer for "fixing" schools. Our core commitment is to excellent and equitable public education. To retain our position of leadership in educational reform, our strategy is to remain engaged with the wide range of constituents in our field, including: The Legislature and state agencies, business interests such as Washington STEM, philanthropy such as the Martinez and Gates Foundations; and non-profits and community-based organizations ranging from the Northshore Schools Foundation to the South East Seattle Education Coalition.
David Allen, Director
The Nursing and Health Studies Program is committed to addressing key workforce demands of a rapidly changing health care environment for Washington State within a global, multi-disciplinary framework. We are distinguished by a thorough integration of social justice and ethics in our curricula. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and recent reports by the Institute of Medicine dramatically underscore the needs for advanced academic preparation for nurses and inter-professional education. Our new Health Studies major will enable students to move into professional health care graduate education and/or work in the many para-professional roles required by the ACA and global health challenges. The quality of our programs was evidenced by one of our BSN students, Chris Nelson, being awarded a Fulbright this spring.
NHS is a leader in creating flexible, accessible but rigorous advancement of nurses from Associate Degree Nursing programs into Bachelor of Science and Masters of Nursing Science degrees. Our partnerships with community colleges, and willingness to offer programs around the region (Mount Vernon, Everett and, soon Seattle) lead to our having one of UWB's most diverse student groups. By maintaining close collaborations with key employers and stakeholders, we can balance responsiveness to current needs with projected employer preferences. This leads to NHS being one of the most thoroughly "community engaged" units on campus with dozens of students learning from and contributing to our communities.
Development and rapid build-out of new Health Studies (HS) degree—admitting 30 FTE in 2013 and moving to 80 in 2014. We provide both a Pre-Health Advising for students in any major heading toward a health career as well as an HS-specialist.
Moving from being accredited under the UWS School of Nursing to independent accreditation allows us to be more flexible and responsive as we revise both our MN and BSN program. Those revisions are fundamentally shaped by dialogues with employers and policy experts as well as national accreditation demands. By 2014 we anticipate becoming the School of Nursing and Health Studies.
Examples of community partnerships include basing our BSN community health clinical courses within two regional networks: The Verdant Health Commission and the Snohomish Human Services department. As a result, nursing students will be working with their agencies for 9 consecutive months, creating stability and efficiency for NHS and a greater community impact. We anticipate creating a tight collaboration between employers and MN students for year-long projects meeting institutional needs and developing nurses' advanced competencies.
Expanded and innovative educational partnerships allowed us to double enrollment at Everett Community College while moving toward dual enrollment and a unique 1+2+1 nursing major where students enter UWB as freshmen, meet all requirements for the community college, transfer for a 2 year ADN and return to NHS for their BSN. By Autumn 2014, we will have a site in Seattle to respond to an enormous demand for RN-B education as hospitals pursue Magnet Status requiring 80% of nurses at the BSN level.
NHS has always led the campus in innovation. We have largest number of hybrid courses and are exploring an on-line degree completion program for an enormous pool of citizens who are working in or heading toward health care employment but have not completed a Bachelor's degree.
To increase our capacity for meeting these commitments, we carried out a stunning recruitment season. In a highly competitive search environment—with many failed searches at other nursing schools—our program attracted more than two dozen qualified applicants. We hired four tenure line faculty with expertise in public health, cultural/medical anthropology, global health, occupational health and inter-professional education. Our tradition of interdisciplinary inquiry has been greatly enhanced through these hires. We also recruited an extremely accomplished administrator from a local community college to serve as advisor and program developer (at EVCC). Meanwhile, we have systematically developed current staff to meet the assessment and evaluation requirements expected of a data-driven program.
NHS shares many of the challenges of other units related to infrastructure: insufficient classroom and office space, technology development (e.g. on line admission process); managing growth while maintaining student relationships, etc… But in addition, as we become a School with independent accreditation, our data management and evaluation needs increase significantly. Like most Schools of Nursing, we have an aging faculty and expect significant recruitment challenges. Faculty with greater research desires and expectations will require greater research support (e.g. grants, intramural funding).
NHS is unique in offering our programs at so many different locations. This creates significant logistical challenges for our faculty and staff. Each location is a separate cohort requiring curricular coordination, advising and integration with campus resources such as the library and writing centers.
We are poised to make even greater contributions to a well-educated, culturally competent health care workforce that is prepared not just for their next job, but the one they have five years down the line!
Sarah Leadley, Library Director and Associate Dean of Libraries
The Library serves the students, faculty and staff of the University of Washington Bothell and Cascadia Community College. Our students experience the benefits of small classes, taught by world class faculty, while having access to the collections of a major research university library and the Orbis-Casade Alliance of 37 academic libraries in the region. The University of Washington Libraries, which operates as one library serving three campuses, has long been recognized for the exceptional quality of its staff, services and collections. UW Bothell Library staff are leaders in user-centered services, assessment, collaboration, online learning, and innovative pedagogies.
Our focus is on teaching research as a creative and iterative process, shaped by analytical and technology skills. Librarians work closely with faculty to identify courses within each Program and School for intensive hands-on or online information literacy instruction. These courses form our "Information Literacy Core" Curricula, and include hands-on workshops, team-taught with faculty, and designed to be highly interactive, often with homework and tutorials that support "flipped classroom" pedagogy. To support our "Information Across the Curriculum" initiative, librarians also develop stand-alone and course-specific online tutorials and research guides, and are available to consult with faculty on designing assignments and assessing student learning.
Librarians engage in assessment of student learning outcomes at the class, course, and program level. As a result of our assessment activities, librarians have been able to improve their teaching, and contribute significantly to conversations with faculty about pedagogy, assignment design, and curriculum development. Assessment activities in 2012-13 included an intensive focus on BCUSP 135 Research Writing and the development of rubrics for our information literacy learning outcomes. In addition to the assessment of student learning, the Library also utilizes surveys and other methods to gather feedback from users. Every three years the UW Libraries undertakes a major survey of all faculty, graduate, and undergraduate users. The results of the survey provide valuable feedback about user satisfaction with Library services, spaces, and resources, and enable us to identify areas for improvement in our support for research, teaching, and learning.
The Library is a learning space where students can read, explore, research, collaborate and create. Students make significant use of our quiet and group study areas, our 75 computers and 26 laptops. On our 2013 survey, students rated the importance of quiet study space 4.35, group study space 4.42, and access to Library Computers 4.02 on a 5 point importance scale. Research librarians are available in-person at our Reference Desk and by appointment, and virtually through our 24/7 chat service; they also practice "roving reference" in our Information Commons. Student Technology Consultants work side-by-side with librarians, answering quick questions and serving as peer tutors when more in-depth assistance is needed.
The Library maintains an interdisciplinary, curriculum-focused collection, acquiring print and electronic materials that directly support student learning, research, and classroom activities. As programs grow and expand, it is assumed that the local collection will need to respond to these shifts in focus and population. Students' research needs that exceed the current strengths of the local collection, as well as the specialized research needs of our faculty, are met through access to the extensive research collections of the UW Libraries and via our resource sharing arrangements with regional and national partners. Our circulation statistics are consistently the 4th highest among all UW Libraries units and electronic reserves are heavily used.
The UW Libraries operates as one library serving 3 campuses.
The Library Director reports to the Dean of Libraries, with dotted communication lines to the UWB Vice Chancellor of Academic Affairs and the Cascadia Community College Vice President for Student Learning and Student Success.
The Library receives funding from UW Bothell and Cascadia Community College.
Cascadia Community College contracts with the UW Libraries for library services. The Library, UWB and Cascadia negotiate this contract on a biennial basis, with opportunities to review increases in fixed costs on an annual basis.
The Library is part of Academic Services, a unit within Academic Affairs that includes Information Technologies and the Teaching and Learning Center.
Space - Student use of Library space continues to increase with growth in FTE. The Campus Master plan includes a Library addition of 22,500 asf and the repurposing of space currently used by UWB and CCC to serve the 10,000 student FTE projected at campus buildout. Our ability to provide students with the individual and groups study space they need to be successful in their coursework will be challenging given the cost of new capital projects.
Teaching and Learning Program - the number of research intensive courses continues to increase with growth in FTE and new degrees. Additional instruction librarians will be needed to meet faculty demand for course-integrated information literacy instruction and to provide individual student research assistance. Additionally, librarian salaries are not competitive locally and nationally. We are at risk of losing talented individuals unless we address this serious salary gap.
Librarians are actively involved in supporting hybrid/online and off-site programs. This valuable but sometimes resource intensive work may be challenging to sustain, particularly if we don't move quickly to develop a campus-wide strategic plan and robust infrastructure for this work.
Tri-campus purchasing and consortial agreements create opportunities to leverage our collective purchasing power, but continued publisher driven cost increases, challenges to fair use, and barriers to open access publishing represent significant challenges for research libraries nationally.
Betsy Tippens, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Information Technologies
Information Technologies is driven by the University's academic mission and by our partnerships with academic schools and programs and administrative departments. Our collaborative team is made up of 30 staff members and 20 student employees, who provide
IT is part of Academic Services, which also includes the Library and the Teaching and Learning Center. We work closely with UW Seattle's department of Information Technology, who provides the backbone of our network infrastructure and telephony along with many of the enterprise administrative services required to run a large institution. Our relationship with UW Seattle means that we can focus more of our own technology efforts on direct support for teaching, learning, and research.
Information Technology's strategic plan describes initiatives in these areas
A selection of recent accomplishments
David Goldstein, Director
The Teaching and Learning Center fosters learning in the UW Bothell community by supporting learner-educators in the enrichment of pedagogical knowledge, skills, and practices. By "learner-educators," we mean faculty members, academic librarians, peer consultants (tutors), and any other personnel whose work includes a significant teaching component.
The Teaching and Learning Center will be a vibrant hub of learner-educators working on transformative pedagogy in service of diverse students and comprehensive learning at UW Bothell.
Long-Range Goal 1: Create and deepen transformative pedagogies with learner-educators that include high-impact practices, intellectual risk-taking, and play.
Long-Range Goal 2: Develop learner-educators to reflect on, assess, and share teaching practices and resources.
The Teaching and Learning Center enhances student learning through faculty development activities and curricular consultation for academic Programs and Schools. The Director, David Goldstein, Ph.D., a senior lecturer in the School of Interdisciplinary Arts and Sciences who has served UW Bothell for more than fifteen years, also serves the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs as a member of her Academic Council, and works closely with the Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Learning. We greatly value our deep collaboration with the two other units in Academic Services, the Campus Library and Information Technologies. In fact, the Learning Technologies team, part of IT, has a "dotted line" relationship with the TLC, signifying its role in faculty development.
The TLC proper includes the Director and a Program Coordinator. The Writing and Communication Center (WaCC; http://www.uwb.edu/wacc/) and the Quantitative Skills Center (QSC; http://www.uwb.edu/qsc/) also fall under the TLC umbrella, and their Directors, Drs. Karen Rosenberg and Erin Hill, respectively, also are Associate Directors of the TLC, signaling their primary responsibility as faculty developers with special expertise. Each has an assistant director or manager who oversees day-to-day operations of their Centers, including the hiring, ongoing training, and supervision of the peer consultants (tutors).
The Writing and Communication Center (WaCC) supports students of all abilities, at any stage of the reading, writing, or presentation process. Our goal is to help each student to become a stronger, more confident writer and communicator.
The mission of the Quantitative Skills Center (QSC) is to support students, faculty and staff in any area that requires quantitative reasoning. This center was created in order to facilitate the UWB mission to develop critical and analytical thinking as well as problem solving skills.
Steve Syverson, Associate Vice Chancellor for Enrollment Services and Student Affairs
Enrollment Management and Student Affairs makes a difference in the current and future of the university by attracting, matriculating, developing, and retaining a diverse group of engaged learners who wish to benefit from and contribute to the life of the University of Washington Bothell. In doing so, the division integrates services and streamlines processes that support student development and success—from point of contact through graduation—in four operating departments: Admissions, Student and Residential Life, Enrollment Services, and Student Services.
The Office of Admissions consists of undergraduate recruiting, application processing, and transfer credit evaluation and articulation. The Office of Admissions has successfully reduced barriers for students by building and maintaining a relationship with the Executive Faculty Committee and have partnered with many academic programs to share resources, expertise, and streamline business procedures for admission of transfer students.
The Office of Student Life cultivates a student-centered, holistic and inclusive environment which fosters personal growth and a sense of community in support of the University of Washington Bothell mission. We provide comprehensive curricular and co-curricular opportunities in a collaborative manner which promotes diversity, social justice, global citizenship and the overall development of students. The unit consists of Orientation and Transition Programs, Residential Life, Recreation and Wellness, and Student Activities and engagement; which includes the Services and Activities Fee Committee, Student Technology Fee Committee (STF), Title IX, and Residential Conduct.
OTP collaborates with all university departments and offices to support the successful transition and ultimate retention of new undergraduates to UW Bothell. We do this by assigning every first year student a student mentor, conducting Advising and Orientation Programs for all new students and creating specific social and academic programs for new students that will help give them the skills and confidence needed to be an active participant in their educational experience. In addition, we publish the UW Bothell Student Planner, coordinate Welcome Week and Parent and Family Orientations, Convocation, and advise the First Year Council, and Tau Sigma, the national honor society for transfer students. We also work with CUSP and Residential Life to coordinate the Living-Learning Communities in Campus Housing. Our area also runs the award winning (2013 NODA Innovative Program Award) Husky Leadership Camp that introduces leadership skills to incoming first year students and helps them get quickly involved in student life.
Residential Life offers a comprehensive campus housing experience for 270 students by providing developmental, hands on resident education in two apartment style complexes. Residents are involved in a robust calendar of events, regular one-on-one meetings with their RA, academic living learning communities, and leadership opportunities through RHA. The staff is responsible for 24-hour duty coverage, facility management, and crisis management and support year-round for residents. Violations of the Housing Agreement are adjudicated through a Residential Life conduct process in conjunction with the University conduct process.
Student Engagement & Equity focuses on creating an unforgettable co-curricular student experience focused on student learning and involvement opportunities. Students get connected with leadership opportunities, clubs & organizations, campus events, alternative spring break, community engagement and service opportunities, diversity programs, social justice training, international student engagement, cultural awareness, and supporting student led initiatives. The unit is inclusive of, Campus Events Board (CEB), Clubs and Organizations, Diversity Programs, Leadership Development, Student Government, International Student Facilitators (ISF), and Student Space (Commons, Food for Thoughts, etc.).
Recreation and Wellness is committed to making a positive difference in the well-being of the UW Bothell community by promoting healthy, active, and sustainable lifestyle choices. We do this by offering programming and spaces for wellness, fitness, and recreation activities including: Intramurals, Outdoor Adventures, Peer Educators (Health Educators Reaching Out), Fitness Classes, Fitness Center, Sports and Recreation Complex. Recreation and Wellness meets the diverse needs and interests of the UW Bothell community by providing programs and facilities that are current, inclusive, and exceptional in quality.
Develop opportunities and programs that connect students to UW Bothell and assist in retention.
To continue developing a Student Life/Affairs Master plan (reaching milestones, but also continuing to assess the plan and add future initiatives); which are inclusive of a Student Center, variety of food options, Health Services, Residence Life, etc.
Continue to advocate for student needs and provide high quality, developmentally appropriate services to students.
Coordinated and advised students in planning and implementing 855 events and programs; and sponsored over 55 intramural teams with total attendance of approximately 19,750 students.
Successfully implemented learning outcomes into daily interactions with students.
All areas recognized by their professional associations for having cutting edge programs and recognized staff members for their accomplishments.
As Student Affairs (Student Life and Student Services) is a relatively young and developing area, there is a lack of understanding regarding the pivotal role and function we play on campus.
Serving the increasingly diverse student body with increased needs (low income, first generation, limited resources, etc.).
Lack of consistent interpretation of University policies and procedures in regard to spending, reconciliation, and food policies.
The Student Life Staff is a very hardworking and dedicated staff. We utilize a student centered philosophy to develop leadership opportunities, events, services, and programs that aid in the development of co-curricular experiences that enhance the student connectedness to the University. We are committed to developing experiences that increase student success and retention.
Goals/Challenges for 2013-14
Graduation- officially granted over 800 degrees for 2012-2013. Each quarter, all degrees were granted and all honors posted within three weeks of the end of that quarter.
Room Assignments- used Resource 25/Schedule 25 to assign classrooms every quarter, while accommodating faculty/department specific room requests. Reserved over 300 extra room requests, including computer labs. A regular meeting with the Program Time Schedule Coordinators was held.
Measles Immunization- processed measles immunization paperwork for 2,000 students, which involved collecting forms, logging forms on Excel, corresponding with students to get all required records, coordinating review schedule with off-campus nurse, granting temporary waivers, removing student holds, and working with Hall Health at UW Seattle to keep up with continuously changing processes.
FERPA Training- conducted multiple FERPA training sessions for different groups, i.e. program office staff meetings, New Employee Orientations, New Freshman Parent Orientations, and one-on-one for new employees.
Student Employment/Chancellor's Fund- took over the management of the Chancellor's Fund for Work Study students. This involved much coordination with the hiring managers on campus as well as the Payroll Office. It greatly increased the amount of students working on campus.
Students that are Alumni of Foster Care- took over management of funds for alumni of foster care. (Named it UWB Reach Program) Our office became the first point of contact and resource for these students.
Workshops for Financial Aid/Scholarships- in coordination with Merit Office, held multiple successful Scholarship Workshops. The office also held first Tax Workshop for students in coordination with UW Seattle Student Fiscal Services.
Growth in International Student Population- increase from 196 international students in spring 2012 to 279 students in spring 2013. (An increase of 42%)
Matriculation Rate for International Students from A-IEP (Intensive English Language Program) to a UW Bothell Degree Program- The office has had a successful matriculation rate since the start of the A-IEP, averaging about 80% and nearly 99% of the students who matriculated are still enrolled at UW Bothell, as of spring 2013.
Optional Practical Training (OPT) Students- Significant increase in the number of students pursuing OPT and getting H-1B approval.
Hosted Ehime University Students- Organized and facilitated two week short-term programming with Ehime University. This was the 1st annual program for 10 UWB students at Ehime University (September) and 2nd annual "What is Diversity?" program for 10 Ehime students at UWB (March).
The Office of Student Services serves as a consultant and partner to provide high quality, customized services, resources, and support that empower students to realize their potential academically, personally, and professionally. The unit consists of Career Services, Counseling Services, CARE Team, Disability Resources for Students, Merit Scholarships Fellowships and Awards, and Veterans Services.
Career Services offers a wide range of services and events to help students explore academic and career options, build marketable experiences and job search skills, and connect to the employment community.
The UW Bothell CARE Team is a confidential resource for the entire campus community when there are concerns about a student's well-being. Our purpose is to provide proactive and supportive consultation, assessment, response, and education regarding students who may be at risk or in distress.
Counseling Services fosters student learning and development by promoting the understanding of personal and educational values and goals, and assists students with personal problems causing distress or interfering with their academic progress. Issues requiring longer-term or more intensive treatment are referred to outside services. Typical issues that students seek counseling for include: adjustment issues, anxiety, depression, relationships, and stress.
DRS ensures equal access to all opportunities offered by the institution via high quality support, services, and leadership allowing students to fulfill their academic, personal, and professional goals by providing fair, reasonable, and appropriate accommodations for students with documented disabilities.
Merit Scholarships, Fellowships and Awards promotes competitive, merit-based scholarship opportunities and mentors qualified students through the application process.
Veterans Services provides service and support of the highest quality to student veterans utilizing educational entitlements offered by the US Veterans Administration and the State of Washington.
This is an immensely dedicated and creative staff who are committed to retention and student success; they go above and beyond and problem solve to serve the diverse students, each with unique needs.
Gray Kochhar-Lindgren, Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Learning
The Associate Vice Chancellor for Undergraduate Learning, a position created in January 2012, develops programmatic infrastructure that serves the educational goals of students across all campus programs and across all four years of their undergraduate experience. This office works in close collaboration with the Vice Chancellors, Academic Schools & Programs, Student and Residential Life, Admissions and Enrollment Management, the Office of Research, the Office of Advancement, and faculty, staff, and students from across campus.
This is a new initiative on campus and will bring together a number of services for a "one-stop shopping" experience for students. These include CUSP, the Career Center, Global Initiatives, Community Based Learning & Research; Disability Services and Testing; a Diversity Center for student projects; a Drop-In Advising Center for Peer Advisors; a liaison center for School & Program advisors; and links with the Writing and Communications Center and the Quantitative Skills Center.
Natalia Dyba, Director
Building on UW Bothell's commitment to multicultural learning, Global Initiatives was launched in Fall 2012 to develop and implement an internationalization strategy for UW Bothell, including the Global-Close-to-Home-Program, Study Abroad, greater visibility for language learning, and highlighting the global dimensions of diversity. Global Initiatives actively collaborates with the academic and co-curricular units at UW Bothell, as well as the Offices of Global Affairs and International Programs & Exchanges at UW Seattle and International Programs at UW Tacoma.
Paul Markham, Director
CBLR, supported for the first time with permanent funds, works to translate a set of desirable outcomes across campus and beyond. Broadly understood, CBLR fulfills three key aims: (1) provide high impact learning experiences for students, (2) contribute to positive community impact, and (3) serve as a creative outlet for faculty teaching and research.
Denise Vaughn, Director of Forensics
This past year was the first year that the office served as the administrative support system for Debate. The team has done extremely well and now ranks 49th in the country.
Developed by the GFO, the next task is to link CLGs to School/Program Learning Goals; articulate with High Impact Learning Practices; and to continue to educate faculty and staff. Linda Watts, IAS, will be serving as Faculty Coordinator of Assessment this year and a Working Group is now being shaped.
MATCH (Making Access to College Happen); Leadership, Diversity, and Engagement Curriculum (via CUSP and IAS); Diversity and Engagement Campus Team Project from an Institute at USC; thematize diversity events with Global Initiatives; Diversity Center in Student Success Center.
Grants have been submitted this year to: 1) the NSF for developing a program to give college-credit for badges earned at local community centers of education such as the Seattle Aquarium, Mercer Slough, and Future of Flight; 2) CIEE for hosting 75 Fulbright Scholars in March 2014 around the development of Social Enterprises.
With David Goldstein, the Director of the TLC, I will be developing the seminar for incoming faculty. This will be a series of three sessions to help them become more oriented to the UW Bothell culture and to deepen the conversation around collegiality, cross-programmatic projects, teaching, and research.
Support the Office of Research; increase size and range of undergraduate research opportunities for students; expand UR Symposium; include presence in Student Success Center.
Concluded exploratory task force in 2012; consultations with Executive Council of GFO and Academic Council in 2013; questionnaire to incoming first year students; and, ongoing consultations with faculty and students. A recommendation will be forthcoming by the end of fall quarter.
Chancellor's Executive Committee; Chancellor's Cabinet; Academic Council; Undergraduate Learning Advisory Council; Assessment and Retention Working Group; Alliance for Analytics, Assessment, and Data Governance; Global Working Group; Student Success Leadership Group; Chancellor's Community Engagement Council: Academic Advisors Council; Academic Services.
Carolyn Brennan, Assistant Vice Chancellor for Research
To promote, support and build research capacity and expertise at UW Bothell leading to enrichment of learning and continual intellectual revitalization of the campus environment for students, faculty and staff.
A unit within the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, the Office of Research is dedicated to enhancing the intellectual vitality of the campus and broader community by facilitating the procurement of external support for research; providing consistent and compliant research administration support and partnering to engage the UW Bothell community in the process of innovation, collaboration, discovery and transformation. Although UW Bothell faculty come here primarily to teach, as members of an academic community they continue to pursue their research to stay up to date and engaged in their disciplines. Our efforts have enhanced awareness of research opportunities, sparked interdisciplinary collaborations and broadened the scope of community engagement and research partnerships.
In the past year the volume of external grants and contracts received by faculty at UW Bothell has increased by 250% from $4.146 million to an all time high of $10,246,173 million (FY13 to date). The Center on Reinventing Public Education (CRPE) migrated from the UW Evans School of Public Affairs in July 2008 and accounts for 63% of this volume. This fact overshadows the important strides in research productivity made by our School of STEM faculty, who account for 64% of the "non-CRPE" volume. We have seeded the research of both students and faculty with endowment funds in an annual competition.
Our office is pleased to be a part of the mature research administration infrastructure developed by UW Seattle to support $1.471 billion in research funding. A key member of the team, Cindy Shirley, is a Certified Research Administrator with a dotted line responsibility to the Office of Sponsored Programs in Seattle. She has delegated authority to submit all UW Bothell proposals and negotiate all UW Bothell awards. The budget analyst on our team is responsible for the administration of the entire grant lifecycle (pre & post).
Undergraduate research at UW Bothell has become increasingly visible over the past 2-3 years. In the 2011-2012 academic year, two undergraduates won the first ever Mary Gates Research Scholarships awarded to UW Bothell students. Three students won this prestigious award in the 2012-2013 academic year. Our partners at the Undergraduate Research Program in Seattle have made their resources available to us as we strive to enhance the undergraduate research offerings on our campus.
Our efforts are data-driven with an emphasis on collecting and using data not only as a way to improve our internal programs, but also to unite collaborators around research initiatives. Examples of UW Bothell data initiatives include the current effort to map the wetlands, the Washington Achievement Data Explorer (http://www.cedr.us/WADE.html) and a data visualization project around environmental justice using the EPA's Toxics Release Inventory. It is expected that this type of applied research will both attract collaborators who will add to the richness of the data sets and provide easy access points for students wishing to participate in the work.
Technology is a common element of strategic plans and ours is no different. We will use technology to propel faculty interactions by partnering with the library to offer a type of "speed-dating" for researchers with a website backup (photos included!). Husky SciVal Experts is another tool in our technology arsenal (http://www.experts.scival.com/uwashington). In addition, we have found ourselves with 27 iPads, a surface table and a large format printer funded through Student Technology Funds for the exclusive use of undergraduates doing research.
The UW Bothell Office of Research has three foci: 1) faculty research; 2) institutional program grants (e.g., Federal TRIO programs); and 3) student success through undergraduate research. The following accomplishments illustrate our progress:
Because of the diversity of the student population it attracts, this campus can be a leader in developing, implementing and disseminating programs for minorities, veterans and first generation students. UW Bothell has built a solid foundation that can be enhanced by identifying and pursuing more institutional program grants.
These challenges all relate to ensuring UW Bothell reaches the full achievement of our research potential:
Who doesn't want money to support their research agenda?
Robin Lake, Director
Improving education through transformative, evidence-based ideas
Through research and policy analysis CRPE seeks ways to make public education more effective, especially for America's disadvantaged students. We start from the premise that, too often, the structure of today's public education system makes it difficult, if not impossible, for every family to have access to a school that meets the needs of their child, and for teachers and other adults to achieve the goal of providing an outstanding public education for every student.
The gaps we have to close—between privileged and disadvantaged students in our nation and between U.S. students and their peers in other advanced countries—require bold changes in how we provide public education. Policymakers, philanthropists, and civic leaders must take significant action so that those overseeing public schools become active managers of performance and improvement, rather than passive arbiters of compliance. School systems must become active problem solvers, encouraging innovation rather than just tolerating limited examples of success. Public education should attract and develop talented teachers and leaders. Public funds need to flow equitably to students and align with performance goals. Families should have a wide range of high-quality public school options to meet their students' unique needs.
To address these needs, we help redesign governance, oversight, and dynamic education delivery systems to make it possible for great educators and programs to do their best work with students. Our work emphasizes evidence over posture and confronts hard truths. We search outside the traditional boundaries of education to find pragmatic, equitable, and promising approaches to address the complex challenges facing public education. Our goal is to create new possibilities for the parents, educators, and public officials who strive to improve America's schools.
CRPE is a self-sustaining organization affiliated with the University of Washington Bothell. Our work is funded entirely through private philanthropic dollars, federal grants, and contracts.
CRPE is at the forefront of studying urban school district reform initiatives throughout the country. We strive to transform the way people think about problems and solutions in public education through research and analysis based on high standards and common sense. In particular, we contribute important new ideas and research in the following areas:
Re-missioning states and school districts: CRPE is a leading thinker on governance for the school systems of the future. CRPE developed the "portfolio" strategy for district management that is now being adopted by more than 40 cities across the country. Twice-yearly Portfolio School District Network meetings bring together superintendents, mayors' staff, foundations and businesses, nonprofits, and others to learn from national experts and from each other to address their most complex challenges. New funding in 2013 will support analytic capacity and thought leadership on a broader conception of governance options, and provide impact on the ground in the form of pragmatic solutions for cities across the country undergoing education governance transformation.
Charter schools and innovation: CRPE is a recognized leader in high-quality research and analysis within the charter school movement. We provide balanced evidence to policymakers and practitioners. We routinely bring together the best minds in the field to share ideas and craft new solutions to emerging problems. In partnership with Mathematica, CRPE conducted the first national longitudinal study of the impact of charter management organizations on student outcomes. We published a book that takes a pioneering look at the role of charter schools in meeting the needs of students with disabilities, and are now studying research and policy issues around special education identification, assessment, and enrollment in charter schools. Locally, our Washington Education Innovation Forum brings together a group of top education and private sector entrepreneurs in an effort to help our state's schools dramatically accelerate student achievement through innovation and new instructional technologies.
Finance and productivity: CRPE's strong ideas and practical strategies have helped leaders at the federal, state, local, and school level to understand costs and to direct money where it is most needed. Our school finance research broke new ground with its focus on how money is used within districts and how different uses of money could permit innovation and increase children's learning opportunities. Our work played an important role in informing the decisions of national policymakers during the economic crisis: U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan relied on analysis by CRPE to bolster the case for education stimulus funding in the states. As a partner in the federally funded Building State Capacity and Productivity Center, CRPE brings nationally recognized research and technical assistance experience to support state education agencies in their efforts to become more active managers of school performance.
Our ideas and research results are transforming school districts, opening up new approaches to instruction, and helping educators make more thoughtful and effective uses of public funds. We work closely with city and state leaders who are trying to improve their urban public school systems. CRPE researchers have testified as expert witnesses before Congress and state legislatures; have served as advisors to local and national organizations and as reviewers on Race to the Top applications; and regularly present at national and international meetings and conferences. CRPE's work is widely covered by local and national media, and our researchers frequently provide interviews and written commentary on complex or emerging issues.
Dan Goldhaber, Director
CEDR's mission is to conduct high quality independent research that advances the state of knowledge in education and aids policymakers in decision-making so as to improve educational outcomes for all students.
The ultimate goal is to help move the education enterprise toward being a continuously evolving system where learning from policy variation and adjusting policies is based on what is learned is the norm, not the exception.
The Center for Education Data & Research (CEDR) is a unit of the University of Washington Bothell reporting to the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs. CEDR focuses on studying the complex relationships between K-12 education policies and practices, social services geared toward children, and student outcomes. Much of CEDR's work is connected to the quality of the teacher workforce, a key ingredient to educational improvement.
CEDR is directed by Dr. Dan Goldhaber, Research Professor and co-editor of Education Finance and Policy. Goldhaber has an extensive record of published work focusing on issues of educational productivity and reform at the K-12 level and the links between K-12 and higher education. He is joined by several Affiliate Researchers – Jerald Hertig (University of Washington), John Krieg (Western Washington University), Lesley Lavery (Macalester College), Mark Long (University of Washington), Mike Puma (Chesapeake Research Associates) – as well as a team of graduate research assistants.
Collectively the CEDR research team brings a wide range of disciplinary and analytic approaches to problems. Diverse approaches to answering policy questions allow CEDR to investigate issues from many different angles, digging deep into the reasons a particular educational practice, policy, or intervention appears effective or ineffective in changing the lives of students.
Both at the state and national level, there is a need for greater capacity to conduct high-quality, policy-relevant research that will yield findings that can be used to make smart investments in our youth. CEDR addresses this need through a focused program of study on the complex relationships between education and social service policies or practices and key education outcomes. Outcomes-based research, particularly student outcomes, is a hallmark of CEDR's work.
CEDR maintains close ties to those on the ground, such as school district officials, teachers, and the legislature, who understand and deal with the day-to-day operations of schools and the laws and regulations that govern them. Such connections ensure that we are aware of ongoing policy debates and pending issues, and that our research is focused on truly pressing matters.
Teacher-student links have allowed for direct, value-added measures of teacher quality and effectiveness. The use of value-added information is, however, relatively new. There is much to be learned about whether these teacher effect estimates provide accurate information on true teacher performance, how stable these measures are over time, and the degree to which they are useful in predicting student achievement. More importantly, we need to understand how these measures can impact schools, teachers, and students.
Individual states began adopting school accountability policies in the 1980s and 1990s and the movement reached the federal level with the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2001. As a part of accountability, a number of states (and NCLB itself) require that schools that are chronically failing students must adopt various types of reform initiatives, from wholesale restructuring to the implementation of specific comprehensive school reform models. CEDR's research assesses the impact of these reform initiatives on the success of students and schools in general.
Understanding the occupational and job choices that teachers make in their careers and the role of institutional factors in determining the allocation of teachers across schools is fundamental to crafting policies to improve the quality and distribution of teachers in the workforce.
To answer questions about whether public schools are keeping their best teachers and what conditions predict who stays and who goes, CEDR has tracked the early career paths of teachers, including transfers from one teaching position to another, both within and between school districts, as well as exits out of the public school system. CEDR has also evaluated how career transitions are related to value-added estimates of teacher effectiveness.
In this era of accountability Washington State school districts collect an unprecedented amount of data about their schools, teachers, and students. These efforts are consistent with current trends in state and federal policy, but it is not always clear exactly how district and school leaders can use these data to improve policy and practice in order to enhance student learning.
To address this problem, CEDR has created partnerships with Washington State school districts to support the productive use of data. The Strategic District Partnerships Initiative (SDPI) is designed to provide school districts with additional analytic capacity and to assist them with implementing evidence-based practice.
Building on the notion that policy makers are more likely to take research seriously if it is based on data that is "close to home," CEDR focuses particular attention on Washington State. We have a number of recent or ongoing studies that focus on Washington, utilize state data, and contribute to debates over Washington's educational policies or the use of its educational resources.
We seek to continue building capacity in the state so that we can respond in a timely manner to evolving education policy questions. We believe our research and data analysis can help Washington reach the goal of improving achievement levels of all students in the state.
In 2008, UW Bothell completed a year-long planning process involving faculty, staff, advisory board members, alumni, students and external partners, resulting in the 21st Century Campus Initiative strategic plan. The plan outlined seven priorities to guide campus growth in size and excellence: growth, resourcefulness, diversity, student-centered, community, innovation, and sustainability.
The development, implementation and monitoring of this institutional plan is led by the Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs (VCAA) and managed by the Strategic Initiatives Director in collaboration with the campus community. The 21st Century Campus Initiative has been the catalyst and guide for a period of extraordinary growth, during which enrollment doubled, the number of degrees tripled, student housing was established, industry and community collaboration deepened, and campus facilities expanded. The pace of implementation has been rapid, and by the end of the 2012-13 academic year the campus community had reached key milestones in each of its priorities and had plans and processes in place to realize the vision outlined in the plan.
Since 2008, UW Bothell has been guided by the 21st Century Campus Initiative, outlining a strategic plan for growth. As the campus matures and approaches its anticipated build out, the challenge and opportunity will shift from planning for growth to planning for a sustainable future when the campus is substantially complete.


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Most SEOs understand that on page factors have and will continue to decline in importance within the Google algorithm and SEO.
We all know that Google takes no notice of the meta keywords tag, and little notice of other tags, markups and HTML structures which has been backed up with my data.
But "in content" factors i.e. ranking signals related to the actual text/content on a page, would appear to be a separate matter.
Spamming the meta description doesn't hurt a user's experience but spamming the actual content the user sees is detrimental to the user and therefore not worth doing, right? Surely damaging the user's experience isn't worth those few extra visitors from Google, seen as they will probably convert less due to the comparatively less helpful content?
It sounds good and makes sense, and as a result we in the SEO community have come to the conclusion that while Google might ignore those other on page factors, they probably have some really smart methods to figure out what a page is about and the quality of the content on that page.
I decided to look at 5 really basic factors that you would think may feature in some element of the Google algorithm or would be closely related to a ranking factor.
While I understand there are better and more advanced methods (LDA, TF*IDF) for comparing the content on a page to a given keyword or judging the quality of a given piece of content I tested these really basic factors to judge Google's likely weighting of "in content" factors.
I may test more advanced topic modelling algorithms/factors in the future but for now I have stuck to some old information retrieval reliables.
You are probably already aware of the general method for my correlation studies but if this is your first time here please read this and this.
Special thank you to Mike Tung of Diffbot for providing me with free access to their article API which is undoubtedly the best text extraction service/algorithm out there. And as if the solidify that point congrats to the team on their recent 2 million dollar funding round.
This data is based on a dataset of over 1.2 million web pages from over 12,000 unique keywords and the correlations are derived from Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient.
Images and Videos
Having images and videos on a page is generally accepted to be good for the user. What I was interested in, was seeing whether this translated into increased Google ranking or not, and apparently it doesn't.
Assuming Google likes pages with images and videos (large but reasonable assumption), this is quite a good test of how low-level Google are willing to go to promote pages that are in line with what they want to see i.e. are Google willing to reward these pages in the algorithm or do they prefer the great PageRank algorithm to help them identify what users like and want.
Page Contains Bad Words
This is another fascinating test, I checked whether a page contains any bad word from this list.
I thought that using these naughty words would surely relegate you from the search results or at least lower your ranking, but the data doesn't support that.
Unfortunately there is a cautionary note, Google likely run a somewhat more advanced algorithm over content, instead of checking for just the presence of these bad words they probably look at their likely intent and as a result either ban a page or give it no penalty.
A news article quoting a foul mouthed sports star shouldn't be banned from the search results because of its harmless and informative intent.
Because of this the pages that weren't excluded from the search results and therefore likely received no penalty were the only ones to show up in my dataset.
As a result it would be unfair to draw conclusions regarding Google's implementation of bans/penalties towards pages using these bad words.
Is the Keyword Even in the Content?
Most of us would think that this test is a sure thing. Forget keyword density, but surely having the keyword in the content of a page is absolutely vital to that page ranking well for that keyword but again the data says otherwise.
How can this be? The most basic and obvious steps for checking whether a page is about a keyword is to check whether the page contains that keyword, how else would Google narrow down their massive index into something more manageable?
Well there is anchor text, meta description, title tags and many other areas that Google may look at to check whether a page is about a keyword or not.
But what this astoundingly low correlation suggests is not only that Google likely doesn't implement such a factor (when ranking pages) but also that Google probably isn't using other super-advanced topic modelling algorithms, as most of these algorithms are based on the assumption that the keyword is in the content and all of them are based on the assumption that there is textual content.
Distance to 1st Keyword Match
I was a little more sceptical about this factor correlating well and rightly so. This old-school factor might have been in use in the days of Alta-Vista but most of us would agree its not so likely to be around any more.
While other topic modelling algorithms might correlate higher than the above factors most of them are based on the simple assumption that a page contains the keyword you are trying to model for and that there is textual content, which are dangerous assumptions for Google to make.
Nobody can make a blanket statement like, "Google don't analyse what you write and don't care what's in the content of a page" but the data does point us in that direction.
If you are to accept the theory that Google don't take such a low-level and specific view of pages or at least don't weight such a view very highly then it is easy to come up with reasonable justification for that theory.
For example if Google takes such a low-level view then how does it understand infographics or video blogs? How will such an algorithm scale with the web as it evolves further into a multi-media and not just a textual internet?
I don't believe the data is in anyway conclusive and I do believe that other "clever" topic modelling algorithms may correlate well with ranking but whether or not that means Google implements such factors within their algorithm is another debate.
What I will say is that I believe Google most likely take a much higher-level view of pages than we think, using links, social media, PageRank and other more scalable factors to determine the relevance and quality of a web page rather than looking at on page or in content factors.
As a result I would recommend that all webmasters create content, title tags and web pages with the user and not the search engine in mind and optimize for other far more scalable factors like link building, social media, page loading speed, etc.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The 14th-ranked Penn State men's volleyball team won the EIVA regular season title and earned the No. 1 seed to the EIVA Championship. The Nittany Lions host No. 4 seed Princeton on Thursday, April 25 at 7:30 p.m. in the second semifinal match. No. 2 seed George Mason and No. 3 seed Harvard meet in the earlier semifinal at 5:30 p.m.
Tickets can be purchased in advance by calling 1-800-NITTANY or prior to the event at the Rec Hall Ticket Office. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for youth and groups.
Nittany Lion Preview
Penn State concluded regular season play with 3-0 sweeps of EIVA foes Rutgers-Newark and NJIT on April 19-20. Sophomore Aaron Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) led the Lions with 3.40 kills per set, while junior Peter Russell (Ellicott City, Md.) tallied 3.25 kills per set. Redshirt freshman Taylor Hammond (Mission Viejo, Calif.) paced the offense with 11.60 assists per set and Aaron Russell had a team-best 0.80 aces per set. Aaron Russell was also Penn State's top defensive player with 3.80 digs per set and redshirt sophomore Connor Curry (Newport Beach, Calif.) was second on the team with 1.83 digs per set. Senior Nick Turko (Lewisberry, Pa.) was a wall at the net with 1.75 blocks per set.
Against Rutgers-Newark and NJIT Penn State hit .414 and averaged 13.50 kills, 12.33 assists, 1.83 aces, 8.50 digs per set and 2.67 blocks per set.
Penn State vs. Princeton
Penn State owns a 48-2 all-time record against the Tigers. The two squads have met twice this season so far with Penn State winning both matches. The Tigers took the Lions to four sets on Feb. 23 with Penn State winning, 3-1 (25-23, 19-25, 25-22, 27-25). The Nittany Lions again defeated the Tigers on March 29 on the road, 3-1 (20-25, 25-23, 25-18, 25-20).
Scouting the Tigers
The Tigers head into the postseason with a 13-9 overall record. Princeton earned the No. 4 seed to the tournament after finishing the EIVA schedule with a 9-5 record. The Tigers won three of the last four matches, closing out the regular season with a 3-0 setback to George Mason.
Princeton boasts three All-EIVA honors, including First Team picks Cody Kessel and Pat Schwagler and Second Team honoree Michael Dye. Schwagler leads the team offensively (3.70 kps), while Davis Waddell guides the offense (10.05 aps). Tony Ensbury is Princeton's top back row player (2.05 dps) and Will Siroky leads the Tigers at the net (1.06 bps).
Penn State vs. possible opponents in the EIVA Championship
Penn State vs. Harvard
Penn State owns a 31-1 record against NJIT. The Nittany Lions split their two earlier meetings with the Crimson. On Jan. 26, Penn State edged Harvard for a 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 25-14, 16-25, 15-6) victory in Rec Hall's South Gym. However, the Crimson swept the Lions in Cambridge, Maa. on Feb. 15, 3-0 (25-23, 25-17, 25-23).
Penn State vs. George Mason
The Nittany Lions are 92-14 all-time against the Patriots. Should the two teams meet in the EIVA Championship, it will mark the third matchup this season. Penn State hosted George Mason on Feb. 22 and earned a 3-1 (25-21, 25-20, 21-25, 25-22) victory. The Nittany Lions came away with a 3-2 (25-23, 17-25, 19-25, 27-25, 15-10) win on March 30.
What's Next?
Should Penn State defeat Princeton, the Nittany Lions will face the winner of the Harvard/George Mason match on Saturday, April 27 at 7 p.m. at Rec Hall. The winner advances to the 2013 NCAA National Collegiate Men's Volleyball Championship hosted by UCLA on May 2 & 4.
For more information on the Penn State men's volleyball team, please visit GoPSUsports.com. The Penn State men's volleyball 2013 season is presented by Rockvale Outlets.
Story courtesy of Penn State


text:
Author of Ed Engoron's Choclatique, Running Press, 2011
One of the best things about working in the food and confection world is all of the wonderful people that cross your path. I love their personalities and their sense of humor. Some stay a little longer than others, but with few exceptions they all leave a positive imprint on our company and on our lives. Now I've been a part of this industry for more years than I care to admit. We have owned our own restaurants, been consultants to the Fortune 500 of food companies, and for the last 7 years we have been totally immersed in chocolate. I'm sure those conjure up some vivid images. People come and go and many come back again. We always try to leave our special imprint by way of establishing an honest work ethic and teaching our co-workers many tricks of the trade.
Last week one of our long distance co-workers showed up on our door step. Spencer Kells was our Executive Chef From 2001 through 2003 just when we began the research and development phase of Choclatique.
Spencer was plucked from the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok and transported to Los Angeles. As the number #2 there, he worked 100 to 120 hours a week cooking some of the best food in Thailand. I loved his food and his great personality and thought he would be perfect for our company. And he was looking for an improved quality of life. We worked on a variety of sweet and savory solutions that are still being served in our clients' restaurants. He left for more excitement to go to the Willard Hotel in Washington, DC.
You see when you're on the cooking line in a restaurant in the heat of the night, the adrenalin pulses through your veins and you get a tremendous rush. After two years, Spencer was missing that thrill. Spencer left us to cook for the glitterati of DC including current and past Presidents, Senators, Representatives, Supreme Court Judges and the Who's Who of Washington. In fact, his first month there he cooked for George W's second inauguration party.
Spencer moved back to Thailand to marry a wonderful lady, Katya, and they now have two beautiful little girls, Zoe and Chloe. For me and the girls, it was love at first bite. Little girls seem to really like me… or maybe it's the chocolate.
I have found that chocolate is a conversation opener for women of all ages. I make friends on planes with just the mere wave of a Choclatique Chocolate Bar. I get upgraded to first class, escorted through customs, breeze by security and treated to VIP star service with most airlines. I found that a well-placed piece of chocolate at the front desk of my hotel brings all sorts of amenities to my room. Chocolate is not only good for you physically, but fantastic for one's ego. Of course, it doesn't hurt to say I own the company. But even when not said, chocolate seems to forgive all sins.
I have one word of advice to all you guys out there—Chocolate. If you want to make friends, be forgiven for some unthinkable transgression or be the life of the party, give a little chocolate. And for you ladies… remember, guys like chocolate, too.
Tags: Chocolate Bars, Chocolate Gifts, Co-Workers, Friends


text:
Classed up by its cast, "Deliver Us From Evil" concludes with a deliverance from evil in the form of a rip-roaring exorcism, simply staged in a police interrogation room, though goosed up with the usual barrage of digital effects. Routine in nearly every aspect, the movie cannot be accused of holding out on its audience. The evil's delivered, and then dealt with.
Co-writer and director Scott Derrickson's extremely loose adaptation of the book "Beware the Night" (the film's original, less evil title) concerns the book's co-author, New York Police Department sergeant Ralph Sarchie, played in the film by Eric Bana. Initially a skeptic, this death-haunted cop joins forces with a rogue priest with a checkered past, played by Edgar Ramirez, who starred in the Olivier Assayas terrorism biopic "Carlos." Not yet entirely fluent in English, Ramirez clips off the ends of his sentences and burrows into the recesses of his character, letting Bana do the heavy dramatic lifting.
Rather than establishing and then following a straightforward, compact case of alleged true-life possession, as did last year's gem "The Conjuring," "Deliver Us From Evil" finds evil all over the Bronx, where Sarchie works the 46th Precinct and has seen a lion's share of inhumane behavior long before true evil shows up. A prologue finds an Iraq War veteran, Santino (Sean Harris), encountering ominous cave inscriptions scrawled in Latin. A combat videographer, he records the scene until the devil unleashes a swarm of bees, or something, near a pile of human skulls. The footage cuts abruptly to black.
The soldier comes home, alive but demonized. He opens up a house-painting business, and one can imagine the Angie's List description: "Santino's great! VERY intense. He's possessed, so he really does work like the devil."
Derrickson made "The Exorcism of Emily Rose" nearly a decade ago, a rather better example of this genre. As Santino's pernicious influence spreads, several other characters come under his spell. The story sorts through them all, dutifully, beginning with the domestic disturbance call answered by Sarchie and his partner, a smirk in a turned-around baseball cap as portrayed by Joel McHale.
An atmosphere of dread is established the old-fashioned way: by placing various children at risk. Sarchie's own past has been stained by his capture of a murderous child molester. Derrickson exploits all this in a half-and-half way; half the time, "Deliver Us From Evil" is genuinely interested in Sarchie's all-too-human demons, and half the time we're marking time until the big exorcism and an ending that keeps the door open for a sequel, should the market demand it.
"Deliver Us From Evil" - 2 stars
MPAA rating: R (for bloody violence, grisly images, terror throughout, and language)
Running time: 1:58
Opens: Wednesday