In his fall town hall meeting, Chancellor Wolf Yeigh shared UW Bothell's priorities for the 2016-2017 academic year: diversity, campus sustainability and a bold fundraising campaign.
Speaking to faculty, staff and students Thursday at the North Creek Events Center, Yeigh listed the campus master plan, employee engagement survey and branding as initiatives that support the campus sustainability priority.
Yeigh urged the entire campus community to be involved in completing the work of the campus diversity council and working toward the goal of opening a diversity center. Achieving sustainable change through an inclusive process is important “to make a much better workplace for all of us,” Yeigh said.
Space continues to be a challenge after a period of rapid growth at UW Bothell, both in numbers and academic programs. The priority now is a campus sustainability strategy to provide citizens of Washington increased access to an excellent public education. The University is looking at options to strengthen the infrastructure, using a master plan for a more comprehensive process.
“This is about our future,” Yeigh said.
As part of its strategic planning, the University is refining its brand – what makes us distinctive within the overall University of Washington brand. That also figures into the most ambitious campaign in the UW’s history, launching with Friday’s Together event in Seattle. UW Bothell’s goal is $45 million, an order of magnitude increase from $3 million of the last campaign, which Yeigh said he’s confident we will exceed.
Yeigh gave an overview of the employee engagement survey, stressing that the results will not sit in a drawer but move the University to positive action. He highlighted strengths of the UW Bothell work environment, including diversity and inclusion, job satisfaction and connection to the mission. He also discussed opportunities for improvement such as resource constraints, communication, collaboration and transparency. Yeigh is committed to using feedback to create positive changes. In an earlier message, Yeigh said university-wide, unit-by-unit engagement in developing sustainable action plans will determine UW Bothell's success.
In addition to setting priorities at the town hall, Yeigh led the crowd in the Great Washington ShakeOut earthquake drill to drop, cover and hold on.
