2008 Woodie Awards
Development center close to one-year anniversary
Deborah Merrill
Issue date: 10/23/03 Section: News
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Alice Dionne is smiling broadly and her animated speech is a testament to the satisfaction and excitement she derives from her job as Director of the Key Bank Professional Development PDC (or the PDC, as it is known on campus). The PDC is fast approaching its one-year anniversary, and according to Dionne, its success, and the response from the business community it was designed to serve, have exceeded original projections.
The PDC, which began operation in January, 2003 with funding from Key Bank and the Dimmer Family Foundation, has been steadily growing its course offerings. Its first year has been spent determining the needs of the business community, marketing and presenting courses to match those needs, and fine-tuning the structure of the programs it offers to maximize attendance and ensure the future of the PDC.
And the future is definitely on Dionne's mind. The structure of the original grants from the two donors was designed to give the program the financial underwriting it needed to get started. Ultimately, though, the PDC must be self-supporting, and the timeframe for that shift is relatively short.
According to Dionne, each donor generously contributed $250,000. Key Bank's gift is evenly divided over five years to provide a financial base, while the Dimmer Family Foundation's one-time donation enabled assured the PDC's finances for the first two years. By the end of the fifth year, the PDC is expected to be completely self-sufficient, and after two years a percentage of profits will flow back to the University of Washington, Tacoma.
The PDC was originally conceived as a joint venture between UWT & the business community. Its mission was to identify and respond to the needs of that audience. However, Dionne has been pleasantly surprised by requests from a much more broad-based constituency. She has responded aggressively by widening the focus of the PDC.
This evolution is plainly evident in the first edition of the PDC's program catalogue. Professional Development Workshops are offered in such diverse discourses as social work, non-profit marketing, paralegal studies and criminal justice administration.
The PDC, which began operation in January, 2003 with funding from Key Bank and the Dimmer Family Foundation, has been steadily growing its course offerings. Its first year has been spent determining the needs of the business community, marketing and presenting courses to match those needs, and fine-tuning the structure of the programs it offers to maximize attendance and ensure the future of the PDC.
And the future is definitely on Dionne's mind. The structure of the original grants from the two donors was designed to give the program the financial underwriting it needed to get started. Ultimately, though, the PDC must be self-supporting, and the timeframe for that shift is relatively short.
According to Dionne, each donor generously contributed $250,000. Key Bank's gift is evenly divided over five years to provide a financial base, while the Dimmer Family Foundation's one-time donation enabled assured the PDC's finances for the first two years. By the end of the fifth year, the PDC is expected to be completely self-sufficient, and after two years a percentage of profits will flow back to the University of Washington, Tacoma.
The PDC was originally conceived as a joint venture between UWT & the business community. Its mission was to identify and respond to the needs of that audience. However, Dionne has been pleasantly surprised by requests from a much more broad-based constituency. She has responded aggressively by widening the focus of the PDC.
This evolution is plainly evident in the first edition of the PDC's program catalogue. Professional Development Workshops are offered in such diverse discourses as social work, non-profit marketing, paralegal studies and criminal justice administration.