2008 Woodie Awards
UW looks to the north for campus development
Students concerned about UW's plans to add another campus.
Daniel Nash
Issue date: 4/10/08 Section: Campus News
Students, faculty, and staff of current University of Washington campuses are experiencing mixed feelings about the possibility of a new, technology-oriented UW campus in the north Puget Sound area. The state legislative session closed this year with few answers to questions of funding.
With four Snohomish County sites left for consideration - Pacific Station, Smokey Point, Riverside, and Cavalero - Gov. Christine Gregoire has requested a final plan for UW North Sound by June 2008. Early plans outline a campus focused on science, technology, engineering, and math degrees, to include residence halls and research facilities upon completion of Phase One in mid-2012.
But some critics wonder if a new campus is necessary, when UW's Bothell and Tacoma branch-campuses are short of their capacity.
With a projected cost of $803 million, expected to reach $1 billion by the beginning of construction, still others worry if a new campus will divert resources from existing campuses.
"It better not," Aaron Beckner, a UWT freshman, said. "Are we made of gold or something?"
Even among his concerns, Beckner, who plans to pursue a Bachelor's in Science degree, conceded that he thought the campus was a good idea, and wished the science-focused facilities were available to him currently.
Proposals for the project have been ongoing for the past two years. Plans solidified in February 2007 when Everett's Mayor Ray Stephenson and State Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, in his UW letter jacket, appeared before the UW Board of Regents to propose Everett as the site of a new UW branch campus.
Everett was originally a candidate for UW's first of two branch campuses, a station that was awarded to Bothell in 1990. As discussion of a third branch campus became more frequent, Everett looked to UWT as an example to emulate.
"We knew that Everett was never entirely satisfied by the creation of the Bothell campus," UWT Chancellor Patricia Spakes said. "We were constantly hearing that they were watching what was happening in Tacoma with UWT with being part of the downtown, part of the renovation of the city, and that they felt that had the campus been placed in Everett, than Everett would have benefited from a similar impact on the urban area."
With four Snohomish County sites left for consideration - Pacific Station, Smokey Point, Riverside, and Cavalero - Gov. Christine Gregoire has requested a final plan for UW North Sound by June 2008. Early plans outline a campus focused on science, technology, engineering, and math degrees, to include residence halls and research facilities upon completion of Phase One in mid-2012.
But some critics wonder if a new campus is necessary, when UW's Bothell and Tacoma branch-campuses are short of their capacity.
With a projected cost of $803 million, expected to reach $1 billion by the beginning of construction, still others worry if a new campus will divert resources from existing campuses.
"It better not," Aaron Beckner, a UWT freshman, said. "Are we made of gold or something?"
Even among his concerns, Beckner, who plans to pursue a Bachelor's in Science degree, conceded that he thought the campus was a good idea, and wished the science-focused facilities were available to him currently.
Proposals for the project have been ongoing for the past two years. Plans solidified in February 2007 when Everett's Mayor Ray Stephenson and State Rep. Hans Dunshee, D-Snohomish, in his UW letter jacket, appeared before the UW Board of Regents to propose Everett as the site of a new UW branch campus.
Everett was originally a candidate for UW's first of two branch campuses, a station that was awarded to Bothell in 1990. As discussion of a third branch campus became more frequent, Everett looked to UWT as an example to emulate.
"We knew that Everett was never entirely satisfied by the creation of the Bothell campus," UWT Chancellor Patricia Spakes said. "We were constantly hearing that they were watching what was happening in Tacoma with UWT with being part of the downtown, part of the renovation of the city, and that they felt that had the campus been placed in Everett, than Everett would have benefited from a similar impact on the urban area."
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