Chancellor Pagano recognized 2 departments at 1st town hall meeting

Chancellor Mark Pagano held his first town hall meeting of the year Oct. 15 in William W. Philip Hall. Pagano gave an update on what has happened since the last town hall meeting — which took place in April — and covered current goals and future aspirations for the $45 million philanthropic campaign. He also recognized two UW Tacoma depart­ments for their excellence in campus involvement: The Office of Global Affairs and the UWT Library.

The three-year campaign — running under the theme “For a greater Tacoma, for a greater world” — began in January 2017 and seeks to fundraise at least $45 million for students, staff, facilities, and community outreach and research pro­grams. The chancellor was proud to an­nounce that, as of Oct. 15, UW Tacoma had collected $47,888,392 in donations and fundraising, surpassing its goal by over $2 million — with still more than a year left until the end of the campaign.

Because of this achievement, Pagano announced that the new plan is to raise an additional $7 million by 2020, bring­ing the new goal to $55 million. Students are slated to receive a majority of the campaign funds through increased and improved scholarship and financial aid opportunities, which also includes an expansion on programs dedicated to securing student food and housing.

“We have stretched the goal,” Pagano said during the town hall meeting. “Why not? We still have work to do …We still have student scholarships to raise and we still have faculty support to raise … our appetite for growth and for space is larger than the funds we have to support these things.”

The Office of Global Affairs and the UWT Library staff were honored during the meeting because of their current achievements as well as some of their goals which are in the works.

The Office of Global Affairs, headed by Dr. Jeff Cohen, was successful in in­creasing the number of students studying abroad from 89 to 148. They ensured that the students sent abroad were a repre­sentative sample of the campus’ diverse demographic, as well as redesigned the International Student Orientation Day. They have also played a part in two UWT professors earning Fulbright scholar­ships, with one traveling to Alberta, Canada and the other to India.

“The Office of Global Affairs works collaboratively to foster socially-engaged global citizenship,” Cohen said. “In just two short years, we have been able to deepen and expand on- and off-campus global learning opportunities for stu­dents, faculty and staff at UW Tacoma. This includes improved services for our international students, significant in­creases in study abroad participation and opportunities for campus-based cul­tural exchange, such as our COIL Fellows and Global Ambassadors programs.”

Global Affairs hosts UWTea Time in the West Coast Grocery common area — located just outside of the Cen­ter for Equity and Inclusion — every Wednesday 2:30–3:30 p.m. These meet­ings bring together staff, students and faculty with international students over food and drink. The Office is also host­ing an open house Dec. 7 12:30–2:30 p.m. At the open house, students will be able to learn more about Global Af­fairs and how to get involved as well as participate in the 2018 Study Abroad Photo Contest.

Likewise, the UWT Library depart­ment, led by Lauren Pressley, was rec­ognized by the chancellor for actively engaging students in, among many projects, their new blog. Ran by the li­brary’s employees, the blog keeps stu­dents informed of scholarship oppor­tunities and projects the library is working on. For instance, the library staff are collaborating with the director of diversity for the Center for Equity and Inclusion, Shaquita Humphrey-Pressley. Together, they are forming a student book club which will focus on the novel “The Hate U Give.”

The library — partnered with UW Libraries Scholarly Communication Out­reach Team — is also hosting several events for Open Access Week, which runs Oct. 22–28. During Open Access Week, students and faculty can learn how to incorporate open access research into their own projects. They can also learn how open access is changing teaching and policies, such as ensuring students can use scholarly sources without having to wor­ry about money or institutional affiliations.

“I am thrilled to be part of the UW Tacoma Library team,” Pressley said. “My colleagues are incredibly thoughtful, smart, and passionate about connecting with and helping our students. The slide Chancellor Pagano shared at the town hall was illustrative of their creativity and passion in supporting our student body.”