Letter from the Dean

	Ron Irving

In January, four of our most enduring faculty gathered to discuss their many years at the University, holding a conversation that is published in this issue of A&S Perspectives (“40 and Counting: Long-Time Faculty Reflect on Their Years at the UW” ). All four arrived in the mid-1960s, as the civil rights movement and the Vietnam War were beginning to change the University, and society, forever.

I am reminded of the circumstances under which I arrived in Seattle. A week after my arrival in 1981, Governor John Spellman announced 10.1% across-the-board budget cuts for all state agencies, including the University, to maintain a balanced state budget during a deep recession. (Ultimately, the cut was reduced to 5.5%, in combination with increased taxes.)

My first department meeting a few days later resembled a wake more than the usual upbeat welcome to the new academic year. The University would have to freeze new faculty hiring, non-tenure-track faculty positions were not secure, and some faculty chose to leave at the end of the year. It was a bleak time.

This recession signaled a permanent change in Washington’s economy, away from its traditional reliance on resources and manufacturing toward a more diverse base including technology and service industries. In parallel, the University’s economic structure began to change, with the state providing a much smaller share of the University’s budget and the remaining funds coming from grants, private gifts, and fee-based programs. Yet basic instruction continues to be funded primarily through state support. Since Arts and Sciences provides the majority of undergraduate teaching on campus, we remain highly dependent on state support even as our funding from other sources continues to grow.

The faculty conversation in this issue also touches on changes in support for teaching. My experience 25 years ago was much as the faculty describe. One would be told what courses to teach, given a textbook and a syllabus, and pointed to the door. Help was available—one simply had to consult with colleagues—but typically a new faculty member had to take some initiative.

Now teaching is more actively supported, as three examples at different levels illustrate. All new University faculty are invited to attend a week-long program, Faculty Fellows, that orients them to the University, assists them in improving their teaching skills, and addresses the problem of balancing the demands of successful teaching and research. The College is in its third year of an
initiative on large entry-level courses in which we work with faculty on teaching methods that ensure active student engagement. And in my own department, Mathematics, the faculty teaching calculus in any given quarter meet weekly together to discuss progress across all the sections, to coordinate their assignments for the coming week, and to discuss any difficulties they are encountering.

Despite these changes, some things remain constant. There will always be faculty who are natural teachers, who inspire students with their passion for their subject regardless of participation in new initiatives. Our challenge is to provide resources and structure for faculty who need guidance without compromising the flexibility and freedom that allow our most gifted faculty to be creative.

What will our newest faculty remember 40 years hence, when they think back to the UW of 2007? I hope they will recall being supported by their departments, energized by their students, and optimistic about the future. In the words of the great lyricist Carolyn Leigh, which you should imagine being sung rather than written, “The best is yet to come, and won’t that be fine."

Ron Irving
Interim Dean
rsi@u.washington.edu

[Winter-Spring 2007 - Table of Contents]