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The NWRBL will establish and enact a Community Relations Plan
Approach to Outreach
The goal of the community relations plan is to proactively create positive relations
concerning this grant within the research community, the University community and
surrounding residential/commercial communities, and the general public throughout the
application process, construction and operation of the facility. The community outreach
plan will be front loaded with the majority of the activities occurring during the first phase
of the project. The second two phases will include the same activities as described in
the first phase with the exclusion of the letters of support from public officials. Those
phases include 1) application process (December 2004 to June 2005) 2) design of the
facility (Summer 2005 to Summer 2007), and 3) Construction of the facility (beginning
Summer 2007) with occupancy occurring in 2009/2010.
Public Involvement
The campus and community will be informed and advised of the projects progress during
each of the three major phases of project from application through design and
construction. Each phase will begin with information being shared with the stakeholders
and opportunities for input and information sharing.
Phase 1: Application Process, December 2004 to June 2005
Seek letters of support from local, regional and state leadership once grant has
been submitted
The elected leadership of the local, regional and state governing bodies will be informed
of the grant application in December 2004 as the application is being submitted. The
state's leadership has always been supportive of the University's role in research and its
positive impact on the local, state and regional economy. The letters will be complete
and received by NIH no later than January 12, 2005. While we hope to get a letter of
support from the Governor, because of the recounting of ballots, it may not be possible
to get a letter of support because we will not know who the governor elect is until mid-
January. Letters of support will come from:
- United States Senator Patty Murray
- United States Senator Maria Cantwell
- City of Seattle Mayor, Greg Nickels
- Governor-elect
Community Approval of the Campus Master Plan (CMP) included development
approval for site 45S
The potential development site for the Regional Bio-containment Facility is site 45S.
This site (along with some 60 others) were approved for future development by the
community, Seattle City Council, Mayor and the Board of Regents in January 2003 after
a four year process which ended in the approval of the Campus Master Plan.
The Campus Master Plan is the written document that guides the physical development
of the Seattle campus. The community outreach plan followed for the development and
approval of the CMP can be found in Chapter VIII and Appendix D of the CMP which can
be viewed at the following web-address:
http://www.washington.edu/community/cmp/Plan_Background.html.
The process the University followed to seek final approval for the University's physical
development plan is outlined in the 1998 City University Agreement that can be viewed
at http://www.washington.edu/community/cuagree.html. The process encourages open,
active, and meaningful participation by both the University community of faculty, staff
and students as well as the community groups and residents that live around the
University. During the four years it took to approve this plan, the Campus Master Plan
staff held or attended 137 meetings during which time information about the plan was
shared and comments and concerns were addressed. Before the Plan could be
approved by the Board of Regents, the nine members of the Seattle City Council had to
approve the legislation and send it to the Mayor for his signature. Because of the active
participation of the City leadership, the future development of the site chosen for the biocontainment
lab has already been approved.
Community Outreach Plan for Bio-containment Facility builds upon Community
Approval of Campus Master Plan
The community outreach plan for the approval of the CMP was extensive and
comprehensive. The site that will potentially house the bio-containment lab has already
been approved for development of an academic facility so there will be no additional
input needed for site approval.
The public outreach process will focus on educating the local, regional and state leaders
on the importance of having a bio-containment facility in the region and getting their
support for one at the University of Washington.
The University's presence in the community extends far beyond its role as an academic
institution. It is a nationally recognized center for research projects and medical services,
a hub for cultural resources and events, and a recreational center for the community and
the region. During the last fiscal year, the University received over $1 billion dollars in
research funds. Diverse audiences have a vested interest in the future of the University.
The University will actively solicit and include the participation and input from the
following individuals, groups, and organizations in addition to any others that wish to
participate:
- Campus community (Students, Faculty, Staff, Board of Regents)
- City of Seattle
- King County Government
- Biomedical associations and groups
- General Public
- Adjacent neighborhoods, communities, and businesses
Community Input for Bio-containment laboratory starts with the City University
Community Advisory Committee (CUCAC)
CUCAC has been the University's Citizen's Advisory Committee for 28 years. It was
created by the Seattle City Council in 1977 to advise the University and the City on the
orderly development of the Seattle campus. The City and the University recognized that
the impact of the University on its neighborhood is positive in many ways, but at the
same time they also realized that the University's mission may have adverse impacts on
the City and surrounding communities. With the creation of CUCAC, the University and
the City institutionalized the residential and business communities' voice in its orderly
development of buildings and programs on campus. A discussion of the program, the
grant application and the development site will be on the committees agenda for January
through April of 2005.
CUCAC is comprised of 16 individuals who represent 12 neighborhood organizations
that are in close proximity to the University. The other four representatives represent the
UW faculty, staff, and students along with one UW at-large representative.
The community organizations are listed below:
- Eastlake Community Council
- Greater University District Chamber of Commerce
- Laurelhurst Community Club
- Montlake Community Club
- Portage Bay/Roanoke Community Council
- Ravenna-Bryant Community Association
- Ravenna Springs Community Group
- Roosevelt Neighbor's Alliance
- Roosevelt Neighborhood Association
- University District Community Council
- University Park Community Club
- Wallingford Community Council
- University Faculty, Staff, Students and At-Large Members
Business Organizations around the University will be an integral part of the
Outreach Plan
There are several organizations within the business districts that border the University
that will be consulted in early 2005 once the grant is submitted. Representatives from
the grant application team will be on the their monthly meeting agendas. These groups
represent the businesses and neighborhood groups in the Greater University and North
Capitol Hill and Eastlake areas including:
- Northeast District Council
- Greater University District Chamber of Commerce
- The AVE Group
Keeping Major Stakeholders Informed will be done in several ways
The University will take the information and questions received from the many meetings
detailed above to produce communications materials. These materials will be used
throughout the application, design/construction and facility operation process to keep
stakeholders informed of its progress, issues, and developments. Those materials will
include:
- Project Overview Brochure - discusses the application process and timeline,
the design and construction timeline and facility operation issues. It will be
distributed in response to general inquiries.
- Newsletters - distributed as an article in University Week and/or an insert into U
Week and as a self-mailer to the stakeholders prior to public meetings in each
phase of the project or as needed.
- Fact Sheets - distributed at public meetings and in response to inquiries as
needed.
- Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ's) - distributed at public meetings and in
response to inquiries as needed.
- Regional Bio-containment Laboratory Website - The University will create a
website that will provide general information, project overview brochure, updates,
fact sheets, documents, and FAQ's, news articles, and information on how to
submit comments
- Regional Bio-containment Database
The University will develop and maintain a database of stakeholders, organizations and
individuals interested in learning about the project and participating as it is developed.
The database will initially be assembled using several existing campus and community
mailing lists including various University committee and council rosters, University's
SEPA Mailing List, Greater University District Chamber of Commerce, City University
Community Advisory Committee (CUCAC), and the NE District Neighborhood Council.
State, City, and County agencies and local elected officials will also be included in the
database as well as the Single Point of Contact. Throughout the project, names will be
added to the database from open houses, through comment submissions, or through
requests made via the Regional Bio-Containment Grant web-site and e-mail address.
- Regional Bio-containment E-mail address
The University will create an e-mail account for individuals to request information or
share comments or concerns
- Regional Bio-containment office address that interested parties can send
correspondence:
The University will create a mailing address to which individuals can send
correspondence to request information or share comments or concerns
- Media - Print and broadcast media will be used to build general community
awareness, disseminate information, and encourage public participation in the
three phases of development of the facility through media releases, meeting
notification advertisements, and community calendars. The Health Sciences
News and Information Services will contact the science writers from the major
papers (Times and PI) and conduct "Research Forums" to better educate the
media about the research that will be done with the creation of a Regional Biocontainment
Laboratory. Media markets and publications will include campus
publications, community newsletters, neighborhood newspapers, and
local/regional/national publications such as:
- University Herald
- Capitol Hill Times
- Madison Park Times
- North Central Outlook
- Seattle Press
- The Daily
- Seattle Times
- Seattle PI
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