Four projects funded in latest UIF round

Board of Regents
Vice Presidents, Vice Provosts
Deans, Director of Libraries
Directors, and Department Chairs

Dear Colleagues:

We are very proud to announce the funding of four new initiatives under the University Initiatives Fund. Two are academic; two are in academic support. All fulfill the goals of the UIF—one of the UW’s great instruments of change—to establish transformative, cutting-edge initiatives that move the University forward in areas of strategic advantage. The funded proposals are:

The Center for Statistics and the Social Sciences, which will merge world-class statistical research with outstanding social science, drawing on the expertise of 36 investigators from 16 units in seven schools. This powerful combination will allow researchers to tackle complex, multi-faceted problems in social sciences that increasingly require a highly sophisticated approach to data gathering and novel statistical methodology. These social and research problems lie in areas as diverse as business, child development, economics, education, government, health, international affairs, journalism, law and politics. The Center will foster research collaborations through joint appointments, seminar series, and grants. A new generation of social statisticians will be educated through this initiative. It will offer six new core courses for graduate students in social science departments and will develop a new Ph.D. track in Social Statistics. At the undergraduate level, faculty will offer a new course in statistical reasoning for social science majors as well as a new track in social science in the Applied and Computational Mathematical Sciences Program. Research opportunities for both graduate and undergraduate students are an integral component of the Center’s educational programs. Together, faculty and students will devise new answers to pressing social problems.

The Graduate Program in Biomedical and Health Informatics will address the fundamental transformation of medical and health care research and clinical decision-making. Biomedical and health care research is fast becoming an information-oriented science, in which computational models, the structuring of information, and algorithmic interpretation of data are prominent, essential, and build on laboratory biology and clinical trials. The program will serve as a testbed and showcase of solutions to difficult problems in health care information management. It will train students for research and teaching careers in information management for health care, health care computing, and public health. Its interdisciplinary curriculum will focus on biomedicine, computing and information science, and biomedical informatics. Graduate and undergraduate students will have significant research opportunities. Drawing on 11 faculty from nine units in five colleges, this program promises to advance the understanding of human biology and health through the application of computational modeling and information science.

The Grant and Contract Initiative is designed to transform the UW’s grant and contract system for better support of the faculty and staff. A centerpiece of this transformation is the design and implementation of a system for electronic submission of grant applications in order to meet federal requirements. The growing complexity of the sponsored research environment, together with the increased rate of grant and contract submissions and funding, all lead to the need for improved business practices and advanced electronic technologies. This initiative is a partnership of the Office of Research, the Executive Vice President, and Computing and Communications. It will draw on the infrastructure developed by the USER Project (funded in the UIF competition of 1997).

The Program for Educational Transformation Through Technology (PETTT) will seek to discover ways in which educational technology can transform teaching and learning. Through aggressive experimentation and model projects, the team will create a toolbox of software solutions and teaching strategies that will advance new pedagogies. Projects under way include tutored video instruction in computer science, an arthritis web site, and an interactive encyclopedia in forest resources. These models span the missions of teaching, research, and service. The PETTT team is composed of experts from six academic and academic support units, and includes experts in design, the science of learning, evaluation and meta-analysis, and technology.

Three other proposals deserve special mention: Astrobiology, Computational Biology, and Friday Harbor Labs Apprenticeships for Undergraduates. While the UIF funds will not stretch to cover all of the wonderful ideas submitted in this round, the Provost’s Office will seek ways to encourage the aggressive development of these initiatives.

The University Initiatives Fund allows the UW to move onto ground that has never been covered before. Initiatives typically involve teaching and research and service, stretching across disciplines and schools. As a program of budgetary reallocation—which allows us to seize these opportunities and establish new programs that would otherwise be beyond our reach—it is also painful. We are ever mindful that this support comes from resources that are currently budgeted in departments, programs, and administrative units. Every part of the University contributes 1 percent of its budget every two years.

We are grateful to all those who submitted proposals—the deans, faculty, and staff who made them possible. The UIF Review Committee worked long and hard to evaluate the proposals and make their recommendations to us. Their service to the community is deeply appreciated. We are excited about these new initiatives and the future they represent. They will be among the UW’s signature programs of the 21^st century.

Sincerely yours,

Richard L. McCormick, President

Lee L. Huntsman, Provost