UW Impact’s 2017 Legislative Priorities
Over the course of the 2017 legislative session, UW Impact will focus its advocacy efforts on the following priorities:
- Affordability: UW alumni and friends in the state of Washington* are concerned about student debt and the high cost of college, and support efforts to lower tuition rates to make a college degree more affordable.
- Access to high-demand fields: UW alumni and friends in the state of Washington support efforts to expand access to high-demand programs that our economy needs, such as engineering, teacher preparation and healthcare.
- Academic Excellence: UW alumni and friends in the state of Washington about maintaining the UW’s world-renowned academic experience and high-quality research programs, and support efforts to attract and retain our faculty and staff through investment in competitive salaries.
*Priorities reflect combined results of independent, statewide survey of UWAA members and former members conducted in 2015 and additional online polling in 2016.
UW Impact’s 2017 priorities map directly to the University of Washington’s 2017 legislative agenda and the Washington Competes agenda developed by the Council of Presidents.
- Capital investments for new buildings in healthcare and engineering.
- Investment in faculty and staff compensation.
- Expansion of the UW School of Medicine and Gonzaga University medical education partnership in Spokane.
- Expanded enrollment in high-demand fields such as engineering, computer science, ocean engineering and cyber operations.
Washington Competes Agenda
- Expanding capacity to support student completion in STEM, teacher preparation and health care.
- Reducing bottlenecks in high-demand fields to improve student time to degree or credential.
- Investment in competitive compensation for faculty and staff.