UW branch campuses adjust for future freshmen

When the Legislature awarded UW's branch campuses an increase of 600 enrollment slots, including spots for freshmen in 2006, it left the campuses a large task: accommodating for lower division students in their facilities, curriculum and services.

UW Bothell (UWB) and UW Tacoma (UWT) have both established committees to build lower-division curriculum, ensure the facilities can accommodate the increase, and expand student services and recruitment to meet the needs of first-year students.

"This is a time of great activity on both campuses," said UW President Mark Emmert. "Both campuses are working feverishly to make sure we're ready for those students."

Both branches are gearing their efforts to meet the needs of the target group, those students who meet the UW's admission standards but are denied due to limited space on the Seattle campus.

Meeting expectations

The original master plans for the branch campuses were designed to serve solely upper-division and graduate students, said UWT Chancellor Patricia Spakes.

The arrival of freshmen forces the campuses to meet the demand for services first-year students expect.

"The first two questions [incoming] students ask are, 'What do the residence halls look like and what do the recreation facilities look like?" said Spakes. "We can say we don't have residence halls and no plans to build any and we don't have any recreation facilities either. That's not a very good answer."

Though the campus has no immediate plans to build residence halls, Spakes said, they are working to refine the original campus' master plan to include additional services such as healthcare and to ensure the classrooms will fit student needs.

"We are looking at the question of whether we have the right kinds of classrooms and space for teaching lower-division students," said Spakes.

Expanded opportunity

The lower-division curriculum on the drawing board at both campuses involves different components, both in and out of the classroom, from the curriculum at the Seattle campus, said Emmert.

UWB is developing a signature, yearlong core course for freshmen. The interdisciplinary course will "reflect what is the most important about Bothell," said Tom Bellamy, vice chancellor for academic affairs at UWB. The course will specifically gear students toward the full range of majors offered at UWB, as well as helping them make the transition into college.

To attract students to campus, UWB plans to work closely with the high schools in the area.

"Working with the high schools is the best way to have students make good decisions on what is the best fit for them," said Bellamy.

The UW will also continue advertising campaigns to ensure students know they will be able to attend UWB or UWT as freshmen.

"We're certainly trying to make sure students know the opportunity is available to them by next summer," said Emmert.

Student life

UWB has a "long list" of student services they hope to provide, said Bellamy. To narrow down the list to a few top priorities, UWB has hosted focus groups consisting of high school students in order to gauge what services are the most important.

"Simply having a gathering place will be one of the most important things for commuters," said Bellamy. "Something like the HUB (on the Seattle campus)."

Emmert said though neither campus has immediate plans to build a recreation center or residence halls to keep students centralized on campus, as the amount of lower-division students to upper-division balances out, he expects to see increased student activity.

"They will still be commuter students, but that doesn't mean they can't be fully engaged with activity on campus," said Emmert. "I would expect to see clubs and activities you see on the Seattle campus emerge on those campuses as well."