UWT Institute of Technology hasn't yet realized creators' dreams

When then-Gov. Gary Locke announced in 2000 that Tacoma would be the location for a new institute of technology, few people restrained their enthusiasm.

The institute created to increase the number of computer science and engineering graduates was termed an economic and educational development on par with the creation of the University of Washington Tacoma itself. Unlike the UWT, the institute would have a broader mission, serving as the state’s polytechnic university.

By 2010, the institute would have 1,000 students, making it one of the largest computer science program in the nation. And coming in the midst of the dot-com boom and Tacoma’s “Most Wired City” emphasis on technology, the institute was evidence that the area was finally transforming its economy for a new century.

Locke chose the UWT to help spread the tech industry out of Seattle and Redmond. The other reason was because the fledgling campus had a culture and a track record of creating quality programs quickly.

It didn’t quite work out as hoped, even though the institute housed in the historic Pinkerton Block Building has had some success. It has awarded more than 500 bachelor’s and master’s degrees in computer science, computer engineering and information technology. It currently has 236 undergraduates and 36 graduate students and has supporters in the high-tech community where its students get internships and well-paying jobs.

But expectations now considered too high, an undersupply of science-and-math-prepared high school graduates, strained relations with the local business community and tepid support from the Legislature have lowered the institute’s profile. Now a dispute between UWT administration and some on the institute’s faculty and advisory board has exposed an institution in transition if not in trouble.

In a letter sent to the chairs of the House and Senate higher education committees, some members of the advisory board say the institute has suffered from a reallocation of money to other UWT programs, a disproportionate cut during last spring’s state budget crisis and a reduction in staff.

“Given the substantial investment of money and time by the South Sound, the state and the members of the advisory board, this potential failure on behalf of the Institute cannot be tolerated,” the letter stated.

“Such a failure would undermine one of the highest priorities for both the South Sound and the state, that being significant growth and investment in engineering.” The letter asserts that accreditation of some degrees is at risk.

The letter itself has created controversy. Only 13 members of the 29-member board took part in a straw poll on whether to send it at all. Of those, seven were in favor and six were not.

“I believe this may not be the best time to ask the Legislature for its attention on solving a problem that they will view largely as internal to the UW,” Tom Luce, the executive director of the Executive Council for a Greater Tacoma, wrote in an e-mail to the board.

And Herb Simon, now chairman of the UW’s governing Board of Regents but also one of the leaders of the fundraising drive that helped set up the institute, strongly disagrees with the letter.

“It’s not the way to resolve this problem,” Simon said in an interview. “Making it public hurts the UWT and that hurts Tacoma.”

Strategy aside, there does appear to be serious concerns about the institute 10 years after its creation. Some put the onus on current director Orlando Baiocchi for doing a good job working with the faculty and staff but less so on relations with the administration and local businesses and the tech community.

Others, however, are critical of UWT Chancellor Patricia Spakes for shorting the institute in the budget process and not understanding its unique role and requirements. In the round of budget cuts carried out last spring, the institute took a cut of 8.16 percent while the average among other academic programs was 4.9 percent.

The disproportionate cut might be due to a policy to cut things, not people. Since a higher share of the institute’s budget goes toward facilities and equipment than other departments (14 percent vs. 3 percent), it was considered by the administration to have more budget flexibility.

But that shows a misunderstanding of how engineering programs are built and what they need to survive, said Larry Crum, an emeritus professor and the founding director of the institute.

Crum said the key to making the institute happen was nearly $4 million in contributions from local governments, local businesses and the tech industry, plus a temporary special allocation of money from the Legislature – $2 million a year. The public-private partnership helped cover expenses that are unique to such a program such as equipment and facilities costs and the higher salaries for faculty.

Because of its unique budget needs, when cuts come, and are deeper for the institute than most other academic programs, it becomes difficult to maintain quality, Crum said.

For example, he thinks the school will need to have at least three full-time and tenured computer engineering professors to win accreditation. The institute has none, using temps and a part-time professor who commutes from California.

“I’m scared about it,” Crum said. “If I was on the accreditation board I would say no. You need some full-time faculty. The temps are doing a good job, but it isn’t sustainable.”

Ken Myer, president of the Washington Technology Industry Association, said it would be a mistake to “over-read” the letter. He said the industry understands the budget pressures and that he doesn’t envy Spakes’ job.

“I don’t want to create animosity. I want to illuminate,” Myer said. “The costs are higher in engineering than in liberal arts and the humanities. We would argue that now is not the time to cut back on positions that create new companies that pay high wages.”

Luce, however, said he thinks many of the issues facing the institute can be traced back to its own shortcomings. It has not developed a clear mission and does not work as closely as it must with the local and regional tech industry.

“It was created to be a pipeline to local businesses and to create jobs,” Luce said. “That has not happened. I’m not sure what the institute is aiming to be.”

Spakes arrived on campus four years after the institute was formed. She said she is sympathetic to the concerns expressed in the letter but said they must be looked at in the context of what the recession has done to all state programs.

“I understand them and I’m frustrated too,” she said. “They are not alone. They are just the ones that went public.”

Spakes acknowledges that the institute took deeper cuts than other programs but said it doesn’t reflect her support for the program.

“In universities, people equate funding with love,” she said. “If you don’t give us all that we ask for, you must not love us.” She said she hopes to restore the institute’s budget as soon as the economy allows.

“We hope and believe this recession to be temporary,” she said.

Baiocchi’s five-year term as director expires this summer. He could be renewed but has been told by vice chancellor Beth Rushing that a new director will be hired instead, probably by summer.

“I want someone who has vision and leadership to build the institute and make it a real center of excellence for the university,” Spakes said. She said she wants the institute to be a think tank for technology, to offer consulting services to local tech businesses and to do cutting-edge research.

She also hopes it will be part of the team creating a new environmental engineering degree that ties into the latest economic development project for the city – the Urban Waters program. That degree has been delayed by budget cuts.

But a major issue facing all computer and engineering programs is bigger than the UWT and the institute. That’s the shortage of students coming out of high school with the interest and the course work to even get into the tech programs.

Local tech companies still have to import employees from other states and other nations. That has led industry groups such as Myer’s WTIA to focus on reaching students as early as middle school.

Crum acknowledges that the institute he helped create suffers from growing pains.

“Clearly the institute is not yet a mature unit,” he said. “That takes time. This institute is making good progress, and the challenge of the next director is to take it up another good notch.”

Peter Callaghan: 253-597-8657

peter.callaghan@thenewstribune.com

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