All information related to ASUW in the news, along with released press releases.
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LOBBY DAY: For Immediate Release – Feb. 12th, 2013
The Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) are excited to participated in Huskies on the Hill Lobby Day.
Huskies on the Hill is the annual lobby day that is planned and participated in by UW students. Students from all three UW campuses travel to Olympia and meet with legislators to discuss higher education issues that affect UW students. “We are excited to continue our tradition of engagement with the law-making process, and to make sure that students’ voices are heard”, says Molly Smith, ASUW’s Legislative Programming Coordinator.
200 students will advocate for increased and dedicated funding for higher education, the preservation of the Guaranteed Education Tuition (GET) program, and in favor of the repeal of differential tuition-setting authority, House Bill 1043 and Senate Bill 5548. “House Bill 1043 passed the House Higher Education Committee unanimously, with three members absent. This proposal has broad, bipartisan support and the support of students”, Angie Weiss, ASUW Office of Government Relations Director.
UW Students will also lobby on behalf of House Bill 1331, that authorizes the creation of student advisory committees for the use of students’ tuition dollars. Tuition at UW has doubled for current seniors since their freshman year. “In order to ensure we have the best campus decision-making possible, students must get involved and make their interests heard. We must stand as leaders of this generation and collectively work to move our university forward,” says Evan Smith, ASUW President.
Contact: Angie Weiss - Director, ASUW Office of Government Relations – asuworg@uw.edu (206) 902-6827
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November 13th, 2012
A great piece in the Seattle Times regarding our legislative priorities for the 2012-13 session.
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November 12th, 2012:
The Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate (GPSS) would like to invite members of of the press to join students, elected officials, and members of the community for a student-driven conversation about the future of higher education in Washington state on November 13, 2012.
The GPSS will host its sixth annual Higher Education Summit from 2pm-6pm in the North Pre-Function room on the second floor of the new Husky Union Building, 4001 NE Stevens Way, at the University of Washington Seattle Campus. It will be a community conversation between students, elected officials, administrators, and community leaders about the challenges, changes, and opportunities in higher education.
This year the Higher Education Summit will focus on the following topics:
1) The role of online education in higher education – moderated by Ross Reynolds
2) State funding of higher education in Washington State – moderated by Enrique Cerna
3) The role of students in governing our institutions – moderated by Charles Plummer
“Investing in higher education is key for our state’s economic recovery, yet we’ve seen half of the UW’s state funding disappear in the past three years, with students forced to make up the difference through higher tuition. It’s time to come up with solutions for this funding crisis, and students must be part of that conversation,” Melanie Mayock, GPSS Vice President
For a full description of the agenda please see the event webpage.
The ASUW will hold its sixth annual Student Empowerment Banquet in the Husky Union Building, 4001 NE Stevens, in the HUB Ballroom on the 2nd floor, 7:00-9:30pm. It will be an exciting opportunity for legislators to meet with their constituents on the UW Campus who are affected most by decisions related to higher education: students.
“It is essential that students drive the conversation for how higher education is funded, we are the most important stakeholders in the conversation” says Angie Weiss, the Director of the ASUW Office of Government Relations. “It is vital that the opportunities a four-year degree bring us are accessible to every student who works hard to make it happen.”
We look forward to welcoming members of the press.
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November 11th, 2012:
Press Invitation:
The Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate invite you to attend a press conference where we will present student priorities for the 2012-13 legislative session.
The Associated Students of the University of Washington and the Graduate and Professional Student Senate are the representative student governments for the University of Washington campus. We strive to actively represent student voices in Olympia to preserve higher education funding and advocate for affordable tuition.
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The University Bookstore – Second Floor
4326 University Way, N.E.
Seattle, Washington 98105
9:30am
Tuesday, November 13th 2012
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 1st, 2012
Contact:
Angie Weiss, Director, ASUW Office of Government Relations – asuworg@uw.edu (206) 902-6827
Brandon Himes, ASUW Director of Communications – asuwbdcm@uw.edu (406) 396-5010
The Associated Students of the University of Washington (ASUW) Seattle are proud to support civic engagement on the UW Seattle campus by having a King County Elections Ballot Drop-off Van in Red Square for the 2012 General Election.
“We are excited to raise civic engagement and democracy on campus,” says ASUW President, Evan Smith.
The ASUW expects increased student voter turnout this election because of the accessible voting the Ballot Drop-off Van will bring. Students will be able to deliver their ballot without having to buy a stamp.
“Every step a student has to take to mail their ballot is a step between that person and casting their vote. Voting should be easy,” says Lucas Barash-David, the ASUW Office of Government Relations Assistant Director.
The Ballot Drop-off Van will be in Red Square, next to the Obelisk during these times:
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Friday November 2 – Monday November, 10:00AM to 5:00PM
Tuesday, November 6, 7:00AM – 8:00PM
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The ASUW Office of Government Relations worked for the past year to have a Ballot Drop Box placed on campus this year, and received support from the Seattle City Council, and local organizations such as the Washington Bus
“It took a year to make this happen. Something as simple as a ballot drop-off location will make the political process more accessible to students,” Angie Weiss, ASUW Office of Government Relations Director, “Students at other schools in Washington state have installed permanent ballot drop boxes, we hope to do the same.”
The ASUW will work to encourage political participation by hosting election-related events on campus through the election as part of the All Dawgs Vote campaign.
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October 30th, 2012
We would like to clarify some conversations that were had during our Board of Directors meetings on October 25th and that were subsequently printed in the October 26th edition of The Daily. Our discussion was revolving around approval of funding for continuation of a project for our Office of Off Campus Housing Affairs.
While our conversation did highlight some of our business concerns and scrutiny before moving on with approval of additional funding, we did approve the amount at the end of the conversation because we believed it was most beneficial to all parties involved. During this process due to an internal communication error we falsely referred to “UW Creative” as “Creative Communications” throughout this conversation and that name was reported in the initial story run in the newspaper.
We have taken steps to correct the name mistake both in our minutes and in the newspaper article. Creative Communications has received formal apologies from ASUW as well. While we did have concerns about the processes of the website, we are looking forward to moving on and working with UW Creative on the website again.
Again, we apologize for any resulting concerns from our conversation or the newspaper article.
Sincerely,
Evan Smith, ASUW President