The University of Washington is one of the nation’s leading research institutions. It’s struggling as the Trump administration reassesses how the federal government should spend millions of dollars in a variety of research areas.
SPR’s Doug Nadvornick talked about that change in priorities recently with UW Provost Tricia Serio. She was in Spokane last week to celebrate the opening of a new teaching space for its dental students.
This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
TRICIA SERIO: Typically when the nation faces challenges, research universities have answered that call. You can see Sputnik and other really major challenges that the country has faced. In fact, 80 years ago, this structure that we have now where research was placed in universities came about as a result of concerns after World War II. So this long partnership is really under strain right now and it's something we absolutely have to navigate.
I have real concerns about the place of higher education in our society today. We want to be strong partners and serve the needs of the country and it's becoming increasingly difficult to do that with all the volatility.
DOUG NADVORNICK: You're now an administrator, but you have a background as a faculty research person. From that point of view, and you see the interruptions in research, how do you view it as a faculty member?
TS: Absolutely. My highest level of anxiety as a faculty member is for scientists in training. So graduate students, even undergraduates who do research projects in our labs. As support for research at universities decreases, the opportunities to train the next generation of researchers contract and so there are the challenges we're facing today, but also the gaps in the pipeline for future talent that are being created. It's destabilizing for them.
A PhD in a STEM field takes anywhere between five and seven years, depending on the field, and that is dependent on federal funding, not only to support students during that time, but also to support their work. And so when that funding is in jeopardy, a student who the federal government has already invested in maybe three, four years into their program may not be able to complete that training. And so that's lost investment from the federal government in a talented young person who has many discoveries to make ahead of them.
DN: You may not know details, but do you have researchers who have had grants that have been interrupted and have had to stop their work?
TS: Absolutely. We have had about 200 grants at the university canceled. About 90 of those have been restored through litigation, but it remains an ongoing challenge. Those are just existing grants. And I think that there is a real challenge that is before us about how much funding will be placed for ongoing research projects for new applications. We could see a downturn there as well.
DN: Are faculty positions at peril because of all of this?
TS: Absolutely. You know, there are research, there are different types of faculty positions at the university. There are research faculty, there are tenured faculty, there are teaching faculty. But the entire system is destabilized when this partnership becomes in jeopardy because all of that work is so integrated.
DN: Now at the state level, they're also a very difficult sort of situation. How does the state funding or, I guess, the state situation on top of the federal affect the institution?
TS: Yeah, it's truly a perfect storm of challenges for universities all across the state, UW included.
You know, we absolutely understand the pressures that this state is under. But we also feel very strongly about educating the young people of the state of Washington is an investment in the future of this state. You know, 20 years ago, the state provided about two thirds of funding for undergraduate education in the state at UW and now that ratio has flipped. And so any reduction in continued state funding will likely burden the citizens of the state directly who are trying to afford an education.
DN: So there's another legislature who kind of has their eyes on you. And that's the Idaho legislature with regard to the WWAMI program and whether or not the state of Idaho will go forward with WWAMI or will diversify its medical education offerings. Tell me what's going on with that right now.
TS: Yeah, absolutely. So WWAMI is a five state region that the University of Washington School of Medicine supports. So that's Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana, and Idaho. This is, I think, a really wonderful example of how higher education can bring together communities that have different social and economic pressures to really advance something that's in the common good. That is training health care providers and providing health care to diverse populations across that five state region. Something like 25% of the land mass of the country.
And there are challenges because people come to that partnership with different perspectives. But I have confidence that we are united in the purpose of that program, which is to serve people and to care for people. So I'm hopeful that we'll find a path forward.
DN: When you say we are united, are you talking about WWAMI plus the Idaho legislature plus the Idaho medical community?
TS: I’m talking about the medical community. And I also believe the states are aligned in wanting to provide health care for their citizens and making sure that we have enough providers. We may have different ideas about how to best accomplish that, but I truly believe that we'll stay in partnership.
DN: You don't think that the legislature is going to come to you and say, we're going to go with the University of Utah instead or something like that?
TS: They may, but I have faith in our longstanding partnership. And so many of the doctors in the state of Idaho that have gone through this program, that have worked with students in this program, that they'll see the value of what working together brings and how it reduces administrative costs by having this consortium together.
