UW Tacoma kicks off academic year, celebrates 10 years on permanent campus

When fall quarter began Wednesday, UW Tacoma celebrated two milestones: the successful enrollment of the university's second freshman class and the 10th anniversary of the opening of the permanent campus at 19th and Pacific.

UW Tacoma's lower-division program, in its second year, is growing fast. Last year's freshmen have become sophomores and a new freshman class has been admitted.

Overall enrollment is projected to reach about 2,500 in the 2007-08 school year, a record high for UW Tacoma. The university has hired 17 new permanent, full-time faculty members to accommodate growth. The university expects freshman enrollment to be at about the same level as last year, at close to 200 students.

UW Tacoma opened in 1990 in rented space downtown. The permanent campus opened in 1997 in Tacoma's historic downtown warehouse district. UW Tacoma has brought life back to the southern end of downtown Tacoma, creating a vibrant urban neighborhood by rehabilitating abandoned brick warehouses into university buildings and leasing street-level space to retail and restaurants. Surrounded by world-class museums, cafes, high-end restaurants, light rail, a successful convention center, condos and a new hotel, UW Tacoma is at the center of one of the city's most thriving neighborhoods.

UW Tacoma currently occupies about 15 percent of its 46-acre footprint, which extends from Pacific to Tacoma avenues between 21st and 17th streets. Planned growth continues in phases. Construction will begin this month on William W. Philip Hall, an assembly hall and student commons space located in the 1900 block of Pacific Avenue.

UW Tacoma milestones:

• 1990: Campus opens with 176 students and one academic program, Liberal Studies.
• 1997: Permanent campus opens.
• 1999: UW Tacoma campus earns awards for preservation and urban design from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the American Institute of Architects.
• 2002: Science and Keystone, new buildings, open.
• 2003: Pinkerton Building opens; $15 million Milgard gift names School of Business.
• 2004: Cherry Parkes and Mattress Factory buildings open, first university or college buildings in the state to earn a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) silver certification from the U.S. Green Building Council.
• 2005: UW Tacoma becomes four-year university with state legislature approval to admit freshmen; Sierra Club names UW Tacoma one of the nation's 12 best new developments.
• 2006: UW Tacoma admits first class of 187 freshmen.
• 2007: UW Tacoma fills its first sophomore class; construction begins on William W. Philip Hall.