Northeastern U. goes Northwest, hunting for master’s degree students

By Nick Anderson, Published: May 26

Why has Northeastern University opened two campuses in recent years far from its namesake geographic region?

What would drive a well-regarded school in Boston to open branches in the Pacific Northwest (Seattle) and the South (Charlotte, N.C.)?

Read the full article via The Washington Post

Geekwire: UW’s Ed Lazowska: ‘Washington is the ass end of the donkey in just about every aspect of education’

The incredible talent that the University of Washington pumps out every year was on display during Tuesday’s Seattle Tech Meetup, as five startups with UW ties gave five-minute pitches to the crowd at the Paul G. Allen Center for Computer Science and Engineering.

But unfortunately for the state, the UW is one of the few bright spots amidst an otherwise struggling education system with regard to producing tech talent. While Washington ranks fourth in the nation for tech-related companies, the state comes in a disappointing 46th for participation in science and engineering graduate programs.

And that’s exactly why Ed Lazowska, the Bill & Melinda Gates Chair in Computer Science & Engineering at the UW, stood at the podium as the final speaker on Tuesday and implored the crowd to start supporting education in Washington. 

Read the rest of the article here.

Via Geekwire: Northeastern Univ. CEO: ‘Gaming in Seattle is a submarine industry’

On Tuesday, May 14, Geekwire posted an article highlighting Dean Washburn’s thoughts on the gaming community in Seattle. There are nearly 100 gaming companies in this region that have the potential to forward innovation in areas such as education and healthcare.

The article also highlights the MPS Digital Media with a concentration in Game Design, which will be offered at the Seattle campus in the future.

Read the full article here.

Watch the recording of our Speaker Series event on this topic.

Dean Washburn Writes Guest Column in Puget Sound Business Journal

Dean Tayloe Washburn was a guest columnist this week for the Puget Sound Business Journal. In his post titled, Sound Perspectives: Importance of education access, transit, income inequality and the green transformation, he talks about four key areas that need to change for the future prosperity of this country and the rest of the world. He states that Seattle is in a unique position to lead these innovative breakthroughs and that collaboration between our region’s companies is key for success.

Read his article here. (Subscription Required)

Northeastern University Seattle featured in Northwest Economic Insight April 2013

Northeastern University–Seattle joined the Economic Development Council of Seattle-King County because of the organization’s vast knowledge of the Pacific Northwest’s business landscape and culture. The university’s commitment to enhance our region’s ability to meet growing and changing educational and business needs is a great asset to dozens of local companies in the community. “We recognized very quickly that Northeastern is taking an innovative approach to what they do,” said Jeff Marcell, head of the Economic Development Council of Seattle and King County. “We have amazing companies in our community that are leading their industries. But the reality is we still don’t have enough talent. The battle is, how do you attract as much talent as possible and how do you grow that from within. Northeastern helps us do both.”

Read the entire article here.

The evoLLLution: Truly Networked for Life: Expanding a Local University Nationally

Boston-based Northeastern University is establishing its national brand by setting up satellite campuses in Seattle and Charlotte, North Carolina. To do this, it has partnered with local industries to provide professional development opportunities for students in all three cities.

By Angela Walmsley / Associate Dean, Northeastern University – Seattle 

Northeastern University is a top-tier, global, research university, recognized as a leader in experiential learning. While our undergraduate programs remain on the home campus in Boston, we have recently opened campuses focused on professional graduate programs in two strategic locations domestically: Charlotte, North Carolina and Seattle.

The Northeastern University-Seattle campus opened in January 2013 in the South Lake Union area of Seattle. After years of extensive research, Seattle was chosen because Northeastern felt it could contribute to the community by offering programs aligned with local industry needs. The campus offers 28 graduate degree programs — four doctorate and 24 master degree programs — designed for working professionals in high-demand areas such as science and technology, healthcare and leadership and management. All programs are offered in either an online or a hybrid format (a mixture of online and on-ground programming). In addition, in-class sessions are held in the evenings and on weekends to accommodate a working professional’s schedule. Stu­dents also ben­efit from the men­toring and exper­tise of Northeastern’s world-class faculty.

The experiential learning elements Northeastern University is known for have been integrated into Northeastern University-Seattle’s programming as well. This learning integrates theory with practice; connecting course content directly to a problem-solving environment in the workplace. Students are encouraged to choose projects in their workplace that can be studied and discussed in their professional graduate degree program. Students also have the option to participate in the cooperative education options, providing them a chance to work during their course of study if they are not already employed.

Northeastern University is excited to be the first private research university in Seattle and is excited to offer some of the leading-edge degree programs to the Seattle community. Being Northeastern in the Northwest has created some geographical questions and jokes, but Northeastern University–Seattle has been successful in establishing its brand as a top-tier institution in the region in a very short time. The staff and team were hired last summer and fall, and marketing began in August 2012. Our opening celebration in January 2013 was attended by more than 500 Seattleites! Northeastern University–Seattle is forging research partnerships with local industries and developing more cooperative education work placement opportunities with local employers, while offering graduate degrees that local professionals are seeking.

All North­eastern Uni­ver­sity stu­dents and alumni truly are “Networked for Life” as they have access to the same global net­work of resources, whether they are enrolled at the Seattle or Char­lotte grad­uate cam­puses or at the university’s main campus in Boston.

Puget Sound Business Journal: Education: A university from Northeast opens doors in Northwest

By Hugo Kugiya, Contributing Writer

Puget Sound Business Journal: March 1, 2013

Seattle’s newest college, a highly regarded import from Boston, officially opened for business last week in a new office building in South Lake Union.

The Seattle campus, if it can be called that, of Northeastern University is a stack of glass-walled offices set beside a soaring lobby in a space it shares with the building’s principal occupant, the Institute for Systems Biology.

The addition of Northeastern to the building and the neighborhood is both practical and symbolic. The research university will grant only graduate degrees from its Seattle branch, with an emphasis on science, technology and health (it also offers …

Read the full article at bizjournal.com>>

Patti Payne: A New Ivory Tower In South Lake Union

With South Lake Union alive with activity, Northeastern University – Seattle, a Boston private research university, has just opened its South Lake Union satellite campus. In a space shared with the Institute for Systems Biology at 401 Terry Ave. N., the new space is small but efficient, says Tayloe Washburn, Dean of the satellite location, who was planning an open house for more than 400 guests on Jan. 17 and who moved into his office two weeks ago. 

Read the full article here.

Northeastern University to Host Seattle Graduate Campus Open House with King County Executive Dow Constantine

Northeastern University to Host Seattle Graduate Campus Open House with King County Executive Dow Constantine

SEATTLE, Wash. – Northeastern University, a private research university and a leader in worldwide experiential learning announced that its recently launched Seattle campus will host an Open House event on Thursday, January 17 from 4-7 p.m. PST.

King County Executive Dow Constantine and Seattle City Council President Sally Clark will be speaking at the event for the community, welcoming the university to Seattle, and celebrating the opening of Northeastern’s new South Lake Union graduate campus. 

Northeastern University–Seattle offers graduate degree programs that are strategically aligned with the Pacific Northwest’s top industries in science, technology, business, and healthcare—matching Northeastern’s educational and research strengths with the region’s economic opportunities. The degrees focus on high-demand fields such as cyber security, health informatics, computer science, bioinformatics and engineering.

Northeastern’s existing fac­ulty will teach courses both online and on site at Northeastern University–Seattle. This hybrid learning approach is ideal for working pro­fes­sionals because it com­bines the tra­di­tional ben­e­fits of face-to-face instruc­tion with the flex­i­bility of online learning.

At the Open House, prospective students are invited to join Northeastern alumni and community leaders to learn about the global employer network Northeastern University–Seattle brings to the Pacific Northwest. In addition to the range of degree programs, guests will have the opportunity to learn more about the hybrid learning approach.

Northeastern University–Seattle Graduate Campus Open House

Thursday, January 17
4 p.m. until 7 p.m.
401 Terry Avenue N.
South Lake Union
Seattle, WA 98109

# # #

About Northeastern University
Founded in 1898, Northeastern University is a leader in worldwide experiential learning and interdisciplinary research that focuses on global challenges in health, security, and sustainability. Northeastern offers a comprehensive range of undergraduate and graduate programs leading to degrees through the doctorate in seven colleges, the D’Amore-McKim School of Business and the School of Law, as well as select advanced degrees at graduate campuses in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Seattle.

The Northeastern University–Seattle graduate campus delivers industry-aligned degrees to meet the needs of the regions’ high-profile business sectors. Graduate degrees ranging from cyber security and computer science to health informatics, leadership, and engineering, are delivered through an innovative hybrid educational model (on-line and on campus) to offer working professionals the flexibility they need to advance their careers.

For more information about Northeastern University–Seattle, visit www.northeastern.edu/seattle.

Media Contact:
Stephany Rochon
Nyhus Communications for Northeastern University–Seattle
206-323-3733
stephany.rochon@nyhus.com

Commentary: Training our Workforce to Meet Demand

Partnerships between higher education and local businesses develop tailored curricula to meet workforce needs.

 Tayloe Washburn |   December 2012   |  FROM THE PRINT EDITION

Business and community leaders in Seattle and the Puget Sound region have built a strong foundation for a diverse economy, but developing a vibrant economic base is not enough. Making it sustainable is critical. In order to maintain the regional competitive advantage we have built, we must deepen our local talent pool to support the businesses that create new, innovative jobs.

An increasing number of those jobs require advanced education and training in critical sectors. In fact, Washington needs to add 9,000 graduate degrees per year in STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) fields through 2019 to keep up with employer demand. Seattle, like Boston and San Jose, has a bachelor’s degree attainment rate of nearly 25 percent. However, when comparing graduate degree attainment, Seattle has a rate that is only two-thirds of those cities. It would take more than 100,000 graduate degrees to reach the per capita rate of Boston and San Jose.

Further highlighting our needs in higher education, Seattle ranks comparatively low when it comes to availability of part-time graduate degree programs that can support the schedules and goals of our region’s working professionals. Per capita, Seattle’s supply of part-time graduate degrees is less than half of cities with similarly high attainment levels of bachelor’s degrees.

Read more here.