At yesterday's Town Hall meeting, UW provost Phyllis Wise spoke to a crowded auditorium about the changes the University will continue to undergo, including the development of an innovative new College of the Environment.

Wise, also the UW's executive vice president, made it clear that the UW is interested in playing a larger role in preserving the global environment by implementing a college that will bring together the dispersed efforts the University has already taken.

"We don't bring it [all] together, like we should," she said, noting that there are 400 faculty members and 40 different programs at the UW that focus on the environment in some way. "We are so incredibly strong in this area, but we don't make the kind of impact that we should."

Wise hopes that the new college will enable "high-risk" and "high-impact" change by working together with businesses, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and the government in a more organized and efficient manner. She said the college would be a place where the right people, with the right partnerships, can make a difference.

"We all don't have to read too far into any newspaper, journal or other publication to hear about the problems of our air, the problems of our water," she said. "If we do [something], we should do it now."

The provost said she was "painfully aware" of the limited resources the UW has to start any new initiative, but she hopes that the federal and state government, as well as private donors, will understand the need for something "big, bold, risky and a little bit different."

Wise also addressed issues of campus leadership, concerning the regular turnover of new deans and provosts at the University, as well as the campus' new safety programs, which were created in response to the Virginia Tech school shooting and Rebecca Griego's death last April.

"We are trying to make sure that any sign of danger to any of you is acknowledged and taken care of," she said.

When talk turned toward developments with the UW's proposed new campus to the north, executive vice provost Ana Mari Cauce took the floor and announced that the governor would publicize the committee's findings on her Web site today.

"[One thing to understand is that] this was a legislative mandate," Cauce said when a crowd member asked how this would affect the money coming into the University, taking into consideration the proposed College of the Environment. "It's not like the University of Washington went out and said we wanted a new campus. ... It's up to the [state] Legislature to see if we can afford it and see if it is worth it."

A broadcast of the town hall meeting can be found online at www.washington.edu.

[Reach reporter Arla Shephard at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]