About Western

Western
Here’s everything that you’ll want to know about our campus. (Campus Map)

Driving Directions & Parking

Please see our Travel page.

Local Bus Service

Whatcom Transit Authority provides great bus coverage all over Bellingham, for $1.00 a ride, with a number of Go Lines offering service every 15 minutes. All attendees will be given printed guides to help them navigate between campus and some common destinations.

On-Campus Lodging

Please see our Lodging page.

The Venues

Fairhaven Common Building

The Common Building will be the location for three things of primary interest to ResNet 2010 attendees:

  • Registration & Information Desk, where all attendees will check in when they first arrive on Western’s campus.
  • Fairhaven Dining Commons, where all breakfasts, with the exception of the Saturday morning breakfast prior to the Professional Development Seminars.
  • Wi-Fi & Computer Lab. There is Wi-Fi in the main lounge, and a computer lab down the hall for attendees who did not bring a laptop with them. (There is only Ethernet service in the Residence Hall rooms.)

Communications Facility (CF)

Most of the Symposium sessions will be held in this building, one of the newer facilities on campus.

Academic Instructional Center West (AW)

Some of the Symposium sessions will be held in this building, Western’s newest, a LEED Certified green building.

Viking Union

The Viking Union is Western’s student center. The following events will be held here:

  • Opening Ceremony
  • Vendor Fair
  • Silent Auction
  • T-Shirt Exchange
  • Activity Night
  • Jeopardy
  • Closing Ceremony

Viking Commons Dining Hall

Meals scheduled to be served in the Viking Commons include:

  • Saturday, June 26th: lunch for PDS participants and Board of Directors
  • Sunday, June 27th: lunch, dinner
  • Tuesday, June 29th: lunch

Walking the Campus

We’re happy to report that breakfast will be served each morning in the Fairhaven Dining Commons, located in the Community Building described above. The Community Building is mere steps from on-campus lodging and parking.

From breakfast, the walk to the symposium sessions in the Communications and Academic Instructional Center buildings is less than 5 minutes at a leisurely pace.

Finally, the walk between the buildings, where the sessions will be held and the Viking Union and Viking Dining Commons, where most lunches and dinners will be served, is about 10 minutes.

Campus Map

Technology: Cellular Coverage & Internet

Cellular Coverage

Based purely on anecdotal reports, Verizon customers experience the best coverage on our campus, with AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile offering slightly more limited coverage. Regardless of your carrier, please be prepared for the possibility that there might be a small number of locations on campus where a cellular signal will either be unavailable or weak.

Internet

All ResNet 2010 attendees will be provided login access to the following resources.

In On-Campus Lodging:

ResTek, a program of Western’s University Residences, provides a 100Mbps connection via Ethernet in every Residence Hall room, with data jacks available for every attendee. There are additional jacks in suite common areas and lounges. (No WiFi available in Residence Hall rooms. Attendees must bring their own Ethernet cable.)

Instructions for use:

  • Plug Ethernet cable into your computer and into one of the orange data jacks in the room
  • Turn on computer and open a browser
  • On the ResTek registration page, enter your First and Last name and leave the Western ID# field blank
  • Click through the rest of the registration process
  • Restart your computer

You will only have to complete this process once and will not have to log back in again whenever you are in your on-campus room.

WiFi:

Western offers extensive WiFi coverage over most of the rest of campus, including the dining hall and lounge in the Fairhaven Common Building.

Because we’re in the process of transitioning to a new Network Access Control system, attendees will have a choice between two different WiFi login methods.

Instructions for use:

  • Locate your Username and Password on a label on the back of your nametag
  • Choose what system (SSID) to connect to:
    • WWUwireless: Available in all ResNet locations, simply enter your Username and Password
    • WWUresnetconf: Available in all ResNet locations except the Communications Facility (CF), you’ll be prompted to download an agent and then you’ll log in with the same Username and Password

Computer Labs & Presentation Room Computers

The following can be logged into using the Username and Password on the label on the back of your nametag.

  • Computer Labs: The Fairhaven Complex common building has a computer lab with 16 PCs and one Mac. There are also numerous labs in academic buildings all across campus. (Academic Lab Map, with hours generally posted on the doors.)
  • Presentation Room Computers: For Presenters requiring a computer

Western Washington University

Western

From atop Sehome Hill, overlooking Bellingham Bay, North Puget Sound and the San Juan Islands, Western has been ranked by U.S. News and World Report as a leading regional public university in the Pacific Northwest, and #2 in the western United States. Since the first class of 88 students entered New Whatcom Normal School in 1899, the school has grown into the third largest institution of higher education in the state. The Normal School became Western Washington College of Education in 1937, Western Washington State College in 1961, and achieved university status in 1977.

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Fast Facts

Enrollment – Fall 2008

  • 13,777 students; 94% undergraduates
  • 2,693 new freshmen, 887 new transfers
  • 55% women, 45% men
  • 19.1% students of color

Faculty and Class Size

629 full-time equivalent (FTE) faculty, 89% holding the highest degree in their fields; student faculty ratio is 19:1; 77% of classes have 30 or fewer students; 4% of classes have 75 or more students

Distribution of Degrees

  • Business and Economics 16%
  • Education 10%
  • Environmental Studies 5%
  • Fairhaven College 4%
  • Fine and Performing Arts 5%
  • General Studies 5%
  • Humanities and Social Sciences 43%
  • Sciences and Technology 12%

Retention and Graduation Rates

83% of the freshman class of 2007 returned in Fall 2008, and approximately 70% of all students who begin at Western graduate.