WACLEA AWARDS

Congratulations to

Dr. George Pierce

Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs
Western Washington University
Administrator of the Year Award winner for 2007.

Press release follows:

Pierce named Administrator of the Year

BELLINGHAM, WA- Dr. George Pierce, Western Washington University Vice President for Business and Financial Affairs, has been named Administrator of the Year by the Western Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (WACLEA).

Pierce received the annual award for his dedication and support of campus public safety. WACLEA is a non-profit campus police and security association, which operates in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, Alaska and British Columbia, Canada, working closely with the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators and other law enforcement organizations.

Dr. Pierce is responsible for most of the business matters for the university. As (acting) Director of Public Safety (Police, Parking, Lockshop) Dave Doughty reports directly to him, as do a number of (lesser) units including Facilities Management, Human Resources, Environmental Health and Safety, Capital Budget Office, Division Budget Office and the Assistant Vice-President (Business Services).

Dr. Pierce came to WWU in 1989. Prior to that he had served for 14 years in a number of positions involving Planning and Administration at Seattle University.

When Dr. Pierce arrived at Western, he inherited a major headache involving the Public Safety Department, which was embroiled in the controversial issue of arming its campus police officers. Dr. Pierce provided the guidance, and more importantly the support of his office, to the department. Dr. Pierce’s leadership and support has continued unfailingly through these past 18 years.

During this time Dr. Pierce has significantly contributed to a number of successes of the Public Safety Department. He helped bring the Parking Services unit into the Public Safety family – providing for a variety of cost efficiencies and notably providing the department with a brand new office building designed specifically for their needs, including an Emergency Operations Center. Dr. Pierce supported measures to raise the bar on the professionalism of the Police Department – by increasing the staff, providing for 24/7 dispatching, improving selection standards and accountability, and by implementing a significant pay raise for police officers to make the position competitive with not just the Bellingham market, but statewide. With his support, WWU became the first university police department in the state to implement a LiveScan automated fingerprint identification system. Even before the UW and Virginia Tech incidents, Dr. Pierce authorized the Public Safety Department to host controversial training in Active Shooter Response, and provided necessary equipment to aid the officers.

Dr. Pierce’s background in Planning is apparent in his efforts as chair of the Emergency Management Committee and Enterprise Risk Management Committee. He is currently guiding the university in efforts to update its emergency and standard communications systems.

With a strong focus on safety, Dr. Pierce has also supported the Environmental Health and Safety Department – growing it from responsibility for just conducting safety inspections to a unit that is responsible for Hazmat, Emergency Planning, Risk Management, Labor and Industries claims, Insurance, Fire Safety, Safety training and a variety of other related issues.

 

 

 

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