HOUSE BILL REPORT

ESHB 1822

BYHouse Committee on Higher Education (originally sponsored by Representatives Jacobsen, Van Luven, Rector, Miller, H. Myers, Wood, Jesernig, Ebersole, Wineberry, Appelwick, R. Fisher, Betrozoff, Cole, Prince, Nelson, H. Sommers, Peery, Rasmussen, Wang, Dellwo, Ferguson, Gallagher, May, P. King, Walker, Hankins, Sprenkle, Cantwell, Day, Nutley, D. Sommers, Moyer, Anderson, Silver, Nealey, Dorn, Todd, Holland, Brooks, G. Fisher, Heavey, Walk, Grant, Pruitt, Winsley, Valle, K. Wilson, Schoon, Morris, Hine, Horn, R. Meyers, Scott, Brekke, Tate, Bristow, Wolfe, Patrick and Brumsickle)

Enhancing access to upper division and graduate level higher education programs.

House Committe on Higher Education

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (12)

      Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Van Luven, Ranking Republican Member; Basich, Doty, Fraser, Heavey, Jesernig, Miller, H. Myers, Prince, Rector and Wood.

House Staff:Susan Hosch (786-7120)

AS PASSED HOUSE MARCH 6, 1989

BACKGROUND:

In 1985, the Higher Education Coordinating Board was created and charged with the responsibility of preparing a comprehensive master plan.  By statute, the plan was to include assessments of the state's higher education need.  The assessments could include, among other things, the basic and continuing needs of various age groups; business and industrial needs for a skilled workforce; analyses of demographic, social, and economic trends; and the needs of recent high school graduates and placebound adults.  The Board was encouraged to consider the needs of residents of all geographic regions, but to apply its initial priorities to heavily populated areas underserved by public institutions.

The Board completed its "Master Plan for Higher Education" in 1987.  In the plan, the Board found that a substantial underserved, placebound population does exist in the state's large urban areas.  The board determined that additional upper-division and graduate level programs should be provided to the citizens living in or near the central Puget Sound, Spokane, Vancouver, and the Tri- Cities.  During 1988, the Board added Yakima to the list of areas needing additional upper-division and graduate programs.  The Board also recommended that both traditional modes of delivery and telecommunications should be employed to serve the educational needs of these areas.

The Board assigned to the University of Washington the responsibility for ensuring the expansion of upper-division and graduate programs in the Puget Sound area.  Washington State University was assigned the responsibility for providing upper-division and graduate programs to Vancouver and the Tri-Cities.  Washington State University and Eastern Washington University were jointly assigned the responsibility for serving the upper-division and graduate program needs of the Spokane area.  Central Washington University was assigned the responsibility for providing additional upper- division programs to the citizens of the Yakima area.

The University of Washington and Washington State University were directed to develop plans to serve unmet needs and to meet their assigned program responsibilities through the operation of branch campuses in their service areas.

SUMMARY:

The Legislature endorses the assignments of responsibility to provide upper-division and graduate programs that the Higher Education Coordinating Board has made to various institutions of higher education.  The Legislature also endorses the creation of branch campuses for the University of Washington and Washington State University.

It is legislative intent that, at the same time that funding is approved for serving these areas, enrollment lids at existing baccalaureate institutions should be raised at the upper-division level, to the extent that doing so will increase participation rates in underserved areas of the state.

The University of Washington is directed to ensure the expansion of upper-division and graduate programs in the central Puget Sound area.  The University will meet that responsibility through the operation of at least two branch campuses:  one campus to be located in the Bothell-Woodinville area, and one campus to be located in the Tacoma area.

Washington State University is directed to provide upper-division and graduate programs to the citizens of the Tri-Cities and Southwest Washington areas.  The University will meet those responsibilities through the operation of a branch campus located in each of those areas.

Washington State University and Eastern Washington University are jointly responsible for providing upper-division and graduate programs to the Spokane area.  Washington State University is directed to meet its obligation through the operation of a branch campus in the Spokane area.  Eastern Washington University will meet its responsibility through co-located programs and facilities in Spokane.

Central Washington University is responsible for providing upper-division and graduate programs to the citizens of the Yakima area.

Each of these universities shall carry out their responsibilities under rules or guidelines adopted by the Higher Education Coordinating Board.  Through its rules and guidelines, the board must ensure a collaborative partnership between the community colleges and four-year institutions.  In addition, before approving an institutional request to acquire facilities in one of the assigned areas, the Board must explore a variety of creative and cost-effective ways to serve the educational needs of that area.

Authorization for the programs, increases, and facilities described in the bill, are subject to legislative appropriation.

A statute creating the Southwest Joint Center for Education is repealed.  The Center, operated by Washington State University, The Evergreen State College, and Clark and Lower Columbia Community Colleges, is designed to serve the area's educational needs.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Chuck Collins, Higher Education Coordinating Board; Alexander Schilt, Eastern Washington University; Samuel Smith, Washington State University; William Gerberding, Frederick Dobney and Donna Kerr, University of Washington; Larry Stanley, Momentum '89; Vicki McNeill, City of Spokane; John Poyner, City of Richland; Rep. Betty Sue Morris; Richard Page, Washington Roundtable; Donald Williams, Battelle; Larry Kenney, State Labor Council; Jerry Finnigan, Tri-Cities University Center; Neal Schulman, City of Richland; Karen Vialle, Tacoma City Council; Tom Pritchard and Toni Firth, Bellevue Community College; Al Hawkins, Westinghouse Hanford Company; Dick Chappelle and Barbara Bingham, Puget Sound Higher Education Coalition; Jim Cochran, Washington State University; Wendel Satre, Washington State University-Spokane Advisory Council; Jim Boldt, Tri-Cities Economic Development Council; Liz Heath, Pierce County Economic Development Board; George Condon, Washington State University-Vancouver; Jani Doctor, South Puget Sound Higher Education Council; William Gray, Washington State University-Spokane; and Gordon Lund.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    The Higher Education Coordinating Board found that citizens living in counties that contain a state baccalaureate institution have a much greater participation rate in higher education than do citizens residing in other counties.  The Board also found that Washington provides opportunities for attending upper division and graduate classes at rates well below the national average (-13 percent and -31 percent respectively).  In contrast, students are attending community colleges at a rate of 67 percent above the national average. The Board also found that demand for higher education will surge in the later part of the 1990's as the children of the "baby boom" generation reach college age.

The Board concluded that some citizens of the state are effectively denied access to a baccalaureate degree because they do not live near a state college, and, for a variety of reasons, cannot relocate to one of the communities where the state institutions are located.  Many of these placebound students, including community college transfer students, will benefit from the campuses proposed by the Higher Education Coordinating Board. Local businesses will also benefit from interaction with institutions and from the ability to hire Washington graduates, instead of having to import degree holders from other states.

Decisions on how and where to serve these students cannot wait because it takes a number of years to complete new facilities and to create stable educational programs.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      While no one testified against the bill, some of those who did testify expressed concerns about the anticipated expense of building branch campuses.  They felt that the state's highest priority should be improving the quality of the existing system of higher education, and that students in the assigned areas should be served in the most cost-effective manner possible.