State Board To Study Ewu Future Locke Orders Hec Board To Analyze Merger Proposal, Other Options

Gov. Gary Locke set into motion Monday a crucial analysis of who should control public higher education in Spokane County, leaving open the possibility of a merger of Eastern Washington and Washington State universities.

Locke ordered the Higher Education Coordinating Board in Olympia to “leave no stone unturned” in finding the best way to provide academic programs to students in the Spokane area and solve enrollment and management problems at Eastern.

In an interview, Locke said he also is recommending that Eastern postpone its search for a new president until the state determines the best path for the school.

Locke asked the HEC Board to review a slate of issues, including a controversial proposal by state Sen. Jim West, R-Spokane, to merge Eastern and Washington State University.

Eastern’s board, which denounced West’s idea two weeks ago, welcomed Locke’s move.

“I pledge that Eastern will participate with high energy and good faith. Once problems are clear and defined, solutions can be offered,” board chairman James Kirschbaum wrote in a statement.

The HEC Board, a nine-person citizens advisory group appointed by the governor, must release its initial findings by Feb. 15, when lawmakers are in session. That sets the stage for a debate in the 1998 Legislature over Eastern’s future.

A final report by the HEC Board is due June 1.

“The governor could have slammed the door on the merger idea, but he didn’t,” West said. “This legitimizes the discussion of a merger.”

Under West’s plan, a merger likely would create a WSU branch campus in Cheney, with its 6,700 students. It would give WSU control over the Riverpoint Higher Education Park in downtown Spokane and eliminate the Joint Center for Higher Education, which oversees downtown academic programs, Riverpoint and the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.

West said the changes are necessary to address Eastern’s drop in enrollment and public confusion over academic programs offered downtown.

But state Sen. Eugene Prince, R-Thornton, said a merger would raise tuition at Eastern and do little to improve Spokane’s academic programs. Prince’s district includes both universities.

Since 1993, Eastern’s enrollment has dropped 800 students. This year, taxpayers are paying $3.2 million to help Eastern recruit students and pay faculty members.

Eastern President Marshall Drummond resigned last summer. Last week, three board members who were up for reappointment were replaced by Locke with people open to the merger idea.

Locke ordered the HEC Board to consider duplication of programs and student access to college; the impact of graduate research on Spokane’s economy; the future of the Joint Center; administrative and organizational options, including the costs and benefits of merging Eastern and WSU; and leadership and governance.

Locke said it is too early to know if a merger of WSU and Eastern would benefit students and taxpayers. However, he said that if the Legislature were to find that a merger is the best solution, he would sign such a bill into law.

“Even if they (the HEC Board) were to propose a merger, it’s not something that could be done right away,” Locke added.

Marcus Gaspard, executive director of the HEC Board, said the board expects to conduct public meetings in Spokane County, with dates to be announced later.

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