Panel: City Needs WSU At Helm Hec Board Gives Eastern More Time To Create Plan For Future In Spokane

Washington State University should play the dominant role in higher education in Spokane, a state panel decided Friday.

The Higher Education Coordinating Board said all public university courses in Spokane should be offered at Riverpoint Higher Education Park, and that WSU should manage that campus east of Division Street.

WSU also was asked to develop a plan to incorporate the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute into its current research programs.

But the board softened the blow to Eastern Washington University, the other public institution competing for dollars and students in Spokane.

The board gave Eastern more time to come up with a plan for its future in Spokane, and said Eastern’s trustees should continue looking for a new president, rather than suggesting they hire an interim leader.

David Shaw, secretary for the nine-member citizens advisory board, said the recommendations to Gov. Gary Locke are a major step in clarifying which institution offers what program in Spokane.

Rising costs and more competition for taxpayer dollars are forcing that kind of clarity throughout the state because, Shaw said, “the public cornucopia has run dry.”

“I don’t think there will be losers in the long term,” said Shaw after the recommendations were approved 9-0. “In the short term, there will be problems that are always attendant with change.”

The Riverpoint campus is currently governed by the Joint Center for Higher Education, a regional panel established a decade ago to prevent higher-education turf battles in Spokane. The panel would be eliminated under the board’s recommendations.

In December, Locke ordered the board to find the best way to provide academic programs in Spokane and solve enrollment and management problems at Eastern.

Locke said Friday he would work with the Legislature to blend the board’s recommendations with pending bills. He doesn’t plan to propose his own bill based on the recommendations.

One pending bill would make WSU responsible for all college courses offered to juniors, seniors and graduate students. Another would establish a separate board to manage SIRTI.

The HEC Board originally considered giving control of SIRTI to WSU. It amended that to say the university’s plan should reflect “maximum levels of collaboration and partnerships.”

That change came after Eastern officials and staff reminded the HEC board that they, too, are involved in important research and WSU president Sam Smith said his institution can work with any management model.

The board also agreed that Eastern deserves more time to prepare its mission statement for its Spokane program.

Eastern Trustee Gordon Budke and President Marshall Drummond said it’s unreasonable to expect a complete mission statement by June 1 for the many programs involving students and local businesses or medical facilities.

Shaw said the two made “some very cogent points” and the board decided to give Eastern until Sept. 1 for a draft statement, and Dec. 31 for the final version.

The HEC Board also backed away from telling Eastern trustees to cancel their search for a replacement for Drummond, who resigns this summer.

The trustees can select a president, an interim president or “a range of options,” the HEC Board said. Originally, the board had directed trustees to look for a chief administrative officer who would guide the university through changes over the next three years.

Budke said such a position may make sense in business, but not in academia. Even in business, it sounds like a person hired to preside over a firm that’s going into bankruptcy, he said.

The HEC Board was not aware that Eastern trustees were far along in their search for Drummond’s replacement, Shaw said. After being told that candidates were already being interviewed, board members decided the trustees “should exercise their best judgment.”

Shaw said he didn’t think Eastern would have trouble attracting a new president to an institution that is being forced to pull back its programs and meet new guidelines. Many candidates would consider that a challenge, he said.

, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: FRAMEWORK OF COLLEGIATE CHANGE Here are some key recommendations approved by the Higher Education Coordinating Board on Friday: Eastern Washington University trustees can continue their search for a president, and name an interim president or any other officer they choose. The HEC Board initially suggested trustees suspend the search and name an interim administrative officer through June 2001. Washington State University will come up with a plan for the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute but won’t be given immediate control of SIRTI. WSU will coordinate upper division courses and graduate programs in Spokane, but must consult with other schools and the community. EWU will come up with a draft statement of its academic mission in Spokane, detailing what programs should remain in Spokane, be discontinued or returned to Cheney. Current EWU students will continue to pay that school’s lower tuition even if WSU takes over their program.