Senators Sponsor Bill To Protect Sirti Proposed University Merger Prompts Call To Make Research Center An Independent State Agency
Two Spokane senators want to reorganize management of a research center to protect it from the fallout of a proposed university merger.
Republican Sen. Jim West and Sen. Lisa Brown, a Democrat, are co-sponsoring a bill that essentially would make the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute an independent state agency.
That, both senators agree, would ensure its continued survival in the wake of state lawmakers’ re-examination of the way higher education is working in Spokane.
West, who has called for plans detailing the possible merger of Eastern Washington and Washington State universities, said the bill “is a recognition that SIRTI is unique and distinct, and should be kept outside the debate.”
Currently, SIRTI is managed by the Joint Center for Higher Education, a group of six colleges and universities, set up years ago to eliminate higher education “turf wars.” West and others - including WSU President Sam Smith - have suggested the 10-year-old center may have outlived its usefulness.
Between West’s push and Gov. Gary Locke’s request that a state board recommend by Feb. 15 ways to improve higher education in Spokane, the Joint Center could be eliminated. Lawmakers say they don’t want SIRTI to go down with it.
A marriage of technology and economic development, SIRTI was designed to provide research with a commercial application that could boost the economy. It also provides a way for academic institutions to link up with technology industries.
“It has an important role to play and we just wanted to safeguard it,” Brown said.
Their bill would make SIRTI independent, and allow it to contract with the state’s community, trade and economic development department for funding.
Making SIRTI its own entity, West said, also could increase the possibility that lawmakers would offer it more state funding in the future. SIRTI’s primary source of funding, a $15 million grant from the Defense Department, ends in 1999.
“As part of the broader picture of what’s happening on this front, I’m very supportive of Jim’s proposal,” said Lyle Anderson, SIRTI’s executive director.
, DataTimes