Eastern Must Make Changes Or Fade Away

Eastern Washington University is in trouble.

Enough trouble that privately some state regulators and higher education leaders are asking whether EWU can, or should, continue in its current direction.

These hard questions arise from the gloomy news that EWU must cut another $2 million from its budget this fall by eliminating three teachers, 13 staffers and leaving 23 faculty positions unfilled to meet its state funding target.

The reason? Students simply aren’t attending the school in the numbers they once did.

Three years ago nearly 8,000 students chose Eastern.

This fall, it’s possible as few as 6,600 will enroll.

Every student who doesn’t enroll costs EWU at least $4,000 in state money.

That’s why EWU administrators will meet with the Higher Education Coordination Board this week to outline a plan for EWU to cut back its operations to match the budget that comes from a much-reduced student population.

“We don’t expect the student numbers to be that low. We’re working to get more students on campus. We have a plan and we think it is going to work,” said a determined Mark Drummond, EWU’s president.

But Eastern clearly is in a bind for a number of reasons.

First, the growth in Washington state largely is taking place in Western Washington and EWU’s projected growth just hasn’t happened. “Eastern is by far the most regional university in the state and it is really a big disadvantage not having a presence in Western Washington,” said Mike Ormsby, an EWU graduate and 12-year board member.

Eastern hopes to double its enrollment from Western Washington this fall. The doubling of West Side students would mean a jump from 35 to 70 Puget Sound students.

Second, Washington State University’s branch campus expansion is eating into EWU’s traditional feeding grounds for students. “The branch campus expansion of WSU and UW has had an impact on Eastern,” Drummond said. “The Tri-Cities campus of WSU now enrolls 1,300 students. Historically, EWU would have enrolled many of those students.”

Third, the generally healthy state of the economy means some students who might have gone to EWU if they couldn’t find a job, now take two years of community college training and hit the red-hot employment market.

And there are other clouds on EWU’s horizon.

Virtual universities based on interactive computer technology likely will reduce the commuter student load at EWU. One example of this challenge is the Western Governors University, a virtual campus wired up among state institutions across the West. By decade’s end students from any western state will be able to take classes from dozens of western universities via their computers.

“Within five years we think 25 percent of the college students will be tied to this kind of distance learning,” Drummond predicted.

And, for whatever reason, Eastern’s image and reputation have become fuzzy and muddled. Is Eastern a liberal arts school? A teacher’s college? Is a degree from Eastern worth it?

“Without question we need to identify our niche,” said EWU board member Ormsby.

The niche once was the education of school teachers. Perhaps 60 percent of the public school teachers in the Spokane area have been educated at Eastern.

Oddly, few universities, including Eastern, see much marketing appeal from being known as teachers colleges - even though concerns over public education rank high in the minds of parents.

Eastern’s other traditional niche has been to attract students needing to brush up on marketable skills. Again, Eastern seems to have deemphasized this niche and developed a stronger liberal arts program.

That strategy hasn’t worked as well as the university hoped. Many lowerincome, blue-collar students seem simply to have decided they don’t want to learn that stuff and have gone elsewhere for technical training.

The school has many strengths.

Eastern’s classes are small. The faculty is experienced. The main campus is historic and beautiful. And, Eastern is a bargain with great scholarships available.

And, despite all of its troubles, remains committed to being part of Spokane and Eastern Washington’s culture rather than living off the fat hog of Western Washington.

At the moment, these strengths aren’t catching the eye of enough students. And if students don’t see the value, a university becomes an expensive collection of buildings and employees with advanced degrees.

So the question comes down to this: What sort of institution should Eastern become in the 21st century?

It is difficult to answer, and time is running short.

, DataTimes MEMO: Chris Peck is the editor of The Spokesman-Review. His column appears each Sunday on Perspective.