Tree-Fruit Program Gets Funding
Everything’s coming up apples for the students at Wenatchee Valley College.
An anonymous donor recently donated $1 million to support a four-year tree-fruit management program and a teaching position at the school. The gift will be shared by Washington State University and WVC, which now offer a joint two-year horticulture program in Wenatchee.
The money will go into an endowment and the schools will use the annual income to create a four-year WSU baccalaureate degree program in Wenatchee.
Until now, Wenatchee Valley students seeking a four-year degree in horticulture had to finish their education at WSU in Pullman. This gift will allow them to earn their degree in the region where they work and live, said Connie Kravas, vice president for university advancement and president of the Washington State University Foundation. It also will allow students to major in tree-fruit management, a first for either school. The program is scheduled to start next fall
“The bottom line is there is just huge demand for this,” said Kent Mullinix, who will receive endowment support and who will administer the new bachelor’s program. “And the demand (for educated workers) will grow as the industry grows.”
One of the target groups for the tree-fruit program is place-bound orchard employees seeking advanced training. “We’re expecting to see people who are already working in the industry, the average age of 29 or 30 years old,” Mullinix said.
The donor stipulated that the money should be used to provide training to people otherwise unable to earn a degree due to cost, families, location and jobs. “This is particularly true for Hispanic residents,” the donor wrote in a statement given to the schools.
Though WSU receives anonymous donations every year, this may be the largest, Kravas said.
While a gift in the million-dollar range is not a rarity for WSU, which now has an endowment of $130 million in private donations, “… Still, it’s a magnificent gift,” Kravas said. “There’s no doubt the donors were motivated by a number of noble purposes.”
While the donors requested anonymity, Kravas did say they have had a long involvement with WSU.
, DataTimes