Last-Minute Pleas Heard By Hec Board Students, Faculty Members, Businessmen Make Their Case
University presidents, students and business leaders took their last, best shots Thursday at swaying a state panel that is trying to shape the future of higher education in Spokane.
They revisited the ground that has been the subject of turf wars for years: Who controls the state’s college courses in a city that has no public university of its own?
The Higher Education Coordinating Board is scheduled this morning to recommend changes in who runs some programs and oversees the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute.
Eastern Washington University officials, faculty members and students tried to convince the board that the Cheney-based campus shouldn’t lose ground in Spokane.
EWU trustee Gordon Budke and President Marshall Drummond asked for more time for a report on the university’s academic mission in Spokane. The HEC Board wants that mission statement by June 1 so it can finish its report by July 1.
“Allow us additional time so we can do a better job,” said Drummond.
The HEC Board should come up with its report on the future of higher education in Spokane, and EWU could respond quickly to that, Budke said.
The state board also is recommending that EWU discontinue its search for a replacement for Drummond, who is leaving his post in July. Instead, the university should appoint an interim executive who would carry out the new role the board assigns the school.
“We’re just very concerned that there could be a leaderless situation” at EWU, board chairman Bob Craves warned.
EWU trustees are interviewing potential replacements for Drummond, Budke said. If the state board is concerned about timing, it could suggest the university appoint an interim president, not an administrative officer.
“That sounds like appointing a bankruptcy trustee,” Budke said.
The HEC Board also is considering doing away with the Joint Center for Higher Education board, which oversees SIRTI, and giving control of the research center to Washington State University.
Members of the joint center said they are concerned, saying the facility should not be managed by academics.
“An academic institution’s priority is not economic development,” said Mack McGrath of the joint center.
The HEC Board also is calling for an economic assessment of the Spokane area to accompany the educational assessment. Business leaders suggested that’s not necessary.
“Look at all the economic assessments this region has had in the last few years,” said Spokane Area Chamber of Commerce President Rich Hadley, ticking off at least four such studies. “If I had brought all those reports with me, they would sit as high as this table.”
Spokane business leaders said they support a bill before the Legislature that would give control of SIRTI to WSU, with a local board to oversee it.
They had one suggestion, however. The bill calls for the majority of the board to come from the business community. That should be a supermajority, said John Wagner of Seafirst Bank, because business men and women often are so busy they can’t make it to all their meetings.
WSU President Sam Smith said he supports the board’s recommendation, and he tried to allay any fears that EWU students might have if control of their programs is switched to his university.
“We want to make sure no action endangers any students from any institution,” he said.
, DataTimes MEMO: This sidebar appeared with the story: WHAT’S NEXT? The state Higher Education Coordinating Board will meet today at 9 a.m. in the SIRTI building, 655 N. Riverpoint Blvd., to vote on recommended changes in public university programs in Spokane.