Colleges Engineer Program To Train High-Tech Workers WSU, UI, Gonzaga Link Up To Provide Joint Degree For Students, Professionals

Three of the area’s major universities launched a computer engineering program Wednesday that they hope will spark growth in Spokane’s and Idaho’s technology sector.

In their first effort of this kind, Gonzaga University, Washington State University and the University of Idaho announced they will offer a joint bachelor of science degree in computer engineering.

The program breaks the traditional model of each school offering that program on its own campus.

Students who enroll in the program will take classes taught by faculty members from all three universities.

The benefit will be better-trained engineers, many of whom will remain in Spokane and build better tech products, leaders from the three schools said during an announcement Wednesday.

Courses will be taught in Spokane, Post Falls or Coeur d’Alene, or some combination of the three.

Faculty from the three schools will teach classes at whichever campus best suits the needs of students in the program. If a majority of students work in Idaho, the classes would be there. If the demand is evenly split, classes might be both in Spokane and Idaho.

The courses will start this fall at sites yet to be determined. The schools expect 30 to 50 students will enter the program in fall.

“This is an incredible example of synergy between these schools,” said WSU President Sam Smith, who appeared with other education and business leaders during the announcement ceremony at the Spokane Intercollegiate Research and Technology Institute building.

The new program is also aimed at people already working, who would take evening courses.

“This was created in direct response to requests from area companies who said this was a program of great importance to them,” said William Gray, WSU Spokane’s campus dean.

The program will boost Spokane’s attractiveness to companies considering moving here, Gray said.

“This helps establish that technology infrastructure that an outside firm will want to see before selecting Spokane for its home,” he said.

Program prerequisites include two undergraduate years in science and math. Courses from any of the area colleges would qualify.

After completing the engineering program, a graduate would earn a degree from the university he or she preferred, Gray said.

One major hurdle in preparing the joint program was deciding on a tuition rate that would be charged for all students.

The rate was set at $250 per credit hour. Gonzaga officials, as a result, had to agree to lower GU’s usual $450 per hour rate, while the UI and WSU increased their rates.

WSU and Idaho will add an extra faculty member to teach courses in the Spokane area. Gonzaga, which started its computer engineering program a year ago, will wait until next year before adding faculty.

Reaction from the technology sector was positive.

“It would add a skill set to this area that we don’t have,” said Peter Soligon, human resources director at Spokane-based Itronix Corp.

He said area companies have had to aggressively attract tech workers here. “It would be great if we `manufactured’ those people here and didn’t need to relocate them.”

Bernard Daines, founder of World Wide Packets in the Spokane Valley, applauded the joint effort.

“You have a lot of people in the software industry who are mostly self-taught. This would give them a chance to get their degrees,” he said.

WSU Engineering Dean Anjan Bose said the degree program should be just the start of joint efforts to address technology needs.

Bose said some faculty members wonder how smoothly the joint arrangement will work as the institutions try to ensure academic quality.

And some faculty wonder how strong the demand among students will be, Bose said.

“We’ve started this program on an `If we build it, they will come’ basis,”’ he said.

But courses in computer engineering elsewhere are popular, said Juan Bala, chairman of GU’s computer engineering department.

“It’s the hottest field around,” he said.

In general, computer engineering combines courses in electrical engineering, software design and principles of computer technology.

UI electrical engineering professor Rich Wall said he took part in a similar program in Boise, designed to assist tech workers earning engineering degrees.

It was successful and helped serve as a prototype for similar efforts by other universities. But this is the first time three schools have joined together, Wall said.

Wall said he learned from the Boise effort that some students, such as tech workers who have varying work shifts, needed flexible class schedules.

“So we learned that we had to offer classes for them during the day, not just the evening,” Wall said.

Depending on where those who enroll work, the joint engineering program may also bring faculty to a work site, WSU spokeswoman Barb Chamberlain said.

“We want to build as much flexibility into this program as we can,” she said.