Published: Monday, February 2, 2004
Cascadia university plan fails
A proposal for a new Cascadia State University in Bothell has fizzled, but one local lawmaker hopes the discussion will re-ignite the notion of a four-year university in Everett.
Although many agree there's a huge need for more four-year university options in the area, state Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, surprised some with her bill.
It would have taken the three-year-old combined campus that houses Cascadia Community College and the University of Washington's Bothell campus and turned it into a new state university.
The state hasn't established a new four-year university since 1899, when the first 88 students enrolled at New Whatcom Normal School, which eventually became Western Washington University. The Evergreen State College, established in 1967, is a liberal arts college in Olympia.
Critics argued that Sommers' goal was a good one, but merging Cascadia and UW-Bothell was the wrong approach.
"If you eliminate community colleges, you eliminate open access to education, you eliminate lower tuition, you eliminate professional and technical programs and worker retraining programs," said Suzanne Ames, a Cascadia spokeswoman. "Those are all the things that are crucial to higher education."
About 2,800 students attended Cascadia last fall, many of them part-time, while more than 1,600 attended UW-Bothell, most of them full-time. More than 25 percent of UW-Bothell's students were from Snohomish County. Cascadia officials didn't have that breakdown available.
Sommers said Friday that after strong opposition to her bill from students, faculty and others at a hearing last week, a substitute bill is being drafted.
The new version will simply direct the UW-Bothell campus to "plan for the transition to a four-year" university there, she said.
It specifically does not mention Cascadia.
"We heard from the students, who are very interested in having a UW degree," Sommers said. She also heard from faculty and administrators who are happy with the shared campus.
Sommers is glad her bill brought more light to the state's need for new four-year universities.
"We did fire up the discussion," she said. "I think we got a lot of people thinking about these things."
That's the one part of her bill that Sen. Dave Schmidt agrees on.
Schmidt, R-Mill Creek, said he was adamantly against merging Cascadia and UW-Bothell. He said the next four-year university to open in the state should be in Everett, not Bothell.
"That's where it's needed more than anywhere else," he said. "I can't conceive of another four-year university (in Bothell) just six miles away from the biggest one (UW in Seattle)."
Schmidt said Snohomish County is the largest county in the nation that does not house a "strong, viable, community-based four-year college."
Still, it's premature to say when a campus in Everett could come about. First, the economy must turn around, then the state would have to find a way to pay for it, Schmidt said.
It is a question of what the public is willing to pay for, he said, adding, "There are no proposals on the table, and it's a bad time for tax increases."
One thing's for sure, Schmidt said, there's no need to study the need for a university in Everett any longer. Those studies have been done, and if the money surfaces, the first dollars should go toward laying the first building's foundation.
"We know the need is already there," he said. "More studies are just a waste of money. If the money was there, that's the first place I'd put it."
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
Although many agree there's a huge need for more four-year university options in the area, state Rep. Helen Sommers, D-Seattle, surprised some with her bill.
It would have taken the three-year-old combined campus that houses Cascadia Community College and the University of Washington's Bothell campus and turned it into a new state university.
The state hasn't established a new four-year university since 1899, when the first 88 students enrolled at New Whatcom Normal School, which eventually became Western Washington University. The Evergreen State College, established in 1967, is a liberal arts college in Olympia.
Critics argued that Sommers' goal was a good one, but merging Cascadia and UW-Bothell was the wrong approach.
"If you eliminate community colleges, you eliminate open access to education, you eliminate lower tuition, you eliminate professional and technical programs and worker retraining programs," said Suzanne Ames, a Cascadia spokeswoman. "Those are all the things that are crucial to higher education."
About 2,800 students attended Cascadia last fall, many of them part-time, while more than 1,600 attended UW-Bothell, most of them full-time. More than 25 percent of UW-Bothell's students were from Snohomish County. Cascadia officials didn't have that breakdown available.
Sommers said Friday that after strong opposition to her bill from students, faculty and others at a hearing last week, a substitute bill is being drafted.
The new version will simply direct the UW-Bothell campus to "plan for the transition to a four-year" university there, she said.
It specifically does not mention Cascadia.
"We heard from the students, who are very interested in having a UW degree," Sommers said. She also heard from faculty and administrators who are happy with the shared campus.
Sommers is glad her bill brought more light to the state's need for new four-year universities.
"We did fire up the discussion," she said. "I think we got a lot of people thinking about these things."
That's the one part of her bill that Sen. Dave Schmidt agrees on.
Schmidt, R-Mill Creek, said he was adamantly against merging Cascadia and UW-Bothell. He said the next four-year university to open in the state should be in Everett, not Bothell.
"That's where it's needed more than anywhere else," he said. "I can't conceive of another four-year university (in Bothell) just six miles away from the biggest one (UW in Seattle)."
Schmidt said Snohomish County is the largest county in the nation that does not house a "strong, viable, community-based four-year college."
Still, it's premature to say when a campus in Everett could come about. First, the economy must turn around, then the state would have to find a way to pay for it, Schmidt said.
It is a question of what the public is willing to pay for, he said, adding, "There are no proposals on the table, and it's a bad time for tax increases."
One thing's for sure, Schmidt said, there's no need to study the need for a university in Everett any longer. Those studies have been done, and if the money surfaces, the first dollars should go toward laying the first building's foundation.
"We know the need is already there," he said. "More studies are just a waste of money. If the money was there, that's the first place I'd put it."
Reporter Victor Balta: 425-339-3455 or vbalta@heraldnet.com.
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