How to institute our own institute

Published 9:00 pm Saturday, February 17, 2007

The chess match for a new university could end in three moves and four years. This is what it could take to end the chess match for a new state university in Snohomish County:

1. Close the University of Washington’s Bothell campus.

2. Move everything not bolted down to a site in Snohomish County.

3. Give the campus a new name, say Washington Institute of Technology, and then market it madly.

It’s simple and not so theoretical.

This week I learned the idea of shuttering UW-Bothell is coming up in conversations among those most deeply engaged in this university debate.

Anyone who might stride in that direction publicly should be buying boots and armor because they will find themselves in a mess of a fight.

If they truly embrace the notion, I suggest they can use the experience of Clay Bennett for help.

Bennett, owner of the Seattle Sonics, wants to move the team out of the city and into the suburbs, build it a $500 million arena and get at least $300 million of the tab covered by taxpayers.

Bennett argues it’s all about protecting a valued community treasure. The bottom line is he wants the state to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in an underperforming asset.

Washington Institute of Technology backers should be able to do better than the cellar-scraping Sonics.

UW-Bothell, through the actions and inaction of others, at this point is likewise an underperforming asset of the state higher education system.

Moving it from anonymity in a suburb to prominence in a city such as Everett will give it the visibility needed for success.

Slapping on a new name and giving it a new mission will create a buzz, and you can leave the University of Washington in charge.

As for the money, starting a new college will be less than building a new arena.

A study last year estimated $286 million would build a four-year university and get it running with several thousand students.

If the state decided to spend the next four years shutting down Bothell one graduating class at a time while enrolling students for a 2011 launch, there would be some savings along the way.

For example, $5 million budgeted this year to design a new building at Bothell could be redirected to the WIT.

So too could $40.6 million earmarked for construction at Everett Community College to house the University Center program that serves 250 upper-division students. It will be tight space for them for a couple of years, but then they’ll have a college.

Bothell’s leaders and state lawmakers might be enraged at the closure.

The University of Washington would seem stronger with a campus devoted to technology under its wing. Political victory can be shared equally by those pushing a four-year university and those pushing the UW franchise.

I see the board set and pieces in place. Time to make a move.

Reporter Jerry Cornfield’s column runs every Sunday. He can be heard at 8 a.m. Monday on KSER (90.7 FM). He can be reached at 360-352-8623 or jcornfield@heraldnet.com.