EvCC plans expansion in Monroe

Published 10:37 pm Monday, January 4, 2010

MONROE — After 10 years of night classes in Monroe, Everett Community College plans to expand its east county presence to include day courses in a new home.

The college hopes to double its enrollment at its Monroe campuses to about 400 students per quarter over the next five years.

That’s a far cry from humble beginnings.

Sheila Dunn, EvCC’s program director for Monroe, remembers the days in 1999 when she had neither an office nor a cell phone.

“Quite honestly, I started working out of my car,” said Dunn, who continues to split time between Everett and Monroe campuses.

One time in those early days, she hit the brakes in her van too hard and college files literally merged in her back seat.

All worked out, however. The new Monroe High School proved to be an ideal location for college night classes, Dunn said.

Today, the college uses Monroe High School and Park Place Middle School, working around their schedules. It offers classes for a variety of students, including recent immigrants learning English, late teens and adults working toward a high school diploma and students trying to earn a community college degree or get professional training and certification.

In the spring, the college hopes to establish temporary quarters for day classes at the Monroe-based Sky Valley Education Center, sharing space on the campus used by home-schooling families. After that, EvCC plans to have summer classes in leased space in west Monroe. It is negotiating for 5,000 square feet of teaching space, which would accommodate two classrooms and a lab.

“We are starting fairly small,” Dunn said. “Logistically, that is the most cost effective way to go.”

Last summer, the EvCC Board of Trustees approved spending $312,562 from college reserves to support an initial investment and building lease for expanding the Monroe program.

The college has worked closely with an advisory committee of Monroe community leaders, said EvCC President David Beyer.

“This seemed to be one of those opportunities for the college to grow our student population by allowing our program to be more convenient and accessible,” Beyer said. “It’s not so much the distance as it is congestion and time.”

Rebecca Whelan, 17, is glad to have EvCC classes closer to home. She’s a Running Start and home-schooled student taking a business and English class from the college during winter quarter as well as high school requirements.

Classes in Monroe are “11 to 15 minutes” from her driveway and there isn’t the hassle of trying to find a parking space on the college campus in Everett.

“I think I would have still done (Running Start) because it’s a good opportunity, but it would have been harder because of the commute from Monroe to Everett,” she said.

Many classes in Monroe have proven popular. A winter quarter chemistry course that started Monday has 24 students and a wait list of 16 others.

Beyer said EvCC continues to study the possibility of offering more courses in other communities, such as Arlington, Lake Stevens, Marysville and Snohomish.

“We have been asked to consider other locations,” Beyer said. “It’s a matter of being strategic about our growth.”

Eric Stevick: 425-339-3446, stevick@heraldnet.com.