Seventy years ago, our community came together to bring higher education to Snohomish County, opening Everett Junior College in 1941.
This year, higher education is taking another critical step forward with the change in leadership of the University Center of North Puget Sound, which offers more than 25 bachelor’s and master’s degrees from eight partner colleges and universities in Everett.
As leadership of the University Center transitions from Everett Community College to Washington State University, we agree with state Rep. Hans Dunshee and local leaders who have called for community support to ensure the center’s continued success.
That support is also important for the more than 40,000 students educated every year through Edmonds and Everett community colleges — students starting their four-year degrees, training for in-demand jobs at local companies and preparing for their promotions with corporate training.
At University Center, 50 percent of students who earned a four-year degree this year first earned credits or a degree through EvCC. That’s a key reason why the success of the University Center is linked to area community colleges and why EvCC is working closely with Washington State University and WSU President Elson Floyd to continue University Center’s growth.
The first step, as outlined by the Legislature, is bringing WSU’s engineering program to the University Center in Fall 2012. WSU’s academic deans in charge of engineering met with representatives from University Center and EvCC this summer to talk about the courses that will be offered and EvCC is supporting a federal grant that will help WSU students pay for the program.
We’re also identifying office space on EvCC’s campus for WSU staff. Several WSU staff members toured our facilities and spent time at our main campus in Everett to learn more about University Center operations and programs.
For WSU to be successful, the university will need qualified students to enroll in its engineering program, an important role that can be played by EvCC, our neighboring community colleges and local high schools.
To continue ensuring students receive the education and training they need at an affordable cost, community colleges also need community support. The equipment needed to run a first-class engineering program is expensive, and our current budget cuts preclude us from buying the big-ticket items we need.
We operate with increasingly aging equipment, making it more challenging to prepare students to transfer and/or enter the workforce. Our vision is to work closely with private industry in order to find ways to provide up-to-date equipment to use to train the workers those industries need.
With EvCC expanding four-year-degree opportunities and this partnership with WSU, we are seeing some important changes at this institution. The college serves more than 20,000 students every year; demand for its programs are at an all-time high.
Later this summer we’ll break ground on a new Healthcare Education Center, a building that will be home to the college’s nursing, medical assisting and phlebotomy programs and other health sciences training in addition to Providence Regional Medical Center’s Access Clinic. This will be the college’s fourth new facility in five years, contributing significantly to enrollment growth and economic development for the region.
I invite you to be part of Snohomish County’s higher education success by supporting WSU, University Center, Everett and Edmonds community colleges and all efforts to ensure students are prepared to enter an increasingly competitive job market.
David Beyer is president of Everett Community College.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
