Provost Office

Executive Summary

Planning for Higher Education in Spokane represents five months of discussions in Pullman and Spokane about how best to serve the academic and economic interests of Eastern Washington’s major city. Within the context of Shaun O’L. Higgins’ study, Measuring Spokane, and the HECB's The Future of the Spokane Economy: Implications for Higher Education, WSU has crafted an academic plan with two primary foci—partnerships and new programs.

Partnerships take many forms—among educational institutions, with local health care agencies, and with business and industry. As the lead research partner in SIRTI, WSU has a natural partnership for research, technology transfer, and commercialization that will lead to economic growth in Spokane. WSU’s strengths in the health sciences, basic sciences, and engineering lead to collaborations with local universities, agencies, and industry.

The legislative mandate to develop a Health Sciences Consortium modeled on ICNE led to discussions among EWU, WSU, Whitworth, Gonzaga, Community Colleges of Spokane, the University of Washington, and the University of Idaho to develop a structure that will enable autonomous institutions to offer programs in health sciences alone or in collaboration with others by providing core services in support of various programs. Many proposals were submitted by academic units, and the final plan includes programs in biotechnology, molecular pharmacology and toxicology, and neuroscience. Central to the Health Sciences Consortium is collaboration among the partner institutions to offer core services in support of all health sciences courses and degrees. WSU’s Colleges of Nursing and Pharmacy are key to the success of the Consortium. Faculty in the College of Pharmacy support moving more components of the Pharmaceutical Science Department to Spokane if sufficient laboratory space is available. Similarly, the faculty is open to having the new dean of Pharmacy and the College administrative offices located in Spokane. Such a move would locate two health science colleges in Spokane.

Other discussions have led to a cooperative agreement among WSU, Gonzaga University, and the University of Idaho to offer new bachelor’s degrees in engineering. New degree programs, initially in computer engineering and later in manufacturing engineering, will be delivered in Spokane at WSU and at Gonzaga University and at the University of Idaho Research Park in Post Falls. Ongoing discussions may lead to future proposals for environmental engineering and biomedical engineering. Each university will contribute to the courses necessary for the degrees.

Recognizing the presence of business courses offered by EWU and the interest in the community to enhance opportunities in business, WSU will complement and build upon EWU's programs. WSU will begin a Master’s in Technology Management in January 1999 with plans to deliver specialty courses to support two new BA options in Business in the fall of 1999—Real Estate and Risk Management and Insurance. By 2000, WSU expects to expand its internationally known Hotel and Restaurant Administration program to Spokane. An increased interest in resort management supports the expansion of this program.

WSU Spokane’s Interdisciplinary Design Institute provides an educational environment bringing together architecture, landscape architecture, construction management, and interior design. Collaboration with EWU’s Department of Urban and Regional Planning is expected to lead to new or redesigned degrees. A Doctor of Design Degree is envisioned in the future.

Interest in Spokane from the public school administration to provide ongoing education for teachers and to expand opportunities for enhancing and building the total educational infrastructure has brought together the deans of the four institutions to discuss ways they can work together to build on current offerings in support of such areas as teacher training, technology education, and programs in support of students at risk. As clear opportunities emerge in the future, they will be explored together.

Significant capital expansion is necessary to support the academic programs proposed for Spokane. The Health Sciences Building will provide space for existing EWU programs such as dental hygiene and physical therapy (including space for the proposed program in occupational therapy) and will enable faculty of WSU to move from currently leased space. The movement of faculty and programs to Spokane in the Health Sciences will be dependent on available space. WSU is pleased to support the request from the Secretary of State for an archives building that will also house joint EWU/WSU library services. Preliminary plans for the building indicate that library space as well as multi-use space appropriate for computer laboratories or study space will be included. The WSU biennial budget request for pre-design funds for the next building at the Riverpoint campus underscores the seriousness with which WSU is undertaking campus planning in Spokane.

Teaching and research programs in Spokane will be supported by WSU resources in technology and by a full range of library services. In addition, the Honors College will bring upper division honors courses to Spokane to enhance undergraduate education. Existing community support offered through WSU Extension Programs will be coordinated with new academic programs, frequently providing additional educational experiences for students. WSU's International Programs will work closely with partners in Spokane to enhance the international content and dimensions of programs to support education and economic development.

The purpose of this report is to lay out a plan for education in Spokane for the 21^st century that was developed in concert with a wide variety of contributors, including our academic partners in Spokane. Such education will be interdisciplinary, collaborative, and informed by the latest technology and pedagogy. Two kinds of programs will be developed, one to meet the needs of the local community, the second, in emerging fields of study, will attract a wide array of students from outside the region. As a research university, WSU will seek to use research to inform teaching, to link theory with practice, and to use state resources to enhance the economic base of Spokane. It is a great challenge, but one which will benefit the students who participate and the community that supports them.

A limited number of programs are planned for 1999-01. There is a high level of confidence that these programs respond either to specific needs of the community or to the need to build the economic base and attract students from elsewhere, and most of them build on partnerships with other Spokane Institutions. A number of other programs now under consideration for subsequent biennia will await more detailed needs assessments.

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Comments and questions submit to: mlmrogers@wsu.edu Revised 10/22/98.
Copyright © 1996 Washington State University.
URL: http://www.wsu.edu/provost/spokane98.htm

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