An approach to education as diverse as Washington state

Scores of education and business leaders are now devising proposals for reinventing K-12 and higher education in Washington state.

Gov. Christine Gregoire's task force, Washington Learns, and The Prosperity Partnership, a coalition of 150 Puget Sound-area organizations, want to create an education system that fully prepares Washington-born students to live and thrive in a global economy.

One of the greatest challenges for these thoughtful people will be to avoid simple solutions to complex challenges. Meaningful proposals for transforming education must embrace the diverse needs throughout Washington and harness all of the state's resources to meet them.

This year, conventional wisdom has awarded the label of "high demand" to math and science degree programs whose graduates will work in the Puget Sound's biotechnology, aerospace and computer-technology industries. But this limited definition overlooks expertise employers seek in other important areas.

For example, the construction industry has been the primary driver of the state's economy for the past six years, sustaining it through an economic recession from which the state is just emerging. Demand is high for programs in construction management, supply-chain management, heavy/civil and utility construction, and construction safety. Although these specialties may not be as glamorous as trendier pursuits, they clearly meet a high-demand need in one of the most important sectors of our economy.

Some industries may play a secondary role statewide, but dominate regional economies. A good example is the state's wine industry. Most of the 30,000 acres of wine grapes under cultivation, the state's 360 wineries and 11,000 jobs are located in central Washington. The industry's $3 billion segment of the state economy includes grape growing, wine making and the huge tourism/leisure business associated with all aspects of the wine industry. Employers depend on university programs to prepare students to grow grapes, make wine and work in the tourism, business and trade aspects of this thriving industry.

The popular definition of "high demand" also overlooks the educators in the "pipeline" that produces outstanding math and science graduates. If math and science are in high demand, then so must be university programs that educate teachers who prepare middle- and high-school students to succeed in university programs. Setting high graduation standards for high-school students is not enough. We also must be ready to provide students well-prepared teachers from our colleges of education.

Washington's research universities will, of course, play an important role in the higher-education plans under consideration. But any statewide plan to transform higher education must include all six of Washington's public baccalaureate institutions, as well as the state's five branch campuses and six university centers. These institutions will provide the space we need for the waves of high-school graduates who seek university degrees.

Without building another campus, the state has the physical space for more students. The space is waiting only for the corresponding state investment needed to keep the lights on, burn flames under Bunsen burners and pay the salaries of janitors, registrars, faculty and counselors. Many campuses considered "full" are so only in the sense that they have enrolled as many students as the state decided to fund. If we wish more students to have the opportunity to earn degrees, we must provide the operating money universities need to use the space that is already available.

An even better reason to involve regional as well as research universities is that they provide unique programs and high-quality faculty that offer educational experiences as diverse and as rich as Washington state itself. Faculty at our regional institutions have studied at some of the nation's most prestigious universities: UCLA, Stanford, Harvard, the University of Chicago, the University of Michigan, Cal Tech and UC Berkeley, just to name a few. With an emphasis on teaching as well as research, each provides attention to students sometimes lacking at larger institutions.

Need evidence? The Carnegie Foundation's "Professor of the Year" award for Washington state has gone to a public regional university, Central Washington University, three times since 1999.

Like their predecessors — the 2020 Commission on the Future of Higher Education, the Governor's Council on Education Reform and Funding and many others — today's higher-education reform groups hope to find new ways to help students meet the needs of a rapidly changing, global economy. In order to be effective and affordable, this huge and complex task demands a statewide perspective that considers the resources and the needs of each region of this diverse state.

Dr. Jerilyn S. McIntyre is president of Central Washington University, based in Ellensburg.