Northern Snohomish County ideal spot for a new university

Our state needs to aim much higher than just expanding enrollment at University of Washington branch campuses as an effort to accommodate the thousands of students turned away by the UW each year.

The Seattle Times story "UW wants to double enrollment at Tacoma, Bothell branches" [June 18] notes that the state ranks just 36th in bachelor's degree production per capita, and 43rd in graduate and professional degree production.

We're nearing an educational crisis, and it's time for the state of Washington to implement a long-term plan for higher education. By any standard, the state is under-serving our higher-education needs by thousands of students. This year, 8,000 students were turned away from the Seattle UW campus.

The region must plan for a surge of new enrollment if we are going to meet the challenge of the new economy and not slip into a second-class economic position regionally or nationally. We should not deny qualified students a higher education in their home state.

There is such large growth in enrollment potential on the horizon that we must not only expand branch campuses, but create an entirely new campus to serve the needs of fast-growing Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties. We must create a full-scale destination university in the tri-county area to serve as an academic center, complete with dormitories, athletic fields, amenities and room to grow and develop in future decades.

A new university will meet the engineering, math and science challenges of today's economy and serve students from Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties and beyond.

In the fall of 2006, the Higher Education Coordinating (HEC) Board conducted a study that reiterated that the state significantly lags behind the national average in providing higher-education opportunities to our residents. In turn, that deficit shortchanges our state's employers, who require certificates, bachelors, graduate or professional degrees.

The state's HEC Board study prioritized planning for a new four-year campus in the Snohomish, Island and Skagit region, stating that policymakers will need to base future decisions on a comprehensive plan for a new campus. The 2006 study also scored the Marysville area as the best location in the region to locate a university to serve the needs of the underserved citizens of Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties.

The preliminary academic plan for the new institution calls for a comprehensive array of programs, with a focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics. The programs will emphasize real-world interaction between students, employers and the broader community.

In last year's study, each proposed campus property was evaluated for its ability to support the academic plan. In addition, each site was evaluated for effective transportation options between population and employment centers within the tri-county region, and for its size and land use suitability for long-term campus development.

The location of this new campus is crucial, and that's what many of us in Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties are in deep discussion over. The site we pick ensures the success of this campus. And in a time when the siting of a new high school requires a minimum of 50 acres, shouldn't we be prepared to invest in a site that allows for future growth?

What the Legislature has repeatedly said is that expansion of the university system must be reflective of the needs of the students.

On a combination of the right location and the mission of the college, the way to address the region's higher-education needs is clear: Build a new university in northern Snohomish County that has room to develop, provides land for housing opportunities, meets the commuting needs of the region and is best located to serve the needs of Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties.

In the 2008 session, the Legislature again mandated that the HEC Board spearhead a community-based effort to come to a consensus on a new regional university. We are eager to participate in that process.

I hope every parent will realize they need to be vested in the process of deciding higher-education policy and engage in a process to build a university system that will serve our community for generations to come.