FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 31, 2008

HECB Creates Task Force to Propose New
Higher Ed Investment Process

     OLYMPIA—Future higher education investment decisions must meet the needs of a changing state population and economy. A new joint task force convened by the Higher Education Coordinating Board (HECB) will take a comprehensive look at the state’s higher education delivery system.

     The year-long effort will be the first of its kind since the early 1990s, when the HECB addressed how new university branch campuses would complement the state’s existing college system at a time when the state’s college-age population was surging.

     In more recent years, proposals for new higher education facilities and programs have continued to be made, but without a cohesive framework for making decisions. Proposals now under discussion include another University of Washington branch campus to serve Snohomish, Island and Skagit counties, and a higher education center for the Kitsap/Clallam County area. Other suggestions include expanding the number of applied bachelor’s degrees offered at two-year institutions, and directing a greater share of future growth to university branch campuses rather than to main campuses.

     “We need to think hard about the appropriate delivery system for these kinds of services so that we can help the state make good investment decisions over time,” said HECB Executive Director Ann Daley.

     Related to the task force work will be a new strategy for carrying out the state’s 10-year Strategic Master Plan for Higher Education (PDF), which the Legislature endorsed earlier this year. The implementation strategy will be considered for adoption by the HECB in November and will then be forwarded to the Legislature. It addresses a number of challenges discussed in the Master Plan, including: 

• How to replace the growing number of highly educated baby boomers who are starting to retire and leave the state workforce;

• How to make college more accessible to growing segments of the state population that traditionally have had lower college-participation rates; and  

• How to meet the state economy’s growing need for workers to fill well-paying jobs that require high levels of education or training.

     The Master Plan calls for raising annual degree and certificate attainment by more than 40 percent by 2018 to secure the state’s position as a leader in the global economy and to build a stronger and more stable society in which all Washingtonians have an opportunity to compete for the state’s best jobs.

     Daley said the new joint task force can provide a rational framework for making future “brick and mortar” college-expansion decisions, making greater use of online learning options, and perhaps for modifying the missions of existing institutions to better meet the needs and goals contained in the Master Plan.

     The draft implementation plan suggests that the state should initially focus on increasing college accessibility, especially among minority and low-income groups that traditionally have participated in higher education at lower rates. HECB research shows that the state will need to expand college-participation rates among these groups if it is to meet the degree targets contained in the Master Plan.

     Later in the 10-year period covered by the Master Plan, the higher education system would “expand on demand” by prioritizing existing institutional growth plans and perhaps by altering institutional missions to meet specific enrollment and regional needs. 

     The task force would propose a process for making those decisions.

     The HECB this week approved a resolution authorizing Daley to begin immediate steps to create the joint task force. The resolution directed Daley to work with the State Board for Community and Technical Colleges, the Council of Presidents (representing the state’s six public baccalaureate degree-granting institutions), and the Independent Colleges of Washington to identify members to serve on the task force.

     The resolution also calls for engaging students and other higher education stakeholders in the process, and to learn from similar efforts in other states.

     The resolution calls for the joint task force to report back to the HECB in the fall of 2009.

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For more information: Gary Larson

360-753-7817 or garyl@hecb.wa.gov