Vancouver Cougars Poised to Expand Programs, Enrollment

Eighteen years after the legislature authorized Washington State University Vancouver, and 64 years after Washington State College first established an agricultural outpost in Hazel Dell, WSUV is poised for big changes in the years ahead. More undergraduates are coming, the engineering offerings are expanding, and construction of new buildings is the norm at the growing university. These things are certain.

Less certain: How will the education department meet the changing needs of schools? Will the university expand its nursing program? As undergrads flock to campus, are dormitories an eventuality?

As the school transforms, Washington State University Vancouver faces an even bigger question: How can it hold on to its original mission -- to prepare local students for the demands of local industry -- as it evolves?

The future of the university lies in the hands of its community, a community that includes academics in the ivory tower, politicians in Olympia, and local boosters inside and outside the business world.

Integrated in the community

“It’s really nice to tap in to the latest technology through the students,” said Rick LaHusen of the U.S. Geological Survey, which worked with mechanical engineering students this year to build a low-power, ice-resistant enclosure for a camera on the rim of Mount St. Helens.

LaHusen said he hopes to collaborate with the university for years to come.

“I have a long list of projects we can do,” he said. “It’s a win-win for us and for the university.”

It’s not just students who work with businesses. Prof. Amir Jokar has worked with nLight Photonics and a student research assistant to look in to new ways to cool off the company’s powerful lasers. The lasers are used by the military, as well as in medicine, industry and graphic arts.

“We referred to ourselves as an engaged university, one in which the relationship between what we do and the community is really tight,” said WSUV Chancellor Hal Dengerink. “We have our students working in the community. Our education students, for example, are involved in K-12 classrooms from day one, not just in the last semester. Our business students do projects with local businesses. Our engineering students work with local industry. Our nursing students have a major portion of their program focused on clinical experiences. In addition, we bring people from the community into the classroom.”

Changing demands

Washington State University first established its presence in Clark County in 1943 with an agricultural outpost, at a time when the school was still known as Washington State College. Although its offerings gradually expanded over the course of decades it was not until 1989 that the state Legislature created the Vancouver branch campus of WSUV.

At the time, WSUV was charged with a simple set of goals: give residents of Southwest Washington somewhere local to complete their college degrees, work closely with Clark College, and train graduates for in-demand jobs.

“In our first couple of years, we did not focus on generic access,” Dengerink recalls. The business community was at the foreground, with programs in business and nursing that directly responded to the needs of the business community.”

The university still works with Clark College, still provides the only local in-state tuition choice for a four year degree, and still sets priorities in concert with the business community.

Today, with close to 6,000 WSUV graduates in Southwest Washington and 2,300 students enrolled at the school, the mission hasn’t changed, but the community has come to demand more of the university with each passing year.

Within a few years of the creation of a mechanical engineering program, for example, Clark County’s High Tech Council was pushing for electrical engineering. It got its wish and then some this year.

The recently-passed state budget earmarks more big changes in the years ahead:
• $24.4 million for an undergraduate classroom building
• $4.8 million to design a high-tech class building.
• $2 million to create an electrical engineering program, which could enroll 25 students to start.

The funds will not just create new academic opportunities, they will also create new opportunities for fledgling businesses to test their ideas in the expensive-to-break-into semiconductor industry, said Lee Cheatham, director of the Washington Technology Center, which backed the WSUV funding.

“This is not only important for the businesses here today, it’s about those businesses here tomorrow,” said Bart Phillips, president of the Columbia River Economic Development Council, who applauded both the legislature and the university.

What’s next?

Following through on the legislature’s promises is the top priority for business, but university leaders are already looking beyond the programs already in the pipeline.

“We have been working with folks at the Washington School for the Deaf to put together a program that would certify teachers for the deaf. We didn’t get anywhere in the legislative session with that one,” Dengerink said. “We would also like to certify teachers to work with autistic kids.”
Expect to hear more about those issues.

WSUV also wants to gradually increase enrollment, including extra slots for upper division transfer students.

There is no formal talk of dormitories yet, but with freshmen and sophomore students and growing enrollment they could be on the horizon.

Although the mission of the university is constant, the interests of its students are changing.

“The addition of freshmen and sophomores is helping to define the content of the campus,” Dengerink said.

Looking forward, expect more students from outside of Southwest Washington to enroll at WSUV.

“We are here because the community wanted us to contribute to the economic, social and cultural development of the community,” Dengerink said. “We can do that in part by educating those who come from this community, but we also ought to function as an institution that draws people to this community.”

People behind it all

WSUV’s transformation from start up to four-year school with 14 bachelor’s degrees, nine master’s degrees and one doctorate -degree has come remarkably fast, Dengerink said. And it could not have come about without the support of people both inside and outside the university.

“When I took this job, I asked the president how much of this job is inside the university and how much is outside, dealing with the community. He said, about 85 percent would be outside,” Dengerink recalls. “I told my faculty that, and they said that’s fine, as long as the other 85 percent is inside.”
As he’s tried to give the 170 percent demanded of him, Dengerink has leaned heavily on his staff, including vice chancellors Bruce Romanish of academic affairs, Nancy Youlden of student affairs and Lynn Valenter of finance and operations.

Other early support came from Joe Tanner and Bob Levin, formerly of the Columbia River Economic Development Council. The agency continues to push for WSUV funding through the efforts of current director Bart Phillips.

Former Republican legislator Don Carlson worked to expand study offerings, and current Democrat Rep. Deb Wallace has picked up the torch, as have the region’s other legislators.

“We need to invest in high-demand occupation fields,” said Wallace, chair of the state House’s Higher Education Committee, which pushed to increase funding for WSUV programs in the recent session.

Legislators, educators and economic development officials are also joined by business boosters, such as the Clark County High Tech Council, which actively lobbies for more spending on science and engineering programs.

“Education is a major concern for all of us in the high-tech community,” said Scott Keeney, president of the council and chief executive of tech firm nLight Corp. “We’re really the only high tech cluster in the nation that doesn’t have a world-class research university in its region. We see that as a pressing need, hence our effort to support WSU Vancouver.”

That support and understanding is crucial for the university as it seeks legislative support in its quest to meet community evolving needs, Dengerink said.

The team is there, the goals are there, and the mission remains unchanged.

“As we proceed here, our intent is to be not only an institution that grants degrees to students, but one in which our faculty are heavily engaged in scholarship, and do research with elements of the community,” Dengerink said. “Our intent here is that we are part of a major world-class research university.”

WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY VANCOUVER WHAT: Four-year university affiliated with Washington State University in Pullman. CHANCELLOR: Hal Dengerink. ENROLLMENT: Full-time equivalent students, 1,702 including 157 freshman. DEGREES AVAILABLE: 14 bachelor’s, nine master’s and one doctorate. WSUV GRADUATES: 6,000. WHAT’S AHEAD: $24.4 million classroom building; $4.8 million for design of a high-tech research building and $2 million for an electrical engineering program with 25 students.