Heritage University's new building is an elaborate complex

New 35,000-square-foot addition may eventually help hike enrollment to 2,000
by James Joyce III
Yakima Herald-Republic

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The new Teaching and Research Complex at Heritage University, a $15 million addition to the school, marks a significant step in the growth of the Toppenish-area school.

Watch a video about the new complex

TOPPENISH — In one of most significant milestones in its 26-year history, Heritage University is poised to open a $15 million complex that administrators say could help substantially boost enrollment.

The 35,000-square-foot building complex, which has yet to be officially named — it’s being called the Teaching and Research complex for now — will open in late August and includes health and environmental science laboratories, a state-of-the-art nursing skills center and 10 new classrooms.

University officials estimate the extra space could allow the student body to expand to as many as 2,000 — a more than 30 percent increase from its current enrollment of about 1,500. But that would be a few years down the road.

Of more immediate impact for students, the addition means more places to study.

“Now, if students need a place to study they are relegated to the library and cafeteria,” said Michael Moore, vice president of advancement at Heritage.

“I’m most excited about the space and not having to juggle just two labs,” said Kazuhiro Sonoda, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences.

The addition of four laboratory classrooms that can hold up to 32 students each, plus two research labs, will provide the opportunity for the university to pursue research grants for faculty and graduate students and offer lab classes to more undergraduate students.

“It definitely gives us more capacity,” Moore said. “It also allows us to deepen a lot of our programs, particularly in the sciences.”

The building will house the College of Arts and Sciences, which consists of seven disciplines: business and accounting, English and humanities, math and computer science, sciences, nursing, social work and visual arts. But the highlight of the building is the sciences.

Each of the four laboratory classrooms is tailored to the specific subject that will be addressed in that class. For instance, the chemistry lab is different than the life sciences lab in every aspect, from the ventilation to the height of the tables.

That’s a drastic step up from the two portable classrooms where the labs were once housed.

While the excitement created by the new building has spread from the students into the community, Sonoda said the faculty seem to be the most excited about the new digs.

“It’s very easy for us to schedule (now),” Sonoda said.

The expanded classroom space means more students can get into needed courses.

Even with the added emphasis on science, the new complex is not expected to detract from the university’s primary focus on a liberal arts education.

“Having that on-site research doesn’t hurt,” Sonoda said. “(Undergraduate) students could get experience as a research assistant.”

Kathleen Ross, the university’s current and founding president, said the research aspect to the new building was very deliberate, even though the university has no intentions of becoming a “research university.”

“In the contemporary higher education world, combining research opportunities with  the undergraduate, four-year educational opportunities is the new way to go,” Ross said. “There is a lot of evidence showing actual hands-on experience really creates a learning environment that is more motivational.”

That was also the thought behind including the the high-end nursing skills center in the new building.

Students in Heritage’s Licensed Practical Nurse program will get the simulated experience of actually being in a health care facility with the five-bed skills center that will be decked out with video capabilities for review or distance learning courses for Heritage’s satellite campuses. The students will get to practice on mannequins that can be programed to display various symptoms.

“We are kind of cultivating the next students by training the current students,” Sonoda said.

The building also features a large community meeting space to be available for public-community partnership programs.

The building is in the final stages of completion. A few fruit boxes packed with supplies are staged in several rooms. And the landscaping around the building is starting to take form.

The move into the building will continue over the next several weeks, in time for the start of classes Aug. 29.

A grand opening ceremony will be at 10 a.m. Sept. 20.

• James Joyce III can be reached at 577-7675 or jjoyce@yakimaherald.com.