WSU will reopen learning center at YVCC

YAKIMA, Wash. -- Yakima has been heard.

And Washington State University is back.

Last spring WSU announced that state budget cuts were forcing it to close its learning center at the Deccio Higher Education Center on the campus of Yakima Valley Community College after offering classes there for six years.

However, on Tuesday the university announced it was reversing that decision and not only would begin teaching classes again in the Deccio center in January but would also be expanding its Yakima courses.

"We're reassessing what we're doing there and are looking at new offerings next fall in undergraduate programs," explained Larry James, associate executive vice president of WSU in Pullman.

The university is in the process of hiring a new director here for the program, he added.

WSU withdrew from the Deccio building on Aug. 31, but James indicated that a number of Yakima people urged the university to reopen the academic center.

"We got lots of letters from people in the community," he said Wednesday.

More than 200 students were taking undergraduate and graduate courses at the center every year because they or their spouses worked in Yakima, or had other limitations that prevented them from going to college in Pullman. Most were in their 30s.

Dave McFadden, president and chief executive officer of the Yakima County Development Association, is delighted that WSU is returning. "That's fantastic," he said.

"It was a bitter pill to swallow when a lousy budget made them with-draw. We believe education is the key to economic vitality, so this has great future implications."

Last spring, WSU announced it was shuttering its Yakima academic center, as well as the other eight it operated around the state, due to a $54 million cut in its budget.

So far, Yakima is the only WSU academic center that is re-opening.

Several reasons factored into the decision to re-offer classes at the Deccio center, explained university spokesman James Tinney.

One is financial. Tinney character-ized the $90,000 it costs to operate the center as relatively minor when compared to the high demand for classes here.

"It seemed to be the right thing to do considering that the cost is relatively low for the benefits students are getting," he said.

Funding will be found internally, Tinney said, in part by not filling vacant positions elsewhere in the university system.

The other significant reason for re-opening the Yakima center, James said, is that it's one of the most academically oriented, offering higher level business and education classes, many of them on the graduate level.

The Deccio center opened in September 2003 as a three-way partnership between WSU, Central Washington University and YVCC. It was built specifically to offer classes leading to bachelor and master degrees to students who had completed two years of courses at YVCC.

WSU's offerings here included nursing and pharmacy programs, and those have continued on this fall. What changed the most were the education and business programs, which were pared down to serve a handful of students who were close to obtaining their degrees. Those programs have been holding limited classes in Sund-quist Hall at the YVCC campus this fall.

Beginning in January, business and education will move back to the Deccio center, James said, and new students will be admitted to the programs for the fall 2010 semester.

That could be good news for students who wanted to begin WSU's masters in business administration program at YVCC last fall, according to Wanda Walters, program coordinator. Because the program was phasing out, interested students had to be turned away, she said.

Although WSU officials credit the response from the Yakima community with being the catalyst for a return to Yakima full force, another factor may have helped, too.

Several weeks ago YVCC President Linda Kaminski said she notified WSU that the college would like to release WSU's space in the Deccio center so CWU could expand its programs in Yakima. CWU currently offers degrees in education, social sciences and law and justice, along with courses such as accounting.

"Our goal is to offer as much higher education opportunities to Yakima students as possible," Kaminski explained.

After she told WSU President Elson Floyd that CWU was looking into increasing its presence at YVCC, Floyd said WSU was interested in beginning programs in Yakima again and that he would send her more information.

On Wednesday, Kaminski said she was surprised when she learned WSU had sent a news release announcing its return to YVCC. She has yet to hear specifics of what WSU is planning to offer Yakima students.

"We're cautiously pleased with their change of heart," she said. "We'll be glad to have them on campus again."

James Gaudino, CWU president, agreed that WSU's return to YVCC is a good educational development.

"In no way does it discourage us from expanding our programs there," Gaudino said.

WSU's James said the university is back in Yakima for the long haul.

"You never know what will happen in the future, but we want to be a long-term, faithful partner there."

That's just fine with Kaminski.

"I love them both (CWU and WSU), and our goal is to fully utilize the Deccio center. It's a beautiful partnership."