Dear Friends,

Welcome to the latest edition of my electronic newsletter. I hope you are enjoying your summer. With school right around the corner for many families, I’d like to update you on developments in the higher education community.

Higher Education Master Plan

The state-level Higher Education Coordinating Board is charged with preparing Washington’s 10-year plan to guide policy and investment in our public colleges and universities. The new plan must be completed by Dec. 15. It then goes to the Legislature for review and approval.

Several ideas under consideration for the Master Plan include:

• Mounting a comprehensive effort to improve student success at all levels of education, from early learning through post-graduate work.
• Looking at how educational opportunities are distributed and filling the gaps. This could involve deciding where to offer services and how best to deliver them.
• Developing performance agreements to ensure accountability continues at our colleges and universities.
• Bringing technology up to date.

UW North Campus update

The 2007 Legislature directed the Washington State Office of Financial Management and the University of Washington to recommend sites and develop an academic plan for a new UW campus in North Puget Sound. To date, local property owners have suggested more than70 potential sites.

Site recommendations and a preliminary plan are due to Gov. Gregoire and the Legislature by Nov. 15. The final plan itself is due June 2008.

This new UW campus in North Puget Sound has two goals:

• To serve the needs of area residents by offering a comprehensive array of degree options, and
• To advance the economic development and global competitiveness of the state by focusing on science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) degrees.

A series of meetings and town halls is planned for the next several months. You are invited to attend the next one:

Everett
Wednesday, Oct. 3 at 7 p.m.
Everett Events Center

For more information, call Shockey/Brent, Inc. at 425-258-9308 or e-mail rshockey@shockeybrent.com.

Meeting demand for today’s and tomorrow’s jobs

While Washington leads the nation in providing jobs for those with four-year college degrees, it ranks 36th in the production of degrees. Estimates are that 47 percent of the job openings in the state requiring a bachelor’s degree will be in high demand or high impact fields. Yet only 14 percent of Washington students each year graduate with a degree in one of these fields. This mismatch caught the attention of state lawmakers.

So this year we passed Senate Bill 5731, a measure I sponsored. It calls for the creation of the Committee on the Education of Students in High Demand Fields. This 14-member group is charged with developing a plan to increase the capacity of Washington colleges and universities by 10,000 students per year by 2020. The committee also must devise a marketing strategy to inform students, parents and educators of opportunities in high demand fields, as well as investigate ways to motivate more students to take math and science courses. A report is due to the Legislature by Dec. 1.

If Washington is to remain competitive in the global economy, we have to take steps now to prepare our students for the work force. This effort will take collaboration across the sectors, so I am excited to bring together people from education, business, labor and other groups to help us keep Washington’s economy growing.

The committee’s first session took place on Aug. 13. We’ll have another meeting this fall to continue these discussions.

As chair of the Senate Higher Education Committee, I am privileged to work with our public colleges, universities, community colleges and work-force training agency as they strive to give our students a world-class education. With Washington competing in the global marketplace, thanks to such exports as airplanes, software and crops, we must do all we can to ensure that our institutions of higher education deliver the services that keep students poised to take great jobs with great futures. I look forward to taking on this challenge with your support.

Sincerely,

Paull Shin

Return to Sen. Shin's home page