January 14, 1996 - COMMUNITY COLLEGES TO JOIN THE “WHEN”
PROPOSAL
The State Board of Community and Technical Colleges told legislators
this week that they have designed a interactive telecommunications
system that will connect all 32 two-year institutions to the 22
locations of the Washington Higher Education Network proposed
by the four-year institutions. The WHEN system was proposed by
the six four-year institutions as an extension of the “WHETS”
telecommunications system operated by WSU, and has been recommended
for full funding by Gov. Mike Lowry. Just during the first week
of the legislative session, hearings on the WHEN proposal were
conducted by the House Higher Education Committee, the Senate
Higher Education Committee, and the House Appropriations Committee.
This is just the latest in an unprecedented amount of cooperation
between higher education institutions to deal with the access
crisis created by the echo of the baby boom generation. Cooperative
institutional proposals for increasing enrollment and merging
library systems are also pending before the Legislature. The
community college system is a proposal for T-1 leased fiber optics
lines to each community college in the state, linking them with
interactive video, student services, electronic mail, library
and media services, Internet access and data transmission.
Legislative reaction has been generally positive though there
is some concern that an adequate amount of the project will be
done in partnership with the private sector. The four-year institutions
believe they have a proposal that accomplishes that. The system
is flexible, so anywhere that private providers can bid high speed
fiber optics lines for a reasonable long-term lease, that fiber
will be used instead of state-owned microwave facilities. AT&T
was the first private provider to endorse the system. “AT&T
believes that the goal of creating an enhanced network of higher
education institutions will have positive consequences, providing
access for place bound students and the sharing of educational
opportunities that would otherwise not be achievable. In addition,
the network has the potential of connecting the K-12 system and
the citizens of the state to higher education’s resources,”
said Michael Woodin, state director of governmental affairs for
AT&T. Discussions are continuing with US West and others.
Interactive classrooms served by the four-year institutions
include Puyallup, Prosser and Kelso-Longview for WSU; Cheney for
Eastern Washington University; Olympia and Tacoma for The Evergreen
State College; SeaTac, Steilacoom, and Lynnwood for Central Washington
University; Bothell and Tacoma for the University of Washington;
Bellingham, Port Angeles, and Bremerton for Western Washington
University. WSU programs to existing WHETS locations at Tri-Cities,
Vancouver, Yakima, and Wenatchee will be expanded with the increased
channel capacity offered by the proposed “WHEN” system.
Many of the sites, such as Everett and Yakima, will be served
by multiple institutions.
WSU Announces Six “Learning Centers”
Another innovative program to maximize university resources to
provide more instruction for the baby boom echo has been announced
by WSU. A pilot to use county cooperative extension faculty and
existing facilities to provide instructional educational programs
developed with community leaders has been announced for sites
at Colville, Wenatchee, Yakima, Longview, Port Hadlock, and the
Salishan Public Housing Development in Tacoma. Reallocated WSU
funding and legislative requests for additional enrollment will
help pay for the programs.
Multi-media Demonstrations At The State Capitol
The WSU Alumni Association has scheduled a reception and conference
on “Technologies for Washington’s Access Crisis”.
The event will be held Jan. 23, from 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.,
at the Tyee Hotel in Olympia. While its definitely not a lobbying
function, alumni organizers are hoping some state legislators
and staff will be among attendees learning more about computer-aided
learning, Internet, World Wide Web, and multi-media instruction.
If you want to attend, call 1-800-Alum-WSU.
This update is shared by broadcast fax and electronic mail
to friends of Washington State University as state government
developments occur. Contact Karen Fischer, WSU State-wide Affairs,
509/335-6665. Larry Ganders is at 360/438-7552; Fax: 360/438-8104.
Internet address is ganders@wsunix.wsu.edu. Visit our web home
page at www.wsu.edu/IR/wsulegis/legisl.html.
