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SIS History page
History: Higher Education Needs of Snohomish,
Island
and Skagit Counties
| The higher education needs of Snohomish, Island, and Skagit “SIS” counties have been the subject of numerous studies and actions over the past 20 years: |
- 1988 - HECB recommends upper-division branch campus in the Bothell-Woodinville area.
- 1989 - Legislature establishes the University of Washington Bothell Campus (operates for several years at Canyon Park in south Snohomish County).
- 1992 - Outgoing Governor Booth Gardner recommends creating a new, four-year regional university – Cascade University – to serve the area.
- 1993 - Legislature directs the HECB to study alternative educational models.
- 1994 - Legislature approves co-location of the new UW Bothell branch campus and a new community college, Cascadia Community College.
- 1996 - Legislature authorizes HECB to study the higher education needs of North Snohomish, Skagit and Island counties. Two studies – NSIS I & II – recommend a multi-college and university center model.
- 1997 - Legislature directs HECB to develop a plan to expand higher education opportunities in the region. A university center model focusing the resources of five institutions is chosen to expand service.
- 1997-2005 – Graduate-level programs are offered at the Everett Station location and Central Washington university programs on the Edmonds Community College campus are expanded.
- 2005 – Legislature orders the existing consortium be refocused and assigns management and leadership responsibility for operations to Everett Community College. Legislature directs the college to complete a NSIS Consortium conversion plan.
- 2005 – Legislature authorizes UW Bothell to offer lower-division courses linked to specific majors in fields not addressed at local community colleges and to directly admit freshmen and sophomores.
- 2005 - State capital budget directs HECB to evaluate higher education and workforce training needs in Snohomish, Island, and Skagit (SIS) counties and to recommend solutions to the Legislature and Governor.
- 2006 – HECB, following a study by NBBJ and MGT of America, recommends continued planning for a new, four-year campus while funding existing institutions to reach their maximum programmatic and physical capacity.
- 2007 – Legislature adopts (ESHB 1092), which directs the University of Washington to govern and operate an additional branch campus to the region; provides $4 million to assess options, make recommendations on site locations, and develop operational and management plans.
- 2007 – UW consultants recommend locating the new campus on land adjoining the Everett Station site.
- 2008 - Legislature approves $100,000 for the HECB to assist interested parties in the area develop a consensus recommendation on a single preferred location. The HECB is directed to present the recommendation to legislative committees by December 1, 2008.
- 2008 – HECB engages Bill Wilkerson to provide mediation and negotiation services to meet and confer with state, county, and city elected officials in the three counties, business and community organization leaders, major employers, and the community college and higher education institutions serving the region for the purpose of developing the consensus recommendation for a new campus.
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