The Evergreen State College approves new school, will invest up to $2.1 million
Calling it an historic motion, The Evergreen State College’s Board of Trustees on Friday unanimously approved a new school of professional and continuing education at the four-year public college — a move the college hopes will help boost enrollment.
“The motivation is clearly enrollment,” said President John Carmichael about the planning and ultimate approval of the school, which will offer a series of academic and professional development certificate programs.
Total enrollment is around 2,000 students at Evergreen, down from more than 4,000 students about five years ago.
Some of that decline can be attributed to the Day of Absence controversy, but other factors exist as well, such as the decline in the birth rate during the Great Recession. It has meant that higher education throughout the country is grappling with fewer traditional-age students, Carmichael said.
But Evergreen officials believe they can tap a relatively large market of older students who have earned some college credits but have no degree to show for it. In Thurston County alone, the college estimates 61,000 people meet that description.
Carmichael said some of the certificate programs will serve current students and transfer students, and some are likely to sign up for the certificate programs and they will become a gateway to an undergraduate degree.
Some of the programs will be rolled out in fall 2022, followed by a complete offering in fall 2023.
The areas of emphasis, according to Provost David McAvity: psychology, health and wellness; business administration and leadership; environmental solutions; integrated computer science; interdisciplinary art, media and design; K-12 education, transformative justice and diversity, equity and inclusion.
It is not a small undertaking. The college is prepared to spend up to $2.1 million in operating reserves for startup, program and project development and marketing costs. The college is forecasting 500 full-time equivalent students in five years.
Trustee Fred Goldberg, chairman of a finance committee associated with the proposal, shared these benchmarks: The new school is expected to generate enough revenue to cover its costs in fiscal year 2025, fully reimburse college reserves in fiscal year 2026 and turn a profit (surplus) in fiscal year 2027, he said.
Goldberg described himself as a serial entrepreneur who understands the aversion to risk.
“We have to be prepared to shift and understand and think about the risks as we move forward, but it is absolutely necessary to change some directions at the college because it’s pretty clear enrollment is an issue,” he said.
Trustee Ed Zuckerman said he was initially a skeptic but now he is a full supporter of the new programs, saying they have the potential to not only lift up the college, but to also create a rebound effect for other aspects of the college, including its reputation.
He also doesn’t think the creation of the school is moving the college away from the “Evergreen we all know and love,” one that has embraced interdisciplinary education for 50 years. Leadership provided at the senior management level and the board has shown that we are not going to do that, Zuckerman said.
Perhaps no one demonstrated better the power of a certificate program than Trustee Miguel Perez-Gibson. He took such a program to become a forest technician, which later led him to Evergreen and its Native Pathways program and eventually a master’s degree.
“We are incubating careers and people’s lives by creating access for continuing learning,” he said.
Others at the meeting were asked for their opinions of the proposal.
“It’s a big move to make, but if I were in their shoes I would take it,” said Trygve Vandal, a student union representative to the board, who also called the proposal “a solid plan.”
“There’s a cost to inaction,” he said.
This story was originally published March 12, 2022 at 5:45 AM.
