June 28, 2001

Contact: Robert Lowery (509-963-1487/fax 509-963-2301/email: loweryr@cwu.edu)

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The first shovels of dirt were turned Tuesday (June 26) for a new Central Washington University-Edmonds Community College joint higher education center on the Edmonds Community College campus.

Officials and faculty from both schools, state agency representatives, legislative and civic leaders attended the ceremonial groundbreaking for the $17.4 million "Snoqualmie Hall" project, named in honor of the mountain pass that links the two institutions.

The building, a first-of-its-kind in Washington state, will be constructed specifically for use by both a university and community college. It further strengthens an alliance instituted more than 25 years ago.

"Although our partnership has served the needs of many students, it has lacked a sense of permanence and a shared vision," CWU President Jerilyn S. McIntyre told the gathering. "It is to address both of these matters that we gather here today."

Established in 1975, the collaboration allows place- and time-bound students to build on associate's degrees earned at Edmonds Community College by completing bachelor's degrees at the CWU Lynnwood Center.

Through the 2000-01 academic year, more than 3,000 students have earned CWU baccalaureate degrees in accounting, law and justice and business administration.

"For the majority of our CWU Lynnwood Center students, higher education has been made possible only because it has been available in the community," McIntyre said. "Snoqualmie Hall demonstrates that our legislature means what it says when it speaks of access and opportunity to higher education for all of our citizens."

At the groundbreaking, McIntyre and Edmonds Community College President Jack Oharah signed a memorandum of understanding "to solidify our commitment to expand higher education opportunities, quality of life and economic development for the Lynnwood area," McIntyre said.

"Through this partnership, we hope to maximize the benefits to students of limited resources, improve access to higher education for non-traditional students, develop innovative and cooperative academic programs, ease the transition from one institution to the other, foster exchanges among faculty and increase student internship opportunities," she added.

The new higher education center will provide opportunities for increased enrollment, to an estimated 1,000 CWU students by year 2010. In addition, the university will launch the newly approved master's degree in professional accountancy this fall. A bachelor's degree in special education and courses in industrial and engineering technology are anticipated for fall 2002.

Construction on the higher education center will begin next October and is scheduled for completion in March 2002.