CWU building momentum with renewed focus on Yakima Valley recruitment

Central Washington University entered into a ground-breaking new partnership with two Yakima Valley partners last fall, seeking to ease the transition from high school to postsecondary education for more students in the area.

The memorandum of understanding signed by CWU, Yakima Valley College (YVC), and the Yakima School District (YSD) went into effect last September, and nearly nine months in, the partnership is beginning to show significant promise.

As CWU Associate Vice President of Enrollment Management Hung Dang explained, the three stakeholders have been taking steps this year to advance the MOU’s goal of creating integrated and seamless pathways for local students to obtain postsecondary credentials and continue their educational journeys at YVC and/or CWU.

This includes waiving application fees for Yakima Valley residents, including those who are enrolled at YVC. Other priorities include removing barriers for transfer students, hosting workshops for prospective students, and expanding transit opportunities from Yakima to Ellensburg.

“We want to figure out how to make the process as seamless as possible for students from YVC and YSD to continue their educations at Central,” Dang said. “We want to make sure that when students attend YVC, they are considered part of the CWU student body. And when they are ready to come to CWU, we want to be sure all of the administrative hurdles are out of the way.”

Among those hurdles are obtaining high school transcripts, paying application fees, reviewing the courses eligible for transfer credits, and a lack of transportation options.

Dang credited Transfer Center Director Megan McConnell and her staff for easing the transition for transfer students through a new-and-improved Transfer Center webpage, complete with detailed information about the Transfer MAP system.

“Megan worked with the Office of the Registrar and several YVC staff members to spearhead a website project that provides valuable information for students who plan to transfer to CWU,” Dang said. “The page articulates courses taken by YVC students, as well as credits from high school courses, such as College in the High School and Running Start.”

Dang also thanked Transfer Outreach and Onboarding Counselor Jan Wragge for visiting YVC throughout the quarter to offer on-site application workshops. Thanks to her engagement efforts, a number of CWU faculty members have expressed interest in attending the workshops to start building relationships with more incoming students.

“We have been focusing more on the Central Washington market in our recruitment efforts this year, and we feel like we are doing a good job of reaching more students who fit CWU’s profile,” Dang said. “We have taken a more relational approach as we try to make the process of accessing higher education easier for students and families in Yakima, Wenatchee, and the Tri-Cities.”

As part of the enhanced recruitment approach in Central Washington, the Office of Admissions opened a new Yakima office last fall to give local students and their families a place to meet CWU representatives like Interim Director of Admissions Andres Moreno.

He and his staff regularly interact with Yakima-area high school students at the office or at their schools, creating a natural connecting point that benefits students, families, and CWU staff.

“We’re more than just an admissions office,” Moreno said. “We visit high schools in the area every week and we encourage students to come talk to us. We also offer a lot of different resources to help families understand the services available to them, like scholarships, financial aid programs, and more.”

The main concept Moreno and his team are seeking to impart to prospective students and their families is that, no matter their circumstances, CWU has programs and people in place who can help them succeed.

“Having us here in their own backyard tends to make families more receptive to the idea of college,” Moreno said. “We are able to connect with them better, and we can help them see that Central is the right fit.”

Another way the Office of Admissions is trying to make CWU more accessible to students from the Yakima Valley is by introducing an additional transit time slot to and from Ellensburg.

Moreno has been working closely with officials from Selah, Yakima, and Ellensburg — along with YSD and the Washington State Department of Transportation — on a plan to expand service into the evening hours so more students can return home after 5 p.m. The last bus currently departs Ellensburg at 5 p.m., leaving some Yakima-based students without a ride home.

“A lot of people who use the Ellensburg Commuter run are CWU students, and we want to make it as easy as possible for them to travel to and from Ellensburg,” said Moreno, adding that YVC and the College Success Foundation have also expressed interest in supporting the additional time slot. “Right now, we’re just trying to gain a deeper understanding of rider needs so we can help those who need the service.”

The project partners will be conducting a survey this summer to gauge ridership trends, with a goal of offering the new bus times in fall 2025. The group plans to meet again in late July, when they will review the survey results and consider potential next steps.

“We’re off to a great start, and everyone involved is open to considering different options so we can offer an evening run,” Moreno said. “Everyone agrees that this new run would benefit all of our communities, and we are really hoping to have it up and running in the next couple of months.”