TCAC
List of Appendices
TCAC Background Information -- Appendix 1
Legislative Rationale for Establishing Five
University Brank Campuses: UW Bothell, UW Tacoma, WSU Tri-Cities, WSU
Vancouver and WSU Spokane
University of Washington Bothell
Excerpt from the Revised Code of Washington, Chapter 28B.45
28B.45.010 Legislative findings. The legislature finds that the
benefits of higher education should be more widely available to the
citizens of the state of Washington. The legislature also finds that a
citizen's place of residence can restrict that citizen's access to
educational opportunity at the upper-division level.
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Because most of the state-supported baccalaureate universities are located
in areas removed from major metropolitan areas, the legislature finds that
many of the state's citizens, especially those citizens residing in the
central Puget Sound area, the Tri-Cities, Spokane, Vancouver, and Yakima,
have insufficient and inequitable access to upper-division baccalaureate
and graduate education.
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This lack of sufficient educational opportunities in urban areas makes it
difficult or impossible for placebound individuals, who are unable to
relocate, to complete a baccalaureate or graduate degree. It also
exacerbates the difficulty financially needy students have in attending
school, since many of those students need to work, and work is not always
readily available in some communities where the baccalaureate institutions
of higher education are located.
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The lack of sufficient educational opportunities in metropolitan areas
also affects the economy of the underserved communities. Businesses
benefit from access to the research and teaching capabilities of
institutions of higher education. The absence of these institutions from
some of the state's major urban centers prevents beneficial interaction
between businesses in these communities and the state's universities.
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The Washington state master plan for higher education, adopted by the
higher education coordinating board, recognizes the need to expand
upper-division and graduate educational opportunities in the state's large
urban centers. The board has also attempted to provide a means for
helping to meet future educational demand through a system of branch
campuses in the state's major urban areas.
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The legislature endorses the assignment of responsibility to serve these
urban centers that the board has made to various institutions of higher
education. The legislature also endorses the creation of branch campuses
for the University of Washington and Washington State University.
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The legislature recognizes that, among their other responsibilities, the
state's comprehensive community colleges share with the four-year
universities and colleges the responsibility of providing the first two
years of a baccalaureate education. It is the intent of the legislature
that the four-year institutions and the community colleges work as
cooperative partners to ensure the successful and efficient operation of
the state's system of higher education. The legislature further intends
that the four-year institutions work cooperatively with the community
colleges to ensure that branch campuses are operated as models of a two
plus two educational system. [1989 1st ex.s. c7 § 1.]
TCAC
List of Appendices
