PULLMAN WSU will re-establish its support of its learning center at the Deccio Higher Education Center in Yakima, effective immediately.
WSU cut funding for that learning center, as well as eight other learning centers located around the state, as part of $54 million in budget reductions in the current biennial budget. Reinstating WSU’s support for the center will cost about $90,000 annually, which will be found through internal reallocation.
“Community and business leaders, as well as the students who used the center, convinced us of the importance of this center to the Yakima area. We came to the conclusion that the center’s impact justified the money we are spending there,” said President Elson S. Floyd.
Floyd said the university will be hiring a director and will again be offering classes in the Deccio Center beginning with the new semester in January.
He said the university does not currently plan to reopen any of the other learning centers across the state that have had to be closed as a result of the budget reductions.
The Deccio Higher Education Center was opened in September 2003. WSU has offered courses at the center in partnership with Yakima Valley Community College and Central Washington University. The center includes distance education classrooms, video conference rooms, computer classrooms and laboratories and office and meeting space.
WSU Tri-Cities has offered business courses leading to a master’s in business administration at the center. Education classes needed for state endorsements and master’s and doctoral degrees have also been offered through WSU there. The center also serves as an access and meeting place for WSU distance education students in the area.
The university also uses space in Sundquist Hall for nursing courses. There are approximately 100 nursing students enrolled in bachelors and masters programs in Yakima, coordinated by the College of Nursing based at WSU Spokane.
This semester, WSU is offering two MBA and two education courses in Sundquist to fulfill obligations to continuing students. With the budget cuts, the university had planned not to admit new students into those programs at that site, but that decision will likely be reconsidered with the renewed support for the learning center.
Yakima also serves as a rotation site for about 20 fourth-year WSU pharmacy students each year.
