Western Front - 1999 January 26

              WESTERN WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY
TUESDAY, JANUARY 26,1999
VOLUME 107 ISSUE 5
iNsiiUm
OFF RAMmmm^^^^^^^^^
BELLINGHAM, WASHINGTON
Western lobbying
for more funding
By Alyssa Pfau
The Western Front
As legislators in Olympia decide how much money
to give Western faculty during the next two years,
administrators and students at Western share the hope
that the state should continue to be the main source of
support for higher education.
Administrators argue that Western is a business that
must be competitive with public institutions across the
country in order to be successful. Maintaining compet­itiveness
requires funding, they say, for faculty pay
raises, an additional 500 students, upgrading technol­ogy,
localizing financial aid and tuition levels and
increasing the amount of financial aid with any
increase of tuition.
Gov. Gary Locke said he agrees funding for educa­tion
is important and backed up his approval in his
budget proposal by giving higher education an
increase of 13-percent more than the current bienni-um's
allocation.
"Our job is to hold onto those gains and help the
governor be the higher-education governor he wants
to be," said Al Froderberg, vice president for external
affairs at Western.
Salary increases for faculty
Although Locke proposed a 2-percent increase in
faculty salaries, Western administrators, faculty and
students say that isn't enough to keep up with corn-
See Funding, page 3
Woodring dean leaving Western
By Mia Penta
The Western Front
After 15 years at Western, Larry Marrs is exchanging the title of
Western's Dean of Woodring College of Education for that of
executive director of a seven-institution consortium for north
Snohomish, Skagit and Island counties.
In 1997, the Higher Education Coordinating Board, which over­sees
the state's education system, was directed to create a plan for
the anticipated rise in the number of students seeking higher-edu­cation
programs. By 2005, north Snohomish, Skagit and Island
counties will have an estimated 4,000 new full-time students. By
2020, the number of students is expected to be more than 9,000.
The consortium includes Western, the University of
Washington, Central Washington University, Washington State
Front/Cindy Nunley
Woodring College of Education Dean Larry Marrs is retiring.
University, Skagit Valley College and Edmonds and Everett com­munity
colleges.
"It's an opportunity to bring together a whole group of institu­tions
to serve the community," Marrs said.
He said his role as executive director will be to coordinate and
direct a variety of programs for the students in the area. Some
ideas for programs include distance education, technology-sup­ported
education and use of the Internet to deliver courses, he
said.
Marrs has also been in contact with the community colleges
looking to teach night courses.
He credits his experience with Woodring's off-campus pro­grams
in Seattle, Everett, Oak Harbor, Silverdale and Tacoma as
part of the reason he was asked to fill the position.
"(Woodring) is the largest provider we have in the state in
developing programs to meet community needs," Marrs said.
Marrs will remain in the area but will move to an office on
Chestnut Street. Friday will be his final day as dean.
"They are supposed to be offering classes next fall," Marrs said
of his new job. "It's important for me to be doing work as soon as
possible."
Because Woodring's faculty is integrated throughout the cam­pus,
Marrs' advice to the future dean includes continuing com­munication
with the rest of the college.
"Collaboration with colleagues throughout the university is
important for developing higher-education programs," Marrs
said.
He also urged the new dean to continue preparation for the
upcoming visit from an accreditation board that put the college
on a two-year probation for organization problems within the
program and a lack of diversity with students and faculty.
"Stay on top of that," Marrs said. "Even though I'm positive
(Woodring) will pass with flying colors."
He said he hoped Woodring's off-campus extended programs
would continue.to be committed to assuring the highest quality
programs.
Don Robinson of Woodring's Admissions Office said finding a
new dean could take a long time. Right now the search is for a
temporary dean. Robinson said the permanent dean isn't sched­uled
to take office until the fall of 2001.
"(Marrs) has been here a long time; he's done a good job and
we're going to have a heck of a time to find someone to replace
him," Robinson said. "He is going to a very important position —
the cutting edge of what's going to happen to higher education in
the future."
Western's campus
safe despite reports
Part I of II
By Lisa Curdy
The Western Front
University Police reported 189 crimes last
year — 178 of those involving theft or bur­glary
— making Western's campus one of the
safest in the state.
Though Western may be more sheltered
from crime, only nine of the 12 U.R positions
allowed by the budget are filled.
"If you think holistically of the university
as a community of 11,000 people at peak
hour, we handle it just like you would a city,"
said James Shaw, chief of U.R "The only dif­ference
is everyone goes home at the end of
the day, so we're responsible for a lot more
than maybe what you're used to in your own
town."
A void three officers wide may seem small,
Shaw said, but three officers for every 2,000
people are needed to ensure adequate cover­age
and maximum safety.
Western now has three police officers per
3,840 students.
This means campus police, who enforce
state and local laws, may have officer short­ages
during shifts.
"Sometimes we're as low as one officer on
duty — but, of course, we're active liaisons
with the Bellingham Police Department —
we can get assistance or assist them," Shaw
said.
The officer deficit will decrease in coming
months. Two officers — one of whom was a
greencoat — will graduate from police acad­emy
in the spring to join the fully-commis­sioned
police force. The department is active­ly
seeking to fill the third, open position.
Public Safety Assistants, or greencoats,
have patrolled Western for at least 20 years,
See Police, page 5