The reply: Rep. Sells (part 2)

In part 1 of my reply to Rep. Mike Sells letter to the editor response to my March 14th letter to the editor I argue that a failure to fund full time equivalent (FTE) student positions, not lack of physical space, is causing our universities to refuse admission to some qualified students. Funding was a problem that could have been fixed in the last session if education was a paramount concern to the legislature.

In part 2 I would like to address Rep. Sells concern over the lack of graduates in high-demand areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). In his letter he states that "We have Microsoft Chairman Bill Gates in Washington, D.C., requesting a lift on the lid of H1B visas to bring more people with degrees from outside the country into Washington state for work". [The full text of Mr. Gates' testimony is available here and a NPR interview with him is available here.]

Rep. Sells implies that a new tech-focused university will solve the tech storage without actually demonstrating how that would happen. Unfortuately, we do not have enough students interested and prepared for these areas study (listen to a recent NPR report here about low computer science enrollment and read this article on declining results on the Science section of the WASL here) and it is unclear to me how a new campus would change that. STEM maybe high-demand for employers, but not for students.

My argument is that $1,000,000,000 Rep. Sells wants the State to spend on a new campus would be better spent encouraging participation in STEM and funding positions at existing campuses. Instead of a new campus we must:

1. fund changes to secondary education that encourage and prepare students into STEM areas of study (see Gates' testimony starting on page 4).
   
2. fund STEM positions at existing institutions. Dan Voelpel of the News Tribune reports that the UW Tacoma was suppose to be the State's independent technology institute and it should be funded before UW North Sound. Why build a new tech-focused campus if the first one isn't full.
   
3. aggressively recruit into STEM programs, including lowering tuition for students entering these areas of study. In particular, we must address the underrepresentation of women and most minority groups in STEM fields.
   
4. come to terms with the participation of foreign nationals in STEM education and employment (Mr. Gates notes that 60% of students at top computer science schools are non-US citizens). A new polytechnic university will have a high percentage of foreign students. For us to benefit from the massive investment in a new campus won't we need to keep those students here, working and paying taxes, at least for a few years after graduation?

I'm a hiring IT manager, so good IT education and pool of talented candidates is of particular interest to me. Nevertheless, no one has clearly stated how a new campus will encourage participation in STEM of high school students or career changers. Do that and I will be on board with the campus. Otherwise, stop wasting my money......

Tags: Mike Sells, UW North, STEM, UW Tacoma