By Pip Swinger | Staff Reporter
A seemingly forgotten plan to build dormitories at WSU Vancouver is alive and well—and along with it, the institutional will to make it so.
In a January interview with The VanCougar, Vice Chancellor Jenny Chambers-Taube confirmed the plan is still taking shape and predicted it will withstand the university’s change in leadership later this year as Chancellor Mel Netzhammer is succeeded by a yet-to-be-named successor.
As recently as last year Chambers-Taube worked with a consultant to gather data on the demand among students for housing on campus and found it to be real. Moreover, she anticipates residential living, calling for multiple dormitories on campus land already termed for the purpose, would be financially doable. The mainstay of WSU Vancouver would remain in its commuting student population.
When WSU Vancouver opened in 1996, it consisted of just four buildings and the hope to grow as big and abundant as the fauna the location is known for. Now, 29 years later, WSU Vancouver has 16 buildings standing tall across 351 acres of wildlife reserve, and it only has plans to develop further.
A 2018 master plan for the campus makes it so. It plainly denotes the creation of residential housing on campus: two dormitories housing up to 350 students each and a new student union center serving both residential and commuting students.
The master plan designates two plots at the southwestern portion of the campus for student housing. It’s positioned a quarter mile up from the Salmon Creek Avenue main entrance and sits upon the hill across from the orange parking lot. Records show that the use of this land was the subject of a development code adjustment by the county in 2019 at the request of WSU Vancouver. It previously did not allow university land to be used for residential purposes.
The plan to add residential housing gained momentum with surging enrollment, now near-flat, but remains a goal persistently supported by students, especially as nearby rents increase, and expectations grow for a full university environment. Chambers-Taube reports, meanwhile, that in recent years there have been non-local students inquiring about enrolling at WSU Vancouver, but are discouraged to learn residence is not possible.
With the plan comes a plethora of adjacent building plans to serve a resident population 24/7, notably a student union where students could gather, dine and exercise. Facilities that support public safety, student access and health, as well as the library would potentially need changes to accommodate residential life on campus.
While Chambers-Taube is WSU Vancouver’s point person on advancing the plan, she is not the decider. Her data-driven findings will go to the new chancellor and WSU system regents for full consideration.
