Bloglander

Just last month, the outlook for the Pullman campus of Spokane Falls Community College looked grim. As Community Colleges of Spokane stared down a budget reduction of up to 10 percent across the entire district, the future of the Pullman campus seemed in doubt.

As SFCC president Janet Gullickson put it at the time, "everything is on the table."

But CCS leaders may have reached a solution to keep serving students in Whitman County. CCS recently announced that it was working with Washington State University to provide classroom space on WSU's Pullman campus, instead of the Pullman Gladish Center. 

The SFCC Pullman campus serves an average of 175 students per quarter, and a majority of those students have attended WSU and plan to return there, according to a CCS news release. The branch has 15 faculty members, four staff members, and 20 course sections per quarter, according to the college. 

This move — using WSU classroom space — was hinted at by CCS Chancellor Christine Johnson last month. She told the Inlander that there would be services in Pullman, but "we're looking at doing it in a way we can afford to do it." 

The goal is for SFCC and SCC's Pullman campuses to relocate to WSU's Kruegel Hall by January 2017. Summer and fall quarter will be taught in the Gladish Center as in the past. 

"I believe we have turned our budget crisis into an opportunity that will result in better services and expanded opportunities for our students," Gullickson said in a statement. "WSU is already an excellent partner for our transfer students and having classrooms on their campus will streamline that pathway." 

The partnership has not been finalized as of yet. WSU and SFCC will work on the details in the coming months.

Johnson has said that the budget crisis was caused by a combination of state funding reductions, glitches in a new software system and a new state funding formula. Decisions about how to reduce costs in the 2016-17 budget have not yet been determined.