Bellevue College President David L. Rule and WSU Provost and Executive Vice President Daniel Bernardo signed a non-binding partnership agreement Monday to create what Rule calls a brand new type of institution.

“Bellevue College will be a different kind of institution. There’s no interest on [WSU President] Dr. Floyd’s or my part to replicate something that already exists,” Rule said. “This is something brand new for the state of Washington.”

In an email sent to Bellevue College faculty and students on Monday, June 15, Rule said the Memorandum of Understanding will allow the two universities to explore the benefits to students, accreditation and governance issues, financial implications, and requirements to move such a partnership through the Legislature. He stressed that Bellevue College has not committed to a anything at this time.

“We are not committing to a partnership yet, rather, we are recognizing that there are some increased capabilities for our respective institutions that we would like to further explore to see if they are indeed viable,” Rule wrote in the email.

The document lays out the groundwork for the collaboration, or what Board of Trustees Chair Steve Miller called “an agreement to explore” without creating any binding resolutions.

Bellevue College trustees previously voted to authorize the Rule to sign the memorandum.

If the two institutions decide to merge, Bellevue College would become Washington State University- Bellevue College (WSU- Bellevue College) and would continue to offer its array of two-year degrees, but will augment its four-year degree offerings over time. Board members told meeting attendees that Bellevue College would not become a WSU satellite campus.

WSU-Bellevue College and its program will be a separately accredited from the remainder of WSU.

The WSU- Bellevue College faculty would be considered a separate faculty, and faculty currently employed by Bellevue College would remain so. The two institutions will also pursue legislation for funding and resources to avoid increasing costs to students.

The talks began after WSU President Elson Floyd approached Rule with the idea. After the university’s announcement on June 5 that Floyd has taken leave to undergo cancer treatment, Bernardo has taken over Floyd’s responsibilities, and has appointed Vice President for the WSU Global Campus, Dr. David Cillay, to be the point person for the ongoing partnership discussions.