Bellevue College will not serve as a satellite campus for Washington State University, according to the college’s board of trustees.

Working groups for each of the universities had only met once before Wednesday’s meeting, but talks will continue every other week until they decide if a partnership is mutually beneficial, according to board chairman Steve Miller.

“This is a prime location for an educational institution,” Miller said of the Bellevue College campus. “We have a density of students, growing industry, supportive community for education, the possibility of big donors in the region, all of which makes this very attractive. The question from our point of view is, given what we’re trying to achieve, is this the best way to do it?”

Last fall officials from WSU approached BC president David Rule with the idea of a partnership and after the board of trustees approved its exploration in December, a working group was formed.

Russell Beard, Bellevue College’s VP of information technology services and its working group spokesperson, told faculty, students and community members the two groups are trying to determine what BC would look like as a hybrid university offering both four-year bachelor’s degrees and associates degrees.

“The overarching theme is that if we can’t come up with something unique, then the conversation isn’t worth having,” Beard said. “It’s not really hard trying to figure out why they want to be in Bellevue. So we hold all the cards … The goal right now is trying to figure out if we should continue having this conversation. Bellevue College is going to do something extraordinary with or without WSU.”

Miller said a partnership with WSU currently offers a lot of positives, especially financially, but ironing out the details will take time and compromise.

“We probably can’t get everything we want, so the question is what are the absolutes? What are our highest priorities?” he said.

If an agreement and deal can get struck, the earliest anything could happen is five years, Beard said, adding it would take roughly two years for it to get approved by the Legislature and the governor and another three to align the school’s curriculum transitioning from BC’s quarter system to WSU’s semester system.

Both working groups are slated to meet again next week to identify the outline for a memorandum of understanding.

Although it’s another step toward a partnership, Miller said there’s still miles to go and there’s still a chance nothing comes of it. As the largest transfer facility to the University of Washington, a partnership with WSU could put that accessibility for students in jeopardy, which could be a deal breaker.

Miller began the meeting stating any partnership would only be agreed to if it benefited the students, both current and future, and the surrounding community. Fellow board member Lisa Chin expanded on Miller’s sentiment saying the underlying motive for any changes has to be enrichment of the students and community.

She and the other board members agreed that, “there’s enough potential” in a partnership to continue the discussion. If a deal can be worked out however, Bellevue College will not keep doing the same song and dance.

“I don’t think there’s any going back for us,” Miller said. “We either go forward with WSU or go it alone. The status quo is no longer acceptable.”