'Collaboration Instead of Competition': Schools in Washington Join Together To Come Up With Better Strategies For Students

A college-going culture is what the nine schools in Pierce County Washington got into as they gather together to collaborate. This is amidst the usual norm of schools in one community competing against one another in order to attain higher public recognition and population of enrollment.

The collaboration is composed of five community technical colleges namely two Pierce College campuses, Tacoma Community College, Clover Park Technical College, Bates Technical College, two private colleges such as University of Puget Sound and Pacific Lutheran University and two public institutions namely the University of Washington Tacoma and Evergreen State College.

John Hickey, Puget Sound associate vice president for business services and Community Engagement Executive Director said that this historical collaboration does not have any other reason behind but to provide the right education match for Pierce County youth.

Karl Smith, UW Tacoma associate vice chancellor, and chief admissions officer sees this effort as a form market increase through market share wherein everyone will benefit as more and more students will be interested in attending their institutions.

John Welch, Puget Sound Educational Service District superintendent believes that there is underrepresentation of students' populations that is why there is a need for this collaboration to prepare strategies that will be available for those who will need them, The Inside Higher Ed reported.

Principals of the mentioned schools admit that this collaboration is not limited to meetings alone but something more outside of them. Through their sharing of thoughts, they begun to materialize even greater things needed to combat concerns in the education domain.

Jared Bilkre, Rugby principal sees that the collaboration between people from the same industry has a big advantage. Through one another's' experiences, each of them learned which technique will work for them and which one will not.

Collaboration instead of competition benefits not only the students but school officials as well. It is stepping out from their comfort zones and joining together to bring in what they can contribute to accomplishing bigger tasks such as the college-going culture development, The Pierce County Tribune reported.

Watch this video of a short preview on Pierce County demographics.