Redmond LWTC to operate Accounting program this fall

Ever since the Redmond branch of Lake Washington Technical College Lake Washington Technical College (LWTC), located just outside the east entrance of Marymoor Park, opened in 2005, it had never operated an entire educational program.

Before, students would have to travel between LWTC's Kirkland and Redmond campus to complete their certificate.

That is about to change.

LWTC's Accounting program, from which students can earn one of four certificates or an Associate's Degree, has been growing steadily up to its current enrollment of 74 this summer compared to 66 last summer.

Come this fall, the program has found a permanent home at the Redmond campus.

"We've just gone through a whole revamping of the program, so that's something we're really looking forward to," said Bopha Cheng, Program Specialist for the Redmond LWTC. "It's more competitive with the programs offered at other community colleges."

Among the changes Cheng noted were lowering the credit requirement for an Associate in Applied Arts and Science Degree from 104 to 94, creating improved course outlines, increasing online integration of courses and ordering new textbooks.

The program uses general education, business and computer skills courses to provide students a solid background in accounting, as well as giving them experience with spreadsheets, specialized accounting software and payroll systems.

At the time of completion, students will be prepared to find a job ranging from a small propietorship to a public accounting firm in their area of expertise.

The Redmond campus also offers a number of core classes for students to fulfill academic prerequisites.

"We have general education classes here, all the math courses and (statistics) we offer consistently, and other popular classes are Interpersonal Communication and English," noted Cheng, who has worked for LWTC since last October. "We've always offered these classes here on this campus, but we're trying to offer more variety now that we've got this accounting program here to give students that option, so they don't have to go back and forth."

For students who have spent time at the LWTC's main campus in Kirkland, most are surprised when they see the size of the Redmond building.

"We're a lot smaller. We have a total of 10 rooms but we only use five of them as educational classrooms, the rest of the space is rented out to local customers," said Cheng, adding that the campus was originally built as a corporate learning center. "It's good that the Accounting program moved over because we're able to give it a little bit more focus, more visibility."

In the future, Cheng is optimistic that the campus will be able to add on some valuable perks for students as attendance at the Redmond branch increases.

"A lot of our students ask for enrollment services, a bookstore, and food on campus, but right now we don't have all of those extras," Cheng said. "In the future we're looking into getting it. Our campus is really young, it was built in 2005, and ever since then it's been growing at a steady pace. Maybe we can get a small deli and the bookstore can come out once every quarter."

Although she has only been Program Specialist for a little less than one year, Cheng has been impressed by the professional staff, headed by Corporate and Continuing Education Manager Lin Zhou, and the students, many of whom she is in contact with nearly every day.

"I love working with the students, they seem so motivated to learn," Cheng said. "Right now we've got the ESL students, the accounting students... the I-BEST (Integrated Basic Education Skills Training) and psychology students. They're just very motivated, and I like being in that kind of environment."

For more information about the Redmond LWTC campus and its Accounting Program click here.

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