UM Receives $10 Million To Expand Education Center

Montana Public Radio | By Beau Baker

Published October 13, 2017 at 6:28 PM MDT

Site preparation work is underway on the expansion of UM's education center

The University of Montana announced it has received a major gift from the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation to expand the college of education and human sciences.

Phyllis Washington, for whom the college’s education center is named, spoke at a ceremony today on the Missoula campus.

"Denny and I are very happy to be able to announce our new additional 10 million dollars to go for this program,” she said.

The addition will connect to the west end of the existing building and provide 35,000 additional square feet of instructional and collaborative space, clinical labs for counseling programs and new resources for the Montana Digital Academy. The new wing will also include a 500-seat auditorium.

Architect renderings of the new addition to the Phyllis J. Washington Education Center at the University of Montana

Governor Steve Bullock was at the event. He said a commitment to education is essential to Montana’s values.

“What we’re really celebrating is generations into the future, we’re affording the opportunities and infrastructure for kids that they need and that they wouldn’t have without these investments,” Bullock said.

Several other donors joined the Washington Foundation to fund the expansion.

UM’s College of Education and Human Sciences experienced significant enrollment growth from the 2015 to 2016 academic years.

Preliminary preparations for construction began in late August. The project is expected to be completed by Dec. 31, 2018.