PULLMAN, Wash. – Washington State University achieved a record systemwide enrollment of 30,142, students this semester, for an increase of 1.5 percent over the same semester last year, Provost Daniel J. Bernardo told the WSU Board of Regents this week.
“The Pullman campus has 3,991 new freshmen and 1,171 new transfers. Spokane campus has 88 new transfer students. Tri-Cities has welcomed 177 new freshmen and 284 new transfer students, while the Vancouver campus has welcomed 333 new freshmen and 624 new transfer students,” Bernardo told the regents, adding that graduate student enrollment this semester remained constant across the university’s campuses.
WSU North Puget Sound at Everett also enrolled 76 new transfer students, he said.
Bernardo said WSU is continuing to attract a large number of first-generation students, who represent 37.6 percent of this year’s entering freshmen and 42.8% of entering transfer students.
“Consistent with university goals and WSU’s land grant mission, the diversity of this year’s entering class has continued to remain strong,” the provost reported. “Overall, minorities represent 31.4 percent of the undergraduate student population and 17.1 percent of the graduate student population.”
Student preparedness also increased this semester, Bernardo said, indicating that the average high school grade point average was 3.40 for entering freshmen and 3.14 percent for transfer students.
Regents also took action on several proposals during the meeting. Specifically, the regents voted to:
- Approve a proposal by the WSU College of Education to discontinue several degrees that are no longer active or have changed names and change program names to align with degree names.
- Approve the establishment of the Center for Interdisciplinary Statistical Education Research (CISER) to improve access to statistical expertise.
- Approve the establishment of the Center for Institutional Research Computing (CIRC) as a coordinating organization to advance and promote high-performance research computing with a focus on application domains aligned with the University’s enduring and emerging areas of academic strength.
- Approve the establishment of the Institute for Nuclear Science and Technology to provide a hub for multidisciplinary research, education, and innovation in nuclear science and technology that addresses societal challenges in global security, human health, energy, and the maintenance and restoration of environmental quality.
- Approve re-naming the South Campus Facility on the WSU Spokane campus as the “Center for Clinical Research and Simulation.”
- Approve re-naming the WSU Pullman, Research and Education Complex as the V. Lane Rawlins Research and Education Complex.
- Approve re-naming the Museum of Art on the WSU Pullman campus as the “Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art.”
- Approve design documents for the WSU Museum of Art Expansion.
- Approve delegating authority to the president to ratify the 2017-2019 collective bargaining agreements negotiated under Chapter 41.80 RCW with the exclusive representatives of bargaining units of Washington State University classified employees.
Media contact:
Robert Strenge, WSU News, 509-335-3583, rstrenge@wsu.edu
