PULLMAN The Board of Regents of Washington State University approved the next step toward construction of a new home for the School for Global Animal Health at its regularly scheduled meeting Friday.
The board authorized the administration to select a consulting firm to help plan and design the building, which will be funded in part through the $25 million grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced by the WSU Foundation earlier this year.
President Elson S. Floyd said fund-raising for the $10 million match necessary to complete funding of the building is on schedule.
The 39,000-square-foot building will be located near the existing Animal Disease Biotechnology Facility and Veterinary Teaching Hospital on the Pullman campus. Warwick Bayly, acting provost and dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, said the building is a vital part of the college’s plan to attract internationally recognized senior researchers to add to the current research expertise at the college.
The university plans to begin construction of the facility in fall 2009, with an estimated completion date of fall 2011.
The regents also approved a $1.9 million upgrade to the wireless internet capabilities on the Pullman campus. The project will improve wireless capabilities in all residence halls, classrooms, faculty and staff work areas, common areas between buildings and external walkways.
Viji Murali, vice president for information services, said the upgrades should be completed by June 2009.
The regents also approved a $1.8 million supplemental budget request to the state legislature to offset rising energy costs. Through its conservation efforts, the Pullman campus has cut total energy use by 4.5 percent since 2001, while both the number of people on campus and the total square footage of campus facilities have increased. Meanwhile, overall rates the university pays for energy have increased nearly 105 percent over the same period.
The next meeting of the Board of Regents will be held Nov. 21 in Pullman.
