College of Pharmacy to cut funding of research center
PULLMAN – The WSU College of Pharmacy will suspend state funding for its Chronic Illness Research Center (CIRC) co-located on the Pullman and Spokane campuses effective Aug. 31. The suspension of state funding will eliminate one half-time administrative professional position at WSU Spokane and two full-time administrative positions at Pullman.
James P. Kehrer, dean of the pharmacy college, said the decision will not affect WSU’s pharmacy students.
“In anticipation of budget reduction scenarios which could require cuts expected to average as much as 12 to 20 percent across the university, we have decided to be proactive and take this step now in order to reduce the potential impact of any further reductions on the college’s academic programs,” Kehrer said.
The positions eliminated by the suspension of state funds are those of the center’s assistant director and information systems coordinator, both currently located in Pullman, and the center’s half-time research development officer at WSU Spokane.
The center’s director and associate director are both fulltime faculty members – one in pharmacy and one in nursing – whose employment will not be affected by the cut in state funding.
The CIRC will likely function in a nominal fashion only after Aug. 31, Kehrer said.
Originally founded in 1992 as the Cancer Prevention & Research Center, the mission of the research center was expanded in late 2008 to include research in other chronic illnesses besides cancer. The center provides multidisciplinary health sciences research support focused on developing collaborative initiatives to enable researchers to be more competitive in obtaining extramural funding.
