RICHLAND The Board of Regents of WSU approved the schematic drawings for a new School for Global Animal Health building on the Pullman campus, so construction could begin quickly if funding is secured.
The board acted during its regularly scheduled meeting Friday at the WSU Tri-Cities campus.
The 47,000-square-foot building will be built near the existing Veterinary Teaching Hospital. It will be a research building, with lab space for 12-15 scientists. The university has received a $25 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help fund the $35 million structure. WSU is seeking matching funds through private donors, and through the state or federal government in stimulus money.
The regents also heard an update from President Elson S. Floyd about the state budget situation. The Senate’s budget is scheduled to be released Monday. Floyd said the budget reduction for WSU in that plan is likely to be in the neighborhood of 18 percent, with a 7 percent tuition increase. The House is expected to release its budget Tuesday.
Floyd and Provost Warwick M. Bayly will lead two public budget forums on Tuesday to provide updates and answer questions. More information on those forums is ONLINE @ https://www.wsunews.wsu.edu/pages/publications.asp?Action=Detail&PublicationID=14165&TypeID=1.
In other action, the board ratified a new agreement between the university and the WSU Foundation, the university’s primary fundraising arm. The updated agreement, the first since 1998, includes no major changes, but reflects some new organizational structures within the foundation.
The board also ratified supplemental allocations for two WSU Spokane projects, involving expansion of the Nursing Building to accommodate the growth of the WWAMI medical education program and a data center in the Academic Center. The two projects had earlier been approved in a special meeting of the board’s Executive Committee.
The board’s next regular meeting will be held May 8 at the WSU Spokane campus.
