SPOKANE The WSU Board of Regents approved a revenue bond proposal that will provide funding for the construction of two buildings on the Pullman campus and one at WSU Vancouver.
The regents took action during their regularly scheduled meeting Friday at WSU Spokane.
The $111.9 million in revenue bonds will provide funds for the Vancouver Applied Technology Building, where construction is now underway, and Phase 1 of the Global Animal Health Building and the Veterinary Medicine Research Building on the Pullman campus, both scheduled to begin construction in 2010.
The bond authorization was part of the capital budget plan approved by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Chris Gregoire in May. During the 2009 session, the legislature authorized the university to sell building fee revenue bonds. Revenue for the bond repayment will come from the portion of tuition that is required, by state law, to be used for capital purposes and revenues from the university trust accounts, which are managed by the state investment board.
The board also authorized the administration to select a general contractor/construction manager for the Veterinary Medicine Research Building and approved a revised schematic plan for phase one of the Global Animal Health Building.
The regents heard a report from WSU Spokane Chancellor Brian Pitcher about the role of the health sciences on the Riverpoint campus. John Roll, associate dean for research for the School of Nursing, discussed research on improving health care in rural areas, and Kenneth Roberts, director of the WWAMI program at WSU Spokane, talked about the growth in medical education.
The regents also approved a $21.9 million supplemental budget request for the upcoming legislative session to replace the core computing systems that support admissions, registration, financial aid, degree audit, transcripts and enrollment management for students on all of WSU’s campus. The money would go toward hardware, servers, software and support personnel.
The regents’ next regular meeting is scheduled for Nov. 20 in Pullman.
