Olympia Update No
Olympia Update No. 1 • September 7, 2006
From: Larry Ganders, Assistant to the President
Printable Adobe PDF Version
The 2007-2009 Operating
Budget Request:
Shaping Your Research
University
for Washington's Future
Unprecedented communication
with industries, businesses, colleges and other universities has produced a
compelling state operating budget request package from Washington State
University that will nurture more engineers and scientists, launch an
agriculture research program based on industry needs, promote bio-fuels made
from Washington commodities, and create more doctors, nurses and dentists for
the Inland Northwest.
WSU is also seeking salaries to be set at competitive rates to recruit and
retain high-quality faculty, staff and students to ensure that we are
“Keeping The Best In Washington.”
Those are the highlights
of the package that has now been submitted to Gov. Christine Gregoire and
legislative leaders for consideration. The governor is expected to make her
recommendation to the Legislature later this year. These are the pressing state
needs that WSU budget requests specifically address:
·
Doing The Math: Well-Prepared College Graduates
in the Workforce.
This comprehensive $13 million biennial budget
package strengthens the pipeline into
college through outreach programs for students in middle, junior and senior high
school and additional support for college students in high-demand areas such as
math and science. This package strives to meet both the demands of business and
those of our students by increasing Washington State University’s capacity in
engineering and science education. Some of the strategies WSU proposes are
innovative and have not been previously discussed by the Legislature.
One example, it proposes upgrading some current enrollments to allow more
existing students into high-demand fields. The proposal also increases state and
regional economic capacity and access by funding 515 additional general student
FTE enrollments across the Tri-Cities, Vancouver, and Pullman-Spokane campuses.
The request also includes provisions to add a new Electrical Engineering program
and 400 new baccalaureate students at WSU Vancouver, plus high-demand
enrollments for WSU Tri-Cities.
·
An Industry-Based Unified
Agriculture Initiative
The $10.8 million request coupled with
internal reallocations, federal contracts, and private funding is aimed at
developing technological solutions to assure that this $29 billion industry
remains viable, globally competitive and environmentally sustainable. It
is the result of dozens of collaborative
meetings over nine months with key stakeholders in the state’s leading industry.
These meetings have already led to internal reallocations within WSU’s existing
agricultural research budget. This request creates new positions across the
state to fill key gaps that remain in research areas to support our very diverse
agricultural industry.
·
More Doctors, Dentists and
Nurses for Spokane and the Inland Northwest
In close cooperation with the University of
Washington and Eastern Washington University, WSU proposes a $9.5 million
package to bring the benefits of additional doctors, dentists and nurses to
Eastern Washington. The proposal includes expanding the University of Washington
Schools of Medicine and Dentistry programs in Spokane. It also includes a
request to produce 30 new undergraduate nursing students, 20 master’s degree
students and 15 doctorally prepared nurses in Spokane through a new PhD program.
·
Fueling Washington with
Bio-products
This $6.7 million package presents a
comprehensive joint bio-energy and bio-products research program to reduce
Washington State’s foreign energy dependence and boost economic development
through production of high-value consumer goods using in-state crops and
biomass. This joint request is the result of an unprecedented partnership
between Washington State University, Washington State Department of Agriculture
(WSDA) and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, which is managed by
Battelle for the U.S. Department of Energy. Of the $6.7 million, $2 million is
jointly requested by WSU and WSDA
to support this crucial partnership. The $2 million will be appropriated through
WSDA. The remaining $4.7 million is requested through the WSU budget.
·
Taking Care of Business:
Access to Small Business Development Centers
This $707,000 request expands small business
counseling services with a first-time legislative appropriation of critical core
funding. It establishes three new offices in Southeastern Washington,
Kelso-Longview and the Aberdeen-Shelton area. The core support will also add one
position at each of the existing centers operated by Highline Community College
in Des Moines and Olympic Community College in Bremerton. WSU MBA internships
with SBDC offices are also created.
Small business owners and community colleges
were consulted as we developed our request to enhance and expand the Small
Business Development Center system. The WSU share of the request is $400,000
·
Finding Common Ground:
The Policy Consensus Center
Together with the University of Washington, WSU
is requesting permanent funding to allow the UW/WSU Policy Consensus Center (The
William D. Ruckelshaus Center) to continue its successful work in the resolution
of important public policy issues.
Olympia
Updates are produced for persons interested in state government developments
affecting Washington State University. For more information call: Larry Ganders,
Assistant to the President, 360-956-2165. From WSU campuses, dial 8-2165.
Click here to
read or print the entire WSU operating budget request packages.
Or go to
www.olympia.wsu.edu and click "state
briefing papers" on the WSU government relations web page, Olympia Updates are
posted under "State News" in the left hand menu.
Draft E/lg
