Governor Jay Inslee this morning signed a bill that will cut red tape for university research efforts.

Senate Bill 5786 was supported by WSU. It removes higher education institutions from state laws governing the release of public records for research to protect individuals’ privacy rights. These laws were written before the implementation of a series of federal laws with the same aims.

Eliminating the state requirements for universities will retain existing protections via federal law while relieving the administrative burden of seeking compliance with two sets of duplicative laws that have until now slowed down research efforts.

Before being signed into law, the bill … » More …

The Association of Public and Land-grant Universities and the Association of American Universities co-organized an annual University Innovation & Entrepreneurship Showcase to highlight the role of federally-funded university research in fueling entrepreneurship, innovation and economic opportunity nationwide. Washington State University students were featured in this showcase through their work forming Eco Carbon Technology (ECT) Inc startup. Through the Showcase, the ECT team and WSU were recognized nationally for their exemplary work at the intersection of science, technology, and business.

The ECT startup is a unique, multidisciplinary team of students working together to solve the problem of bee death and colony collapse. … » More …

Legislation that would enhance training opportunities for health science students passed unanimously out of the Senate today with a vote of 48-0.

HB 1726 is a student-led bill put forward by a group of WSU College of Pharmacy students seeking to widen the scope of possible preceptors allowed to supervise students performing basic medical care services at health fairs and other such events. Currently students must be supervised by a professional from their own discipline in order to provide any type of health care service, but this has led to a number of lost opportunities for students if a preceptor in their designated field … » More …

Today the Senate approved legislation that would allow students under 21 enrolled in viticulture and enology programs at four-year universities to taste, but not consume wine as part of their educational experiences outside of the classroom.

With the backing of WSU, HB 1563 would include vineyards and wineries as allowable places for supervised students to sip and expectorate wine as part of their educational training. Such authority already exists inside the classroom.

The bill previously passed out of the House with a vote of 89-6. Today’s Senate floor vote of 43-1 means the bill will now move to the Governor’s desk to be acted … » More …

Leaders in the state Senate today introduced their operating budget proposal that, like the House of Representatives’ plan unveiled earlier, partially funds WSU’s request to support the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

WSU requested $14.4 million over the two-year budget cycle and both budgets, like the governor’s, provide $10.8 million over 2019-21 budget cycle.

Funds provided for compensation – for several biennia now funded through a complicated mix of appropriation and tuition – are still being analyzed.

The Senate budget proposal will be heard on Monday afternoon and is scheduled to be voted out of the Ways and Means Committee on Tuesday.

Update: WSU … » More …