Three of Washington’s Secretaries of State joined together recently to award WSU Professor Carolyn Long the inaugural Sam Reed Distinguished Professorship in Civic Education and Public Civility. The ceremony was conducted in the current Secretary of State Kim Wyman’s office and was attended by former Secretaries of State Ralph Munro and Sam Reed.

Reed, a WSU alum, served 12 years as Secretary of State, using his tenure to encourage younger generations to engage in political involvement. In honor of his commitment, WSU created the Sam Reed Distinguished Professorship award to support research and teaching efforts that advance civility, moderation and bipartisanship in politics.

Long is ... » More ...

The Washington State Department of Transportation and Washington State University will jointly host an interactive town-hall meeting over YouTube on Tuesday in an effort to address public concerns about U.S. Highway 195 and State Route 26 near Pullman. A panel that includes representatives from WSDOT, WSU and the Washington State Patrol will discuss safety concerns and provide updates on improvement efforts being made to both highways.

The April 5 forum will start at 6:00 p.m. and is open to the public. Participants will be able to livestream the video footage online and submit questions for the panel to address.

Details on how to view the ... » More ...

The operating budget agreement unveiled by the Legislature late Monday adds funding for WSU to address an array of priorities.

Most notably, the budget provides just over $2 million to further backfill tuition cuts by accounting for enrollment growth occurring during the course of the current two year budget cycle.

It also provides $580,000 to develop an academic program in agriculture to be centered at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett with border-to-border utility for the industry in Western Washington.

Another $250,000 is provided in the Department of Social and Health Services budget to contract with WSU to support research on the development of ... » More ...

The operating budget proposal released Wednesday would add state appropriation to backfill tuition cuts and one time money to conduct research on developing marijuana breathalyzer technology.

The Legislature last year approved legislation cutting tuition at WSU by 5 percent this academic year and by another 10 percent for the academic year starting in August. To compensate, it provided the university with state appropriation, effectively reversing recession-era trends of dramatically cutting appropriation and increasing tuition.

This year’s Senate proposal provides an additional $2 million in backfill to account for enrollment growth over the course of the current two year budget cycle that runs through June, 2017.

The supplemental budget proposal introduced in the State House of Representatives today provides $580,000 for WSU to establish an agriculture program in Western Washington.

The organic agriculture program would be centered at the Everett University Center but would leverage the university’s Extension resources as well. WSU requested $832,000 to bring the program to Everett alongside a degree in Agriculture and Food Security. With resources being tight, House budget writers chose to focus on the organic program.

The university expressed its appreciation in testimony below. The Senate budget could be unveiled as soon as this week before a compromise plan is negotiated and sent to ... » More ...