Last week the WSU Government Relations team hosted its annual Congressional and State Legislative Fact Finding Tour. After months of preparation and planning, the three-day event was a great success.
Each year WSU brings key congressional and state staff to several WSU locations statewide to highlight research and academic programs. The tour serves an opportunity to bring individuals who might not otherwise have the opportunity to visit WSU locations, to see first-hand the innovative research that is happening on WSU campuses and at WSU research centers, and to hear how the work done there benefits our partners throughout the state and around the globe.
The event kicked off Tuesday at WSU Vancouver where guests viewed demonstrations at the Creative Media and Digital Culture Program’s MOVE lab, the Automation Lab within the school of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and the Aquatic Ecology, Bat and Zebra Fish Labs within the College of Arts and Sciences. College of Business Academic Director Jane Cote later provided guests an overview of the Hospitality Business Management Program beginning at WSU Vancouver in the fall of 2013. From there, guests heard from Dr. Hakan Gurocak and Dr. Dave Kim with the School of Engineering and Computer Science on WSU research that benefits both the shipping and aerospace industry. The first day program at WSU Vancouver campus concluded with a highlight of the WSU Vancouver Business Growth Mentor and Analysis Program, led by manager Mistie Josephson.
As guests traveled from building to building on a clear and sunny day, they were able to see views of Mt. Hood and Mt. St. Helens from the center of campus.
The delegation then headed to Spokane, where Dr. Yogi Gupta provided an overview of his research at the applied sciences laboratory (ASL) before providing staff a tour of the facility. Dr. Gupta and his team are leading research in multiple avenues to solve problems related to physical sciences and engineering.
WSU Spokane Chancellor Lisa Brown then welcomed guests and kicked-off a discussion of WSU’s health sciences programs. Dr. Kathryn Meier from the college of pharmacy, Dr. Cindy Corbett from the college of nursing and Dr. George Novan with the WSU Spokane WWAMI program joined Chancellor Brown and guests in the discussion, highlighting their individual programs. Gary Pollack, Dean of WSU’s College of Pharmacy, then led a tour of the under construction Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences Building. Lastly, the group received an in-depth tour of the Clinical Performance and Simulation Lab, where students gain nursing experience with realistic health scenarios through simulation learning.
Day two finished with the annual dinner at the WSU Organic Farm, where Provost Dan Bernardo and Ron Mittlehammer Interim Dean of the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences, spoke to the importance of the university’s organic agriculture program and plans for its future move to a 30 acre location.
The final day of the tour included a presentation on power systems engineering by Dr. Chen-Ching Liu and a broad overview of the leading research WSU is involved in around alternative energy by Dr. Ralph Cavalieri.
Guests then received some hands on experience learning about the School for Hospitality Business Management as they prepared their lunch for the day under the direction of WSU Executive Chef Jaime Callison and with the help of WSU students from the school.
WSU President Elson Floyd dropped by during the lunch hour to welcome the delegation to campus.
Guests later learned about our Office of Grant and Research Development, and the WSU Global Campus where they experienced first-hand the student interface with attending WSU online. As the final day drew to a close, the group was given an overview of WSU agricultural programs by Mittlehammer, Agricultural Research Center Director Jim Moyer and Rich Koenig, Associate Dean and Director of WSU Extension.