State Representative and House Postsecondary Education and Workforce Committee Chair Dave Paul spent a busy Monday visiting with WSU students, researchers and partners at WSU’s campuses in Spokane and Pullman.
Rep. Paul, a Democrat from Oak Harbor in the 10th Legislative District, spent the morning at the WSU Spokane campus meeting with WSU leadership to learn about the health sciences mission of the campus. He saw that mission in practice at the WSU Native American Health Sciences Center, where Paul toured a student center and a patient exam room, where students and clinicians can train in a culturally based setting.
Paul also visited the WSU Sleep and Performance Research Lab, a research center investigating sleep in applied settings. There, he learned about how WSU is answering questions about optimizing performance based on various sleep patterns and individual conditions. These questions are put to WSU by a wide array of funders including the U.S. Department of Defense and various companies who employ shift work employees working as airline pilots, long haul truckers, delivery personnel and others.
In Pullman, Rep. Paul took a walking tour that included stops throughout campus. At the Frank Innovation Zone, housed within the Voiland College of Engineering and Architecture, he heard from students utilizing the FIZ’s fabrication tools, space, and specialty equipment to work on class and club projects.
Along his tour, he stopped by the Spokane Falls Community College Center located on the Pullman campus in the Math Annex. The Center allows students to access coursework offered at SFCC whether for their two-year degree to transfer or to take foundational courses such as English or Math, while simultaneously utilizing WSU resources like advising services and residential life.
His tour continued at Cougar Health Services, where he spoke with leadership from the university’s on campus health care provider. The facility offers primary care, as well as vision and pharmacy services. Collocated in the facility is the Counseling and Psychological Services, which provides in person and remote mental health services for students.
Rep. Paul wrapped up the visit by sitting down with students participating in the federally-funded College Assistant Migrant Program and the McNair Scholars Program. The former provides supports for students from migrant backgrounds while the latter prepares undergraduates for graduate studies.