State Legislative News

The best confirmation hearing you’ll ever see

WSU Student Regent Jansen VanderMeulen appeared before the Senate Higher Education Committee this week as the panel considered recommending confirmation. The encounter was memorable. VanderMeulen, who has been serving as Student Regent since July, wowed the committee with knowledge of their legislative districts. Video of Jansen VanderMeulen’s testimony can be viewed below. He appeared on […]

WSU medical school achieves milestone in accreditation process

This week marked another breakthrough in the accreditation process for Washington State University’s Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine when it received “candidate” status by the Liason Committee on Medical Education, the national accrediting agency for allopathic medical schools in U.S. and Canada. The agency reviewed the foundational documents WSU submitted back in December and […]

KING 5 chronicles WSU expansion in North Puget Sound

Washington State University was featured in a King 5 news story this week for its work in addressing the state’s growing need for engineers to support aerospace and other industries. WSU is currently constructing a new building at the Everett University Center on the campus of Everett Community College in an effort to expand its […]

Higher Education vital to Washington’s economic future

Washington’s educational attainment levels just won’t cut it to meet our state’s future economic needs. That’s the thesis of a guest column published on The Seattle Times last week authored by chair and executive director of the Washington Student Achievement Council. Maud Daudon, also the CEO of the Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce, and Gene […]

WSU talks cross laminated timber in Ways & Means

Another work session was held on cross laminated timber this week, this time in the Senate Ways and Means Committee, as lawmakers seek to educate themselves on this developing material and its possible utilization in planned construction projects. Dr. Dan Dolan, WSU Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering, briefed the House Capital Budget Committee on […]

Cougs swarm state Capitol in droves

Some 100 WSU students turned out for the annual Coug Day at the Capitol today to advance the cause of higher education. Some 65 meetings with legislators and staff were scheduled, a slate that approached half the offices in the state Legislature. Students came not only from the Pullman campus but also from Vancouver, the […]

Late WSU President Elson Floyd honored during Governor’s State of the State Address

Governor Inslee honored the life of the late WSU President Elson Floyd during his State of the State Address Tuesday, speaking of Dr. Floyd’s key role in shaping his administration and also how he considered Dr. Floyd to be one of his “most-trusted advisers.” President Floyd’s widow, Carmento Floyd, was also in attendance as the […]

WSU unveils 2016 legislative agenda

Washington State University’s 2016 legislative agenda, found here, is appropriately modest heading into this year’s 60-day supplemental session. Gavels fall at noon Monday for a session scheduled to adjourn March 10. The Legislature is tasked, in part, with making mid-term adjustments to the two year budget it approved in July. The university’s four point agenda […]

Everett Herald backs WSU plan for Western Washington ag

The Everett Herald this week editorialized in support of WSU’s supplemental operating budget request for $832,000 to develop academic programming to support agriculture in Western Washington. You can read the editorial here. If funded, the program would be centered at WSU North Puget Sound at Everett, though some instruction would also be available at WSU research […]