Newsbeat

Proposed reinvestment plan would freeze tuition

The Council of Presidents issued a press release today proposing a reinvestment in higher education that would freeze resident undergraduate tuition at Washington’s five four-year public universities and one college. The proposed plan asks the state for $225 million in the 2013-15 operating budget to hold resident undergraduate tuition at current rates for the next […]

WSU unveils 2013 legislative agenda

Washington State University’s 2013 legislative agenda promotes four key priorities to maintain the land grant research university’s commitment to advance the state. You can find it here. Priorities include preserving the quality of WSU faculty and staff, restoring affordability for students by reinvesting state funds in higher education, promoting interdisciplinary research through funding for suitable […]

Gregoire budget a good start for reinvesting in higher education

Gov. Chris Gregoire’s budget proposal released Tuesday maintains higher education funding after years of cuts, adds new funding for high demand academic programs and funds construction of the Clean Technology Laboratory project on the Pullman campus. “This is the best budget proposal for WSU in over four years,” said WSU President Elson S. Floyd. “Gov. […]

POLITICO Op-Ed: Major threats to our research universities

On Sunday, Politico ran the following opinion editorial by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) former Secretary of Education and Hunter Rawlins III, president of the Association of American Universities (AAU).  The piece highlights a study released by the National Research Council titled “Research Universities and the Future of America”.  Both the study and article emphasize the […]

House committee structures announced

Last week the House Democratic Caucus appointed chairs and vice-chairs to committees and the House Republicans announced most of their committee assignments for the 2013 legislative session. The House Higher Education Committee was assigned 19 members, which is almost as large as the House Education Committee of 21 members and more than twice the number […]

Technology driving new innovations in higher education

The Seattle Times has a story posted today about faculty in Washington’s public colleges and universities using technology to enhance the learning environment and gain a measure of efficiency. You can find it here. While there’s a temptation to think universities are resistant to change, the reality is they’ve had little choice but to become […]

Tax collections perk up

Tax collections for the past month were $72.7 million, or 4.3 percent, above expectations and only some of it is considered to be an anomaly. Due to the timing of certain tax payments, monthly tax collections can spike or dive somewhat artificially without giving an accurate picture of economic activity. In a new report posted […]

The House and Senate release 2013 calendars

On Friday, the House and Senate released their 2013 calendars for the 113th Congress.  All members of Congress will convene on January 3, 2013.   The session will begin with the swearing-in of newly elected members, including three new members from Washington State. In order to make the best use of your time when you come […]

Updated performance dashboard goes live

The Council of Presidents today unveiled an updated online performance and accountability dashboard which will provide taxpayers more data about Washington’s public four-year institutions. The dashboard makes detailed data readily available related to student enrollment, progression and graduation, among other metrics. You can access the dashboard here. The Council of Presidents is a voluntary Washington […]

House passes STEM Jobs Act of 2012

Today the House passed the STEM Jobs Act of 2012. House Resolution 6429, introduced by Congressman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) after first failing to pass the House under suspension of the rules requiring a two-thirds majority vote. HR 6429 outlines a path to permanent residency for foreign students graduating with Masters or Doctorate degrees in STEM […]