2009-11 Request:
$38,676,000
Project Type:
Program (Growth)
Institutional Priority: #1
Project Phase:
Construction
Gross Square Ft: 56,250
Construction funding is requested for 2009-2011
to build a new Washington State University engineering teaching and research
facility that will meet some of the most pressing employment needs in
computer science and electrical engineering.
It will serve Southwest Washington
and the entire state.
This proposal
is the number one capital budget priority for the entire WSU system (all
campuses.)
State bonded funding for this facility was recommended by the Higher
Education Coordinating Board, it scored highest among all projects for the
higher education growth category, and it was contained in the 2009-2011
capital construction budgets proposed by Gov. Christine Gregoire and Senate
leadership. It was not included in
the proposed House Capital Budget.
This project is
shovel-ready. The
new four-story engineering teaching and research facility for high demand
areas will make improvements for existing electrical engineering students in
Vancouver, a program initiated by the Governor and legislature in 2007.
It will also allow for the necessary expansion of computer science
programs at WSU Vancouver in the future.
The building includes specialized laboratories, engineering
classrooms, departmental offices and support spaces to serve students in
computer science and engineering that are in high demand by the state’s high
technology industries and includes several general university classrooms to
serve the growing campus.
Enrollment on the campus is expected to double from 1,488 in the year 2000
to nearly 3,000 students in 2009.
By 2019, headcount enrollment is expected to reach 6,000 (4,500 FTE).
The Silicon Forest of Washington is
centered in Vancouver with over fifty firms representing 58,000 employees in
2008. It is located in the
Portland/Vancouver area, making this capital project a top priority for the
surrounding region.
Degrees most often requested by Southwest
Washington employers are in the electrical engineering fields.
However, the specialized lab facilities associated with programs in
digital systems, semiconductor devices, and networks, do not currently exist
on the Vancouver campus or in the vicinity.
Having electrical engineering lab facilities on campus is a required
element of program delivery and accreditation.
Lab facilities must be available to students by their junior year.
The timing of this construction request would provide
the laboratories required to serve the students already in the pipeline and
the planned enrollment growth.
The 2009-11 Operating Budget Request includes additional general and high
demand enrollment funding for WSU Vancouver, some of which is specifically
targeted for engineering student enrollment.
A companion silicon chip research and development
facility for the Washington Technology Center (WTC) is being designed
concurrently by Washington State University for an adjacent site.
For information: Larry Ganders,
Assistant to the President, (360) 280-6320
