The Land Grant University for the 21st Century
Washington State University - Agency 365
2009-2011 Operating Budget
Request
Performance Level Decision Package
–Policy Level "NE"
Enrollment at all Campuses
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Updated Aug 25, 2008
Agency Recommendation Summary:
Washington State University requests growth in enrollment capacity at all
campuses in the next biennium to accommodate the same record-level admissions
that it has accepted in the last two academic years. WSU is requesting a total
of approximately 1,500 undergraduate and graduate students at all campuses to
sustain this level of new admissions. More than 500 of the total enrollments are
at the Spokane, Tri-Cities and Vancouver campuses.
In addition, this request will prepare hundreds more students in high-demand
fields such as nursing, science, math, teaching, and engineering to meet the
needs of the Washington economy. Over 300 of the graduate and undergraduate
students requested are in high-demand areas.
The enrollment request aligns closely with University’s capital budget request
and ten year capital plan. Although it requires no substantial investment in new
classroom construction on the Pullman campus, capital priorities in Pullman,
focused on science research facilities and faculty and graduate student space,
will further enhance the effectiveness of this request, particularly in
high-demand fields.
Fiscal Details:
Package
Description:
Many of the high demand
enrollments sought by WSU will be generated by new, innovative approaches to
meet state needs, such as:
·
A fast-track nursing
proposal for Spokane that will create the opportunity for persons holding
certain baccalaureate degrees to obtain a BSN degree in 15 months.
·
The expansion a
successful pilot WSU program that identifies highly capable high school students
and reduces the time to earn both the B.S. and the PhD in sciences by one to
three years.
·
Integrated science
enrollments that will create future teachers and entrepreneurs with the strong
math and science expertise needed to support growing biomedical and technology
industries within the state.
WSU Pullman Enrollment
Increases for Stability of Class Size
The Pullman campus continues to enroll a record breaking number of students. In
order to continue serving the same admissions levels in fall 2009 and 2010, the
campus’s budgeted enrollment will need to grow by more than 6%. The university
proposes an increase of 800 undergraduate students for the upcoming biennium
plus 60 graduate students. Funding
of general enrollment is critical to meeting enrollment demand for the Pullman
campus.
WSU Vancouver Would
Grow by 350 Students
WSU Vancouver enrollments are proposed to grow by 350 students. This includes
general enrollment increases of 225 undergraduates plus 40 graduate students. It
also includes high-demand enrollments of 15 in engineering, 30 in Neuroscience /
Pre-Health Science, 13 for a certificate program for K-12 teachers in deaf
education and 27 for a new doctoral program for nurse practitioners that will
likely be expanded in later years to other areas around the state.
WSU Vancouver and WSU Tri-Cities, while taking on the added mission of admitting
freshmen and sophomore students, are continuing their historic role as a
recipient of transfer students from institutions like Clark College and Columbia
Basin College. The 225 new general enrollments in Vancouver, for instance,
include 75 upper-division transfer students.
WSU Spokane Increase
in Health Sciences Students
The Spokane campus
continues to build on its health education and science strength. WSU Spokane
will add an innovative
“Fast-Track
Nursing”
program, increase enrollments in its nursing PhD program by 15 students and
graduate 10 new students in Health Policy Administration.
More than 100 New
Enrollments for WSU Tri-Cities
The Tri-Cities campus
also anticipates continued growth, so this request includes 90 new undergraduate
student enrollments and 12 graduate student enrollments.
Engineering
High demand funding
received in the 07-09 biennium was so successful in producing 50 new
undergraduate students in engineering that it completely absorbed
existing capacity within the undergraduate mechanical and civil
engineering programs. To increase capacity to a new level, funding is required
to support instruction in all four years of the engineering program.
The funding requested will enable WSU to add capacity in identified
bottleneck courses throughout the program’s curriculum, such as engineering,
math, chemistry, physics and technical writing.
This funding secures courses on the critical path to graduation,
resulting in 75 new undergraduate engineers in Pullman and Vancouver and
preparing them to enter the state’s
workforce in a timely way.
Employers, research
funding agencies, and students are all expressing interest in expanded capacity
in bio-renewable energy-related fields. The funding requested will enable WSU to
serve an additional 22 masters-level students in bio-renewable energy
engineering fields.
Fast-Track Nursing
Produces Nurses in 15 months
This ground-breaking
program compresses the time to graduate from 24 to 15 months, focusing
exclusively on students who have obtained a baccalaureate degree and who now
want to pursue a nursing career.
The program will allow WSU to provide a quick influx of well-educated nurses
into the workforce, will allow career opportunities for degree-holding students
seeking a rewarding and employable career path, and will bring a broader vision
to nursing by including students with different perspectives into the
profession. Proposed funding would support a year-round learning program that
takes advantage of under-utilized teaching capacity at hospitals during the
summer to accommodate more clinical learning experiences.
As year round attendance will be required, enrollments during the summer session
will be reported as state funded.
Traditionally,
undergraduate programs operate on a 9- rather than a 12-month academic calendar.
The 9-month calendar places a strain on clinical placements during the academic
year, especially in some subspecialty courses (e.g., inpatient pediatrics and
psychiatric nursing).
Hospitals and clinics are under-utilized during summer months, and then
over-committed September through May.
The discontinuity of faculty employment, coupled with on-going clinical
placement difficulties has translated into high turnover among nursing faculty.
Fast-track programs have been shown to be successful in retaining nursing
faculty because they allow faculty to work year round rather than on a typical
9-month academic appointment.
Additionally, fast-track programs target under-utilized summer months to provide
more nursing students with clinical experience.
The year-round,
fast-track model, will enable WSU to admit 24 new nursing students to the
program each May and quickly infuse them back into Washington’s healthcare
workforce just 15 months later.
Integrated Science and Teachers with Math & Science Experience
The continued growth of the biomedical/biotechnology industries in the state of
Washington relies on having a well-trained workforce.
Scientific and technological- advances increasingly depend on the ability
of employees to connect and apply integrated sciences (biological, computer,
math, and physical sciences) to solve complex problems. This funding will enable
WSU to train 30 more future teachers, entrepreneurs and technical specialists
with a stronger understanding of integrated sciences and how it applies to
real-life problem solving. Teachers with experience in math and integrated
science and math will be better able to prepare students to enter college with
these essential skills.
STARS: Years Faster to
An Advanced Degree
This request expands
the new WSU STARS (Students Targeted towards Advanced Research Studies) program
by 30 students.
This innovative program recruits the best high schools students, preferably from
within Washington, and supports them from their freshmen year at WSU through the
completion of the PhD degree in the sciences.
Uniquely, undergraduates in this program will work as state-funded research
assistants 12 months a year, gaining needed research experience early in their
promising careers.
The program will reduce the time to earn both the B.S. and the
PhD in the
sciences by one to three years.
The
university’s
costs per FTE were calculated at rates comparable to other research-intensive
universities. These rates will
create logical cohorts of students to create appropriate class size, will
provide necessary counseling and support, will move students through to
graduation efficiently, and will allow innovation and maximum exposure to
research and professional experiences.
The
funding will also target and eliminate bottlenecks in the production of high
demand graduates. These course bottlenecks occur both in and out of the student’s
primary area of study. For example, not only can engineering students encounter
problems in getting into required engineering courses, they also frequently need
timely access to math, physics and English classes in other colleges. This WSU
enrollment request comprehensively addresses these issues.
Calculations:
For more information, contact Larry Ganders, Assistant to the WSU President,
Olympia at 360-534-2333
