Higher education students from institutions around the state gathered in Olympia today to discuss the importance of fully funding the State Need Grant with legislators. Washington’s State Need Grant expands access to higher education through need-based aid, but approximately 20,000 eligible students do not receive it due to a lack of funding. Click here to learn more about the State Need Grant and State Need Grant Advocacy Day in Olympia.

Services and activities (S&A) fees provide valuable services to students at Western by helping to fund the Associated Students, Athletics, and other areas on campus. Under current state law increases to the S&A fee are constrained by the level of increases to undergraduate resident tuition, and the Legislature is considering two bills this session to delink S&A fees from tuition and limit S&A fees increases to four percent per year. Click here to read more about these bills and S&A fees at Western.

The House and Senate both advanced legislation yesterday to provide access to the state’s Opportunity Scholarship and College Bound Scholarship for low-income Washington residents regardless of their immigration status. The Legislature is also considering a bill this session to expand eligibility to the State Need Grant, the Washington’s largest need-based financial aid program. For additional information about these bills and their potential impacts for Western students, you can find an update from WWU’s Office of Government Relations here.

The Legislature passed the state’s capital budget and bond funding bill last night after not approving the budget last year due to a dispute over water rights. Approval of the capital budget is a breakthrough that has positive impacts for Western and other colleges and universities throughout the state. Click here for additional information about the capital budget and what projects are funded on WWU’s campus.

Yesterday in Olympia, Dr. Laurie Trautman, Director of Western’s Border Policy Research Institute (BPRI) presented during a work session about sovereignty and trade in the Senate Economic Development and International Trade Committee. WWU’s BPRI is a multi-disciplinary institute that undertakes research that informs policy-makers on matters related to the Canada – U.S. border, particularly in northwest Washington. You can learn more about the BPRI and Dr. Trautman’s presentation in Olympia here.

The 2018 Legislative Session kicked off in Olympia today and is scheduled to end March 8. During the next sixty days, the Legislature will consider various policy proposals, adopt the state’s biennial capital budget, and make supplemental changes to the state’s biennial operating budget. You can find additional information about this year’s session, including WWU’s legislative priorities, here.

Yesterday in Mount Vernon, the House Education Committee met with members of the WWU’s Woodring College of Education, the Mount Vernon School District, and Skagit Valley Community College to learn more about effective partnerships around teacher preparation. Through programs and partnerships in multiple locations, Woodring produces 300-350 graduates each year and is a leader in the state in developing future teachers and school administrators. Click here for additional information about the Western’s Woodring College of Education and yesterday’s committee meeting in Mount Vernon.

The Legislature adjourned on July 20^th without passing a 2017-19 capital budget. The Legislature concluded the 2017 Legislative Session after a 105-day regular session and three 30-day special sessions. Earlier this month, the Senate and House each released capital budget proposals, but it is unclear when a new state capital budget will be approved by both chambers. Click here to learn more about the capital budget proposals and how they would impact WWU if adopted.

The State’s 2017-19 Operating Budget passed the Legislature and was signed into law by the governor on June 30^th.  Despite the Legislature’s major focus on K-12 funding this session, higher education organizations and Western were successful in achieving some of their legislative objectives.  Click here to read a full budget briefing from WWU’s Office of Government Relations.

One of the many things that makes the Western experience unique (and makes WWU one of the highest rated public universities of its kind in the West) is the University’s focus on undergraduate student research.  This week is Scholars Week at Western, where student researchers have an opportunity to showcase their undergraduate research projects to the broader Western community in the Wilson Library.  Click here to learn more about student research at Western.