The 2024 supplemental legislative session will begin on January 8th, 2024. This 60-day session is an opportunity for lawmakers to advance policies and adjust the 2023-25 operating, capital, and transportation budgets.
Operating Budget Priorities:
Academic Access & Outreach ($1,078,000): Western excels at supporting prospective and admitted students once they have been identified. For example, through dedicated efforts to support admitted students, 84% of Western’s 2023 entering class completed the FAFSA. However, further capacity is needed to identify prospective students and cultivate their interest in and access to higher education. To best serve surrounding communities and foster college going culture among first generation and low-income students, Western intends to expand outreach capacity and bolster the long-running Compass 2 Campus program. To combat declines in postsecondary enrollment and increase availability of credentialed workers in Washington state, outreach initiatives are critical to cultivating student interest in higher education, specifically for first generation and low-income students.
Electrical and Computer Engineering ($886,000): Western is committed to expanding its academic offerings and addressing critical workforce needs in Electrical and Computer Engineering (EECE). By incorporating inclusive recruitment and retention strategies, these programs will provide opportunities for historically marginalized students, foster academic excellence, and strengthen partnerships with regional organizations. The EECE program’s industrial advisory board and the program’s industrial partners have both expressed strong interest in a graduate degree in EECE, particularly one with modern, flexible modalities that would permit their employees to pursue a local graduate degree parttime while working and could leverage recently acquired faculty expertise in hybrid course delivery. This request is the third phase of an expansion, building on the state support for the first two phases and aligning with the construction of the new Kaiser Borsari Hall.
College in the High School ($130,000): In alignment with the formula established by Senate Bill 5048 in the 2023 legislative session, Western requests funding for College in the High School (CiHS) programming for CiHS courses offered during the 2023-2024 academic year. Research has consistently shown that student participation in college classes while in high school positively impacts student achievement and increases the likelihood of pursuing higher education, particularly for low-income students, students of color, and first-generation students.
Capital Budget Priorities:
Minor Works – Preservation ($500,000 local funds): The additional $500,000 proposed in this Request will be used to upgrade the elevator in the Humanities Building and construct a pole barn at the Physical Plant needed to store the large vacuum truck and other equipment sensitive to freezing during the winter months. Collectively, this funding will preserve the useful live of our existing assets and continue Western’s goal of providing an accessible campus. The $500,000 in funding is proposed using Western’s local capital fund account, which has approximately $1 million in capacity.
2023 – 25 Classroom, Lab and Collaborative Space Upgrades ($1,500,000 state bond funds): The additional $1.5 million proposed in the Request will further modernize, update, and improve our general use classrooms, class labs, and collaborative and study spaces. This will further enable Western to provide a 21st century educational environment.
The Governor released his 2024 supplemental budget proposals on December 13th. Western’s Electrical and Computer Engineering request was supported in the operating budget and the Minor Works – Preservation request was supported in the capital budget.
Major investments in the Governor’s budget include:
- $464M for behavioral health investments
- $64M to combat the opioid and fentanyl epidemic
- $9.5M specifically to Tribal communities who experience fatality rates quadruple the state average.
- $140M for housing and homelessness prevention
- $900M from CCA for climate related investments
In the higher education, there is potential for attention on a number of topics in 2024 including:
- Financial aid programs
- Student basic needs
- Postsecondary participation
- High demand degrees
- College athletics