EWU Government Relations

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2023 BUDGET PRIORITIES

Cost of Living Increase for Faculty and Staff | $6M (at 72% funding)

Quality educators and staff are critical to the success of EWU and the Washington students our institution serves. Eastern requests that the legislature fund a salary increase commiserate with the negotiated contracts of the state employees bargaining units. While this increase won’t keep pace with inflation, it will help our employees and their families navigate rising prices.

Campus Security | $1.5M (ongoing)

EWU is requesting funds to hire additional personnel to more effectively patrol our Cheney campus and new Catalyst building in Spokane. This important investment would allow the university to purchase and install much-needed security cameras in our most densely populated areas of campus.

Nursing Program | $4.6M (ongoing)

In the FY2022 supplemental operating budget, the Washington State Legislature approved funding to start the conversion of EWU’s two-year pre-nursing program into the four-year Bachelor of Nursing (BSN) program. With those funds, space has been secured and is currently being outfitted with state-of-the-art equipment, SIM labs and learning spaces. Eastern has received Phase II approval from the Nursing commission, made key hires and secured clinical placement for our students. This requested funding will allow EWU to fully fund the faculty and staff needed to enroll our first cohort of students in Fall of 2023. When the program is fully mature, in 2025 EWU will be graduating 80 nurses per year!

Dental Hygiene | $10.4M ($9.3M one-time, $1.2M ongoing)

Eastern Washington University requests one time budget authority to relocate the EWU Dental Hygiene Clinic and ongoing funding to lease space to better collaborate with, and support, the University of Washington Rural Initiatives in Dentistry Program (RIDE). The relocation will ensure uninterrupted dental services are provided to the community as well as on-time graduation for Eastern’s Dental Hygiene students.

Applied Learning | $6.2M (ongoing)

Eastern Washington University is requesting funding to provide an applied learning experience to every incoming student enrolled in a baccalaureate degree program. Applied learning includes all internships, job-shadowing, research fellowships, and nonprofit based work our students can participate in. The university is requesting funding to create a Center for Internships and Community Engagement and to provide a $1,500 stipend to each incoming student.

Digital Transformation | $3.2M (ongoing)

Eastern is requesting funding to ensure every incoming full-time undergraduate student has access to a laptop or tablet computer. As part of this proposal, EWU is requesting funding to expand the Wi-Fi connectivity throughout campus and develop a student services mobile app. This digital transformation of campus will improve student experience and help increase student enrollment, retention, and graduation by eliminating existing communication and systematized barriers.

CAPITAL BUDGET REQUESTS

EWU’s capital budget request for the 2023 legislative session focuses on completing projects currently under construction, reducing significant backlogs of maintenance issues, bringing buildings into compliance with new energy efficiency standards and further updating historic buildings in the core of campus.

• Science Renovation Phase II: $58M
• Infrastructure Renewal: $15M
• Sports and Rec Center Energy Improvements: $10M
• Martin Williamson Predesign: $350K

Learning Recovery and Student Success Initiative | $1.3 M

Washington’s comprehensive baccalaureate institutions are a critical access point for expanding economic opportunity. EWU, CWU, Evergreen and WWU have partnered to formulate a regionally focused $5 million Joint Operating Request that will yield statewide impact. Eastern’s $1.3 million portion of that investment will provide critical wrap-around services through our Eagle Care Network and help the students and families that EWU serves with a personalized FAFSA completion initiative.

Cybersecurity | $2.8 M

Eastern Washington University is uniquely positioned to equip students for the estimated 10,000 current job openings in this exciting field. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the National Security Agency (NSA) have designated EWU as a National Center of Academic Excellence in Cyber Defense (NCAE-C). As the only four-year institution on the east side of the state to earn this classification, Eastern is currently turning away qualified students from the program. This critical investment will allow EWU to serve these students by expanding our course offerings.

Compensation | $3.1 M

With the robust revenue forecast and to maintain parity with other state employees, we are requesting funding to provide a 3% general salary increase.

Capital Budget
#1 – Science Building Renovation – $45 million
The original 1960’s structure has served generations of students, but modern teaching techniques and innovations require modern facilities. (Phase one construction.)

#2 – Infrastructure Renewal – $25.5 million
Additional capital expenditures will ensure that Eastern remains good stewards of its nearly 3,000,000 square feet of state facilities.
#3 – Engineering Building Design – $3.5 million
Anticipating 20% growth, Eastern’s STEM-related programs are being constrained due to a lack of space.

Diversity, Equity, & Opportunity

$10 Million Joint Operating Request
Washington’s comprehensive baccalaureate institutions are a critical access point for expanding economic opportunity. EWU, CWU, Evergreen and WWU have partnered to formulate a regionally focused $10 million Joint Operating Request that will yield statewide impact. Eastern’s $2.7 million portion of that investment would: Accelerate EWU’s efforts toward becoming a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI); target advising and community-based mentoring for dual credit eligible students from rural, low-income and traditionally underserved populations; and ensure student support through faculty and staff preparedness, education and development, and inclusive pedagogy.

Equity & Opportunity

Investing in Student Affordability – $3.36 million
Eastern’s mission has always been to meet the unique needs of our changing region and the increasingly diverse population we serve. As good stewards of state funds, we prioritize student affordability by keeping tuition reasonable and stable.

Our commitment to low tuition—the most affordable in the state—reflects our core values: as a diversity-serving institution, we embrace equity and social justice. In 2011-13, when institutions were increasing tuition by 14%-20%, EWU negotiated an 11% tuition increase.

As the state’s economy and tuition policy evolved, state funding to help offset EWU’s lower tuition base did not keep pace. Now, with a reduced level of operating funding, EWU is at a disadvantage among our fellow universities.

To continue ensuring our students’ academic and professional success, we must implement comprehensive initiatives and wrap-around programs to support our students. This annual investment in EWU will reaffirm the legislature’s commitment to equity and inclusion. Most importantly, it will provide significantly enhanced opportunities for our diverse and talented students.

Maintenance & Operations

Managing Unanticipated Spike in Energy Costs – $800,000
A natural gas pipeline rupture in Canada in October 2018 caused unanticipated energy price increases.

Roof Replacement Program (Certificate of Participation – Capital Budget) – $3,000,000
Legislative authorization will enable EWU to complete a roof replacement program.

Serving the Region

Approval of Doctorate of Education (EdD) Degree Offering (HB 1755)
Passage of HB 1755 will give EWU and the other comprehensive universities the option of offering this degree in response to regional demands.

Core Funding of Compensation

EWU seeks a commitment from the legislature in the 2019-21 biennium to fully fund the compensation increases recommended in the budget.

• Historically, salary and benefit increases approved by the Office of Financial Management were fully paid for by the state.
• In 2015, the legislature reduced tuition for all state universities; now tuition increases are capped at approximately 2% a year.
• In 2017, the legislature changed policy to require that half of all compensation increases be paid for by the universities.
• This unexpected change in funding policy, combined with the statutory cap on tuition, creates an unsustainable business model in which operating expenses rise while revenues are reduced.

Design Money for Science Building Remodel

EWU received pre-design money in the current biennium and now requests $7.9 M as continued investment for the remodel of the old science building.

• EWU’s STEM degrees are the fastest growing disciplines in the university.
• EWU thanks legislators for the investment in the new Interdisciplinary Science Center.
• EWU’s existing science building is the oldest science building still in use in Washington.

Engineering Degrees

EWU requests state funding to create civil engineering ($2.7 M) and computer engineering ($2.6 M) degree options; these programs will significantly increase the number of EWU engineers graduated each year.

• Increasingly recognized as Washington’s public STEM university, EWU’s highly qualified graduates fill hundreds of professional job openings in Washington each year.
• EWU enrolls nearly 1,000 students in mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, computer science, and visual communication design.
• Multiple advanced technology companies request that EWU expand its programs to help meet the demand for career-ready graduates.
• Between industry demand and the state’s infrastructure needs, the opportunity is significant for EWU to expand engineering degree offerings.