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