Regents approve airport sale

President+Kirk+Schultz+and+Reagents+listen+to+a+presentation+on+Phase+2+of+The+Global+Animal+Health+Building+on+WSUs+campus.

MICHAEL LINDER | Daily Evergreen File

President Kirk Schultz and Reagents listen to a presentation on Phase 2 of The Global Animal Health Building on WSU’s campus.

FORREST HOLT, Evergreen news editor

The WSU Board of Regents unanimously voted to sell land to the Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport to accommodate its runway expansion.

They also unanimously voted to use the $14.7 million gained from the sale to pay for relocating research facilities located on the land. Regent Ryan Durkin said money not spent on the relocation could be used to pay the debt of the College of Agricultural, Human and Natural Resource Sciences.

The board also unanimously approved budget requests to be submitted to the state Legislature.

WSU President Kirk Schulz said the university is in the process of finding new deans for the College of Communication, the College of Arts and Sciences and CAHNRS, as well as an appointee to fill the new role of vice president for university advancement.

The university has narrowed its search for a new CEO of the WSU Foundation down to three candidates, Schulz said, and should announce the appointee by mid-October.

He stressed record high enrollment rates, showing nearly an 11-percent increase over the past five years. The student body is the most diverse it has ever been, he said, with about 29 percent being students of color.

Schulz said donors have committed $250 million to WSU since June 2015. The university’s next fundraising campaign will launch in 2019, he said, aiming to bring in $1.5 to $2 billion.