RICHLAND — The Board of Regents of Washington State University approved the schematic design for the new Northside Residence Hall today during its regularly scheduled meeting on the WSU Tri-Cities campus.
Northside Hall will be built in the existing parking lot between MacGregor Hall (Regents Hall Complex) and Streit Hall on the Pullman campus. Construction is slated to begin after commencement in May, with completion expected by fall 2013.
The $32.6 million, 300-bed facility will be the second new residence hall to be built on the Pullman campus since the early 1970s. Olympia Avenue Residence Hall was opened in fall 2009.
Both projects and renovations of existing residence halls are part of an ongoing effort to improve student housing on campus, funded through a combination of bond proceeds and housing and dining reserve funds.
Bill Gardner, WSU’s executive director of public safety who oversees parking and transportation, told regents during Thursday’s committee meeting the new residence hall would displace 152 parking spaces during construction, with 90 spaces returned to service when construction is completed.
He said 362 spaces in the blue parking lot east of Beasley Coliseum will be designated for student resident use; commuters using that lot will be diverted to underused lots nearby.
Clean audit, student conduct fines, program closures
In other action, the regents approved changes in the student conduct code to update language and also to permit the university to assess fines for violations.
John Fraire, vice president for student affairs and enrollment, said no decision has been made whether to assess such fines, and discussions will be held with student groups this spring around the issue.
The regents also approved Faculty Manual changes that previously had been approved by the Faculty Senate. The changes clarify time lines and the appeal process in the Program Discontinuance Policy, which governs how the university proceeds in the case of closures of academic programs.
At Thursday’s committee meeting, the board heard from university financial officials that the annual state audit of WSU’s financial operations produced no findings. It marks the 13th consecutive year the university has had a clean audit report.
The regents’ next meeting will be held March 23 on the Pullman campus.
