Decision possible Friday on new WSU president, Tri-City student union

A long-awaited student union building for Washington State University Tri-Cities could start construction this summer if the WSU regents greenlight the building’s design later this week.

And the regents will have their first public discussion of the candidates being considered to replace the late WSU President Elson Floyd and they may vote to hire one of them.

The regents begin meeting March 24 on the Richland campus. A vote on the union building design and the discussion on the presidential candidates are scheduled for March 25.

Construction on the $5.73 million building would go through the summer with completion in time for classes fall 2017. It will sit between the Consolidated Information Center and the Columbia River.

It’s a project student leaders have pursued for years, financing its construction with a $150 student fee and $1.5 million from the student government’s own funds.

Tri-City students rally to support union

Student government has offices currently off the atrium in the West Building on campus and that includes a lounge but student leaders have said it is too small a space and doesn’t meet student needs. There’s also a dearth of locations where students can study or meet for other activities.

The one-story building will offer a large lounge area, student office space, computer lab, restrooms and large meeting room that will be able to be divided for smaller gatherings. There also will be outside seating on patios.

Regents approved the project almost a year ago. The initial plan was to have the project paid for through a student fee, some student government dollars and proceeds from the sale of university property on George Washington Way.

However, students voted to increase the fee by $50 after there were concerns the land sale would delay the project. The fee won’t be assessed on students until construction starts.

Construction isn’t expected to heavily disrupt the campus, said university spokesman Jeffrey Dennison, because the academic year ends in early May and all the construction will be on open green space, meaning a minimal affect on parking. However, work on the project is likely to affect access between the CIC and the East and West buildings for students during the summer.

“We’ll be able to reroute foot traffic no problem,” Dennison said.

Presidential decision looming for regents

The regents and a 25-member committee have searched for a new president since Floyd died of cancer last June. Provost and Executive Vice President Daniel Bernardo has served as president in the interim.

While the chairman of the search committee has said he expected a decision on a new president in April, efforts to name Floyd’s successor have ramped up in recent weeks as the regents met for closed-door sessions to review eight top candidates out of an initial pool of 200.

The hiring decision must be made in an open public session. News that the regents would discuss the candidates publicly this week with possible action was announced Wednesday.

WSU hasn’t revealed those top candidate names in an effort to protect their confidentiality but current university presidents and provosts are among them, as is a candidate from the private sector, said WSU officials.

Regent Lura Powell, who hails from the Tri-Cities, also was recently named, along with Bob Drewel, former chancellor of WSU Puget Sound in Everett, as leading the presidential transition team. That team will help the university continue work on ongoing initiatives as the new president takes over and Bernardo returns to his old duties.

Other issues the regents will consider Friday include awarding an honorary doctorate posthumously to Floyd, approving designs for a cultural building and art museum for the Pullman campus, naming the cultural building after Floyd and amending the standards of conduct for students.

Tri-Cities Chancellor H. Keith Moo-Young also is scheduled to make a presentation to the board about the Tri-Cities campus.

This story was originally published March 23, 2016 at 4:54 PM with the headline "Decision possible Friday on new WSU president, Tri-City student union."