Dean’s message: May 2023

Dean Dori Borjesson standing outside Bustad Hall on the WSU campus.

Whispering so as not to change our good luck … the Palouse has gifted us a gorgeous spring. I think she is making up for, well, last spring — when, quite frankly, she was a bit disappointing. One of those years where July 4 was truly the first week that hit 70 degrees. Not this year! People are clearly enjoying it. With graduation fading into poignant memories, our halls and parking lots have emptied, roadwork has begun, and those of us who remain gear up for all of those projects that we could not accomplish during the school year. There are two I will share with you today.

The first is the remodeling of Bustad Hall. The state provided financial support for renovation of the space vacated by Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (WADDL) for the expansion of our Simulation-based Education Program.

Two students in the midst of a simulated procedure.

Our large lab spaces in Bustad will also be renovated and upgraded to welcome our undergraduate students for biochemistry and microbiology labs. And the design will keep student study spaces, faculty offices, and conference room space. Although Bustad is now one of the older buildings in our college’s facilities complex, it has “good bones” and a rich history, and we are grateful the renovation was prioritized. 

We are also deep into the work to create a new undergraduate degree in public health. The state funds will support a focus on rural, remote, and underserved communities. This degree will be hosted in Pullman, with an infectious disease thread, as well as in Spokane, with a behavioral health major. Ultimately, we hope this degree will have multiple threads including global health and one health—encompassing and entwining some of our core college strengths. Partnering with other colleges, we hope to offer an interdisciplinary degree with courses in leadership and administration, research communications, and human development — to name just a few. And we will expand our engagement with local health jurisdictions and the Department of Health to provide relevant experiential learning to best serve workforce needs. Education, outreach, and engagement — core to who we are — Healthy Animals. Healthy People. Healthy Planet.

If you’d like to know more, you can always read the latest stories from our college on our news page. For even more content, follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok.

Be safe, healthy, happy, and stay hopeful.

Take care,
Dori Borjesson, Dean