Washington State University is a comprehensive land-grant University with a growing commitment to biomedical research and graduate instruction. The annual NIH-sponsored research involving animals exceeds $4 million. USDA-sponsored research in animals is over $4 million and expenditures from state resources for animal related research and instruction is over $3 million. WSU is a leading institution in NIH sponsored work on animal models of inherited human diseases. In 1983, 1984, 1985 and 1986, College of Veterinary Medicine researchers led the nation in the number of awards obtained from USDA competitive research programs in animal diseases and molecular biology. In that same College, there is a rapidly growing neuroscience group that has just won an NIH program project grant (award not public at time of writing). For 15 years, WSU has been working to improve its animal care facilities and management. A comprehensive capital improvement plan has provided new facilities such that the colleges of Pharmacy, Arts and Sciences and the WSU Graduate School are now AAALAC approved. The colleges of Agriculture and Home Economics and of Veterinary Medicine have excellent new lab animal facilities but the College of Veterinary Medicine still occupies poor farm animal buildings. Since 1983, a rebuilding program in Veterinary Medicine has been replacing substandard farm buildings and this will be completed in 1987. The proposal is to correct a number of minor but significant deficiencies such that Veterinary Medicine facilities can be AAALAC accredited by June 30, 1988. The College of Agriculture and Home Economics does not have significant problems in farm animals that would prevent AAALAC accreditation. Therefore, if this proposal is funded, the WSU campus as a whole could apply for AAALAC accreditation in 1988.
