Higher education

Eastern Washington University held its formal investiture ceremony Monday, officially recognizing Shari McMahan as the 27th university president.

A park ranger, two Civil War re-enactors – complete with knapsacks and a muzzleloader – and a college professor carrying a large map stood poised at Steptoe Battlefield State Park earlier this month to make history come to life for Washington State University students.

Some 1,200 people filled a room Thursday at the Spokane Convention Center. Plates, cups and cutlery were arranged for breakfast on more than 100 tables under its high ceiling.

WASHINGTON – The Biden administration has ended a program led by Washington State University intended to track down viruses that could pose a threat to humans, after an influential Idaho senator and other critics raised concerns that the work could increase the risk of an accidental disease outbreak.

Hannah Hollenbeck, a freshman at Eastern Washington University from the Tri-Cities, met her roommate, Sarah Hamilton, only a few days ago.

Students in Gonzaga’s sports management program will soon have a chance at securing an internship like none other.

Grandparents came through for grandkids as the COVID-19 pandemic hit, with unexpected numbers of elders moving in or opening homes to about 460,000 children, said a Washington State University researcher. A study found these co-residences made up a majority in a 2020 surge of nearly 510,000 children in all pandemic-era "doubled up" residences. That meant kids and at least one parent lived with another adult who isn't a parent figure – grandparent, aunt, cousin or roommate. Mariana Amorim, a WSU sociology assistant professor and lead author, said mainly grandparents stepped in to provide a safety net for their families, particularly for six months beginning spring 2020.

SmartAsset, a company that offers financial advice, compiled a list using five metrics, including scholarships, median starting salary, tuition costs, living costs and student retention rates.

KEWU 89.5 began broadcasting under a different call name in 1950 from the Eastern Washington University campus in Cheney. The university announced this week its plan to take the station off the air at the end of the year. 

As new freshmen move into dorms in the coming weeks, with orientations and tear-filled family goodbyes, there will be more women than men on campus.

When Andrew Von Duyke, a wildlife biologist stationed in Fairbanks, Alaska, reached out to Jennifer Adams, a research scientist at the University of Idaho, for help with a research project involving polar bears, her answer was yes. Von Duyke was working to come up with a methodology to identify polar bears using the DNA left in snowy bear tracks. That was in November 2020.

The board of North Idaho College on Wednesday night hired an attorney with far-right ties who scored lowest in the college’s review of four candidates.

Rock on, Spokane Community College.

About to begin medical school at the University of Washington, sixty-one students were presented Thursday with a stethoscope by faculty and alumni in an annual ceremony. Essential to any doctor, the first-year students will use the stethoscope throughout their four years of medical school and could go on to use in their careers as physicians serving Eastern Washington.

When Curtis Anderson was growing up, he was placed in more foster homes than he can remember or count after he was taken from his abusive family. Anderson credits the Washington Passport Network, which provides assistance to foster youth, to giving him a head start on his future despite his chaotic upbringing.

A pair of students who were in the process of graduating in engineering from the school's Everett campus were involved in early planning for the company, but left in 2019, a school spokeswoman said last week.