Harper gives TWU $2.6M for infrastructure

Posted by admin on Sep 22, 2009 in Back Issues, News, Volume 14 Issue 1 | 0 comments

TWU will be receiving $2.6 million in funding from the federal government over the next two years. Announced in August, the Knowledge Infrastructure Program (KIP) will be starting fifteen new infrastructure projects at post-secondary institutions across the province, including three at TWU.

Federally, the program is part of Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s two-year, $2-billion economic stimulus measure supporting infrastructure at post-secondary institutions across Canada.

The program gives funds to deferred maintenance, repair, and expansion projects, with preference given to projects that can improve the quality of research and development at the institution.

“Accelerating repairs, maintenance and construction at universities and colleges will provide substantial stimulus in communities across Canada by enhancing the research capacity of these institutions, by enabling them to attract students and provide a better educational experience for the highly-skilled workers of tomorrow,” said a spokesman for Mark Warawa, Langley’s Member of Parliament.

“We’ve heard from you, we’ve listened and now we are providing the funding. Here at TWU, my alma mater, I am pleased to announce the funding of three significant projects under the KIP program,” said Warawa.

The three projects receiving funding at TWU are a renovation to the Alloway Library ($298,000), upgrades to TWU’s information and communications technology ($661,000), and an expansion of the Neufeld Science Centre ($1.65 million).
Alloway Library, which is twenty years old, will undergo renovations that will include adding more book stacks and compact shelving, and installing an emergency power supply transfer shift.

The information and communications technology upgrade is a planned campus-wide upgrade of TWU’s information and communications technology infrastructure, and will involve increasing the speed and availability of the existing network service, expanding the storage space on servers, and implementing a critical emergency response and mass alert system.

The largest project, an expansion for Neufeld Science Centre, was also announced. The expansion will include construction of a new 7,778 square foot wing, reserved exclusively for faculty and graduate student research. The wing will include new chemistry and biology research laboratories, an expanded nursing laboratory, and graduate student offices.

“Today this underscores yet another form of partnership and the importance of partnering outside of the university so that the university connects and has an impact on the world,” said University President Jonathan Raymond in an address to announce the funding.

The $2.6 million will cover half of the total cost of the three projects. The remaining fifty percent must either come from the provincial government or private donors.