At least one Idaho state senator opposes a proposed University of Idaho plan to expand its law school to Boise. Moscow Senator Gary Schroeder, a Republican who serves on the Senate Education Committee, fears the proposal would open the door to move the state’s only law school from north Idaho where the university is based.
According to university officials establishing a branch campus in Boise will take about eight years to implement and require heavy support from state lawmakers. Additionally, the university would reportedly need an extra $6 million a year to fully operate legal programs in the state capital. A university report released this week shows Idaho lawmakers would need to approve more than half of that money.
College of Law Dean Don Burnett will submit the proposal to the state Board of Education next week. Burnett says the plan is to expand the law school, not relocate it. (AP)

The University of Idaho and Washington State University are merging their respective food science departments to create a new school.

The partnership, which has been approved by both universities’ governing bodies, will focus on food safety, processing and chemistry, with an emphasis on dairy. It’s hoped that the merger will benefit the Northwest’s $17 billion food processing industry, students and consumers through expanded cooperation.

The two universities are searching for a new director for the School of Food Science, whose combined faculty will number about 25 and with an enrollment of about 75 undergraduate and 35 graduate students. Students will take required food science courses at each institution and their diplomas will be awarded by their home universities.

University of Idaho students who are among those fighting wildland and forest fires across the West this summer can request a delayed return to classes.

Fire season continues into the early fall, past the start of the UI’s academic year Aug. 25.

As has been the case for many years, students need to contact the Registrar’s Office, which in turn will e-mail the information to their instructors, university housing, financial aid, student accounts and the Dean of Students Office.

If a student decides not to return for the semester, tuition and fees are refunded.

Last year, 13 students delayed their return to campus due to the severe fire season.

The University of Idaho is working to help students cut down on their gasoline bills through a bicycle loan program on campus. U of I Media Relations Associate Brandi Hayes says the program allows students, scholars and their families to borrow a bike for a semester, a year or longer.

U of I Media Relations Associate Brandi Hayes comments

Sign-up is available on a first-come-first-serve basis either on-line or at the Bike Loan Program office in the Poultry Hill Warehouse located at 800 Poultry Hill Way Sundays from 11:30am to 1:30pm and by appointment.

Hayes continues

A small deposit of $15 to $25 and a bike lock are required and participants will need to sign a liability waiver and return the bike before leaving the university. For more information contact the University of Idaho Communications Office at (208) 885-7251. To fill out a loan form online visit www.webs.uidaho.edu/ipo/ifa_services/bikes.htm.

A Moscow attorney has filed a lawsuit in 2nd District Court on behalf of former employees of the University of Idaho for what they’re calling unauthorized changes to their insurance benefits.
In December, four retirees filed a tort claim accusing the university of violating early retirement agreements signed in 1999 and 2002. The retirees contend the school went back on a deal not to make them pay for health insurance premiums.
Attorney Ron Landeck, who represents the former employees says nearly 270 university workers were affected by policy revisions made last year.
After the university failed to respond to the allegations, the retirees decided to move forward with a lawsuit which seeks to reinstate the benefits outlined in the original agreements. (AP)

The state Board of Education expects the University of Idaho’s search for a new president to take between six months and a year and cost the school at least $90,000.

Tim White resigned the presidency earlier this year to accept a job at the University of California-Riverside. The State Board has appointed a university dean, Steven Daley-Laursen, to serve as temporary president.

UI officials signed a contract with a Los Angeles-based executive search firm in June to help the school find its next president. In 2004, the university spent over $98,000 on its search for White, and about 74 percent of those costs went to the search firm.

The firm charges a fee equal to one-third of the projected first-year salary of the position it recruits for, which means the university will owe the firm an estimated $90,000, or one-third of the expected $270,000 salary of the incoming president. That amount doesn’t include traveling costs the university will also have to pay the firm when it begins consulting with potential candidates.

The money will come from a university budget for the president’s office. (AP)

A lawyer representing former University of Idaho employees says he expects to file a lawsuit against the school on Friday.

Four retirees filed a tort claim in December saying the university violated early retirement agreements signed in 1999 and 2002 when unauthorized changes were made to their insurance benefits. Retirees contend the school went back on a deal not to make them pay for health insurance premiums.

Their attorney says nearly 270 employees were affected by policy revisions made last year and the university has not responded to the allegations. Retirees are suing to reinstate the benefits outlined in the original agreements. (AP)

The Boise State and Fresno State football teams will have to share the role of 2008 preseason favorites in the Western Athletic Conference.

Fresno took the top spot in the coaches’ poll, while the Broncos got the edge from the conference’s media. BSU was second in the coaches’ poll, and the Bulldogs were second in the media poll.

Nevada was selected third in both polls and Hawaii was fourth. The coaches put Louisiana Tech and San Jose State in a fifth-place tie, while the media selected Tech fifth and San Jose State sixth.

The bottom three were the same in both polls — New Mexico State, followed by Idaho and Utah State. (Idaho Statesman)