Governor signs statewide higher education bond package
Gov. Timothy M. Kaine officially signed
the statewide higher education bond package Thursday that includes
$38.1 million to fully fund construction of the new School of Education
at the College of William and Mary. Interim William and Mary President
W. Taylor Reveley III joined other university presidents, college
administrators and state officials in Richmond to participate in the
signing ceremony at the State Capitol.
Members of the Virginia General Assembly passed the bond bill last month that will bring nearly $1.5 billion for critical construction projects at colleges and universities across the state. In addition to the School of Education, the measure includes funding and planning dollars for three other construction projects at William and Mary, including $8 million toward a project to upgrade the College's heating and cooling systems, $250,000 in pre-planning dollars for the third phase of the Integrated Science Center and more than $500,000 for detailed planning of the renovation of Tucker Hall.
The future 112,000-square-foot School of Education facility, scheduled to open in 2010 on the site off Monticello Avenue, will bring all of the school's programs under one roof and allow an expansion of outreach programs across the region and state. The building will serve roughly 90 faculty and staff, as well as 150 undergraduate and 650 graduate students. Annually, the school produces more than 120 teachers and 20 school administrators, as well as reading specialists, school counselors and psychologists. The school also provides professional development to more than 20,000 educators across the Commonwealth.
Construction of the new facility is slated to begin in August 2008.
