Oregon Public Broadcasting

Officials at Washington State University say budget cuts there are threatening the university's ability to attract and keep top faculty.

With members of the faculty already known to be interviewing for jobs at other universities, Washington State University officials say the latest budget numbers being proposed in Olympia, if adopted, would make it even harder to maintain outstanding faculty members at the school.

WSU Provost Warwick Bayly says members of the university's faculty are already being poached by other universities because of the budget problems of the past two years.

Bayly told the campus publication WSU Today that the strength of a university;s faculty determines the quality of research and education.

The budget proposal that has come from House lawmakers in Olympia would cut $110 million from WSU, while also calling for a 13 percent jump in tuition each of the next two years.

WSU has already raised tuition 28 percent over the last two years while the budget has been cut by millions of dollars.

The next step in the budget process in Washington is for the Senate to release its budget proposal. Copyright 2011 Northwest Public Radio. To see more, visit http://www.nwpr.org/.