October 26, 2021
Dear Colleagues,
I’ve been very lucky to spend time on each of our campuses this
semester, and what continues to inspire me is the uniquely different
populations that each of our campuses serve. And serves well. Our
Everett, Vancouver, and Tri‑Cities campuses offer four‑year degrees
within a small, family-like atmosphere, and they support many first
generation, non‑traditional, and transfer students in their home
communities. Our Global campus provides students with the flexibility
they need to earn degrees while raising families and working full‑ or
part‑time jobs. WSU Pullman offers the traditional residential student
experience at WSU’s flagship campus. Spokane is training the next
generation of healthcare professionals. And finally, WSU’s statewide
presence is truly made possible by our Extension enterprise with
locations in each county.
The unique nature of each of WSU’s locations is what helps us
achieve our land‑grant mission of providing access for all. WSU stands
out in its ability to meet students where they are and provide them
with the opportunities and resources they need to succeed. We are
literally changing lives. As we evolve, our priority remains to
determine the best structures and methods to provide centralized
support to our distinct locations—the driving force behind OneWSU.
OneWSU Progress update
As announced in July, Provost and Executive Vice President
Elizabeth Chilton will be starting as the inaugural chancellor of
the WSU Pullman campus effective July 1, 2022. In addition,
Vice Presidents Asif Chaudhry and Chris Keane, Interim Vice President
Ellen Taylor, and Athletic Director Pat Chun will be taking on dual
roles as WSU Pullman vice chancellors for their respective areas and
transitioning their reporting lines to Chancellor Chilton over the
next eight months. The intent with this transition is to build a
leadership team for WSU Pullman with individuals who are not only
experts in their fields, but well‑versed in WSU’s processes, policies,
and procedures. It is important to remember these leaders and their
respective units will maintain system roles in addition to supporting
the flagship campus.
I have also appointed a transition team, staffed with professionals
in the President and Provost offices to guide the structure of our
offices as we evolve. One notable need is an individual who will lead
the academic enterprise for the WSU Pullman campus. As such,
Chancellor-designate Chilton’s office will be engaging in a process
with system academic leadership to define the role of WSU Pullman’s
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs and launch an internal faculty
search early in the 2022 calendar year. This timeline will allow the
successful candidate time to transition into the role and be ready to
assume the duties on July 1.
Next steps
In addition to creating a separate leadership structure for
WSU Pullman, we are establishing a new Office of Strategy, Planning,
and Analysis to bring focus, coordination, and alignment to system
planning. This new unit will split off personnel from the current
WSU Office of the President to focus on leveraging institutional data
and enhancing analytics to facilitate and support robust planning,
knowledge discovery, and transparent decision-making across the
WSU system. Similar units exist at a number of peer and aspirational
peer institutions. As with other OneWSU reorganizations, the intent
is not to add additional administrative positions but rather redefine
roles and responsibilities for current employees.
I am appointing Chief of Staff Chris Hoyt to a new dual role as
Vice President of Strategy, Planning, and Analysis, effective
November 1, 2021. Chris led WSU in the creation of our first‑ever
system strategic plan, and her expertise will be critical as we continue
to develop our planning efforts across the WSU system. Chris will be
engaging with university partners over the coming months to help grow
the culture of planning at WSU. As stated in our guiding principles, we
are committed to using the system strategic plan as the basis of our
OneWSU system evolution, and I look forward to partnering with
Chris’s team.
Our OneWSU future
As we take this huge step forward, I am very excited for the
future of our institution, and the growing impact we will have on
our communities, state, and world—as we strengthen our campuses, we
strengthen our system.
Finally, I want to close this message with a profound thanks to all
our faculty, staff, and students. It seems that all we’ve talked about
for the last 18 months is COVID‑19, but because of your efforts, there
is light at the end of the very long tunnel. Across our system, you
have stepped up for our students, faculty, staff, and communities.
You are each embodying what it means to be a Coug.
Thank you,
Kirk Schulz, President
Washington State University
