Office of the Provost

for the Faculty and Staff of Washington State University
from Provost Robert C. Bates

Number 1

March 2003

My intention in starting this newsletter is to provide the University community with updated information on progress on our strategic plan implementation as well as on important developments in the academic areas of Washington State University. Our strategic plan sets a goal of increasing trust and respect through open communication that fosters understanding of the University's decisions and directions. This newsletter, to be sent every other month during the academic year, will contribute to those communication efforts.

I also have scheduled a first Dialogue with the Provost on Tuesday, March 11, at noon in the CUB Cascade Room 127. It will also be available by videostreaming. I look forward to talking with many of you about our strategic directions and initiatives.

Here, I will touch on a high national distinction accorded two of our faculty members, recognize our University's honored faculty for 2003, and then discuss initiatives that support two goals of the strategic plan. These are:

Offer the best undergraduate experience in a research university.
Nurture a world-class environment for research, scholarship, graduate education, the arts, and engagement.

It gives me great pleasure to extend congratulations to Anjan Bose and James Asay on their recent election to the National Academy of Engineering, the most prestigious honor in the engineering field. The National Academies including the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, the Institute of Medicine and the National Research Council.

Dr. Bose is well known for research on reliable power-system operation, while Dr. Asay is noted for research on management of shock waves and national security. Dean Bose joined our faculty in 1993 as director of our School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and was named dean of the College of Engineering and Architecture in 1998. Professor Asay joined us this fall as research professor and associate director of the Institute for Shock Physics, coming from Sandia National Laboratories.

They join a growing list of WSU faculty members who have earned major honors for their research, scholarship and teaching, thereby exemplifying our University's theme, World Class. Face to Face.

On this same theme, I encourage you to join colleagues at the Faculty Honors Convocation at 4:10 p.m. Friday, March 28, at Bryan Hall to recognize the recipients of this year's awards for teaching, research and public service. They include:

Rodney Croteau, Eisig-Tode Distinguished Professor of Forest Biotechnology at WSU's Institute of Biological Chemistry, Eminent Faculty Award.
2002-2003 Sahlin Faculty Excellence Award winners Thomas A. Brigham, psychology professor and scientist, for instruction; Alice Spitzer, public services librarian, University Libraries, for public service; and Gerald E. Edwards, biological sciences professor, for research, scholarship and arts.
J. Thomas Dickinson, Paul A. Anderson professor of physics, the 2003 Marian E. Smith Faculty Achievement Award.
Gerald E. Edwards, biological sciences professor and a Fellow of the Institute of Biological Chemistry, chosen to deliver the annual Distinguished Faculty Address April 9.

Now let me turn to our strategic plan. To advance our commitment to the best undergraduate education, the Office of the Provost -- upon recommendation of the Undergraduate Education implementation team -- has launched the Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Quality Improvement Initiative. We have invited faculty to submit proposals, and grants of up to $25,000 will be given by March 14.

We are looking especially for proposals that illustrate how evidence of student learning will be gathered and used to change teaching and learning practices. Priority will also be given to proposals that focus on department- or program-wide efforts to improve student learning. The full details of this initiative are available online [see link below ].

Also in the undergraduate education area, I want to recognize a new initiative by the Department of Psychology to improve student learning. Plans are underway for the new human psycho-physiological laboratory to allow undergraduates to design and conduct their own research projects. The only one of its kind in the Pacific Northwest, the lab has high-tech equipment for monitoring brain function. More about this effort is available online [see link below ].

Many of the best efforts to advance our strategic goals will come from individual areas of the University. Our plan serves as our "compass," pointing out the directions we are heading and allowing creative faculty and staff to identify ways to move forward. Offering our undergraduate students opportunities to develop and carry out their own research projects can enhance their learning experiences and foster personal growth. This approach is especially appropriate for a research university.

Now I want to turn to graduate education, an essential element of a research university and an important part of our strategic plan. Our investments in outstanding future scholars and colleagues benefit WSU and society at large. Significant efforts are underway to support our goal of attracting an increasing number of excellent graduate students. These include the Graduate School Scholars program to augment assistantships, the Master's to PhD Transition Awards to attract 40 excellent students into doctoral programs, the Outstanding Graduate Author Award to assist in publishing of two academically rigorous doctoral dissertations in book form, and the Preparing the Future Professoriate Program to build future careers of academics.

A substantial initiative to position Washington State University as a major graduate institution in the Pacific Northwest has been launched by Howard Grimes, interim dean of the Graduate School. The key idea is to build on our reputation for research excellence and develop a strong regional recruitment base that augments our current national efforts. The Graduate School is soliciting proposals by April 30 from academic areas and interdisciplinary programs for grants to establish or improve recruitment of excellent students from targeted colleges and universities. Eight proposals of approximately $5,000 will be awarded by June.

Perhaps more critical for our long-term success are the strategic marketing activities being developed collaboratively by our Graduate School and the Office of Marketing Communications. We are developing new models for attracting the very best candidates into our graduate programs. The carefully focused work by our Marketing Communications team in collaboration with the Office of Admissions and our colleges has been highly effective in our drive to attract more high-ability undergraduate students. I am confident that similar work will benefit WSU in the graduate student recruitment area as well.

Sincerely,
Bob Bates

URLs and links to more information:

The National Academies: Advisors to the Nation on Science, Engineering and Medicine

http://www.nas.edu/

Robert C. Bates is Provost and Academic Vice President at WSU.

Office of the Provost, PO Box 641046, Washington State University, Pullman WA 99164-1046, 509-335-5581, Contact Us