for the Faculty and Staff of Washington State
University
from Provost Robert C. Bates
Number 4
March 2004
As a university, we are making substantial and measurable progress toward our strategic goals, and I could cite numerous examples as I did at my Dialogue in the CUB recently. Instead, I want to focus on these areas:
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Recruitment of a diverse, high performing student body
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Enforcement of academic standards
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Assessment and the improvement of teaching and learning
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A Salute to World-class Achievement in Washington, D.C.
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Supplemental budget request status
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Celebrating Excellence: Honoring staff and faculty on March 26
Recruitment of a High-quality, Diverse Student Body
Among our strategic priorities is the recruitment of high-performing students for our freshman class each year. We have seen substantial improvements in the quality of our entering classes the last two years, thanks to the collaborative work among our faculty, our colleges, and our admissions and marketing communication professionals.
I would like to recognize and thank our faculty members who assist in efforts to attract academically talented students. Faculty serve on Regents Scholars committees, as readers for the selection process, and meet with prospective scholars and their parents during campus visits and at receptions held at alumni homes. Others are providing important help this month by talking with top prospective students through the calling program organized by the Office of Admissions.
Many faculty have reported on the direct benefits of having these top students in your classrooms and laboratories. I urge each of you to join in efforts as appropriate to help us sustain our momentum in bringing best-prepared students to Washington State University.
I am very encouraged by an increase in fall 2004 applications for admission from students of color. This good news comes at a time when some universities are seeing a decline in minority student applications and enrollment. When our multicultural recruiters joined the Admissions staff last year, we charged our entire student recruiting staff with the shared responsibility for attracting students of color to WSU. I applaud the apparent success of these efforts and encourage continued dedication to recruiting the best students to WSU.
Enforcement of Academic Standards
Also integral to our goal of offering the best undergraduate education in a research university is upholding our academic standards in a consistent and rigorous way. A faculty-led initiative recently addressed this goal by modifying WSU's academic deficiency standards and procedures effective fall semester 2003.
These changes contributed to 10 percent fewer students becoming academically deficient, 16 percent fewer applications for reinstatement, and 34 percent fewer applications for reinstatement receiving approval. These efforts to ensure that students are making appropriate progress toward a degree go hand-in-hand with our work to recruit high-ability students prepared for the challenges of a research university education.
Assessment and Improvement of Teaching and Learning
One major change in universities' accreditation nationwide is the emerging requirement to identify learning outcomes for students in all academic programs, measure those outcomes and then make adjustments as appropriate. We now face this matter as we look ahead to our next accreditation self-study beginning in 2007. This is a key reason for the establishment of our Office of Undergraduate Education.
Our Undergraduate Teaching and Learning Improvement grants are a valuable stimulus for this work, and I was pleased that we received 43 applications for these grants for the coming year. We have just awarded grants for 19 projects ranging from specific fields such as the Asia Program and Physics to university-wide efforts such as incorporating research into the undergraduate experience. The grants, ranging from $6,000 to $25,000, will be detailed in WSU Today on Friday. I want to thank all who developed proposals, and recognize the individuals and teams selected for their leadership in this new work.
They are Joan Anderson and Vicki McCracken; David Bahr, M. Grant Norton, and Gary Brown; Trevor Bond and Susan Kilgore; Bintong Chen; Stephanie Clark; Greg Crouch, Denny Davis, and Matt Hudelson; J. Thomas Dickinson; Robert Eddy, William Hamlin, and Lisa Johnson; Yolanda Flores-Niemann; Richard Gill and William Budd; David Gursoy, K.W. Kendall, and Terry Umbreit; Rachel Halverson, Ana Rodriguez-Vivaldi, and Sonja Hokanson; Jeff Jones; Beth Lindsay; Barbara Monroe, Collin Hughes, Gary Brown, and Sharon Roy; Lisa Morris and Claudia Pacioni; David Pietz and Noriko Kawamura; Jayanti Ray; and Paul Whitney and Samantha Swindell.
Also this semester, this year's teaching and learning grant recipients are presenting forums for colleagues on their work, and I encourage you to take advantage of these. The schedule is online at: http://www.oue.wsu.edu/rfpforums-spring04.pdf
A Salute to World-Class Achievement Held in Washington, D.C.
On February 24, WSU alumni serving in Congress (Senator Patty Murray and Representative George Nethercutt, Jr., of Washington and Representative Dennis Rehberg of Montana) joined with the University in hosting a reception for WSU alumni, researchers, administrators and friends, including federal officials in research agencies, in Washington, D.C. This event at the Hart Senate Office Building drew more 200 people who had an opportunity to meet informally and interact with WSU faculty to learn more about our research and scholarly programs.
Supplemental Budget Request Update
At a time when many states are continuing to cut university budgets, the Washington legislature is following the lead of Governor Gary Locke by proposing to increase funding in the 2004 supplemental budget. The capital budgets in both the House and the Senate provide substantial new funding to improve WSU. Both budgets would fund full construction of the Spokane Academic Center with $31.6 million and the first phase of the Pullman Wastewater Treatment facility with $3.4 million. The Senate budget would also provide $2 million for WSUnet.
In the operating budget, the House funds both instruction and research, while the Senate does little. The House would provide $1.6 million for enrollment at WSU, as well as funding $850,000 to match federal research funding, $270,000 for BSE (Mad Cow disease) research and $50,000 for oyster bed research. The House budget would also lower the co-premiums state employees pay for health benefits. Both House and Senate fund more high demand enrollment through the Higher Education Coordinating Board.
The two legislative chambers are expected to resolve the differences in their budgets and to pass operating and capital budgets by March 11. This level of attention to the funding needs of the research universities in the supplemental budget is a positive signal of support.
Celebrating Excellence: Honoring our Faculty and Staff
On Friday, March 26, two events will recognize and celebrate WSU's very talented faculty and staff, and I encourage you to participate. From 8-10 a.m., an all-university display and poster session is planned for the CUB Ballroom. Faculty, graduate and undergraduate students will be available to talk about their research and scholarship. This activity, planned in part for academic and alumni volunteer groups meeting that day, promises to be stimulating.
That evening, the first Celebrating Excellence banquet will be held at Beasley Performing Arts Coliseum, starting at 6 p.m. Faculty and staff award winners, newly named Regents Professors, and newly tenured and promoted faculty will be honored. Information will be available in WSU Today, on the Web and in invitations you will receive. I encourage you to join in one or both of the day's activities.
I am pleased to report these achievements and our progress toward our strategic goals and look forward to continued progress in these important areas.
Bob Bates
URLs and links to more information:
Office of the Provost
Face to Face with WSU Leaders
Robert C. Bates is Provost and Academic Vice President at WSU.