Provost Perspective: May 2026

Cougs help Cougs through OAE’s Peer Educator Training Program
The Office of Academic Engagement is marking a milestone in student leadership and peer support this year, with 17 student employees earning certification through the College Reading and Learning Association International Peer Educator Training Program (CRLA IPTPC), with the largest cohort of Level 2 recipients in a single year. Since its inception in 2022, the program has awarded 55 certifications, reflecting sustained engagement in peer educator development. CRLA IPTPC sets an internationally recognized standard for training peer educators in academic support, with a focus on effective communication, cultural responsiveness, and student-centered learning.

Anthropology graduate student earns prestigious Smithsonian internship
Sumanta Roy, PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology, has been selected for the prestigious Smithsonian Institution’s Summer Institute in Museum Anthropology (SIMA) at the National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C. The SIMA research internships provide graduate students with an immersive four-week training program at the Smithsonian Institution, the world’s largest museum, education, and research complex. Roy’s object-based research proposal, “A Shared Object: The Hookah, Everyday Sociality, and Labor in India” explores the connections between material culture, labor, and social life.

The College of Medicine celebrates a 97.3% match rate in its MD program
The MD program marked another successful match season this year, with 97.3% of graduating students matching into residency programs on or before Match Day, well above the national average of 93.5%. Seventy-four students matched, the program’s largest match class yet.

Among this year’s class, 30% will remain in Washington for residency, reflecting their commitment to serving the state as physicians. Doctors are more likely to practice medicine in the area they complete their residency training.

Peer health educators place second in statewide public health competition
A team of six WSU peer health educators (PHEs) placed second during a statewide public health competition in Seattle, Saturday, April 18. The students won a $2,000 grant to help implement their idea of establishing mutual aid stations throughout Yakima Valley. PHEs are student employees in Cougar Health Services’ Health Education department and facilitate workshops on a variety of health topics. The competition consisted of more than 300 students from colleges and universities across Washington, all working on solutions to addressing cuts to Medicaid, a real challenge facing state residents. Borrowing from their work and volunteer experiences on campus, the PHEs created a detailed plan to distribute supplies such as Plan B, diapers, tampons, condoms, and educational materials about the changes to Medicaid. Team member Ani Rice, a junior neuroscience major, said it was a great opportunity to put everything she has been learning in health education into practice.

History undergraduate selected for Hoover Institution Indigenous Student Seminar
Tucker Senter, a junior majoring in social studies, has been selected to participate in the Hoover Institution Indigenous Student Seminar at Stanford University this summer. He will join students from across the country to study Native policy and engage with Indigenous entrepreneurs, scholars, and community leaders. According to history professor Ryan Booth, this is the first time a Native student from WSU has received this invitation.

Student Spotlight: Abdelrahman (Bodi) Abdelrazek, Founder of the Premed Advisory Program (PAP)
About a year ago, Bodi founded the Premed Advisory Program (PAP), which hosted its very first conference in 2025, with around 50 students. On April 13, 2026, that early momentum grew into the Pacific Northwest Pre Health Symposium, welcoming more than 661 attendees from across WSU campuses, regional partner institutions, and nationally recognized medical schools. Together, the symposium provided 100 medical scrubs, 100 suturing kits, and 30+ awards, made possible by over $13,000 raised in just three weeks. Beyond the numbers, the room was filled with stories, purpose, and connection that no metric could ever fully capture. Grounded in a mission to address healthcare shortages in rural Washington, Bodi’s leadership is deeply shaped by growing up in a rural farming village in Egypt. Today, as President of PAP at WSU and CEO of the national nonprofit, Bodi continues to steward PAP’s growth into five additional states.

Matthew Sutton named 2026 Carnegie Fellow
Sutton, the chair and Claudius O. and Mary Johnson Distinguished Professor in the Department of History, was selected as a 2026 Fellow by the Carnegie Corporation of New York to support work in the social sciences and humanities. The fellowship will support research for his next book, an examination of the way that beliefs about Satan, demons and evil have influenced U.S. politics, from the post-World War II era to the Satanic Panic of the 1980s through the religious underpinnings of current political rhetoric.

Granger Cobb Institute for the Business of Aging launches new grant program thanks to private support
A new research initiative on healthy aging launched by the Granger Cobb Institute for the Business of Aging in the Carson College of Business is helping communities get a jump on managing cognitive risk factors, and future professionals are being prepared to navigate and lead advance care planning conversations. Backed by a $50,000 gift from Propel Insurance, the institute awarded two $10,000 grants to WSU faculty, supporting projects focusing on screenings for brain health and end-of-life care training for medical professionals — work that’s being done in partnership with the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine.

WSU brings health science careers opportunities to Native American youth through its Little Birds program
Native American communities urgently need more doctors, nurses, pharmacists and other health care professionals. It’s not a new problem, and WSU has long offered programs for Native American middle and high school students to open doors to careers in health professions. Now, WSU is taking that message of possibility to younger kids.

Cougs Rise Summit builds leadership skills for high school students
Cougs Rise hosted a Leadership Summit at WSU for high school students statewide, providing a cornerstone experience focused on building leadership skills, college readiness, and self-awareness. Through interactive workshops, hands-on activities, and guided reflection, participants explored core leadership principles such as communication, collaboration, and ethical decision-making while connecting these concepts to their personal goals and identities. The Summit also emphasized community-building, providing students with meaningful opportunities to engage with peers, mentors, and campus partners.

Faculty and staff recognition and appointments

• The College of Arts and Sciences is excited to welcome Gary Douberly as the new Chair of the Department of Chemistry, starting June 1st. Professor Douberly comes to Pullman from the University of Georgia, where he was recently serving as the Associate Dean of the UGA Franklin College of Arts and Sciences. Douberly will succeed Eric Roalson, who has been serving as interim chair.
• Joe Hedges has been named Interim Director of the David G. Pollart Center for Arts and Humanities for a one-year term. In his current role as Assistant Director, Joe has helped support programming and engagement efforts across campus and the broader community. In this new leadership role, he will help guide the Center’s continued work connecting the arts, humanities, and public engagement at WSU.

College of Nursing lights up the sky to honor the impact of nurses
In celebration of National Nurses Week, the College of Nursing helped lead a growing national effort to elevate the visibility and impact of nurses through a partnership with the American Nurses Association and the “Nurses Light Up the Sky” campaign.

This year, 200+ buildings and landmarks across the country glowed red in honor of nurses and the critical role they play in our communities. Spokane, Pullman, Tri-Cities, and Vancouver were brightly lit up, with strong local participation in support of Coug Nurses statewide.

Washington sites that lit up in honor of National Nurses Week included:

• WSU Health Sciences’ Spokane CCRS Building
• Gesa Pavilion, Spokane
• Spokane Regional Health District
• MultiCare Health System Deaconess Hospital, Spokane 
• MultiCare Valley Hospital, Spokane Valley
• MultiCare Rockwood, Spokane
• Providence Sacred Heart Medical, Spokane
• Providence Holy Family Hospital, Spokane 
• WSU Pullman’s Bryan Hall Clock Tower
• WSU Vancouver
• WSU Tri-Cities

WSU Pullman GUC Computers moving to Intune; instructors will be required to login
Starting May 18th, Pullman Integrated Academic Technologies (PIAT) will be transitioning all GUC computers to Intune, a key step in strengthening the security of our classroom PC environment. As computers are updated, instructors will be required to login. First time sign ins will create a user profile and may take a few minutes to complete. This is expected and will only occur once, so please allow extra time if signing in shortly before a class.

Anyone with an active WSU account, including faculty, staff, and teaching assistants, can sign in. No additional permissions or approvals are required. Requiring sign in ensures WSU protects university systems and data by ensuring only authorized users access classroom computers.