Initiatives

AAPO Process

The Academic Affairs Program Optimization (AAPO) process at Washington State University (WSU) was initiated by the Provost’s Office during the 2024–2025 academic year to identify opportunities for evolution and to align academic operations with our mission as a land-grant, R1 research institution.

Through data-informed decision-making, WSU will use the established measurable outcomes and efficiency indicators within the AAPO to support high-quality educational and research programs, improve WSU’s overall financial health by stabilizing the operating budget, and ensure that WSU continues to fulfill its institutional mission. The agreed-upon indicators will ensure that departments, schools, and colleges reporting to the Provost and Executive Vice President have identified college and unit priorities that can be evaluated annually. Indicators will be reviewed regularly by the Provost’s Office to ensure continued alignment with and support of WSU’s strategic pillars and President Cantwell’s key performance indicators.

Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement

The Carnegie Community Engagement Classification recognizes institutions that have prioritized engaged scholarship, teaching, learning and outreach. The classification is not an award. It is an elective, evidence-based self-assessment and quality improvement process that highlights institutions that have made extraordinary commitments to their public purpose. As of January 2026, there were 277 public, private, and tribal institutions recognized with this classification. Washington State University (WSU) was first recognized with the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement in 2008, and this was renewed in 2015 and 2026. WSU is the longest recognized university in the state of Washington and shares this designation with five other public and private higher education institutions in the state.

COACHE Survey

WSU is participating in the Collaborative on Academic Careers in Higher Education (COACHE) faculty job satisfaction survey, operated by the Harvard Graduate School of Education. The COACHE survey is a powerful instrument, facilitating data collection on faculty work and life concerns, benchmarked against peer institutions. Created and operated by faculty, the data will be used to identify needs and opportunities to improve faculty recruitment, retention, and work/life quality. Questions assess career- and tenure-track faculty views on university policies, practices, and working conditions such as tenure and promotion, climate, workload and support, compensation and benefits, and global satisfaction. The survey also will allow us to identify equity gaps in all those categories and to address those gaps more effectively.

Faculty Salary Equity Study

In 2020, the Salary Study Task Force released their report on a salary equity study completed at WSU. The study was motivated by the need to develop a robust statistical model for a biannual analysis of salary equity for WSU employees, to guide data-driven recommendations for policy and processes that promote institutional salary equity, and to provide unit leadership with contextual information of their employees’ salaries. This study is a high-level review of WSU salary information. It shows trends in WSU that can be used to inform future institutional actions and policy decisions. However, it does not, in and of itself, demonstrate pay inequity in a given instance. A pay inequity review requires analysis of all factors related to an individual’s pay. This study can provide a baseline to determine
the effectiveness of changed practices and policies implemented to counter bias.

Transformational Change Initiative

The Transformational Change Initiative (TCI) is a student-centered implementation and research project established in 2016 to create an innovative framework for student success from matriculation through graduation and beyond.

Faculty Workload Policy

Faculty effort at WSU has traditionally been apportioned into the categories of teaching, research, and service that incorporate a wide diversity of activities including teaching, research/scholarship, extension, clinical practice, librarianship, administration, student advising, mentorship, etc. Historically, however, WSU has not prescribed the division of workload for each faculty member (Faculty Manual, section IV.A.3, 2024-25 Academic Year version).

To address these concerns, the Washington State University (WSU) Provost’s Office assembled a Workload Policy Task Force (WPT) (January-May 2025), with the goal of developing a system-wide workload policy.