As a result, at 6 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 31, Washington State University will host Arizona State University in a conference football game at Martin Stadium, affording us the opportunity to share the beauty of our unique Pullman campus before a national television audience in a broadcast carried by one of the ESPN family of networks. This is a rare opportunity for our university. It is also the first time since 2005 that WSU has played a Thursday home football game, so it presents some special challenges.

In an effort to address those challenges, I solicited input from our athletic director as to best industry practices from around the country. I also have reached out to the Faculty Senate Executive Committee as well as the Deans Council for their input on this important issue. After taking all recommendations into account, I have authorized that attendance to all classes the morning of Oct. 31 be made optional at the discretion of faculty and that all afternoon classes that day be canceled as part of our efforts to ensure the safety and ease of travel throughout campus for faculty, staff, students and fans. This closure solely affects the Pullman campus.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation and support.

Consistent with earlier conversations, however, I am recommending to the university’s Board of Regents a tuition increase for the 2013-14 academic year of no more than 2 percent for all tuition categories. The Board is scheduled to approve new rates at its May 23 meeting.

While I remain supportive of the institutions having tuition setting authority, I have been very vocal this past year about my opposition to the double-digit tuition increases we have seen since 2010. These increases have been the result of diminished investment by the State Legislature. Tuition for resident undergraduates has increased 75 percent in just four years. The impact on students and their families has been dramatic, and it is time for a change.

Because WSU is on a semester schedule, students arrive for the first day of classes on Aug. 19, just a few short months away. While a new state budget and tuition assumptions have not yet been approved by the Legislature, I think it is important to provide students and their parents with some sense of certainty about what their tuition bill will look like. Students and their families can now begin their financial planning knowing that the most additional tuition expense they will incur is 2 percent.

To view the proposed tuition increases, see:

http://budget.wsu.edu/tuition-and-fees/2013-14%20Proposed%20rates.pdf?0.5589075669796559

To send a comment to the Board of Regents regarding tuition, please use this address:
wsuregents@wsu.edu

I am writing to provide you with an update on a series of academic administration appointments before the semester ends and we all disperse for the summer.

As you know, Provost and Executive Vice President Warwick Bayly indicated earlier this year that he will be leaving his position effective May 31 to pursue new research opportunities in the College of Veterinary Medicine. In preparation for filling this critical position on an interim basis, I gathered input from a wide variety of sources, including of course, the nomination and straw poll process you all participated in. Based on all of that input and my personal experience, it is my great pleasure to announce that I have offered the position of interim provost to Dr. Dan Bernardo, vice president for agriculture and WSU Extension and dean of the College of Agricultural, Human, and Natural Resource Sciences. He has graciously accepted the role and will assume his new responsibilities on June 1. We will begin preparations for conducting a national search for a permanent provost this fall.

Dr. Ron Mittelhammer, Regents Professor and director emeritus of the School of Economic Sciences, will serve as interim CAHNRS dean in Dr. Bernardo’s stead. I thank them both for their willingness to lead in this way.

As you know, a national search for a new vice president for research has been underway for the past several months and identified three very strong and nationally prominent finalists. One candidate interviewed on campus in March and subsequently withdrew from consideration due to family reasons. A second candidate determined that now was not an appropriate time to disrupt her family with a move and decided to withdraw. The final candidate is currently a CEO in private industry and did not want the public search process to jeopardize his current position. As a public institution, we were not able to accommodate his request for confidentiality. I will work with Regents Professor Dr. Yogi Gupta, who has served as chair of the search committee, to consider next steps. In the meantime, Dr. Nancy Magnuson has agreed to continue as interim vice president for research, which I greatly appreciate.

Thank you for your ongoing support as we work through these transitions and for all that you do for Washington State University. I hope you have a moment to enjoy the final days of the semester and commencement festivities.

Best regards,

Elson S. Floyd, Ph.D.
President

In 2008, Washington State University applied for and received the Carnegie Community Engagement Classification. This elective classification recognizes “collaboration between institutions of higher education and their larger communities (local, regional/state, national, global) for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.” This designation aligns perfectly with our mission and strategic plan and serves as a major endorsement of our success in engaging with our communities.

Over the next year, WSU will apply for re-classification. I have asked Vice Provost for International Programs Prema Arasu, Center for Civic Engagement Director Melanie Brown, and WSU Vancouver Chancellor Mel Netzhammer to lead the re-classification process. They will work with a small group of faculty and staff to collect and evaluate the required evidence and to draft the application.

In the fall, I will reconstitute the Outreach and Engagement Council to support the Carnegie classification process. The Council will continue to provide advice and counsel on our community engagement work once the application process has been completed.

The application process will be completed by April 2014. It will require input from the colleges and the campuses, as well as across vice presidential areas. Thank you in advance for your support for the re-classification initiative and responding quickly to the requests for information from the team.

The Pullman Police Department continues to work on identifying and arresting suspects. In an effort to assist the investigation, I personally have donated a total of $10,000 to a reward fund being administered by Washington State University Police Chief Bill Gardner in conjunction with the Pullman Police Department. Others can donate to the reward fund by contacting Chief Gardner. That money will go to the individual or individuals who provide information that leads to the apprehension and prosecution of those responsible for the attack against Dr. Warner.

I strongly encourage anyone who knows anything about what happened that night or recognizes any of the individuals in the videos that have been publicly distributed to come forward. The police have no interest in arresting anyone who was not directly involved in the assault and will accept information anonymously. You can share information by calling the Pullman Police Department “Tip Us Off” message line at (509) 334-2249 or the general line at (509) 334-0802. Details of the attack as well as video from surveillance cameras are available here.

Just as disturbing as the horrible injuries that Dr. Warner suffered in the attack is the pall of silence that has ensued in its aftermath. That cowardice does not accurately reflect who we are as a community. Cougs helping Cougs is not an empty slogan; it is a culture we embrace and aspire to improve. The success of the online fundraising campaign created to help cover Dr. Warner’s medical expenses is strong evidence of that caring. You can make a donation for that purpose here.

As an educational institution, it is our responsibility to provide an environment where all students feel safe, an environment conducive to learning and success. Dr. Warner’s attack has revealed an underlying fear and anger among some on campus regarding issues of race and marginalization. These must be addressed. I am creating a new Commission on Campus Climate to give shape to the discourse and to develop specific action steps to improving the situation. I can assure you, this will not be “yet another task force.”  The commission will be charged with pulling us together as a community to address a complex issue and explore possible long-term solutions. I am confident it will prove a significant step forward that might help heal old wounds and create new possibilities. I will announce a chair for the group as soon as possible. Please send your nominations for the other members of the group to me at floyde@wsu.edu. Thank you.

He was taken to Pullman Regional Hospital and later was transferred to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane where today he is listed in critical condition with serious brain injuries. Family members, friends, co-workers, and other supporters have rallied around him; within hours of the attack, a Facebook page was created to provide a place for all of us to express our concern and sympathy. Mrs. Floyd and I send our prayers and healing thoughts as well.

Because the incident occurred outside of the WSU campus, the Pullman Police Department is conducting the investigation. According to a Pullman PD news release sent out Saturday, it is unclear exactly what events led to the assault, and no arrests have been made. There is a belief – as reflected in Facebook posts and other comments – that this was a hate crime motivated by discrimination. My fervent hope is that is not the case. There is no room for any kind of senseless violence in our community or beyond, especially hate crimes. However, please know that we as a university will do whatever we can to help police get to the root cause of this situation.

Upon her passing, we assembled a group of alumni, communications professionals, and friends who knew and loved her to develop a plan to honor Kathi’s legacy.

That group, headed by Margo Myers, WSU alumna, owner of Margo Myers Communications and a WSU Foundation trustee, recommended that the Communication Addition building of the Edward R. Murrow College of Communication be named the Goertzen Communication Addition.

“As a highly visible, dedicated and involved WSU alumna, our goal is to recognize the inspiration Kathy provided to many communication students and honor her example as a fine broadcast journalist,” the group wrote. “We also want to honor Kathi as a courageous person, who inspired thousands of people with her courage and grace during her very public health battle.”

I share those sentiments and wholeheartedly endorsed and supported the committee’s plan. The university’s Naming Committee approved the plan, and during their meeting this morning, the members of the WSU Board of Regents gave their final approval.

The Communication Addition has many of the same qualities Kathi embodied. It is fresh, open, and light with the capacity to foster lively conversations and learning. Students – many of whom are pursuing a broadcasting career similar to Kathi’s – stream through its doors every day. Faculty members housed in that building are conducting cutting-edge research on the meatiest communications issues of the day. It is fitting that generations of future communications students will remember their classes in the Goertzen building.

In addition to naming the building in Kathi’s honor, the college along with the WSU Foundation will be launching a special effort to create a state-of-the-art multimedia complex that combines a working digital lab and television studio in the Goertzen Communication Addition. Once completed, it will become the new home of Murrow’s nightly newscast and other programs that will serve all three Murrow majors.

When I think of Kathi Goertzen, I think of the amazing impact a single human being can have on so many others. My hope is that the actions we take at the university honor that impact.

The transition from MyWSU to zzusis has not been without its challenges. We experienced longer than usual lines for students seeking financial aid last fall, and our collections took longer when compared to previous years. Frankly, we moved to implementation of the new system earlier than was ideal, and some of our training and testing protocols fell short of expectations. The new system worked much better this semester as our staff became more familiar with both its capabilities and limitations. Still, it was evident to me that we had to make the new system more user-friendly and easier for our staff to fully understand and use its enhanced capacities.

Achieving both of these goals would require a different way of thinking, additional personnel, and a renewed focus. That is why I asked Matt Skinner, who had been working as the operating budget director for the university, to serve as the university’s interim Chief Enterprise Systems Officer. Simply put, his responsibility is to plan and successfully navigate our path to the smooth and effective operation of the system. Matt is a strong leader and already has assembled a very talented team of professionals from all of the key student services and advising areas of WSU. They ultimately will relocate to the Math Annex, but for now, they are coordinating efforts in their respective offices and departments. I envision the team working collaboratively and across all functions to identify end user needs, develop solutions, and smooth the path of implementation. The team is already working to understand and prioritize the issues lingering from initial implementation and to develop action plans. While their work will take significant effort and time, I have already seen some early successes. For example, within recent weeks, they completed reports that were long overdue and, in some instances, incomplete; both situations completely unacceptable.

I have every confidence this team will solve the implementation problems of the past, and we will execute a highly efficient and responsive student information system. Our students, faculty, and staff deserve nothing less.

However, the question now is, how are we fostering the translation of what we create into real-world applications that benefit our state, nation, and world.

The numbers tell an encouraging story about the economic development possibilities created by the work of WSU researchers. Between 2008 and 2012, new knowledge, science, and technology by our scientists led to 286 invention disclosures, 287 patents filed, and 57 patents issued. WSU research led to the launching of 10 different startup companies, including M3 Biotechnology, focused on curing Parkinson’s Disease and cancer; Phytelligence, seeking to improve crops in our state; and Food Chain Safety, which is using cutting-edge microwave sterilization technology to positively impact the food industry. These are new companies creating new jobs in our state.

As impressive as those numbers are, we can – and must – do more to prime the pump for economic prosperity. The path from innovation to market can be long, bumpy and circuitous; smoothing the road to commercialization is critical.

A key first step in that process is creating the right organizational structure at the institution. To be frank, our current Office of Intellectual Property Administration sounds and operates like a bureaucratic relic of the past, regulatory rather than innovative.

That is why I have asked Anson Fatland, associate vice president for economic development, to oversee creation of the new WSU Office of Commercialization. The office title is a much more direct description of what we want to do – bring to the commercial market the good work of our researchers for the benefit of our stakeholders and beyond. It also gives increased institutional emphasis on innovation, discovery, commercialization, industry partnerships, and economic development.

The long-term vision for this new organization, which we are working to launch by July 1 this year, is to help create an institution-wide culture of coordination and cooperation, a culture of entrepreneurship, innovation, and development. We will continue to add tools, resources, and programs to support these activities; the new Office of Commercialization is an important and exciting first step.

As with every research university in the country, federal agencies, such as the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health, will be affected as a result of the across-the-board reductions. In addition, we believe the sequester will be approximately 5.1 percent for all non-Department of Defense discretionary federal funding, such as that allocated to agriculture, extension, and veterinary medicine. This includes fund sources such as Hatch, McIntire/Stennis, Smith-Lever, Animal Health and Disease Research. If the 5.1 percent cut is calculated against the current year allocation in these areas , the impact could reach $12.4 million for us. If the calculation is applied against unspent balances in these areas, the impact could be $8.3 million. In either case, these reductions will dramatically affect people and projects.  The variance is predicated on how these agencies decide to administer their reductions and how the reduction amounts are calculated.

Federal student aid programs such as Federal Work Study, the Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant, and college access programs such as TRIO and GEAR UP, also will see cuts. We believe the Pell Grant will not be subject to any across-the-board cuts for 2013. However, sequestration is a multi-year process and does not protect Pell beyond the first year. We are estimating reductions of approximately $7.7 million at WSU – primarily in the area of student loans. The federal loan origination fee also will increase.

In addition, the sequester calls for a 7.7 percent reduction in funding for all Department of Defense discretionary programs and 5.2 percent from the non-Department of Defense mandatory spending, with the exceptions of Social Security and Medicaid and, for the first year, Pell grants.

There are additional repercussions beyond direct cuts. For research universities such as WSU, new discoveries, breakthroughs, and continuing research exploration are at risk. For all universities, federal student financial aid programs that promote opportunity and seek to level the access playing field will be adversely affected.

The state of funding for federal research has never been more fluid as it is now as Congress debates how to address the budget caps limiting spending in the federal budget. I recognize we are in challenging times, and I anticipate that there will be even more challenges ahead. I will continue to monitor this very closely along with our federal team who is on the ground in Washington, D.C.