Dear Faculty and Staff Colleagues:

We hope this email finds you well and enjoying the longer spring days. As promised during the recent State of the University Address, we are committed to providing regular updates about the evolution of the OneWSU system. This communication brings you up-to-speed on recent developments.

In early March, our chancellors, deans, and vice presidents participated in an exercise to help guide the next phase of development of the OneWSU system. Using that feedback and the input from numerous other discussions and questions received to date, we have created conceptual charts detailing WSU system- and campus-level functions. These charts are intended to … » More …

Get vaccinated

Starting today, eligibility requirements for the COVID‑19 vaccine have expanded. You may now be able to receive a vaccination based on your age, underlying health conditions, work setting, or other factors. Visit the COVID‑19 Vaccine Locator website to see if you qualify and to set up an appointment.

Infection rates are climbing

Getting vaccinated as soon as possible is more important than ever. Like many other communities in the U.S., Whitman County is experiencing a fourth wave of COVID‑19 infections.

WSU contact tracers are working with members of the University community who test positive, identifying close contacts and providing important health information. … » More …

This needs to stop. Now.

Student gatherings and parties, which ignored basic safety and health protocols, have directly resulted in an increase of COVID‑19 cases.

What you do this weekend, and for the next two weeks, will determine what happens from here.

No group gatherings. Wear masks. Stay home and call for medical care if ANY symptoms are present. Washington State health guidelines are still in effect, regardless of what is occurring in other states.

We will continue to respond to incidents where health guidelines are not being followed. Students who violate COVID‑19 restrictions will be subject to action under our student code … » More …

Dear Faculty and Staff:

I hope you feel the same sense of hopefulness and renewal that I do as spring draws near. Nature is reawakening. Warmer days and more daylight hours await. And after a long, often dark 13 months, our country appears to be getting the pandemic under control.

March is also when my thoughts turn to prepping the camper for the upcoming camping season—and when Noel and I begin to anticipate the summer trips we have planned to some of the nation’s national parks. I hope you are looking forward to activities in the coming months that spark similar feelings of joy.

Now that … » More …

A Recommitment Statement to WSU Veteran and Military-Affiliated Students
 

Dear Cougar Community:

We are proud to reaffirm our gratitude and commitment to the military-affiliated students of Washington State University. WSU has a rich history of honoring the service and sacrifice of our military-affiliated Cougs.

It began with the first cadets training on campus in 1892. After World War II and the GI Bill launched, WSU saw a significant increase of veterans attending WSU. That connection continues today, as hundreds of student veterans, active-duty military, guardsmen and reservists, and military-affiliated family members enroll throughout the WSU system from locations all around the world.

We affirm … » More …

Dear Faculty and Staff:

We sincerely appreciate your feedback regarding the evolution of the OneWSU system. In response to your comments, we are in the process of establishing a website to serve as a repository for initiative resources such as background information, guiding principles, frequently asked questions, and the anticipated timeline. In the meantime, please review answers to the most commonly asked questions.

As we move forward in our system’s development, we will do so in a way that engages all members of the WSU system and allows for an iterative process. We will continue to monitor your feedback carefully and will post responses and … » More …

Dear Faculty and Staff:

There’s no doubt navigating the challenges of this past year have been incredibly difficult for all of us. COVID‑19, the need to support students, family caregiving responsibilities, financial worries, systemic racism, and political division are among the stressors in our lives as we approach the one‑year mark of the pandemic.

Yet despite all of the hurdles, I remain impressed by the resilience, innovation, and Cougar spirit demonstrated across the system. I am so deeply appreciative, grateful, and proud of all that you have done to support the educational experience of our students.

Knowing that you may be feeling exhausted and overwhelmed, … » More …

Dear Faculty and Staff:

We hope this note finds you well as we all continue to deal with the challenges of COVID‑19.

It is encouraging to see signs of progress in the effort to get the pandemic under control in the United States—not the least of which is getting vaccines into the arms of Americans coast to coast. Viewed from a medical and scientific perspective, it is an amazing feat to develop and manufacture large amounts of an effective vaccine in such a compressed timeframe.

As the vaccine rollout proceeds, we will continue to make decisions guided by a safety-first mentality as we plan to » More …

To our WSU community:

We are shocked and horrified by the antisemitic graffiti and damage to the Holocaust memorial at Temple Beth Shalom in Spokane on Monday. While this desecration did not take place on our Spokane campus, we join our Jewish friends and neighbors as well as the greater community in denouncing these acts in the strongest terms possible. That this hate crime occurred just two weeks after International Holocaust Remembrance Day intensifies the depth of our anger.

As a Cougar Community, we do not tolerate hate or hate crimes. Acts and expressions of antisemitism undermine the educational process and directly contradict our core values. We … » More …

Dear Faculty, Staff, and Students:

“My humanity is bound up in yours, for we can only be human together.”

Those words of famed South African cleric and anti-apartheid and human rights activist Desmond Tutu seem particularly appropriate to ponder as we celebrate Black History Month throughout February.

For even as we recognize the enormous achievements and contributions of African Americans to culture, politics, and society at large this month, we must equally focus on the injustices that have hobbled and halted the path toward true freedom and equality. As Tutu suggests, embracing and equally valuing the dignity of all lives is the ultimate measure of our … » More …