Arts and Science Deans from western universities will hold their annual meeting on the campus of Washington State University in Pullman April 14th and 15th. The group calls itself “Pac 10 + 2” because the deans represent schools in the Pac-10, Hawaii and Alaska. Twenty-one deans and associate deans representing eight universities confirm plans to attend.
“All of these universities benefit from knowing more about each other,” said Barbara Couture, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts at Washington State. Dean Couture believes the association with fellow deans at peer institutions has better enabled her to make informed decisions about the College of Liberal Arts at WSU. “It has helped me work with our department chairs and directors to make sure that our programs compete well with other programs offered in the west.” This year Dean Couture of the College of Liberal Arts and Interim Dean Michael Griswold of the College of Sciences are co-hosting the program.
Tight state budgets are giving the conference an especially serious note this year. “We will be featuring discussion about strategic planning, competitive faculty hiring, and maintaining quality programs in an era of decreasing resources,” said Couture.
According to Couture, there is a benefit to hosting the group. “It is an opportunity to showcase our programs as they complement the programs of all the distinguished institutions in the PAC-10. It is particularly important in the area of graduate education given that each of the PAC-10 schools is a recruitment source for WSU.” Visiting deans will also experience some of the new and world-class aspects of WSU including the opportunity to tour the new shock physics building, a tour of the new digital recording studio in Kimbrough Hall, an overview of the new addition for the Edward R. Murrow School of Communication and a presentation on the University’s Integrated Marketing campaign.
