PULLMAN, Wash. — Washington State University’s Board of Regents will hold a regularly scheduled meeting March 14 on the Pullman campus. The 9 a.m. meeting will be in Lighty Student Services Building, Room 405.
Regents will consider a number of recommendations concerning the principles for the newer campuses in Spokane, Tri-Cities and Vancouver. After more than a year of study with participation by community and university leaders, a report evolved and recommendations were made concerning the ability of the newer campuses to serve academic needs of their communities.
Among the recommendations affecting the board is that a regent be assigned to each campus to attend advisory board meetings and work directly with the president and campus executive officer on governance matters related to the individual campus. The CEOs should have a seat at the regents meetings. A regents committee should be established to consider the issues and action items related to the campuses.
Under administrative processes, it is recommended that the newer campus CEOs be named chancellors and job descriptions be reviewed to grant them greater authority to administer the campuses under the direction of the president and Board of Regents. A President’s System Council is recommended, to include at first the president, provost and chancellors. Their role would be to deal with system-wide administrative, legislative and planning issues.
A Provost’s System Council, too, is recommended. It would be chaired by the provost and include appropriate vice provosts and the chancellors or their designees. The council would consider academic plans, programs and issues for the WSU system.
Also recommended is a System’s Council for Administration and Operations to consider issues in all other areas. It would include all university vice presidents, counterparts of each campus and other officers as necessary.
Under academic programs, it is recommended that academic units may be established on any of the campuses in the WSU system, and program administrators may reside on any campus and have responsibility for programs on other campuses. It is recommended that doctoral education be a system-wide responsibility and not a function of location. Program and especially lower division coursework at the WSU campuses shall be closely coordinated with other institutions, particularly with community colleges.
Under student affairs, students on each campus should reviewthe allocation and level of student fees should be reviewed. Another recommendation supports a system-wide student council be reconstituted to determine which issues students might wish to address as a system. Separate students bodies on each campus, however, should be recognized as such.
The regents also will hear other recommendations related to the different identities of each of the newer campuses.
Also among the action items are name changes for two departments. With regents’ approval, the Department of Rural Sociology would be called the Department of Community and Rural Sociology. The name change will reflect more accurately the teaching, research and extension interests of the department as it has evolved into a broader orientation with an emphasis on communities and interactions within the communities.
Provost Robert Bates said the Department of Comparative American Cultures would be called the Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies. The change is needed to reflect the national nomenclature within the discipline, the provost said.
Regents also will hear reports from their committees as well as from university officials.
On Thursday, March 13, regents will participate in study groups on enrollment, and extension and outreach in the morning. During the afternoon, board members will meet with university officials in regents committee meetings.
