PULLMAN – WSU President Elson S. Floyd sounded notes of determination and optimism in his annual State of the University address, delivered Thursday at the Bryan Hall theater on the Pullman campus.
“WSU is fundamentally strong and we will continue on the path of excellence and quality, even in these difficult economic times,” Floyd said, in his third State of the University address since becoming the university’s 10th president in May 2007. “I have no doubt that the core of our university will remain strong, with the unrelenting commitment of our faculty, our staff and our students.
“By any measure, this has been a challenging year for WSU, and the next several years will be equally challenging in light of the financial circumstances faced by our state, nation and arguably the world. But we have the intellectual capital that will sustain us during these times,” Floyd said.
His speech was videostreamed live and was made available at group viewing sites on the university’s campuses in Tri-Cities, Vancouver and Spokane.
The president highlighted a number of faculty research achievements and grant awards to WSU researchers, including the grants of more than $15 million for specialty crop research from the U.S. Department of Agriculture that were announced Wednesday.
He also discussed the university’s growth in enrollment, both in numbers of students and in diversity, despite rising tuition. He said university leaders are working with the Legislature on ways to improve the system for setting tuition in the state.
“Tuition policy currently is broken and we need to fix it before more students are priced out of higher education,” Floyd said.
Floyd is teaching a graduate seminar in higher education administration this fall in the College of Education, and he said his experience in the classroom has helped inform him about the issues facing faculty members every day. He said he will ask the provost and the Faculty Senate executive committee to appoint a committee to review the university’s classroom facilities and offer recommendations for improvements.
The president also addressed ongoing concerns about the university’s budget situation. He thanked the university community for its “civility, leadership, respect and insight” during the discussions leading up to the formulation of the university’s budget-reduction plan for the biennium. He said that he and the university as a whole are “budget-weary” and that he would not speculate about further potential budget cuts.
He described himself as “optimistically realistic” about the unfolding budget situation.
On other topics, he pledged that his administration would work closely with student leaders to address issues of safety on campus. He said the university would allocate $100,000 for new lighting on campus.
On other topics, he pledged that his administration would work closely with student leaders to address issues of safety on campus. He said the university would allocate $100,000 for new lighting on campus.
He also said the university would undertake a long-range master planning process for the Pullman campus that would look at water issues, sustainability, new construction and building preservation.
“We can become a much greener campus, a much greener university,” said Floyd, who added that it is important, as a land-grant university, for WSU to take a leadership role on this issue.
At the conclusion of the speech, the president answered questions from the Byran Hall audience.
