WSU President Kirk Schulz has provided an update on the ongoing efforts to reduce WSU’s budget in the face of declining state revenue due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a letter to the university community on Thursday, Schulz shared the steps taken since his request in May for units across the system to prepare plans for reducing their budgets by 10%. He expects to be able to outline the budget reductions and the reasons for them by mid-July.
“This is a team exercise, and we will stay focused on making decisions for the good of the entire WSU system,” Schulz wrote. “I deeply appreciate the efforts of the entire Coug community to once again roll up its collective sleeves to tackle this newest challenge.”
Between now and mid-July, possible scenarios based on available data will be developed by Vice President of Finance and Administration Stacy Pearson and her team. From there, a group of university leaders will evaluate options and develop a proposed set of budget reductions to meet the 10% goal.
That proposal will then be shared with leadership groups from across the WSU system for their feedback. An executive committee will review the feedback and make any changes deemed necessary before the university’s mid-July announcement.
The full letter is available online.
