Office of the Provost
Accreditation
Multi-campus governance
Topic: How does WSU govern its multiple campuses?
Challenge/Opportunity: How does WSU manage its system as an integrated entity while at the same time taking advantage of the unique features of each location?
Recent actions/outcomes:
- Executive Policy 29 specifies leadership roles and responsibilities across the system.
- Faculty at non-Pullman locations are filling unit and college leadership positions.
- Deans and Provost Office personnel are making regular visits to other campuses.
- Contribution of local supervisors to faculty annual review is specified in the Faculty Manual and Executive Policy 29.
- The procedure for approving extension of a degree program to other campuses has been streamlined.
- Under President Schulz’s leadership the roles and responsibilities of vice presidents have been clearly defined to include oversight across the multi-campus system.
- Integrated undergraduate recruiting strategies have been developed to assure WSU is connecting with prospective students as a system and articulating the unique value proposition of each campus.
- Over the past decade, unique research strengths have been identified for each campus (e.g., WSU-Spokane – health sciences, WSU-Tri Cities – biofuels and wine science, WSU-Everett – advanced manufacturing).
Current/Future emphasis or next steps:
- The university is working to improve the ability to deliver instruction to multiple campuses. This includes investigation of better technologies for delivery of multi-site lectures, and revision of the current tuition model.
- The Office of the Provost is putting in place standards that will lead to broader and more consistent participation in graduate education by faculty at all campuses.
- Policies and practices are being developed to assure that faculty and students on all campuses have equal opportunities to participate and benefit from online education.
For more information:
NWCCU standards reference: Standard 2, 2.A.2