Online Edition | Washington State University | Pullman, Washington | Friday, March 8, 2002

Provost’s perspective after 30 days
WSU must be a leader 
in knowledge economy
By Robert C. Bates, Provost/Academic V.P.

Change, a small word, but one with such great impact. It is much easier to be an advocate for change than to actually do it. Now my wife, Wendy, and I find our lives and work undergoing rapid change. With my coming to Washington State University as provost and academic vice president, we have new challenges and also many opportunities to expand our horizons as we work with you, the university community. Unlike those who react to change with uncertainty and fear, I find it keeps life exciting!

At WSU we use the slogan "World Class. Face to Face." It is fair to say that we are a world-class university. However, not all of our programs and support areas are full participants. WSU programs throughout the state have made considerable progress over the past decade. Still, I feel that we must accelerate our rate of change to engage and participate fully in the knowledge economy. To be a truly outstanding university, we must position ourselves to be cutting-edge in all three of the land-grant missions — teaching, research and service. We want to lead in the creation of new knowledge and its applications.

So, change for the sake of change? No! But orderly and thoughtful change — an emphatic yes! We have a process for that to occur, that is, the implementation of the university’s Strategic Plan. The plan, developed with input from a cross-section of the university, will guide the university to the outcomes to which it aspires.

The leadership demonstrated by President Rawlins in the short time he has been here has established a sense of urgency and a renewed commitment of purpose for all of us. To be a quality university, then, we must embrace the university plan and make our strategic decisions carefully within that guidance.

We are not immune to nor can we be isolated from the environment around us. In particular, we are severely affected by the cyclic nature of the economy. Further exacerbating the problem is the absence of long-term planning for higher education by state and federal government in most states, including this one. At present we find ourselves buffeted by such recent actions as the freeze on hiring, travel and equipment purchases.

Many of us have been through this before, so we know that we will survive this latest hurdle, too. At that same time, we must be more strategic in our decisions and actions. We must be more resourceful in generating the full budget. No one entity will provide all that we need to do our work. Beyond state funds, tuition collections, grants and contracts, we must also develop or enhance our efforts to raise private money and explore other entrepreneurial ways to increase revenues.

We must attract the strongest and brightest student body, both undergraduate and graduate. We must build our research and scholarly identity on the interests of the faculty who are already with us, and we must attract others, both junior and senior scholars to join those efforts. We must develop a greater spirit and practice of collaboration and cooperation in every facet of the university, but most notably in our research efforts, if we are to attract the federal and state funding that is so essential for vigorous high-quality programs.

Examples
From my first few weeks at WSU, it is readily apparent that this institution has its own unique culture and history. This is the dimension that makes WSU unique, while at the same time the University shares much in common with other universities that operate in the tradition of the national land grant system. As a land-grant university, we well understand that we have an obligation to this state to provide access to our educational offerings for all qualified individuals, and to share our research and scholarly findings in multiple ways with the public we serve.

Thus, I conclude that WSU will be a leader among leaders by providing a quality undergraduate experience that prepares students for both work and citizenship in the world community; by our nationally and internationally recognized faculty leaders demanding excellence as the minimum standard in basic and applied scholarship and research; by including diversity in all that we do, not on the margin, but through a commitment of all parts of the university to the centrality of diversity; by professional programs populating business and industry with WSU graduates who set the standard in this state and beyond by their superior job performance; and through a modern and responsive network of skilled workers in the vast and deep statewide agriculture enterprise.

I am proud to be a Cougar by prior study in Pullman as a graduate student, and especially so now returning to WSU as an administrator leading the academic agenda. Go Cougs!