2009-11 budget announcement
June 16, 2009
Dear Colleagues, Students, Alumni, and Community Members:
The State of Washington and the nation are currently facing the worst economic circumstance since the Great Depression. The impact on Washington State University has been devastating, and it has been felt – in a very personal way – by all of us. The massive budget cut we must endure will result in reductions in jobs, programs, services, enrollments, and degree offerings. Virtually every aspect of WSU has been touched by this fiscal crisis.
It is now time for us to renew our commitment to building a stronger Washington State University deeply rooted in our obligation and responsibility to serve effectively our state as its exclusive land-grant research university. But, before we can devote full-time attention to this imperative, we must finalize our official response to the deepest cut to higher education in more than a generation.
The process we used was highly collaborative and exceedingly transparent. Over a dozen public forums were held, extensive meetings conducted with constituency groups, testimony provided to the various committees of the House and Senate, and presentations made to the Faculty Senate, Associated Students of Washington State University, Administrative Professional Advisory Council, and the Board of Regents. Additionally, regular meetings were held with the senior leadership of WSU—Deans, Chancellors, and Vice Presidents—to develop approaches, identify budget targets, review area proposals, and receive general feedback. The university’s Web site was used extensively throughout the process to provide regular updates and to receive broader university and community feedback. Over 10,000 comments have been offered on different phases of the budget proposals under consideration. The number of articles written and reported by the print and electronic media are too numerous to recount at this time. The Deans, Chancellors, Vice Presidents, other senior university officials, and the two of us met with virtually every student, legislator, faculty or staff member, alumnus/a, and community member who requested a meeting. Thousands of electronic messages received individual responses. In fact, the senior leadership devoted vast amounts of time, energy, and effort to address thoughtfully these types of questions and inquiries. The newly established University Budget Committee was invaluable in providing focus and perspective on the broader institutional impacts of budgetary decisions. More>>