Message from the Dean

Welcome back! And a very special welcome to our new students, staff, and faculty. Summer 2007 has been—as our new president, Dr. Elson Floyd, says—a time to "quicken the pace." President Floyd's early decisions have emphasized securing vice presidential leadership for Student Affairs (now combined with Equity and Diversity), Information Technology, Extension and Economic Development, and (soon to be completed) selection of a president of the WSU Foundation (also vice president for university advancement). Most visible have been President Floyd's statements and actions related to the upcoming Campaign, a "Global Campus" featuring more extensive distance education opportunities, support for child care in Pullman and clinical services in Spokane, and reference to WSU's shared goal of quality in all that we do.

But there is a focus emerging whose visibility will start on campus and widen to impact many of our conversations internally and externally. The anticipated outcomes of these conversations relate directly to WSU's intent to achieve AAU (Association of American Universities) status. The focused conversations and resultant actions will include refreshing the university's strategic plan and then aligning the budget to match the plan. WSU is a land-grant university dedicated to societal service through teaching, research, and outreach. We have tended to try to be all things to all people. Breadth of programming will continue—fine universities are always comprehensive. But to convince a wider audience of our local-to-state-to-global impact and potential, we will need to select areas of pre-eminence. These areas, through investment, will achieve in ways that will increase the societal influence of every aspect of the institution and the value of a Washington State University education for every student.

Within the College of Liberal Arts, we completed the 2006–07 year with a nearly finished plan for 2007–2012 and a set of biennial budget materials very closely aligned to the plan. These documents are public and viewable in the For Faculty & Staff section of the college Web site. We need to fully reconcile these documents and will do so in the context of the University's refreshed strategic plan and a budget/program review. There will be aspects of program prioritization that will be uncomfortable and related budget actions that may extend the discomfort. In this process we will sustain our college's comprehensive message on the essential integration of undergraduate student education, graduate student mentoring, research and creative activity for the improvement of society, and public and professional service that ensure that our College of Liberal Arts practices not only critical thinking but effective interaction to achieve creative results.

Thus, the call to quality is not an elitist approach. Rather, we seek to broaden access to the best of our work, to ensure the presence of important cultural and social issues in our attention to economic development, and to communicate the opportunities we offer in ways that secure their enthusiastic acceptance in the community, state, region, nation, and world of which we are a part.

Because my time this particular week before classes included orientation for our college's new faculty, I want to express how deeply convinced I am about our potential for success with them among us. The new faculty are mostly early in their careers but clearly bring to us a very high level of expertise, openness to communication with students, staff, and colleagues, and attentiveness to opportunity for high-quality contributions. We will foster their efforts, of course, and will in turn draw from their youth and energy some measure of rejuvenation to increase our own dedication to tasks before us. I look forward eagerly to this year among you!

With thanks in advance for all that you will offer,

Erich Lear, Dean
College of Liberal Arts