WSU’s administration has failed. Take it from a professor: Kirk Schulz has to go | Opinion

I am writing to express concern about the health and well-being of Washington State University and stress the urgency of the need for new presidential leadership.

Since its inception over 130 years ago, WSU has served the nation and the state as a land grant university that provides well-educated farmers, teachers, media producers and presenters, engineers, scientists, pharmacists, veterinarians and other graduates whose skills contribute to a wide range of disciplines in the arts and humanities.

I have invested more than 50 years as a faculty member and administrator for an institution to which I am deeply committed. But I have witnessed WSU’s commitment to academic and research excellence falter under the current administration: WSU’s US News and World Report ranking has fallen 38 places. Enrollment at WSU has declined by an alarming 12% since 2018 while enrollment at peer institutions has increased.

Graduate education, an equally important aspect of WSU’s education mission, also has been adversely impacted. My Department of Chemistry provides a striking example; PhD student numbers have declined by 40% under this administration (from over 100 in 2016 to 60 in 2024). Drastic cuts in the number of teaching assistantships that support chemistry graduate students have reduced the size of our incoming class of graduate students. This, in turn, is impacting the more than 100 sections of undergraduate chemistry labs taught with the assistance of graduate teaching assistants, reducing them in both number and quality.

At the other end of the teaching/research operation, the number of tenure-track faculty in chemistry has fallen 40% between 2016 and today.

WSU is a research-intensive institution, and losing graduate students disproportionately affects our youngest faculty whose academic success and long-term employment at WSU depends upon performing high-quality research that is assisted and supported by graduate students.

The decline exemplified by chemistry extends to other programs throughout the university. Repeated budget cuts have reduced the ability to retain and recruit faculty. For example, the School of Molecular Biosciences (SMB), a highly productive research unit in the college of veterinary medicine, had nearly 30 tenured or tenure-track faculty members just 10 years ago. Failure to replace those who have retired or left has resulted in only 17 tenured/tenure track faculty members remaining in SMB, which resides in a relatively new research facility that now is only partially occupied.

The chemistry and SMB stories are not unique. Major issues in the allocation of resources have created problems in programs throughout the university.

Modest increases in private donations cannot offset recent budget reductions to academic departments. The problem is worse than it might appear. At the same time academic programs were being cut, the administration invested tens of millions of dollars in priorities that have not served the institution well, including expansion of the university administration and investments in an athletic program that is plagued by enormous financial debt.

Any quantitative comparison of WSU to our peers provides a clear demonstration of the shortcomings of the current administration.

For the sake of an institution I love, it is time for a change.

K.W. Hipps is a regents professor of chemistry, past chair of the Materials Science and Engineering program and past chair of the Department of Chemistry. He has been recognized as a WSU Outstanding Department Chair, and received the Sahlin Eminent Faculty award, along with other awards and honors.

This story was originally published March 6, 2024 at 8:00 AM.