Making a successful flight

CHENEY – Webster's Dictionary describes the word "vision" as "a thought, concept or object formed by the imagination," or even as "a mode of seeing or conceiving."

Eastern Washington University President Dr. Mary Cullinan and members of the administration laid out a vision for the university at the May 29 board of trustees meeting that she described in a June 26 interview as "leaner and more focused." It's a vision - called "Eagle Flight Path" - shaped by a two-year internal process reexamining the university's programs and driven by changes in the landscape of higher education - including declining enrollments and more online options.

"That vision is broad," she said. "It's a vision to give a structure."

But vision is also what members of the Faculty Organization have accused Cullinan of lacking. In faculty evaluations conducted this February, 60 percent of those responding gave her a grade of "poor or needs improvement" in this category, leading to an eventual Faculty Organization Senate no-confidence vote on June 22.

Cullinan acknowledged there is a somewhat strained relationship with faculty right now, and said she plans on continuing to reach out to them to address their concerns. But the university is in a time of "fundamental change" in its mission and how it approaches it.

"Change is hard, and this is not just a tweaking," she said. "This is really a look at what we do as an institution. It's scary to people. It's scary to me."

The vision and the changes associated with it are centered in two board of trustee principles outlined in Cullinan's May 29 presentation: asking "Is what we are doing more important than what we should be doing?" along with the statement "We can't be all things to all people and interests."

University officials have been applying those principals to what they view as a changing higher education landscape, beginning with decreased state funding. According to information from the university, EWU saw a $51.8 million reduction in state support between 2009 – 2013 even as enrollment during that timeframe increased.

As enrollments flattened, some revenue returned in 2013 – 2015 but in 2015, tuition was cut 20 percent in response to the College Affordability Act and enrollments began to tail off, reducing tuition revenue. Eastern responded with 3 percent spending reductions in 2019 and 2020, along with using $3.5 million in reserves.

The university has also cited a decline in numbers of college-age students, although faculty members in recent presentations to the board have disputed that assertion, citing information that indicates a sharp growth in high school graduation trends beginning this year.

Information on the state's Office of Financial Management site shows a reduction in college enrollment numbers statewide beginning in 2010, with a quick uptick in 2015. That has slowed somewhat in the past 2-3 years, and the office noted after this 10-year "flattening" a "modest growth should resume."

Also included in Eastern's view is the need to create an affordable college education, an increase in bachelor of science degrees and the growth of online universities. All of this led to a movement to realign the university's departments and programs - a plan two years in the making and approved in February by the Faculty Senate, although Cullinan said many members are still not happy.

It's a work in progress, as evidenced by discussion at a board of trustees special meeting on July 6. But Cullinan believes the end result will be a university that changes from offering a comprehensive education to one tailored to the professional needs of students and the needs of the Eastern Washington region.

"In many ways, those two are aligned," she said. "Our students want jobs."

Some of that alignment was put into the works several years ago with EWU's partnership with Avista to build the Catalyst Building near Spokane's Riverpointe campus and the Interdisciplinary Science Center scheduled to open in winter 2021 in Cheney. Eastern's plans are to move many electrical engineering, computer science and design programs to Spokane, with business programs likely to follow at some point, Cullinan said.

That will leave space in Cheney for an expansion of mechanical engineering and other sciences. Cullinan also cited growth in the health field as another area Eastern is focused in meeting regional needs.

All of this encompasses a vision Cullinan wrote in her May 29 presentation that allows EWU to "offer affordable graduate, certificate and professional development programs" while also graduating students "with professional knowledge and skills enriched by the liberal arts." She said she knows people are uneasy about this new vision for the university, citing her own experience as an English professor at California State-East Bay in the 1980s, watching as fewer students declared English majors in favor of business degrees due to the changing landscape of the professional world at the time.

But she added she believes the "Eagle Flight Path" vision is important to maintaining Eastern's vitality.

"I am committed to keeping the health of this institutions," she said. "That has to be my paramount goal."

John McCallum can be reached at [email protected].