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Washington State Initiatives as Provost and Academic Vice President, Washington State University (1991-96)

Washington State University (WSU), the state's land-grant university, in 1996 had 19,000 students, 4,800 faculty-staff and 75 locations throughout the state including three branch campuses, the Agricultural Research Center, Cooperative Extension and the Small Business Development Center. During his tenure at WSU, Thomas George was instrumental in moving the campus forward.

Chaired the Executive Budget Committee overseeing an annual operating budget of over $400 million plus a biennial capital construction budget as high as $100 million.

Played a key role in fund-raising and securing external grants for the university; e.g.,

• Helped secure major corporate gifts as part of a WSU Campaign for $250 million, most notably $7 million from Boeing.

• Served as main contact for a $1 million individual gift of the College of Liberal Arts.

• Helped increased annual external sponsored projects expenditures from $62 million in 1991 to $89 million in 1995 (and to $117 million with inclusion of federal Hatch dollars, state agricultural research appropriations, and funding from federal student programs).

• Coordinated the awarding of (state, federal, private) capital entities including: an $8 million growth wheat research facility; a $60 million veterinary medical hospital and animal disease biotechnology facility; a $26 million engineering teaching-research complex; and a $21 million building at the Tri-Cities branch campus to house the Hanford technical library collection.

Led WSU in planning activities; e.g.,

• Drafted the university's academic vision statement.

• Led the campus in strategic planning, enrollment management, and the reorganization of units to accommodate two biennia of state-imposed budget reductions.

Initiated the use of teaching portfolios in all tenure-promotion dossiers and created the Staff Senate.

Played an active role in biennial budget submissions to the state; e.g.,

• Drafted and presented the biennial budget requests to the Higher Education Coordinating Board, and defended their contents to the state's Office of Financial Management and Legislature.

• Led in coordinating the state's six four-year public institutions and community colleges to secure $42 million from the Legislature for upgrading the two-way digitized audio/video telecommunications system for delivering instruction statewide.

Secured approval for a Doctor of Pharmacy degree. Worked with the Faculty Senate to establish a four-year baccalaureate degree guarantee for entering first-year students.

Effected an administrative reorganization by eliminating two Vice Provost positions and creating a new Vice Provost for Human Relations and Resources assigned to enhance personnel services and establish renewed commitment to diversity.

Took steps to enhance diversity at the campus; e.g.,

• Worked with the Vice Provosts to increase the percentage of students of color from 9% in 1991 to 12% in 1995.

• Established a program for increasing the number of faculty of color.

• With the Associate Dean of the Graduate School, launched a mentoring program for junior faculty, with special emphasis on women and faculty of color.

Enhanced the teaching-learning environment through using technology to create Virtual WSU (in cooperation with the industrial partners Microsoft and Asymetrix).