WSU’S Rawlins Names Interim Appointments New President Says It Is Too Early To Panic Over Budget Cuts

Hoping to shore up Washington State University’s administration, incoming president Lane Rawlins announced a series of interim appointments this week.

“These will stabilize the administration for the coming year, given the number of people who are leaving,” Rawlins said.

An exodus of upper-level administrators this year has left numerous key positions vacant. In a Tuesday news conference Rawlins appointed administrators to temporarily fill four vacant positions, and appealed to agitated faculty and staff not to panic over impending budget cuts.

Specifically, Rawlins emphasized that there has been no final decision on a controversial proposal to merge several branch libraries into the main system. “What we are trying to do is lower the panic level. We are trying to get it back into perspective,” Rawlins said. “There is not a final decision.”

Who will ultimately make up Rawlins’ administrative team has also not been finalized. The positions announced this week are only interim because Rawlins is expected to conduct national searches to fill them permanently. A search is already under way for a vice president for student affairs, and Rawlins said he’ll hire a new athletic director from a shortened list of finalists in a week or two.

The changes are:

Rom Markin, interim provost, resigned from that position to go back to teaching. The new interim provost will be Ronald Hopkins, a former WSU vice provost who retired in 1998 after seven years as provost at San Diego State University.

Sally Savage, currently vice president for administration and university counsel, will serve as interim vice president for university advancement, overseeing fund raising, media relations and alumni relations. Her old position will not be filled, and the Human Resources Services will report to someone else.

Mary Doyle, director of information technology since 1997, will also serve as interim director of the WSU libraries. Doyle will handle both jobs while a permanent library director is sought and an ongoing review of Information Technology continues.

Muriel Oaks, associate vice president for extended university affairs, will serve as interim vice president while Rawlins studies restructuring the division to make it more efficient.

Rawlins began in late May - a month earlier than expected - at the request of WSU’s Board of Regents. Retiring WSU President Sam Smith is now working part-time out of WSU’s office in Seattle, where he now lives.

Faculty and staff have become increasingly critical of a proposed $5 million budget cut - the latest in a series of annual academic cutbacks at the Pullman campus.

Rawlins himself isn’t pleased to be making cuts upon arriving at his new job. “That’s not really how I envisioned my homecoming to the Palouse,” he said Tuesday.

The cuts - which come when the state of Washington is enjoying relative prosperity - have piqued legislators’ interest as well.

“I heard from my colleagues some surprise that we are talking about cuts at a time that during the legislative session there were no cut discussions,” said Rep. Don Cox, R-Colfax.

Cox, also a WSU professor in the College of Education, met late last week in his legislative capacity with a campus group critical of the library budget cuts. Cox expressed the concerns to WSU officials, who on Tuesday released an announcement that consolidating the branch libraries - including one in the college where Cox teaches - was “on hold.”

Having a professor on staff with such legislative clout has given critics of the cuts a powerful voice, but Cox acknowledged some uncertainty about distiguishing between his two jobs.

“I guess I need to get a little more comfortable with where the proper role is in getting involved in these issues as a legislator and using what I know as a professor.”