Washington State University’s new president is rapidly reversing predecessor’s administrative decisions

Washington State University’s new leader is doing away with one of the more controversial roles created by her predecessor.

The university announced Thursday the chancellor position for its Pullman campus will be dissolved Sunday, placing executive oversight of the campus back under the university president. The move is part of broader efforts under President Elizabeth “Betsy” Cantwell to “maintain a strong presence” on the system’s flagship campus, according to a WSU news release.

Cantwell said in a statement that as Washington’s land-grant university, WSU has “an obligation to operate in a way that best serves the communities of our state.

“As we look to optimize system functionality, this structural change will ultimately provide better support and alignment for our students, faculty, staff, and programs,” she said.

Pullman Chancellor Dave Cillay, who stepped into the role last December after serving in an interim capacity for six months, will retain his position as chancellor of the university’s online Global Campus. Cillay held both roles since inaugural Pullman Chancellor Elizabeth Chilton accepted an offer to serve as president of the University of New Hampshire in May 2024.

The release states Cillay and Pullman Provost and Executive Vice President Chris Riley-Tillman both recommended Cantwell dissolve the chancellor position. Students Affairs and the Jordan Schnitzer Museum of Art will be overseen by Riley-Tillman’s office, and other staff and departments previously under the chancellor’s office will be reincorporated into other aspects of the university system.

In a statement, Cantwell thanked Cillay for his time at the helm.

“WSU Pullman is stronger because of his leadership,” Cantwell said. “Chancellor Cillay and I have had extensive discussions about his vision for the WSU Global Campus, and I look forward to partnering with him on innovative new ways to expand its reach.”

The Pullman chancellor role was established in 2022 under Cantwell’s predecessor, Kirk Schulz, who spearheaded the university’s OneWSU initiative that sought to re-evaluate financials, administrative structures and the efficiency of various university systems post-pandemic and ahead of potential growth.

The university has campuses in Everett, Vancouver, Tri-Cities, Spokane, Pullman and online through the WSU Global campus. At the time of drafting the initiative plan, the university foresaw opening another campus in the state by 2026, and another overseas in the years to come.

The initiative sought a shift to a more encompassing view of the university as a multicampus system, evidenced by the removal of the president’s office from the Pullman campus, Schulz’s frequent trips around the state for fundraising and visits to the satellite campuses, and establishing a Pullman chancellor – the first time in more than 100 years that the university president did not oversee the campus or live in the Ida Lou Anderson house on the campus’ southwest corner.

The initiative received pushback from faculty, staff and former university administrators who saw the amalgamation of Schulz’s efforts as a waste of university funds and a loss of focus of the university’s core academic and research missions that run through the flagship campus. A group of faculty members circulated a letter calling for new leadership, citing those concerns, as the 2023-24 academic year came to a close. A month later, three former provosts authored an op-ed in the Seattle Times calling for a leadership change at WSU.

Cantwell has made quick work of reversing some of the more controversial aspects of the OneWSU initiative since taking office last month.

She immediately ended the rental agreement for her office in downtown Pullman, moved it back on campus and took up residence in the Ida Lou Anderson house.

Thursday’s announcement about the end of the chancellor position is one of the more significant moves thus far, and follows a decision by Cantwell earlier this month to move the Office of Research under her office’s jurisdiction.

Higher education institutions across the country are grappling with financial uncertainty as the Trump administration continues to cut funding for research, dismantle the Department of Education and target international students – a major economic driver for schools across the country.

Aside from financial concerns, the schools also are having to manage the administration’s repeated efforts to control and dictate their operations. In April, the American Association of Colleges and Universities issued an open letter signed by leaders at more than 600 schools committing to fighting the “unprecedented government overreach and political interference” together.

“Research is not an auxiliary function of our university – it is a central pillar of our land-grant mission,” Cantwell said in a release. “WSU’s research enterprise fuels discovery, attracts external investment, drives innovation in industry, and enriches our students’ academic experience. It deserves a seat at the table where university-wide strategic decisions are made.”

Notably, Cantwell had not joined other higher education leaders in signing on as of last week, but the presidents of Gonzaga University, Eastern Washington University and the University of Washington did.