EWU President’s Message on SRA

Message sent via email to EWU Faculty and Staff on Thursday, Sept. 26.

Dear Colleagues,

The strategic resource allocation (SRA) process is complete, and we are moving earnestly into the multi-year implementation of actions based on the recommendations and guided by the strategic plan and revised mission, vision, and values of Eastern Washington University. The SRA process, which was conducted by dedicated faculty and staff members, was truly enlightening and provided an evaluation of our campus that was honest, transparent, and exhaustive. I am grateful to all of you for your patience in our effort to ensure we are positioned to best serve our region and our students.

While the SRA was broken into two parts, academic programs and university services, we will now move forward as one university. Our strategic plan is in place, and it is imperative that it serves as a roadmap to align our decision-making in a way that keeps us on target and effective. The action plans for both academic programs and university services have outlined our intentions as resources become available and in alignment with the strategic plan. The upcoming adoption of a new budget model will allow us to reexamine the ways we manage our financial resources in a more equitable way across all divisions.

Current State

In academic affairs, work is underway to examine how best to invest, transform, or disinvest in programming. Following the joint agreement with administration and UFE, 27 programs chose to modify, whether through curricular reorganization and/or resource reduction. Finalized plans from those programs are set to be presented to Provost Anderson by November 1. Additionally, 55 programs mutually agreed to consolidate or eliminate their offerings. There are currently 20 programs working through the Program Review and Discontinuance (PRD) process as outlined in academic policy. We expect the Board of Trustees to take final action on discontinuance recommendations in February 2025. As has been stated, we do not expect that every program going through the PRD process will be discontinued.

Regarding university services, we are first and foremost proud to state that we will not experience any staff lay-offs. This was a priority for the executive leadership team and through numerous discussions and creation of efficiencies, we achieved our goal. As will be shown in the university services action report, the ELT has prioritized finding ways to maximize productivity, reduce redundancies, and build a better customer service and learning environment for the campus community and visitors. Some changes have already been deployed, including a new procurement process and centralized Eagle Services for mail, keys, Eagle cards, event planning, and parking. Additional investments and transformations will be implemented over multiple years through the normal budget process and in alignment with the strategic plan priorities.

Budgeting

We have been clear from the beginning of the SRA process that this was not conducted as a budget-saving exercise; its purpose was to evaluate our programs and resources to ensure we are operating in a responsible and forward-focused manner. With that being said, we did expect to see a 6-12% budget savings through this process. To that end, after careful examination of both academic programs and university services, we identified a savings of approximately 12% of the base budget, to be realized over the next 3-5 years. For fiscal year 2025, we expect to save about $3.5 million. This is a great first step toward financial stability. Once the new budget model is in place, which will provide a more holistic approach to revenue and expense management, and through a concerted effort to improve enrollment and explore other revenue streams, we anticipate a further reduction in the structural budget gap over the next five years.

Again, on behalf of the executive leadership team, we extend our heartfelt gratitude to the entire campus community through this SRA process. We do not expect to undergo this process again; however, we will be working to build a more dynamic culture of assessment. Together we will continue to fulfill our mission to provide an inclusive, equitable, and transformative learning experience, driving the pursuit of knowledge with affordable academic excellence at Eastern Washington University.

University Services Action Report

*The report is also available on the SRA Implementation webpage.

In gratitude,

Shari

Dr. Shari McMahan

President

Eastern Washington University