Message From The Provost

There is a lot happening in Academic Affairs right now. We recently submitted our Year 7 Report to Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU). A huge thank you to Dr. Sue Monahan for leading that work, which involved working with quite a few of you. And, I’d like to also thank Dr. Katherine Schmidt for assisting Sue and others in writing the 97-page report. An NWCCU team will be on campus April 12-14.

We are excited about new academic programs that will be coming to WOU. The Division of Health and Exercise Science proposed a Master of Science in Human Wellness and Performance, which has been approved by WOU’s Board of Trustees and Oregon’s Higher Education Coordinating Commission and is anticipated to begin Fall 2023. An interdisciplinary group of faculty worked to develop a Bachelor of Arts and a minor in Ethnic Studies; these exciting proposals were approved at the last Board of Trustees meeting and will continue to work through state level approvals. Another interdisciplinary group of faculty developed both an undergraduate and a graduate level certificate in Healthcare Administration, both of which have been fully approved and will be available beginning Fall 2023. WOU is on track to begin our first professional doctorate program Fall 2024, when the first cohort of our Occupational Therapy Doctorate program is scheduled to begin. These are just some of the recent curricular developments, in addition to the many, many program modifications that have been submitted this year to maximize academic excellence and the relevancy of our curriculum. This work is often unseen and underappreciated, but I am incredibly grateful for the time and effort that the faculty have invested in our curriculum.

I hope you enjoy the longer days of daylight as we enter the last weeks of Winter quarter and look towards spring. While we still face enrollment and budgetary headwinds, I see brighter days ahead.

—Provost Rob Winningham