CWU TRUSTEES BOARD RETREAT AGENDA July 16, 2026
THURSDAY, JULY 16, 2026
Location: Moehring Event Center
8:30-9:30
Executive Session Participants: Trustees, President (Student trustee does not join) As allowed by RCW 42.30.110
• (1)(g) To … review the performance of a public employee
9:30-9:45
Break
9:45-10:00
Call to order (Jeff Hensler)
• Approval of the Agenda • Approval of May meeting minutes • Official Communications • Public Comment
10:00-11:00
President’s Report
11:00-12:00
Campaign Goals and Update
12:00-1:00
Adjourn for lunch
1:15
Call to Order
Board Committee Reports
1:15-1:30
Executive Committee and Governance
1:30-2:30
Academic Affairs Committee
2:30-3:00
Finance and Administration Committee
3:00-3:15
Student Engagement and Success Committee
Shared Governance Leaders Updates
3:15-4:15
4:15
Expected Adjournment for the day
4:20-5:15
Executive Session
Last updated July 7, 2026
CWU Trustees Retreat Agenda for July 16
Participants: Board only (Student trustee does not join) As allowed by RCW 42.30.110 • (1)(g) To … review the performance of a public employee
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Central Washington University Board of Trustees July 16, 2026
ACTION – Approval of the minutes of the regular meetings of May 21-22, 2026
We recommend the following motion:
The Board of Trustees of Central Washington University hereby approves the minutes of the regular meetings of May 21-22, 2026.
Submitted:
Dania Cochran Chief of Staff
Approved for Submittal to the Board:
Jim Wohlpart President
Board of Trustees Minutes Board Meeting Moehring Event Center
May 21-22, 2026
Draft
MAY 21, 2026 EXECUTIVE SESSION
The board convened in executive session at 10:00 a.m. for 60 minutes for the purpose of reviewing the performance of a public employee, per RCW 42.30.110 (1)(g). The executive session ended at 11:00 a.m. Trustees and Staff Present: Jeff Hensler, Chair Gladys Gillis, Chair Elect Erin Black, Past Chair (Zoom) Jeff Charbonneau Ray Conner, Trustee Zabrina Jenkins, Trustee (Zoom) Robert Nellams, Trustee Jim Wohlpart, President Joel Klucking, Board Treasurer and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Dania Cochran, Board Secretary and Chief of Staff Ellen Evans, Assistant Attorney General
BOARD MEETING Trustees Present Jeff Hensler, Chair Gladys Gillis, Chair Elect Erin Black, Past Chair Jeff Charbonneau Ray Conner Vy Frolov Zabrina Jenkins (Zoom) Robert Nellams Staff to the Board: Jim Wohlpart, President Patrick Pease, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs
Joel Klucking, Board Treasurer and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Veronica Gomez-Vilchis, Interim Vice President for Student Engagement and Success Dania Cochran, Board Secretary and Chief of Staff Ellen Evans, Assistant Attorney General Kim Dawson, Executive Assistant to the President/Board of Trustees Executive Staff: Tishra Beeson, Dean of Undergraduates Studies Ruben Cardenas, Associate Vice President, Student Engagement and Success
Hung Dang, Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management Elvin Delgado, Associate Vice President, Faculty Success Rodrigo Renteria-Valencia, Dean of Graduate Education, Research, and Strategic Initiatives
Chair Hensler convened the board meeting at 11:10 a.m.
Approval of Agenda Motion 26-17: Mr. Nellams moved that the Board of Trustees of Central Washington University approve the agenda of the meetings of May 21-22, 2026. Ms. Gillis seconded the motion, which the board unanimously approved. Approval of Minutes Motion 26-18: Mr. Nellams moved that the Board of Trustees of Central Washington University approve the minutes from the regular meetings of February 19-20, 2026, and the minutes from the special meetings of March 20, 2026, and March 26, 2026. Ms. Black seconded the motion. The motion was approved. Official Communications Since the last meeting, the board received eleven communications, which were included in the briefing materials: The Board acknowledges receipt of the following communications: 1. A collection of five articles published in the CWU Observer, dated February 12, 2026, shared by Professor Dominic Klyve. 2. Letter from CWU’s Foundation Board Executive Committee, dated February 13, 2026, in support of President Wohlpart’s leadership at CWU. 3. Email from Natashia Lindsey, Faculty Senate Chair, dated February 18, 2026, regarding February’s Board of Trustees agenda packet. 4. Email from Dania Cochran, Chief of Staff and Secretary to the Board, dated February 19, 2026, responding to Natashia Lindsey’s email of February 18, 2026. 5. Email from Natashia Lindsey, Faculty Senate Chair, dated February 19, 2026, regarding results of the faculty vote of no confidence. 6. Email from Gary Bartlett, Professor of Philosophy, dated February 22, 2026, responding to the Board of Trustees email of February 20, 2026. 7. Email from Robert Hickey, retired CWU Professor of Geography, dated February 23, 2026, regarding the vote of no confidence of President Wohlpart. 8. Email from Ronald Erickson, CWU Alum and former CWU Board of Trustees Chair and member, dated February 23, 2026, regarding the vote of no confidence in President Wohlpart. 9. Letter from Bryan Elliott, Chairman, Kittitas County Conference of Governments, dated February 19, 2026, and received March 4, 2026, regarding the vital partnership between KCCOG and CWU. 10. Email from Concerned Faculty (Dominic Klyve, Tim Englund, R. Shaffer Claridge, Allyson Rogan- Klyve, Hope Amason), dated March 19, 2026, regarding CWU faculty concerns following vote of no confidence. 11. Report from Faculty Senate Executive Committee, dated May 8, 2026, regarding the Faculty Senate Quarterly update to the Board and inclusion of the Vote of No Confidence petition.
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Chair Hensler noted for the record that the board has acknowledged receipt of the Vote of No Confidence petition, and it has started a very productive conversation on campus. Trustees are learning a lot about the institution. Now that the petition is public, the board would like to report that they disagree with several of the items in the petition, and based on the listening that has been happening, the board has developed a plan to move the institution forward. The board hopes and expects everyone to be part of the plan to move forward. Public Comment Professor R. Shaffer Claridge, Department of Law and Justice, made public comment on student success at CWU. Dr. Dominic Klyve, Department of Mathematics, made public comment about the ongoing need for focused leadership and a clear plan going forward. Shared Equity and Belonging Leadership Update Elvin Delgado, Interim AVP for Faculty Success, and Ruben Cardenas, Interim AVP for Student Development and Belonging, explained that the work of the Shared Equity and Belonging Committee aligns well with CWU’s vision and mission, specifically the unifying value of student success in the strategic plan. The committee will have a couple of new members due to folks leaving. AVP Cardenas reiterated that although people come from different divisions and departments within the university, members are being asked to show up in a way that they are thinking institutionally. Infusing equity and belonging into the entire campus community is a big undertaking. The committee revisited their charge letter at their March meeting and focused on trust building, vulnerability, and reaffirming their shared purpose. One key practice that was introduced was beginning each meeting with cultural introductions. These introductions allowed members to share who they are outside of their roles or titles. This helps dismantle the stories we sometimes tell ourselves. The committee has one remaining meeting this spring, where they will meet with the Supervisor Summit facilitators: Dr. Elizabeth Holcombe and Dr. Angel Gonzalez. The goal is to share the committee’s perspective with the facilitators to help them maximize their time on campus during the Supervisor Summit. The Summit will provide an opportunity to engage supervisors across campus in professional development on shared equity leadership. The facilitators will also deliver a keynote and lead a workshop. Additionally, the facilitators will meet with shared governance groups including ASCWU, exempt and classified staff, union representatives, ADCO, the Faculty Senate Executive Committee, and the Executive Leadership Team. To move this work forward, we need to accept differences and different perspectives and opinions and start thinking about what is best for the institution and students. The committee’s overarching goal is to develop a path forward for CWU where equity drives institutional decision-making, where students, staff, and faculty all feel a strong sense of belonging. Leading into the next academic year, the committee hopes to develop a deeper understanding of CWU’s current culture and begin to identify and shape capacity-building opportunities with a potential opportunity to present at the Academic Affairs Forum and to continue engaging in shared equity leadership work during the State of the University Address.
The morning session adjourned at 11:38 a.m.
Board members attended lunch with ASCWU Board of Directors at 12:10 pm. No business was conducted.
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The afternoon session reconvened at 1:10 pm.
Board Committee Reports • Executive Committee and Governance o Committee Report
Trustee Gillis reported that the executive committee has received an update on Foundation work and the Comprehensive Campaign, which will launch the public phase in the fall. They have received updates on Capital Projects. The grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony of the Multicultural Center was April 10. Trustee Jenkins spoke at the event and was recognized for the naming of the Zabrina Jenkins Family Welcome Lounge inside the Multicultural Center. The North Academic Complex Grand opening is October 2. We continue to look for funding at the state and federal levels for geothermal. The executive committee has also received updates on Strategic Enrollment Management, Shared Equity and Belonging, and Adaptive University. In addition, they receive regular updates on budget, enrollment and recruitment, strategic plan initiatives, and litigation. The executive committee has participated in several individual meetings with departments and groups and hosted three listening sessions. An email was sent to the campus yesterday regarding updates on the Board Action Plan and next steps. Trustee Black has suggested that the board may want to think about hosting listening sessions on a more regular basis in the future. Trustees Hensler and Gillis attended the Association of Governing Boards Conference in March with President Wohlpart and Chief of Staff Cochran. It was very educational and time well spent. Trustee Charbonneau reported that the Board of Trustees Academic Affairs Committee (BOT AAC) was asked to work with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee (FSEC) on aligning the Faculty Code with the Shared Governance document, so they have been doing a lot of work on that and building trust within the group. The BOT AAC and the FSEC have been meeting every two weeks to try and unpack definitions of what shared governance looks like and what it looks like moving forward. Understanding that we could use some help with definitions of shared governance, the board reached out to Steve Bahls from the Association of Governing Boards. He will be helping us with this. He is very experienced in this area. Dr. Bahls has been a faculty member, served as a university president, and has been a consultant to other universities that have gone through similar processes. Dr. Bahls joined the last BOT AAC and FSEC meeting to start the process of helping us understand shared governance. Trustee Charbonneau added that Dr. Bahls is not coming in to fix the problem. He will be helping us walk through the process together and help us understand what shared governance can look like for CWU. All the work that the group is doing is available to review on the SharePoint site as well. Trustee Gillis clarified that that Dr. Bahls was not selected through the usual RFP process. We collected names of vendors that could potentially deliver the service and Faculty Senate assisted in identifying these vendors as well. Then Dr. Cochran reached out to the agencies and asked for proposals. We received three responses. o Provost’s Report Provost Pease gave an update on where we are with class scheduling. The goals of structured scheduling were identified to improve processes to increase retention and persistence rates, support balanced course enrollments across the schedule, improve in-person opportunities for residential students, enhance orientation and increase enrollment, and clarify academic pathways and planning for students. The consultation process included three working sessions with associate deans and the Office of the Registrar to develop the first draft. The chairs were also consulted during this time. A two-hour • Academic Affairs Committee o Committee Report
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workshop was held with all department chairs to collect their input. A third and fourth version of the structured scheduling was then shared with chairs, Registrar’s Office, and deans for refinement to ensure all previous feedback was addressed. Then Faculty Senate, ASCWU Board of Directors, Senate, and the Equity and Services Council were consulted. Basically, what the group got to was a return to past practices of providing guidelines. Those include departments still build their own schedules, guidelines create a common framework, bottlenecks and course overlaps were reduced, improved predictability and transparency for student, advisors, and faculty planning, and finally, the guidelines balance flexibility with simple, consistent rules that are easy to follow and apply across campus. Scheduling Initiative Update Joey Thornton, Associate Registrar, gave an update on the academic scheduling guidelines. He explained that they are trying to get down to where things are more consistent for our students. Despite fewer total class sections offered in 2026, there has been modest increases in 8:00 am class offerings, a 10 percent increase in 9:00 am course offerings, a ten percent increase in 3:00 and 4:00 pm course offerings, which is helping with bottle necks and providing more options for students throughout the entire day. Next steps in this process include consultations and discussions about course component instructional time commitments with department chairs, distribution to the campus community of a comprehensive report of the fall term schedule, one on one consultations with departments to find scheduling solutions to issues isolated in specific departments/programs, and close monitoring of enrollment activity in off-peak hour course offerings. Online Report AVP Delgado explained that earlier this academic year, he was given a charge to do a deep dive to try and understand the structure and entire online education ecosystem for CWU. He approached this project as a geographer and as a physiographic analysis, trying to understand the landscape and the different forms and mountains and topography with regard to online education. He added that this work aligns with the unifying value of student success and the core value of engagement. The reason for the development of this report was to assess the current state of online education at CWU. To examine the structure, model, policies, enrollment trends, institutional practices, and financial performance, which would lead to identifying our institutional strategy for online. Currently, we have 24 undergraduate online program offerings, 17 graduate programs with various specializations, 43 online minors, 45 online certification and endorsement programs, and 1 competency-based degree program. In the fall of 2025, our total undergraduate headcount was 7527 and from that 822 students were online, which is about 11 percent. Graduate headcount was 518 and from that 223 students were online, which is about 43 percent. One immediate issue of the deep dive identified that we have a lack of institutional strategy for online education. Some of the challenges and recommendations for further exploration include: data limitations and enrollment classifications, fragmented student service campus designation processes for online learners, excess of online offerings for residential students, inconsistent availability of online general education courses, lack of dedicated virtual advising support for online students, lack of coordinated and accessible support services for online learners, absence of required training standards for online instruction, inconsistent peer review evaluation practices for online instruction, gaps in review and notification processes for new online program, fragmented marketing, analytics, and information management for online programs, lack of policies, procedures, and standards for regular and substantive interaction in online courses, enhancing community and sense of belonging for online students, students use Generative AI in ways that may compromise academic integrity in online classes, and recent ghost students using Generative AI in online classes to receive financial aid. Immediate solutions that have been made include changes to the Student Service Campus policy and identifying who has access to edit campus service change requests in the system. With regard to inconsistent
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availability of online general education courses, Dr. Beeson, Dean of Undergraduate Studies, has developed a General Education Seat Projection Model with modality recommendations, which colleges and departments can then use this data to inform how they make decisions to schedule online general education courses to meet the demand. Information Services, the Registrar, and Admissions are working together on technology-based tools to verify applications and student identity to assist with Generative AI issues. In the fall, we will launch a process to develop how we are going to address these issues, having full consultation and bringing the people who have the expertise with this to address the issues moving forward. o AUC Update AVP Renteria-Valencia gave an update on the Adaptive University Initiative (AUC). He reminded the group that all the AUC information is available to view on the SharePoint site. AUC is celebrating one year of institutional partnerships for innovation. The Career Champions Cat-Team submitted their final report recently. The charge of this Cat-Team was to investigate the viability of a Career Champions program at CWU, specifically aiming to equip faculty, staff, and administration with tools, language, and training to actively support students’ career development across academic and co-curricular settings. This is currently a national conversation. After research, consultation, and feedback, the Cat-Team recommends developing a scalable, phased implementation model that integrates Career Champions into advising, curriculum, student employment, and co-curricular programs while ensuring strong collaboration with Career Services. The recommendation is to start a small pilot program that would focus on the development of a framework for the program. The final report has been delivered to the VP for Student Engagement and Success for potential implementation. The First-Year Experience Cat-Team had a charge to develop a comprehensive, intentional, integrated, and student-centered first-year experience at CWU. The team was charged with also researching best practices to recommend possible first-year experience models that could be implemented at CWU. The final report will be available in the shared drive for feedback until June 1, and the final report will be submitted to the VP for Academic Success for potential implementation. AVP Renteria-Valencia added that each Cat-Team has a consultation log. The log includes the groups that were consulted, the purpose, the conversation, the key topics, and the type of conversation that occurred. He reminded the group that the AUC is the co-facilitator producing space for these initiatives to happen. Faculty and staff are leading these initiatives. Board members reported that during their listening sessions there seemed to be a perception that faculty and staff were not included in this process even with the communication list and consultation log that is available to everyone, so the board wanted the group to be mindful of this perception. The General Education Cat-Team was charged with developing recommendations to strengthen the university’s General Education program as part of an ongoing cycle of assessment and intentional renovation. The guiding principles included student success, campus wide consultation, holistic approach that considers the full ecosystem of Gen Ed delivery (program design, assessment, capacity management, scheduling, and cost). They have just finished all their consultations and are drafting their final report now. The final report will be delivered to the VP for Academic Success for potential implementation.
• Finance and Administration Committee o Committee Report
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Trustee Conner reported that the Finance and Audit Committee met with VP Klucking’s team and got updates and received information on first time in college recruiting trends, as well as a predictive model that was developed by Erin Craig, Professor and Chair of the Physics Department. The model indicates relatively flat enrollment for the foreseeable future. Obviously, will require us to make some adjustments to the budgets and to be flexible in this new reality. Year-to-date revenues and expenses were reviewed and are generally on target. The annual debt policy report indicated that the university has complied with all elements of the policy and required payments and disclosures. The committee also received routine updates on capital planning, information security and a recent security breach. o Budget Presentation VP Klucking gave an update on state/local revenue funds, which are on track and coming in as expected. Expenses right now are favorable. In the System revenues (Housing and Dining), we will end up about the same as last year. System expenses will end where we expected once we make our bond payments. The budget development team has been meeting since January to build our budget for FY27. The board will see a second draft at the July Retreat and will vote on the final budget in October. They build the budget in January. PBAC meets a minimum quarterly, and budget drivers are shared. VP Klucking shared an enrollment projection model that goes out to 2030, and we stay the same for several years. The key message here is that we will not get back to 10,000 students. This is why we are planning for 8200 students in the fall of 2026. AVP Klucking reminded the group of the fund split. The state used to fund 100 percent of our wage increases. Now they only fund 59 percent, so our share (41%), is roughly equal to our annual structural deficit ($2-$3M). An early look at the FY27 state/local budget includes state funding, tuition for 8200 students, 100 student contingency, filled positions, and approved vacant positions. It does not include salary savings. The system budget for FY27 includes room and board for 2075 students, filled positions, and approved vacant positions. It does not include salary savings or an enrollment contingency. AVP Klucking then gave a quick summary of the tuition discounting that CWU does. Some waivers are state mandated by RCW. For instance, children of disabled veterans or deceased veterans, firefighters, etc., which we are required to provide. We also offer merit-based waivers for recruitment and retention purposes, non-resident waivers for domestic and international students, and then we have some discretionary waivers for Athletics, need-based, community match, and employee dependent programs. Trustee Nellams reported that Student Engagement and Success continues to focus on student belonging, persistence, wellness, and career readiness through coordinated support services and engagement activities and initiatives. To highlight a few, in belonging, Trustee Jenkins participated in and celebrated the ribbon cutting ceremony for the Multicultural Center and the naming of the Zabrina Jenkins Family Welcome Center. Student engagement remains strong. Approximately 424 students participated in the ASCWU elections. The CWU Mariner’s Night was a huge success. Over 3000 tickets were sold. CWU’s Annual Spring Day of Service was held in April, and 126 volunteers participated in that event. The Veteran and Military Connected Student Center hosted the first Kittitas County Veterans Resource Fair and proceeded our process over 245,000 in post 9/11 GI Bill payments this spring. On the Health and Wellness front, the demand for health and wellness services remained high, particularly in counseling, case management, and prevention services. Federal grant programs continue to support first generation migrant and low-income students through academic support, leadership development, and college access initiatives. • Student Engagement and Success Committee o Committee Report
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o SEM Update Interim Dean Beeson reminded the group that the Strategic Enrollment Management Plan (SEM) was developed over 18 months ago, and they are now moving into the implementation phase. Today, they will be focusing on student retention and success. AVP Dang reported that the target for fall 2026 for first time in college students is 1613. Comparing 2025 to the current numbers in 2026, applications are up by five percent and confirmations are up by three percent, so that indication is very positive. It’s not going to make a huge increase compared to last year, but it is going to increase to about 20-25 students. Orientation numbers are up 17 percent, and housing is down four percent. The transfer target for Fall 2026 is 799. Applications and admits are down by two percent, but confirmations are up by eight percent. Transfer students tend to apply a little bit later, so we expect that number to continue to increase and go up over the next month or so. AVP Hung added that what we do between now and 2030 will determine whether we narrow the gap. Retention is one way to narrow this gap with student success programs, structural changes, and strategic investments. Interim Dean Beeson reported that in the student success program area, some options include academic recovery, emerging scholars, faculty professional development and summer Bridge and Forge programs. Some of the structural changes they are looking at include conditional admissions, transparency in cost (timely posting of tuition and housing fees), academic requirement report, and consolidated administrative holds. Strategic investments include retention specialists, Students First Center, student success date analyst, and student success and retention funds. AVP Dang summarized the presentation with one statement, “We control who we enroll.” Trustee Charbonneau asked about a report on early intervention systems for first time in college students at a future meeting and a discussion/report about what it means to be college ready.
Chair Hensler thanked the committee chairs and executive leadership team members for their reports.
Artificial Intelligence Presentation Provost Pease introduced Chad Tester, Director of the Multimodal Education Center, who presented to the group on Building AI Literacy at CWU: Multimodal’s Approach to Faculty Development and Student Readiness. He began by explaining that CWU’s Multimodal Education Center embraces the vision that technology empowers learning. The center provides instructional and multimedia technologies, support, and training for all CWU students, faculty, and staff. Their goal is to create opportunities for exploration of emerging technologies, digital media, and innovative learning spaces. Multimodal hosted their first AI workshop in November 2022, 12 days before the public launch of ChatGPT 3.5. In January of 2023, Multimodal formed an AI working group with five faculty from Philosophy, Music, Math, Geography, and Chemistry. The group met weekly on the potential of AI. They shared resources, tried understanding the dangers of AI, and brainstormed about what they needed to know now about this technology and what they would need to know about the future of this technology. Winter and Spring of 2023, they added additional faculty from across the campus to the AI Working Group. They offered workshops, two faculty open forums, and added to Multimodal’s Instructor Resources. The following academic year 2023-2024, the focus remained on academic integrity and preventing AI use. A “State of AI in Higher Education” workshop was launched and has now become an annual tradition every fall quarter. The conversation around AI began to shift from how we stop students from using AI to what we can do with AI. In January of 2024, Governor Inslee issued Executive Order 24-01, directing state agencies to adopt generative AI ethically, transparently, and responsibly. Public universities were expected to align when AI is used in administrative operations, advising, analytics, or automated decision systems, and vendor-provided AI tools. Washington state does not yet have a formal higher education AI policy, but a statewide AI Task Force is expected to deliver its final report in July 2026. CWU created its own Generative AI Taskforce in the summer of 2024. The group is led by Ginny Tomlinson and has shaped the AI guidance which we currently operate under. In 2024-2025, Mr. Tester explained that he deliberately began to shift his work
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from how to prevent AI use to how do we prepare everyone to use AI well. He expanded workshop offerings to include understanding CWU’s AI guidelines, exploring AI across disciplines, accessibility applications, sustainability concerns, and talking with students about AI. This academic year 2025-2026, Mr. Tester shifted his focus to AI Literacy for both faculty and students. He partnered with a startup company named LM Studio to pilot the educational use of AI models locally and not through cloud processing, which eliminated some of the concerns around environmental impacts of data centers and issues of privacy and data minding. He is currently in the process of creating an AI computer lab on campus at the Multimodal Education Center. In addition, he began discipline-specific programming this year with a professional development series for the College of Business covering prompt engineering, AI literacy and courses, and assessment redesign. To increase opportunities for faculty and students to gain AI-specific skills, Mr. Tester built a formal AI Literacy Essentials workshop series grounded in four pillars: • What genAI is and how it works • How to critically evaluate genAI output • Effective and efficient use of genAI • Ethical and environmental concerns involving genAI Looking ahead, the centerpiece of this year’s AI literacy focus is on the AI Literacy Institute. It launches in June. It condenses the five-week series into two focused immersive days with faculty. In partnership with the Provost’s Office, Multimodal has secured funding to offer stipends to faculty badge earners who complete course redesigns integrating AI literacy for students. This approach builds networks and departmental expertise and creates tangible, ready-to-use course deliverables. It also aligns directly with CWU’s strategic plan across student success, engagement, belonging, and stewardship. Shared Governance Leaders Updates Chair Hensler reminded the group of the parameters for their updates: What key initiatives are you working on to move the mission, vision, and strategic plan forward? What metrics are you using to measure success? What are the next steps to move this forward and what is the time? • ASCWU Board of Directors ASCWU President Hondo Acosta-Vega began by explaining that the ASCWU Bylaws that are their governing documents are approved by the branches of student government, but the revisions to the ASCWU Constitution are required to be approved by the Board of Trustees. The constitution can only be modified once per year, which is done during spring elections. Basically, the ASCWU Constitution is the “what” and the Bylaws are the “how.” ASCWU President Acosta-Vega gave a summary of the revisions in the Constitution, which the Board of Trustees will vote on at their meeting on Friday, May 22. Key initiatives of the ASCWU Student Government include reconstruction of all governing documents using the shared governance document, focusing more on student engagement and being more visible on campus and more engaged in the community, being more accessible with ADA compliance in their office, and revising their website so information can be found easily. The group is also trying to find ways of navigating budget cuts by rethinking the work. Wrapping up the year, they are hosting student appreciation events, transitioning the new student government positions on June 16, and working on building an alumni association for ASCWU Board of Directors.
• Faculty Senate
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Professor Lindsey thanked the board for inviting the group to sit at the table. She added that the Faculty Senate Executive Committee provided a report that was included in the meeting packet. She began by reporting that Faculty are involved in the mission, vision, and strategic plan work every day. They sit with students in several health and wellness ways from assisting with family issues, financial issues, and mental health issues. In addition, the Faculty Senate recently led, in partnership with the United Faculty of Central and the Academic Department Chairs, a food drive for the Wildcat Pantry. Faculty Senate as a representative body, are the voice and advocate for faculty. The leadership team of the Senate spends a lot of their efforts elevating the concerns of faculty at large to the administration to try and find solutions. Faculty Senate is also integral to the functioning of the institution, to curriculum in general education, policy making and revisions, evaluations, and assessment. Next academic year, Senate will lead the efforts in the revision of general education to streamline and make smoother pathways for transfer students, to simplify advising for general education, and to improve management of the general education program. The Senate Curriculum Committee is currently exploring three-year degree options, including accelerated degrees, dual degree programs, and reduced credit programs. They are currently surveying faculty now and will continue this work in the fall. They have also invested a tremendous amount of time this year engaged in shared governance, attempting to elevate the voices of faculty in shared governance. Professor Lindsey added that one of their biggest measurements of success is when the consultative process helps craft a stronger artifact. Another measurement of success is by the trust that the FSEC has been shown by faculty. The FSEC hopes for genuine consultation and collaboration moving forward in the challenges facing the university. Professor Lindsey added that earlier consultation in processes would be helpful. • Employee Classified Council Josie Rollins, Chair of Employee Classified Council, explained that this group is a volunteer organization rather than a representative body. One of the primary functions of the council is to encourage appreciation and recognition of staff at CWU. They handle the celebrations for Employee of the Month and Employee of the Year. Over the last several years, the council began to branch outwards to help address some of the greater needs they saw regarding communication and attrition. They have become sort of an unofficial ombudsman for the classified employees who don’t know who to turn to for certain issues. Thanks to President Wohlpart’s intentional communication with the council, they now sit on virtually every committee across campus. One of the council’s greatest efforts is that of communication, and one of their greatest initiatives is the quarterly town halls. They have been very successful and have focused on several different topics. Future initiatives are specifically focused on getting information out there to employees who can’t attend forums or sit and watch videos, particularly maintenance and custodial staff. The council is extremely excited about being included in the shared governance discussions. There is a great feeling of inclusion among staff. • Exempt Employee Association Laura Brant-Hoefer reported she has been chair of Exempt Employee Association (EEA) for the past two years. The EEA is somewhat like the Employee Classified Council, although they do have bylaws. The key initiative that they work on is employee retention because ultimately; to live into the mission, vision, and strategic plan, we need folks to be here to support students. The EEA’s purpose is to represent the opinions and concerns of exempt employees. They recommend to the President and Human Resources on matters relating to exempt employees. The Association is managed by a governing board called the executive committee that has a total of nine people. There are two employees from each division and one member at large. This executive committee serves as the shared governance leaders of the group, and typically, the employees on the executive committee are not administrators. Currently, the executive committee is a very diverse representative group. Different humans with different
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perspectives. The EEA’s priorities, which all tie back to employee retention, include working with HR on appreciation of employees and revising the exempt employee code. Other things they are working on this year include leadership development for the executive committee, relationship building, and information sharing across shared governance groups. Ms. Brant-Hoefer added that since the unions are included as shared governance constituencies, the Board may think about having the unions included in the opportunity to report at the board meetings. As far as metrics go, the participation numbers and the town halls are a great metric for the EEA. Trustee Gillis reported that the Academic Affairs Committee of the Board has talked about the need for new and modern ways of communicating with large constituencies, so she encouraged the shared governance leaders to provide advice to the board on new and meaningful ways of communicating. Adjournment Motion 26-19: Ms. Gillis moved that the Board of Trustees of Central Washington University adjourn the meeting for May 21, 2026. Mr. Nellams seconded the motion. The motion was approved.
Meeting adjourned at 4:53 p.m.
MAY 22, 2026 EXECUTIVE SESSION
The board convened in executive session at 8:30 a.m. for 30 minutes for the purpose of discussing with legal counsel representing the agency litigation or potential litigation per RCW 42.30.110 (1)(i). The executive session ended at 9:00 a.m. Trustees and Staff Present: Jeff Hensler, Chair Gladys Gillis, Chair Elect Erin Black, Past Chair Jeff Charbonneau Zabrina Jenkins, Trustee (Zoom) Robert Nellams, Trustee Jim Wohlpart, President Joel Klucking, Board Treasurer and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Dania Cochran, Board Secretary and Chief of Staff
Ellen Evans, Assistant Attorney General David Force, Assistant Attorney General
BOARD MEETING Trustees Present Jeff Hensler, Chair Gladys Gillis, Chair Elect Erin Black, Past Chair Jeff Charbonneau Vy Frolov Zabrina Jenkins (Zoom) Robert Nellams
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Staff to the Board: Jim Wohlpart, President Patrick Pease, Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs Joel Klucking, Board Treasurer and Senior Vice President for Finance and Administration Veronica Gomez-Vilchis, Interim Vice President for Student Engagement and Success Dania Cochran, Board Secretary and Chief of Staff Ellen Evans, Assistant Attorney General Kim Dawson, Executive Assistant to the President/Board of Trustees Executive Staff: Tishra Beeson, Dean of Undergraduates Studies Ruben Cardenas, Associate Vice President, Student Engagement and Success Hung Dang, Associate Vice President, Enrollment Management Elvin Delgado, Associate Vice President, Faculty Success Paul Elstone, Vice President, University Advancement Rodrigo Renteria-Valencia, Dean of Graduate Education, Research, and Strategic Initiatives Call to Order Chair Hensler called the meeting to order at 9:15 a.m. He summarized discussions from the board meeting and the meeting with the deans on May 21. Chair Hensler reiterated that the board would like to move forward with exploring the options for three-year degrees. Chair Hensler and Chair Elect Gillis had a great conversation with Deans about what this could look like, including the idea of a pilot program which would be important. Professor Lindsey reported that three-year degree options will be handled during the fall quarter. Chair Hensler asked that this conversation continue to move forward. He charged the BOT Academic Affairs Committee with bringing up a conversation about three-year degrees with the Faculty Senate Executive Committee to make sure we are moving this forward and trying to create a framework for a pilot program. He added that this is not a commitment as an institution, but he asks that it be a consideration for the institution. President’s Report President Wohlpart explained that in preparation for the fall visit from our accrediting body, Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities, he would like to know what our vision means to board members. Trustee Hensler stated that the vision is a very important document, and we spent a lot of time developing it, but he also thinks there is a little bit of ambiguity around what a model learning community is. He would like to see a clear definition and understanding and have the campus community define what a model learning community is. Trustee Nellams stated that the most important thing to him is access and opportunity. When he reads the vision statement, the important draw to him is access and opportunity. President Wohlpart explained that the original statement was “model community of access and opportunity,” and Trustee Black suggested adding “learning.” President Wohlpart added that the learning piece is about us investigating beliefs, values, practices, structures, and systems. We all struggle with how to do that, so this discussion is helpful.
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Trustee Gillis stated that having a vision helps decision-making become binary. The thing that we are doing is either moving us forward or keeping us back. Having a campus environment where shared governance works is very important but also having excellent communication models and the ability to be more nimble in our ability to communicate to constituencies. In addition, we need professional development that is targeting a consistent level of quality of education on campus. We need early intervention techniques to support students, which include mental health support mechanisms, college readiness support, high impact practices in all programs, and job readiness support. As a university, we have to start at the very top and look at what we are doing. Why are we doing it and are we doing the right things as part of being a model learning community. Trustee Black agreed with the idea of having modeling communication that makes sure we are using technology and other resources to be transparent but does not want to forget the analog way of communication; face to face or picking up the phone. The relationship piece can get lost when not connecting with individuals face to face. Seek every situation as being curious and trying to understand. Trustee Charbonneau stated that the focus for him is learning. We need to start by asking what the students need to be able to learn. That is why we are all here. The focus should be on learning for students and doing everything that we can to support that action happening.
President Wohlpart then asked board members what stands out to them in the mission statement?
Chair Hensler stated that being a sustainability institution should be the focus. We need to make sure we are fiscally responsible moving the institution forward, not just next year, but five or twenty years down the road. Moving forward, we should be thinking of private public partnerships and partnering with other universities. President Wohlpart began his presentation with our unifying value of student success. That all students, from all backgrounds, will be able to reach their academic and professional goals. The first goal is to develop clear pathways into and through the university. The first “wildcats rising” highlight is CWU’s Mock Trial Team. This team qualified for the first round of championships in Arizona. This is a great example of high impact practices. It takes what students learn in the classroom and applies it in real world settings. Shaffer Claridge leads this team and spends many hours mentoring this group. Another high impact practice is our CWU Wind Ensemble, which was one of nine invited ensembles to present at a featured performance at the College Band Director National Association in Reno, Nevada just a couple of months ago. This is the third conference invitation that this wind ensemble has received in the last four years. This is another primary example of the way in which what students are doing in the classroom then get showcased outside in the real world. While we do a stellar job of preparing students for their professional careers, we also do a good job preparing them to become active and engaged citizens. We had two students who were named Washington Campus Coalition Civic engagement Fellows this year. Javi Sanchez, a social services and women’s and sexuality studies major, and Jesus Chavez Lara, a deaf and sign language major. They were invited to attend an event in Seattle where they attended lunch and received their awards. Over the last several years, CWU has partnered with Comprehensive Healthcare to expand mental health training and counseling in our region. Two years ago, Comprehensive Healthcare provided CWU funding to hire faculty to restart our master’s degree program. We have also worked with our local county commissioners to apply for and receive funding for the mental health and chemical dependency
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tax. Our community counseling and psychological assessment center is now located on the ground floor of the psychology building. The clinic provides mental health services to the local region but also allows our students to gain real-world experience. Under Core Value 1: Engagement, President Wohlpart focused on Business and Community Services (BCS) and some of the work they are doing. About a month ago, we hosted Congresswoman Schrier on campus to tour Old Heat and to talk about a congressionally directed spending request. It’s a federal request that would allow us to turn Old Heat into a hub for business and industry for faculty and student entrepreneurship. BCS is also leading the way in the creation of a Community Economic Development Strategy (CEDS) for Kittitas County, which has never had a CEDS in place before. Earlier this week, the North Central Washington Technology Alliance, which is housed in Wenatchee, had their flywheel competition, which is about entrepreneurship for high school and college students. A CWU student won first place in the competition. On Tuesday, March 3, CWU entered into a Memorandum of Understanding with Yakama Nation Tribal Council. This was led by AVP Higheagle Strong. We will be creating an advisory council and start thinking about ways in which we can partner to support the tribe. On Monday, April 27, we held a ceremonial and listening session that featured seven tribal council members from different tribes across the state. What we heard from tribal leaders is that gatherings like this matter as they build connections and relationships, which must be an ongoing effort. Under Core Value 2: Belonging, the Multicultural Center had its grand opening on Friday, April 10. For 15 years, students worked on a wide variety of plans with the CWU administration to come up with a renovation plan since a stand-alone building was not possible. The Multicultural Center provides an opportunity for interactions across many different races, ethnicities, histories, and identities. It symbolizes our strong institutional commitment to underserved and underrepresented students. President Wohlpart finished his report honoring Air Force Captain Ariana Savino and her crew members who died in Operation Epic Fury when the KC-135 fuel tanker they were flying crashed. Ariana graduated from CWU in 2017 with a degree in Aviation Management. She is remembered for her infectious smile and positive attitude. At the time of this tragedy, she was the Chief of Current Operations Pilot for the 99 th Air Fueling Squadron stationed in Alabama. Association of Governing Boards (AGB) Conference Takeaways Trustee Gillis stated that one of the first things she realized at the conference was that everyone in the country is dealing with exactly what we are dealing with here at CWU. Basically, higher education is dealing with decades of contraction. There is a downward perception of higher education, declining enrollment, declining federal and state funding, and a huge need for mental health support. Each of these are systemic issues, and each of these crises enforces the others. A common message is that we are being called to innovate. President Wohlpart noted that the data points that struck him were that recent graduates of post- secondary education have a higher overall unemployment rate than the overall unemployment rate. One emphasis was that we need to establish new systems, structures, and practices that build our capacity for being a learning model. Chair Hensler stated that the overarching theme he heard was “change.” Non tuition revenue is becoming more important as well as diversifying income sources. In addition, affordability was a big
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