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
14 Board of Trustees Minutes May 21-22, 2026
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