Paul Elstone, Vice President, University Advancement Zoe Higheagle Strong, Associate Vice President, Tribal Relations Rodrigo Renteria-Valencia, Dean of Graduate Education, Research, and Strategic Initiatives Call to Order Chair Hensler called the meeting to order at 9:45 a.m. President’s Performance Review Chair Hensler stated that as we reflect on the past academic year, the board would like to be candid to acknowledge that the university has been exceptionally challenged. He added that the university is not defined by challenges it faces, but by how it responds and moves forward. Over the past several months, the Board of Trustees has engaged extensively with faculty, staff, students, and alumni. These conversations have been meaningful and have deepened the board’s collective understanding of both the institution and President Wohlpart’s leadership. Through this process, the board has identified structural challenges, as well as important opportunities that will help to shape a more clearly defined and constructive path forward. While there is still significant progress to be made, the board remains confident in President Wohlpart’s ability to partner with the university and to lead CWU through the next phase with focus, transparency, and purpose. The Board has outlined three goals for President Wohlpart for this upcoming academic year: • Develop and implement a plan to create a culture of trust, where the members of the university community feel heard, respected, and included in the decisions that shape the university’s future. • Update the university’s strategic plan to level set the university to the new enrollment realities of 8200-8500 students. • Emphasis on fundraising as we approach the end of the comprehensive campaign. Chair Hensler stated that he wanted to take Chairman’s privilege and discuss two topics from Thursday’s meeting, which were orientation and shared governance. The board instructed the team to put every effort and resource forth to ensure that every student leaves orientation with a schedule for the year. Regarding shared governance, there have been a lot of misunderstandings and frustration that come from ambiguity in some of the work that we have been doing for the last four and a half years. We are now at the point of beginning our work with Dr. Bahls, and a timeline has been developed for this work. He thanked the Faculty Senate Executive Committee and the BOT Academic Affairs Committee for getting us to this point so that we can move forward. 1. During September, Dr. Bahls will finalize and implement the Shared Governance survey based on feedback and input. 2. In October, Dr. Bahls will lead a workshop on shared governance to develop clarity around authority, roles, and responsibility based on the 1966 join statement. He will then draft a Statement of Authority, Roles, and Responsibility based on feedback and input. 3. At the October Board meeting, board members will review and approve the draft statement. 4. Between November and January, shared governance groups will review the draft Statement of Authority, Roles, and Responsibility to provide feedback. The Faculty Code will be revised to align with the draft statement in a collaborative fashion.
15 Board of Trustees Minutes July 16-17, 2026
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