There was increased awareness around registration for winter quarter. Phone calls were made to individuals who had not registered or had holds. Attendance was monitored in lower-level classes and alerts were sent to advisors for students who were not attending class or who were not turning in assignments. Outreach was done at this point. The dollar amount for financial holds was increased and Housing and Dining billing was split evenly among quarters. Resident Assistants in the dorms held intentional conversations with residents and the residence hall melt rate dropped during the fall quarter. As a result, first time in college student retention from fall to winter increased from 91 percent to 93 percent. All students were impacted by this project, but there was a higher impact on students of color. This was not a DEI-focused initiative. It was for all students and yet our most vulnerable populations received the greatest benefit. There was continued success in fall to spring retention of first time in college students. The retention rate was the highest in at least six years. In addition, we closed the gap for first generation students, Washington College Grant students were two percent above the general population, and students of color outperformed for the first time ever. Our Current Moment We still have work to do as a university community. We need to come together to more deeply understand this moment with curiosity and humility, willing and able to put aside what we have believed for a long period of time in order to evolve our work and to more fully live into the promise of our university and our democracy. We must remember that the university like democracy only exists as an action, and as a continuous and continual action. In order for our university and democracy to live into their potential, we must build and strengthen systems and structures that actively bring us out of our individual experiences but that also honor that experience as we join in community. And we must address systemic injustices and inequities and take down barriers in order to create a culture of belonging. This is work that must be spread across the university community. The responsibility for building equitable systems is all our work. In his last chapter of The Upswing , Putnam states that “We must undertake a reevaluation of our shared values asking ourselves what personal privileges and rights we might be willing to lay aside in service of the common good, and what role we will play in the shared project of shaping our nation’s future.” He continues: “True innovation requires openness to experimentation that is not premised upon ideological beliefs. To structure debates within a gridlocked left/right framework precludes the sheer inventiveness that animated our last upswing and generated solutions that appealed to a broad bipartisan swath of America.” President’s Evaluation Tool Dr. Cochran reminded the group that State law (RCW 28B.35.120) charges the boards of trustees of public comprehensive universities with employing the president of the university. As you know, the CWU board holds this responsibility as their paramount duty. Section IV of the
9 Board of Trustees Minutes May 15-16, 2025
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