They go on to describe how limited transparency in communication has affected staff members at the university as well. “The FSEC notes ongoing faculty concerns related to academic staffing and administrative support and emphasizes the importance of clear communication and transparency regarding how budget decisions align with institutional priorities and shared governance principles.” “CWU’s fundraising shortfalls and high administrator, staff and faculty turnover suggest the consequences of this leadership approach are already occurring,” the faculty petition states. “By contrast under previous presidents, most recently President Jim Gaudino, faculty and administration collaborated on major initiatives, faculty were included early in decision-making through clear and regular partnership with Faculty Senate and the university was stronger both fiscally and in overall morale.”
Wohlpart’s Response
Wohlpart responded to some of the many allegations shared within the faculty petition in an email response that was sent to all CWU faculty this past Tuesday. The email primarily focused on “illustrating” various “inaccuracies” that Wohlpart alleged were contained within the petition. “The petition references my ‘unilateral changes to the University’s mission and vision statement in early 2025 …’ as an example of my authoritarian nature. The only entity that has the authority to approve vision and mission statements is the Board of Trustees; they did so at their May 2025 meeting (this information is public and is included in their meeting minutes),” Wohlpart stated in the email. “The committee that worked through the changes to the vision and mission was comprised of all our shared governance groups, including the Faculty Senate Chair, who were responsible for communicating with and gathering feedback from their constituencies.” His email continued to assert that the Faculty Senate “does not have the authority to approve a document like the shared governance document” but that the Faculty Senate was consulted with for their feedback regardless. He also stated that their feedback “was then incorporated into the final document.”
“This consultation took place at a Senate meeting and can be found in the Faculty Senate minutes,” he stated.
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