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Washington State University
CAS Connect November-December 2014

Great people make a great WSU

A message from the dean

Dean Daryll DeWald
Dean Daryll DeWald

Building a great university requires a host of great people: dedicated faculty, talented staff members, tireless advisors, innovative mentors, creative scholars…the list goes on and on.

The College of Arts and Sciences is a prime example of this axiom. Our widespread community is a collective force dedicated to the spirit of discovery and inquiry, the importance of service and outreach, and the value of intellectual diversity.

At the college level, one way we recognize the outstanding people in our midst is through the annual CAS award program. Each year, we celebrate our community and honor the wide-ranging achievements of our faculty, staff, and students.

Even though the ceremony isn’t until April, now is the time to consider nominating your colleagues. It’s a two-stage process in which individual faculty are recommended for nomination by their peers at the unit level, and unit chairs and directors then pass along up to two formal nominations for each award to the CAS award committee in mid-January. While it may take a bit longer, this process supports equitable consideration across the college.

Providing tangible recognition of the value of the people who make up a university is important as well. I am happy to be able to pass along the good news that President Elson Floyd has authorized a salary increase effective January 1, 2015, for faculty, graduate students, and administrative professional staff. (Our classified and bargaining unit staff are governed by separate employment agreements that include predetermined milestones for pay increases.) Additional details are available on the Budget Office website.

The College of Arts and Sciences and the greater University appreciate the tremendous value of our current community and are striving to raise our profile in the competitive arena of compensation when retaining colleagues and recruiting new co-workers to Washington State University.

I am thankful to be a part of such a robust, thoughtful, and productive academic community and look forward to our continued success in 2015.