WSU Regents give insight on presidential search in new video series

Members of the Washington State University Board of Regents fulfill numerous roles for the university system.

They are advocates for WSU's academic, research, and outreach mission.

They are emissaries of Cougar spirit, engaging with stakeholders ranging from students and lawmakers to passionate alumni and their families.

Perhaps most critically, they are the governing body over WSU's vast operation, casting a critical eye on everything from building and degree proposals to the strategic priorities of the university.

In the midst of those efforts, regents are also undertaking one of the role's most vital responsibilities: hiring the next president.

As part of a new video series, regents discuss the current efforts to welcome the university's 12^th president, as well as other topics, including their vision for WSU's future. The series gives members of the public insight into the current regents, their personal and professional experiences, and what they see as the university's greatest contributions to the state and region.

The five-part series addresses a number of topics:

• The Role of a WSU Regent
• Leadership and Vision
• Access for all Washingtonians
• Responding to Challenges
• Looking Forward

WSU regents are appointed by Washington's governor to six-yearterms, agreeing to work tirelessly on a voluntary basis for the benefit of the land grant institution. Many of the university's most consequential moves, whether building a new academic or athletic facility, approving new degree programs or initiatives, are considered and voted on during public board meetings.

The board is currently chaired by Lisa Keohokalole Schauer, who began her time on the board in 2018, with 2022 appointee Jenette Ramos serving as vice chair. Regents Marty Dickinson, Enrique Cerna, and Judith McDonald, the university's first faculty regent, also respond to common questions about their work as part of the video series, with questions posed by Student Regent Kassandra Vogel.

The current members of the WSU Board of Regents include:

• Lisa Keohokalole Schauer
  President of the strategic communication and organizational development firm PointNorth Consulting
• Jenette Ramos
  Retired Boeing Company executive whose three decades with the company began as a sophomore at WSU
• Marty Dickinson
  Chief marketing officer at STCU, immediate past chair of the Board of Regents and an alumnus of WSU
• Enrique Cerna
  Award-winning journalist and WSU graduate with more than four decades of experience in the Seattle media market
• Brett Blankenship
  Previous president of the National Association of Wheat Growers who owns and operates his family farm in Washtucna
• Douglas Picha
  Retired president of the Seattle Children's Foundation and WSU Class of 1975 alumnus
• Lura Powell
  Former director of the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• Judith McDonald
  Joined the board in 2022 as its first-ever faculty regent and has worked at WSU since 2001
• Kassandra Vogel
  The board's student regent and a current graduate student pursuing a Master's degree in applied economics at WSU Pullman