But, it appears that we may well seek broader authority over a multi-year period. Fortunately, that strike was resolved on 4 December 2001 with the agreement that the parties would jointly craft legislation and seek its passage in Olympia. Shifting to the faculty enabling legislation, the President said that this spring, the Administration will work with the Senate leadership to draft a faculty enabling legislation bill consistent with the Class C resolution passed in the fall. Assuming that the TA legislation should pass this year, the University will move on the faculty legislation in the 2002 legislative session. This picture, he averred, is the result of a series of voter initiatives, and noted that the legislature has had to dip into reserves.
All units now have a strategic plan and a sense of momentum.
This is not a time to muddle through, but rather a time to look at the University's short and long term strategy. As to this general observation, he said that two points stand out. First, the University will need to continue to put pressure on Olympia to be more responsive to the needs of the University. Second, the University will need to seek a tuition proposal that, unfortunately, will shift more of the cost of education to students. While we might like to reverse what is now a national trend of shifting costs in this manner, it seems impossible in the current budgetary climate.