K-State President Kirk Schulz accepted a position at Washington State University.
According to a release on K-State Today, Schulz will serve as the President of Washington State University.
Schulz wrote:
K-State Faculty, Staff, and Students,
Earlier today, I accepted an offer to serve as the next President of Washington State University.
I will continue to serve as K-State President through mid-May, and will transition to Washington State in mid-June. The Kansas Board of Regents will conduct a search for an Interim President as soon as possible.
Noel and I have thoroughly enjoyed our 7 years at Kansas State — it has been an exciting time to be a Wildcat and a part of the K-State Family. Being part of transforming our multiple campuses has been the highlight of my career in higher education.
I will continue to communicate monthly with the K-State community with Letters to Campus as we finish up the 2016 Spring Semester.
With Purple Pride,
Kirk
Just one minute later, Washington State University announced the hire of Kirk Schulz on their twitter page.
Welcome Kirk H. Schulz as @wsu’s 11th president! #WSU #GoCougs pic.twitter.com/j4hXbuZSHY
— WSU News (@WSUNews) March 25, 2016
Approximately ten minutes later Schulz notified his Twitter followers of his leave.
A message from President Schulz: https://t.co/53ZOaaUtn0
— Kirk H. Schulz (@kstate_pres) March 25, 2016
The Collegian emailed President Schulz on Feb. 26 for comments after an anonymous source stated that he was in the running for the Washington State University job.
“I am working hard to advance K-State towards our goal of being recognized as a Top 50 Public Research university by the year 2025,” Schulz said in an email response. “I won’t comment on any leadership searches at other universities.”
Former K-State President Jon Wefald said that Schulz was well deserving of the new job, in an interview with the Collegian.
“I got to know Kirk pretty well when he came in,” Wefald said. “He’s very intelligent, capable and has a real presence.”
Wefald said he thought Schulz did the best he could in a state that decreased education funding.
“There are lots of challenges because the state doesn’t have any money,” Wefald said. “Kirk did a very good job here at K-State.”
Wefald, who received a masters degree at Washington State University, said Schulz will be a good fit at the new job.
Breeze Richardson, Kansas Board of Regents director of communications, said that unless a special session is called, the board will appoint an interim president at its next meeting on April 20.
At that time, the board will also form a presidential search committee to find the next permanent president.
The Collegian reached out to John Currie and received a written statement sent out by K-State Athletics.
As I have said many times, Kansas State University has been blessed with tremendous stability in the presidential office. Almost no major universities have been as fortunate as us to have just two presidential leaders over a 30-year period. Dr. Wefald’s 23 years of leadership and advancement of the entire University community helped provide a great platform for President Schulz to build upon and spearhead one of the most outstanding 7-year periods in the history of the University.
Currie also tweeted at Washington State University.
. @WSUNews @WSUCougars and AD Bill Moos – You have hit the presidential lottery with @kstate_pres !! Tremendous leader, person and friend!
— John Currie (@John_Currie) March 25, 2016
The Collegian will continue to update the story as more information is released.
