Washington State University

New provost brings listening ear

She took the job site unseen.

Before arriving in Pullman, Elizabeth Chilton met with the president’s cabinet as well as chancellors, deans, vice presidents, and staff within the provost’s office, all via Zoom.

“This is the first time in my life that I’ve accepted a position never having seen where I’d be living or meeting people I’ll be working with face-to-face,” she says.

Chilton stepped into her new role as provost at Washington State University two weeks earlier than planned to allow for as much acclimation time as possible before the start of fall semester. She started July 15. She had been slated to start August 1. She came to WSU by way of Binghamton University of the State University of New York system, where she served as the dean of the Harpur College of Arts and Sciences. In addition to teaching within the SUNY system, Chilton spent 16 years teaching at her alma mater, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, as well as Harvard University, where she also served as an associate curator for the archaeology of Northeastern North America at its Peabody Museum.

She’s expecting to frequently call upon her anthropology expertise in her new role at WSU.

“The goal of anthropology is to look at things from the inside out

history, beliefs, economy, environment and practices,” Chilton says. “I think of universities as cultures: how people understand and identify themselves is critical. From my brief time so far as part of the WSU family, I’ve seen how strong the Cougar identity is, and it’s exciting to be a part of that.”

Cougs Drive Scholarship Support Through Record-Setting License Plate Purchases

The WSU Cougar specialty license plate continues its streak as the No. 1 specialty license plate in Washington.

There are 22,738 Cougar plates on the road in Washington. For every plate sold, $28 goes into a scholarship fund for WSU students. That correlates to $440,835 in scholarship money. Through the WSUAA Leadership Scholarship, the Washington State University Alumni Association awards $232,836 to deserving students.

Thanks to continued support from the Coug community, this amount has been consistently growing for the past five years: • $168,642 in 2016 • $202,656 in 2017 • $221,521 in 2018 • $224,211 in 2019 • $232,836 in 2020

The growth of this program means that an ever-growing number of WSU students receive scholarship support. And because the $28 is going into a scholarship fund, it counts as a donation for tax purposes.

To all members who proudly sport Cougar plates on and around 360 degrees, with consideration of a culture or community’s Leadership Scholarship thank you. If you don’t have a plate, please consider signing up. The WSU license plate is a great way to give back to the University while simultaneously showing your Coug pride to the world.

You can learn more about the WSUAA’s license plate program at alumni.wsu.edu/license.

WSU processes COVID-19 tests

Washington State University has started processing hundreds of tests on human samples for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease known as COVID-19.

WSU One Health Diagnostics builds on the work of its Washington Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory which regularly handles tests for animal pathogens and has experience in handling high volumes. WSU will run as many as 2,000 COVID-19 tests per day for eastern Washington.

“WSU is proud to be part of the effort to increase the testing capacity for the state of Washington, and in particular for the eastern part of the state,” says Guy Palmer, professor of pathology and infectious diseases. “Testing is critical to curbing the transmission of the virus that causes COVID-19. It lets the individual know if they need to self-isolate, and as a community, it helps us judge if current public health measures are adequate.”

WSU will process diagnostic samples collected at multiple sites in the state. Range Health, the WSU-affiliated nonprofit that runs a mobile medical unit serving rural areas, plans to start collecting samples from people in the region’s smaller towns and your vehicles, the WSUAA and the recipients of the

communities. The University will be working in collaboration with the state Department of Health and a private laboratory, which will handle pre- and post-test analysis.

WSU has been certified to handle human sample testing through a process called Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendment, and its testing proficiency has been evaluated by the Washington Department of Health.

How to help Cougs during COVID-19

From supporting students to donating food, here are a couple ways Pullman community members might be able to help out WSU students. • Each WSU campus has a Student Emergency

Fund to help struggling students. Find more information at foundation.wsu.edu/studentsupport. • Cougs Feeding Cougs is an ongoing effort to make sure no WSU student goes hungry. During the pandemic, the Office of the Dean of Students,

Women’s Resource Center, and Office for Access & Opportunity are partnering to provide a central location on the Pullman campus for food pantry services. For more information, visit aea.wsu.edu/ food-pantry.

Keep informed during COVID-19

• Watch WSU’s COVID-19 Town Hall meetings on the University’s YouTube channel: youtube.com/

user/washingtonstateuniv.

• Visit WSU’s COVID-19 information page at wsu. edu/covid-19.