This year, Jenny Roddewig (pictured) participated in the Iditarod for the first time. All 33 mushers and their dog teams pushed off on March 3, 2025, without knowing what lay ahead. There was an unusually small amount of snow, causing the mushers to use an alternate route of 1,000-plus miles; the longest in the history of the race, which dates back to 1973.
On Monday morning, Jenny and her team were in last place of those still competing. Ten teams had already been removed from the race. Then, much to my surprise and with just a short, difficult leg to go, Jenny and her 10 dogs were the last team to be removed from the race without completing it. No doubt she is better prepared for future competitions and raced like a champion every mile. Sometimes, participating is a victory in itself! Thanks to my sister, Heather, for sharing some of her Alaska adventures with us!
Similarly, educators and researchers at CAHNRS are once again navigating a time of unprecedented uncertainty. We emerged from the pandemic era just a short time ago, only to now face fresh storms of a state budget deficit compounded by potential transformations in federal research support.
Our college aims to be as transparent as possible about the challenges we face and how we plan to meet them. At the university level, WSU’s budget situation remains fluid, and leadership at all levels are closely monitoring the federal, state, and institutional picture.
While the ultimate fiscal outcome is not yet known, worst-case scenarios suggest a very different research environment at WSU. If the facility and administrative costs for currently funded WSU competitive grants are capped at 15% across all agencies, this would mean a $23.5 million loss across the university. Should WSU lose capacity funds, our CAHNRS budget could be reduced by 20%. University leaders are continuing to carefully strategize how to address these fiscal challenges.
Like all other WSU units, CAHNRS has been asked to prepare a menu of budget reduction scenarios ranging from 1% to 10%. This situation presents us with an opportunity, unasked for but necessary, to fully assess our college’s priorities. As part of this assessment, leaders are developing a slate of options with several potential paths forward for the next CAHNRS dean (who is expected to be hired in the coming quarter) to choose from.
CAHNRS has long had an outsized influence on the well-being of our state. Think of the many new crop varieties, best practices, community services, economic impacts, and more that have come out of CAHNRS over the past few decades. Our work remains vitally important to the future of Washington state, from agriculture to the environment, family health, and the economy.
I recognize that it’s challenging to focus on our work and success when we may not know whether the resources will be there tomorrow. However, I hope to keep our partners, alumni, faculty, and staff informed of our evolving strategies to find fiscal security. Meanwhile, this is the latest and most complete information we have. When we learn more, we will reach out to the entire CAHNRS family, including our donors, stakeholders, and partners.
Change comes whether we want it to or not. We’ve faced challenges before and will make it through these current issues by showing and sharing what we do best: meaningful, impactful work that creates resiliency for stakeholders and neighbors in Washington state and far beyond.
CAHNRS has a new report available to keep our people and partners up to date on our work. Please take a look!