WSU President Kirk Schulz’s 2025 retirement was announced on April 19, but the decision has been in the works since June 2023.
Schulz said he sat down with the Board of Regents for his annual evaluation and said instead of finishing out his final three years, he wanted to put the board in a position where they can go into a presidential search during the summer of 2024.
They had a robust discussion about this decision and met several times to discuss what the search would look like, how to manage the translation and how to manage the announcement, he said.
He said they came to the decision to announce his retirement at the last regularly scheduled regents meeting of the academic year, and he is glad it is out.
Schulz said once he retires, he will have a year of leave he will take starting in the summer and will use the time to write a book for higher education.
“I want to do some mentoring of leaders at WSU and other places, and I want to help the new president in whichever way I can,” he said.
When he does retire, he will miss the WSU community and the casual interactions he had with students that he probably will not have after next year, he said.
He said he has been a university president both at WSU and in Kansas and it is hard to remember what life is like before being involved in that role.
“I think I’ll miss that just a bit, walking through campus, seeing students having casual conversations,” Schulz said. “I know once I’m not doing the job anymore, [that] will be part of the thing I miss the most.”
Phil Weiler, WSU vice president for marketing and communications, said there are a lot of people who want to make the step to become WSU’s president and take on the six campuses.
“There’s a lot that’s going on that makes this a very coveted job, so I think we’ll have lots of folks who are interested in the position,” he said.
Weiler said he has learned a lot about leadership from Schulz and one of the things he appreciates is how Schulz recognizes that a senior leader needs to be a cheerleader for the institution.
Sometimes, things go wrong and in a different direction than planned, and some people might become unmotivated. Weiler said Schulz is a glass half full person and while some things might not have turned out the way he wanted, he understands WSU has a lot going for itself and can find the good in every situation.
“I think if your senior leader is feeling down, then everyone’s going to feel down,” Weiler said. “I think you need someone who’s got that positive attitude.”
