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Dear Campus Community,

As the vibrant energy of the academic year transitions into the pace of summer, I trust you are enjoying the incredible beauty of the Pacific Northwest. Building on the successes we collectively achieved this past year, I write to share a brief midsummer update, to highlight the progress we continue to make to serve our students, faculty, staff, and the broader community and advance our strategic goals.

Summer Conferences and Events
Consistent with our strategic goal to leverage and expand our campus assets, our summer conferences and events program is in full swing. We are hosting an average of 1,000 guests per week on campus for multi-day conferences and camps, including athletic and youth leadership camps, educational conferences, and workshops for organizations and community groups. We proudly hosted the Washington State Spring Games for the Special Olympics on campus for the first time this year. The event was an incredible success, welcoming thousands of athletes and their guests to campus. We received fantastic feedback from attendees who were impressed by the inclusive nature of our campus community. Thank you for always making our guests feel very welcome at Puget Sound.

Puget Sound in the Community
In connection with our strategic goal to enhance our engagement with the community, we have proudly supported many Tacoma events this summer. We were a sponsor of the City of Tacoma’s Porchfest and the Museum of Glass’s Breakfast at the Cone;  tabled at Tacoma Pierce County Chamber Happy Hour Business Expo and South Puget Sound Community College's Second Annual Pride Summit; and had a booth at Tacoma Pride. We also were a sponsor of Songs of Black Folk in Seattle. We joined the College Success Foundation's Empowering Youth Tacoma Luncheon and the Communities for a Healthy Bay's Cheers to a Healthy Bay event. Thanks to all who represented Puget Sound or showed their support at these important events.

In August, we will host the annual Civic Leaders Gathering. This event brings together more than 100 South Sound leaders to engage in conversation and dialogue with university leaders, share ideas, and, more importantly, forge new relationships and nurture existing ones to strengthen and support our growing region.

Physical Improvements
We know that our goals to enhance student success and to make Puget Sound a great place to work are connected to having a strong and solid physical infrastructure. This summer, we have embarked on several projects to improve campus facilities and the student experience by enhancing safety, functionality, and the overall environment, which include classroom upgrades, completing the transition to a new campus card access system for campus buildings, upgrading our electrical system to a more efficient 12.47kV network and making fire alarm improvements. Construction is also underway on a new synthetic baseball infield and upgrades to the softball field, including ADA access and a relocated press box. Additional work includes painting, roof replacements, masonry repairs, exterior restoration, and mechanical system upgrades to increase efficiency and sustainability campus-wide.

Enrollment Updates
The Enrollment Division continues to build and ready our new, incoming class for the start of the fall semester. While our first-year class remains smaller than initially targeted, the Admission team has done good work to mitigate enrollment melt. The class is academically strong, with an average cumulative high school GPA of 3.7, and is one of the most diverse first-year classes in recent history. The recruitment of new transfer students is in full flight, with new applications continuing to be received daily. We expect to continue to enroll students from this segment for the next several weeks. We are happy to report that our class of new graduate students exceeded our goal by 10%. Additionally, Enrollment is onboarding new partners to assist us in building our Fall ’26 class and execute strategic adjustments to our student recruitment processes and timelines.

Athletics Updates
On June 30, we welcomed Dr. Chelsea Herman as the university’s new Athletics Director. We are excited to have her lead our athletics program, and she is eager to help us achieve a broader championship program, and greater stature and visibility for our student-athletes, coaches, and institution.

The Northwest Conference has begun a new partnership with FloSports to stream live and on-demand athletic events, expanding opportunities to showcase the university. While we hope to see all of you at Logger athletics events in person, starting this fall Logger home games, most away games, and conference tournaments will be available to watch online with a paid FloSports membership. Full games will be available to watch on-demand 24 hours after airing. More information about the partnership is . Go, Loggers!

FY26 Budget Update
As we mentioned in May, we continue to work to modify our budget for Fiscal Year (FY) 2025-26. We are working on the necessary revisions and will bring a final FY26 budget forward to the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees for their consideration and final approval in August. We remain committed to market competitive salaries and were able to move forward with the FY26 salary increases in recognition of our faculty’s and staff’s critical work, even as we are making revisions in other areas of the budget.

Federal Tax Bill and Implications for Higher Education
As you know, the 2025 federal tax bill, known as the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, was signed into law on July 4. We are still working to understand the full ramifications of the bill on higher education and Puget Sound, specifically. A few provisions of the bill, such as those impacting 1099 reporting, reduce administrative burdens that will help us continue to serve our students and communities effectively and efficiently. Puget Sound is exempt from the endowment income tax, which increased the tax significantly for universities with more than 3,000 tuition-paying students that met an asset-per-student threshold.

However, we are concerned about the earnings test for all degree programs and the cap on some student loans and the elimination of the Grad PLUS program, which may impact students’ and their families’ ability to access affordable loans to pay for higher education. We remain committed to ensuring Puget Sound’s world-class liberal arts education is a reality for all future Loggers. We will continue to monitor the new law closely, including tracking any court actions and analyzing news from the federal government, as well as guidance from our professional organizations.

Accreditation with NWCCU
I am delighted to share that we have received preliminary feedback from the following the accreditation team’s campus visit in April as part of our seven-year accreditation review process. As the final step of the NWCCU accreditation process, I, along with Provost Andrew Kerkhoff, Dean of Faculty Affairs Amy Spivey and Director of Institutional Research Kevin Riordan appeared before the commissioners on July 9. The feedback from the commission has continued to be quite positive, affirming the hard work that all of you do across campus to continually improve our institution. I look forward to sharing more information with you this fall once we have received NWCCU’s final report.

As we enjoy these summer months, I am inspired by the spirit of collaboration and shared purpose that defines our community. I am proud of our collective achievements and the unwavering commitment each of you brings to the ÍÃ×ÓÏÈÉú.

Finally, I look forward to seeing many of you on Aug. 27 for the President’s Welcome to Faculty and Staff, where I will provide updates on the state of the university, including federal and state oversight, enrollment, budget modifications, accreditation outcome, and share my priorities for the year. Following my remarks in Schneebeck Concert Hall, we will have an opportunity to reconnect with one another at our customary celebration on Karlen Quad.

Again, I hope the summer is a restorative time for you. Your ongoing contributions are vital as we prepare for the next academic year, and I eagerly anticipate our continued partnership in fostering an environment where our exceptional students can thrive. I wish you a truly revitalizing and productive remainder of the summer.

With appreciation,

Isiaah Crawford, Ph.D. | President