Associate Professor Ryan Thomas
Murrow College of Communication | Journalism and Media Production
WSU Pullman
I have had the privilege and opportunity to serve in a variety of leadership and service roles at departmental, college, and university levels. I bring the perspective of a proud two-time WSU alum, a faculty member in one of the university’s smaller colleges, an administrator leading a graduate program at a particularly challenging time for graduate education, and a faculty member at a peer institution. These intersecting experiences have given me a broad perspective on the nature of faculty work, the importance of shared governance, and the challenges and opportunities facing Washington State University as a land-grant, multi-campus institution.
Prior Service
I returned to WSU’s Murrow College of Communication as an Associate Professor in 2022, having spent a decade at the University of Missouri, where I was a tenured faculty member in the School of Journalism. Since returning, I have committed myself to participating in the governance of the institution.
Service to the Department of Journalism and Media Production/ Murrow College of Communication
- Member, Murrow Symposium planning team, 2024-present
- Member, Strategic Plan Committee, 2023-2024
- Member, Murrow College leadership team, 2023-present
- Director of Graduate Studies, 2023-present
- Chair, Graduate Studies Committee, 2023-present
- Member, Coolen Grant Awards Committee, 2023-present
- Member, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Committee, 2022-present
- Member, Teaching Standards Committee, 2022-present
- Mentor to junior faculty in Journalism and Media Production, 2022-present
- Served on six search committees, including chairing the search for the college’s Director of Administrative Services/Area Finance Officer (2024)
Service to Washington State University
- Member, cost of graduate education presidential ad hoc committee, 2024-2025
- Member, Syllabus Subcommittee, 2025-present
- Member, Faculty Senate Steering Committee, 2024-present
- Member, Graduate Education Council, 2023-present
- Member, Graduate Studies Committee, 2022-present, and Chair, 2024-present
- Reviewer, GPSA Travel Grants, 2023-present
Collectively, these roles have given me sustained experience in faculty governance, graduate education policy, and collaboration during a period of institutional constraint and change.
Commitment to Service
Service is an ethical commitment and cornerstone of faculty citizenship. Simply, service helps sustain the infrastructure that makes other aspects of faculty life achievable. My CV demonstrates that I have undertaken extensive service obligations throughout my career as a faculty member (indeed, beginning as a WSU graduate student) and that I have been trusted with complex and demanding roles. I have approached this work by applying the virtues of collegiality, kindness, and dependability that guide my career.
I currently chair the Faculty Senate’s Graduate Studies Committee (GSC). In this role, I have strived to cultivate a culture conducive to deliberation and thoughtful scrutiny of the proposals that come before us. In this role, working with others in the Faculty Senate and Graduate School, I have helped to amend the process for enrollment projections to provide the senate and its committees with independent analyses from Institutional Research to accompany the program’s own projections. Through my role on GSC, I have been an engaged member of the Faculty Senate Steering Committee.
At the college level, I have served as Director of Graduate Studies at the Murrow College since 2023, which has strengthened my understanding of the complexities of graduate education at WSU. This role has helped me demonstrate my aptitude at policy development, curriculum revision, and consensus-building.
Commitment to Shared Governance
I view shared governance not just as an ideal – though idealism is important – but as a practical necessity and moral mandate at an institution of WSU’s size and complexity. Our multi-campus system presents both opportunities and challenges and effective shared governance depends on open communication, mutual trust, and collaboration. I firmly believe that “regular and well-maintained governance practices” mean that “institutional decisions can move more rapidly, allow for many voices to be heard when making decisions, ensure the nuances of how implementation may vary across units and levels are considered, and generally feel more equitable” (Becker et al., 2023, p. 26).1
I have been recognized for my commitment to service and shared governance by my discipline, as part of the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication’s Mid-Career award, and at my previous institution, where I won the University of Missouri Faculty Council’s Shared Governance Award in recognition of “significant progress in codifying and implementing standards for this sharing of governance and faculty engagement.”
This is a challenging time for WSU, with pressures at federal and state levels intersecting with challenges internal to the institution. This requires a steady and thoughtful approach to leadership, dedicated to maximizing the engagement, participation, and sense of shared mission among all faculty, wherever in the state they live and work. I anticipate that the coming years will bring heightened attention to the system redesign process and to support for graduate education. These issues will require a strong faculty voice in decision-making as well as open, earnest, and considerate communication from all involved parties. I am committed to being a constructive voice on these issues, as I would be with all others that emerge on the Senate’s horizon.
I care deeply about the success of WSU. I believe in the mission of the Faculty Senate and will adjust my academic responsibilities to accommodate my new obligations (and have the support of my chair and dean in doing so). I believe my skills and experiences position me to be a strong advocate for the university’s faculty. While my prior work has not brought me into contact with every aspect of the university system, I am committed to listening carefully and learning continuously. I take seriously the trust placed in faculty senate leadership and am committed to thoughtful engagement, principled advocacy, and effective stewardship of the Senate’s work.
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Becker, A., Goode, C., Rivers, J., Tyler, M., & Becker, J. (2023). Shared governance and systems theory: Mixed methods study of faculty perceptions and ideas. Higher Education Politics & Economics, 9(2), 22–47. Shared Governance and Systems Theory: A Mixed Methods Study of Faculty Perceptions and Ideas
~Ryan Thomas