Chancellor’s Executive Team & Staff
Chancellor Sandra Haynes provides overall leadership for WSU Tri‑Cities, represents the campus within the University system, and serves as a liaison with local communities, organizations and industries.
Her Executive Team provides leadership in the primary areas across campus to support faculty, staff and student success.
Claire VenemaAssistant to the Chancellor for Constituent Relations and Communicationsclaire.venema@wsu.edu
Vice Chancellor of Finance and Administration
Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs
Kathleen McAteerVice Chancellor for Academic Affairs; Scholarly Associate Professor, BiologyFloyd 263Ekmcateer@wsu.edu
Contact
Biography
Kathleen McAteer earned her Ph.D. from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of South Carolina. Before she came to WSU Tri-Cities as a clinical assistant professor of biological sciences, she worked as a postdoctoral fellow at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory.
Her research has three focus areas:
1) Analysis of metabolism in pathogen bacteria to gain a better understanding of the infection process, 2) Analyzing metabolic changes in filamentous fungi mutants to determine their utility in bioprocessing, and 3) Characterization of immobilized enzymes in hydrogels to determine the optimal properties for these solutions as threat-detection agents.
As the vice chancellor for academic affairs, Dr. McAteer is the chief academic officer for the campus and leads the AVID for Higher Education student success initiative. She received the President’s Distinguished Teaching Award for non-tenure track faculty at Washington State University in 2015.
Research and Graduate Education
Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Studies
Christine V. Portfors, Ph.D.Vice Chancellor for Research and Graduate Education, WSU Tri-Cities and WSU Vancouverportfors@wsu.edu
Senior Director of Development
Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs and Outreach
Biography
Dr. Chris Meiers previously served as Associate Vice Chancellor of Student Services at the University of Kansas Medical Center. His experience in higher education includes positions as a registrar, admissions counselor, financial aid director, fitness center director, ombudsman, and clinical assistant professor.
He earned his Ph.D. in Educational Psychology and Research from the University of Kansas in 2010 with a dissertation on “Item Response Theory Scaling of an Academic Medical Center Student Satisfaction Survey.” Dr. Meiers received his Master of Science in Educational Administration and his Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry at Fort Hays State University.
As the Vice Chancellor, Dr. Meiers provides visionary leadership and strategic direction to our comprehensive services and programs in enrollment management and student affairs, including recruitment, retention, financial aid, registration, career services, counseling services, and student involvement.
Interim Assistant Vice Chancellor for Enrollment
Area Human Resource Administrator
Director of Marketing & Communication
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