Sources have told The Seattle Times his departure came after tensions about his role at WSU boiled over into a major argument at a staff meeting, followed by a physical altercation in a hallway.

In a news release Friday, WSU President Elson Floyd said that "after discussions with deans, members of the senior faculty, vice presidents and others," he had "decided that it is not in the best interest of WSU that Dr. Hoch returns as provost."

But Hoch -- who became a tenured faculty member as part of his employment agreement -- will return as a professor of Russian and European history. His annual pay will be about $245,000, said university spokesman Tim Pavish. That is based on a faculty formula that awards classroom professors 9/11ths of the pay they received in an administrative role.