Staff Stakeholder Session
October 28, 2005
Wayne State University staff members were asked to offer ideas and provide input on updating three of the five strategic directions contained in the current strategic action plan. The three directions focus on the learning experience, the creation of an engaged university and educational opportunities for renewal and advancement. Below you will find a summary of their comments.
1. Learning experience: Establish and sustain a superlative learning experience that builds upon the unique values and attributes of WSU.
- Determine if students need additional programs and organizations to create a greater sense of campus cohesiveness.
- Explore the possibility of creating a variety of niche programs and services for various student markets.
- Implement a university-wide customer service initiative.
- Offer more 24-hour retail establishments and add new restaurants to campus.
- Enrich the social environment for students by creating more student organizations, including fraternities and sororities.
- Monitor transfer students and provide academic assistance if necessary.
- Participate in decisions about expanding regional transportation options for students, faculty and staff.
- Work to improve the perception of Detroit that can negatively impact WSU.
- Foster organizational change to support new initiatives and programs.
- Upgrade facilities and buildings.
- Look at low-cost alternatives to applying for Division I status for WSU athletics; invest in specific sports that add to the university’s prestige.
4. Engaged university: Develop mutually beneficial partnerships with our community as catalysts for the social, cultural, economic and educational enrichment of the region.
- Expand community partnerships.
- Increase our commitment to poorly prepared students.
- Look at ways of building additional support and loyalty among alumni.
- Determine who is providing the university with the greatest political support, be it industry or government.
- Balance the needs of full-time students with those of part-time, working students.
- Explore opportunities for partnerships with U of M, MSU and other Michigan public universities.
- Strengthen K-12 and community college partnerships; offer additional dual enrollments programs.
- Investigate innovative programming with the Detroit Public Schools.
- Expand the Macomb and Oakland centers where the population is increasing.
- Publicize WSU’s value to the community as an educational and community resource.
- Aggressively recruit Southeast Michigan’s top high school students.
5. Educational opportunities for renewal and advancement: Enhance and increase educational opportunities both for the benefit of Michigan citizens and to attract others to the state from throughout the world.
- Focus on providing seamless delivery of student services to improve campus life.
- Offer freshman orientation as a one-credit course.
- Improve the quality of information on campus kiosks.
- Develop a student resource guide.
- Increase faculty availability for struggling students; provide assistance to students who fail proficiency tests.
- Create a retention task force.
- Expand work study programs and offer more paid internships.
- Increase the number of student advisors.
- Provide greater resources to the Admissions offices to meet the needs of a growing university.
- Enhance efforts to reach out and recruit Detroit students.
- Address problems with closed classes and how it impacts the time it takes for students to earn a degree.
- Aggressively lobby state legislative leaders on the value of WSU.
- Recognize the importance of financial aid with increasing tuition.
- Make remediation programs a priority in improving student retention.