Staff Stakeholder Session
November 22, 2005
1. The Learning Experience: Establish and sustain a superlative learning experience that builds upon the unique values and attributes of WSU.
- Boost student retention rates through proactive programs including revised admission standards, academic probation, remediation and confidence building and mentoring.
- Make childcare available to student parents.
- Support students at all levels of academic performance including high achieving, middle-range and poorly performing students.
2. Pre-eminence in research and scholarship: Strengthen our performance as a nationally recognized research university by focusing on our competitive advantages, enhancing our scholarship, emphasizing a multidisciplinary approach to research, and collaborating with government, industry and other institutions to enhance economic growth and the quality of life.
- After prioritizing research goals, establish a timeline for achieving these goals.
- Strengthen recruitment efforts for leading faculty and continue to support research.
- Make better use of WSU’s competitive advantage as an urban university.
- Move section in existing plan on student research to strategic direction on learning experience.
- Increase public awareness of WSU research activities.
3. Quality of Campus Life: Enhance the quality of life on campus by nurturing a culture of success and excellence.
- Encourage more interaction between students, faculty and staff through programs such as intramural sports.
- Provide opportunities for more experiential learning outside of the classroom.
- Tie student employees pay to academic progress.
- Construct a multi-purpose athletic facility for basketball and hockey.
- Enhance Division II athletic programs in preparation for a move to Division I.
- Improve the operations of the Office of International Students and Scholars (OISS) as well as Admissions and Financial Aid.
- Improve customer service across campus and train employees how to transfer calls.
- Move forward on establishing a campuswide customer service program.
- Offer transportation alternatives for commuters such as carpools, shuttles and van services.
- Build a new student center.
4. Engaged University: Develop mutually beneficial partnerships with our community as catalysts for the social, cultural, economic and educational enrichment of the region.
- Through public relations, more aggressively communicate our community engagement.
- Engage older elementary students and start them thinking about college and WSU.
- Impact K-12 education to help ensure student success and place a greater emphasis on middle school learning programs.
- Obtain corporate sponsorships for new programs engaging K-12 students.
- Work with alumni to help development programs for K-12 students and create new ways to get alumni back to campus.
- Analyze the Kalamazoo public schools program guaranteeing college tuition for graduates and determine if such a program would be suitable for the Detroit Public Schools.
- Construct a conference center to better engage and interact with the community.
- Look at ways to utilize unifying themes and activities, such as team sports, to create a more cohesive campus community.
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.
- Increase size of staff and increase accountability of units.
- Change start time for evening classes from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- Create more feedback and information for admitted students.
- Eliminate math and writing competency tests necessary for graduation.
- Strengthen the relationship between graduate students and the Graduate School.
- Increase record keeping and data collection on students.
- Offer more Web-based courses.
- Increase academic support for all students, not just those in the honor’s program.
- Create an Office of Commuter Student Affairs and Office of Diversity Affairs.
- Promote stronger masters’ programs and strengthen English, Theatre and Philosophy departments.
- Strengthen existing freshmen orientation programs.
- Increase outreach to high school students and hold K-12 schools accountable for student preparation.
- Offer additional initiatives for student retention and increase opportunities for student contact with advisors.
- Offer peer counseling for new students.
- Ensure that international faculty members possess adequate verbal communication skills and can be easily understood by students.