By Todd Mordhorst, Office of the Provost
The university’s Strategic Plan establishes WSU’s priorities and guides decision making at all levels. The WSU community is invited to participate in composing the next Strategic Plan, which will guide the university through 2024.
The Drive to 25 is WSU’s overarching aspiration to become one of the top 25 public research universities in the nation by the year 2030. The Strategic Plan will reinforce the themes within the Drive to 25 and provide shorter‑term goals that build momentum for the Drive to 25 vision.
Input from faculty, staff, students and the rest of the WSU community is critical to forming a Strategic Plan that is inclusive and embodies the scope of the university’s enterprise. The planning process will:
- Promote proactive thinking and community engagement
- Involve internal and external stakeholders
- Assist with planning for resource allocation and tactical action plans
- Promote stability over time
- Prepare WSU to evolve as the context and environment of higher education changes
“WSU’s success follows from how well our strategic plan reflects our WSU community’s shared goals and values, and so I am asking everyone to participate in the planning process,” says Erica Austin, vice provost for academic affairs. “We will hold lots of dialogue sessions, and we also invite feedback online.”
The university has made significant, measurable strides under its current Strategic Plan. Just a few examples of projects and initiatives that resulted from WSU’s 2014‑19 Strategic Plan are:
- The Grand Challenge and Student Success funded projects, which were funded internally and have subsequently drawn funding from external sources
- The increase in academic preparedness, and diversity of our student population
- The establishment of our campus in Everett and steady increase in enrollment at WSU Everett
Our annual Strategic Plan progress reports cite many more examples of how our strategic planning efforts lead to tangible progress in areas that affect the entire WSU community. The reports include metrics for improvement and progress, as well as narrative examples of the Plan in action.
For further details on the strategic planning process and ongoing dialogue sessions, visit the Strategic Plan website.
