2008-2013 Strategic Plan available

By Communications staff, Washington State University
PULLMAN — WSU’s Board of Regents approved an update to the university’s strategic plan on 
Aug. 29 at its regular monthly meeting. Today, faculty, staff, students and citizens can view the new strategic plan in print, online and in PDF format.
 
Below is a copy of the 2008-2013 Strategic Plan for your convenience.
 

To go to the Strategic Plan Web site, the following link.

 
For a PDF version of the plan click here
.
 
 

 

 

Introduction: Refreshing Our Vision for the Future
 
 
Washington State University launched an extensive effort to envision its goals for the next five years and to restate in contemporary terms the mission, vision, and values espoused by our university com­munity. That work resulted in this 2008-2013 Strategic Plan.
 
Elson S. Floyd, president

In June of 2007, when I became WSU’s 10th president, I recognized that the 2002-2007 Strategic Plan had been very instrumental in moving Washington State University to a new level of excellence in service to its stu­dents and to the people of the state of Washington. Core elements of the plan were sound and remained relevant, yet it was time for the University com­munity to refresh its Strategic Plan and set out clear aspirations for our shared work ahead.

 
In collaboration with then Provost Robert C. Bates, I appointed a 23-mem­ber Strategic Planning Committee to lead the university-wide effort to renew the university’s plan. This standing presidential committee includes faculty and staff representing vice presidential areas, various academic disciplines and university locations, as well as repre­sentatives of the Associated Students of WSU and the Graduate and Profes­sional Student Association.
 
I charged the committee with peri­odically reviewing and updating the WSU Strategic Plan, soliciting input on the plan from the university commu­nity, overseeing the implementation of the plan through review of progress toward goals, and producing an annual strategic planning report.
 
Throughout the process leading to this Strategic Plan, the committee en­gaged the WSU community in shared review and discussion of the directions we wished to set. Active participa­tion and transparency were ensured through open forums on each campus, surveys to garner ideas, and draft docu­ments available online for review and comment. Hundreds of faculty, staff, and students participated in the effort and their ideas were influential in shaping the final form of our plan.
 
This exchange of ideas has stimu­lated an innovative restatement of our goals as we respond to the challenges we face and the opportunities we have before us. I want to thank all who have participated in the process for their commitment to this effort as we work to achieve our aspirations as a preemi­nent land-grant research institution in the years to come. This Strategic Plan sets out a vision for the future and provides guidance for decision-making that will have a profound and posi­tive impact on scholarly excellence in selected areas, the academic experience of our students, and the service we provide.
 
Elson S. Floyd, Ph.D., President
 

 

 



 

 

2008-2013 Strategic Plan

 

 

Vision
 
Washington State University will be recognized as one of the nation’s leading land-grant research universities.
 

 

Mission
 
Washington State University is a public research university committed to its land-grant heritage and tradition of service to society. Our mission is threefold:
 
  • To advance knowledge through creative research and scholarship across a wide range of academic disciplines.
  • To extend knowledge through innovative educational programs in which emerging scholars are mentored to realize their highest potential and assume roles of leadership, responsibility, and service to society.
  • To apply knowledge through local and global engagement that will improve quality of life and enhance the economy of the state, nation, and world.
 

Values
 
  • Quality and Excellence: We are committed to maintaining quality and excellence in all our endeavors.
  • Integrity, Trust, and Respect: We are committed to being an institution that demonstrates trust and respect for all persons and cultivates individual and institutional integrity in all that we do.
  • Discovery, Innovation, and Creativity: We are committed to the pursuit of inquiry and discovery and to the creation and dissemination of knowledge.
  • Land-grant Ideals: We are committed to the land-grant ideals of access, engagement, leadership, and service to bring the practical benefits of education to the state, nation, and global community.
  • Diversity and Global Citizenship: We embrace a worldview that values diversity and cultural differences and recognizes the importance of global interdependence and sustainability.
  • Freedom of Expression: We are committed to being a community that protects the free exchange of ideas while encouraging dialog that is constructive and civil.
  • Stewardship and Accountability: We are committed to being ethical and responsible stewards of University resources and to being accountable for upholding the full scope of these values.
 
 
 
 

Strategic Goals
 
 

Goal 1

 
  • Achieve national and international preeminence in innovation, discovery, and creativity.
  • Attract and retain a diverse faculty and staff of the highest academic stature.
  • Promote programs of discovery and creativity that are broad and robust.
  • Invest in and promote identified and emerging areas of preeminence.
  • Support interdisciplinary programs that foster integrative and collaborative scholarship.
 
 


Goal 2

Provide a premier education and transformative experience that prepares students to excel in a global society.
  • Develop and support outstanding graduate programs.
  • Ensure an infrastructure that supports excellence and adapts to advances in knowledge and technology.
  • Provide high-impact learning experiences that engage students.
  • Foster core competencies in our learners.
  • Significantly improve retention and graduation rates of our students.
 
 


Goal 3

Lead in relevant local, national, and global outreach and engagement.
  • Market our premier education to a diverse and global audience.
  • Consult with, assist, and learn from Washington and international businesses and organizations.
  • Aid informed decision-making and progressive public policy development that leads to better-informed governments.
  • Fuel the new economy with innovative ideas.
 


Goal 4

Embrace an environment of diversity, integrity, and transparency.
  • Be a responsible big enterprise known for best practices and high ethical standards and for providing an exemplary environment for scholarship, learning, and work.
  • Create an institutional culture in which diversity is the norm.
 
 
 

 

 

Indicators and Benchmarks

 



Goal 1

Innovation, discovery, and creativity

Progress will be benchmarked by:

  • AAU indicators at or above AAU peer institutional averages
  • Faculty productivity/quality indicators at or above peer average
  • Center and program project grants compared to target
  • Academic expenditures at or above AAU peer average
  • Library expenditures per faculty FTE compared to peer average
 
 

AAU indicators

  • Competitively funded federal research support
  • Membership in the National Academies
  • National Research Council faculty quality ratings
  • Faculty arts and humanities awards, fellowships, and memberships
  • Citations
  • USDA, state, and industrial research funding
  • Postdoctoral appointees
  • Endowment assets
  • Annual giving
  • Fculty Productivity/Quality Indicators
  • Faculty in leadership positions or with fellowship status in societies
  • Juried, adjudicated, or externally vetted performances, shows, and designs
  • Sponsored research expenditures per faculty FTE
  • Publications/citations per faculty FTE
 



Goal 2

A transformative student experience

Progress will be benchmarked by:

  • AAU, NSSE, and student experience indicators at or above AAU/peer average
  • State accountability measures at or above target
  • SAT scores of entering first-time freshmen compared to peers
  • Graduate enrollment as a percent of total enrollment compared to target Library expenditures per student FTE compared to peer average
  • AAU, NSSE andStudentExperienceIndicators
  • Distribution of Ph.D.’s across broad disciplinary categoriesAAU
  • Ph.D.’s awarded annually AAU
  • Student-to-faculty ratio NSSE
  • Student-to-faculty interactions NSSE
  • Level of academic challenge NSSE
  • Active collaborative learning NSSE
  • Enriching educational experiences NSSE
  • Supportive campus NSSE
  • Bachelor’s graduates with one or more of the following learning experiences: research, scholarly, and creative activities that are mentored, original, appropriate to the discipline, and disseminated; internship or practicum experience; international experience; and civic engagement activity
 
 
 
State Accountability Measures
  • Professional degrees awarded
  • Bachelor’s degrees awarded
  • Graduate degrees awarded
  • High-demand bachelor’s degrees awarded
  • Six-year graduation rate
  • Three-year graduation rate
  • Freshman retention
  • Undergraduate efficiency
 
 


Goal 3

Relevant local and global engagement

Progress will be benchmarked by:

  • Curricular engagement  indicators at or above target
  • Outreach and partnership indicators at or above target
  • Faculty conducting engaged scholarship8 compared to peer average
 
 

Curricular Engagement Indicators:

  • Academic courses with community-based learning
  • Distance degree students earning bachelor’s degrees
  • Distance degree students earning advanced degrees
  • International programs and student participation
 
 

Outreach and Partnership Indicators

  • Public service expenditures as reported to IPEDS
     
  • Endowment funds earmarked for community engagement
  • Extramural international development dollars
  • Partnerships with external organizations aligned with WSU areas of expertise
  • Extension and professional education offerings
  • Volunteer enrollment in WSU community-based programs
  • Small Business Development Center client hours, loans/capital obtained
  • Invention disclosures received
  • Licenses/options executed
  • Start-up businesses resulting from WSU research
  • Impact on societal needs (qualitative and illustrated by examples)
 
 

Goal 4
 
An environment of diversity, integrity, and transparency

Progress will be benchmarked by:

  • Best practices at or above target
  • Responses to employee survey at or above target
  • Diversity indicators at or above target
  • Best Practice Indicators
  • Administrative
  • Financial
  • Social (students, employees, communities, constituents)
  • Ethical
  • Transparency (University governance, policies, and procedures)
  • Employee Survey
  • Results of regular employee surveys on communication, accessibility of University information, and institutional integrity.
 
 

Diversity Indicators

  • Underrepresented undergraduate students
  • Underrepresented graduate/professional students
  • Bachelor’s degrees awarded to underrepresented students
  • Graduate/professional degrees awarded to underrepresented students
  • High-demand bachelor’s degrees awarded to underrepresented students
  • Retention rates for underrepresented freshmen compared with overall freshman retention rate
  • Six-year graduation rates for underrepresented students compared with overall 6-year graduation rate
  • Three-year graduation rates for underrepresented transfer students compared with overall 3-year graduation rate
  • Undergraduate efficiency for underrepresented students compared with overall undergraduate efficiency
  • Mean percentile ranking compared to other institutions on selected diversity questions in NSSE
  • Underrepresented faculty and staff as compared with other universities in Washington
 
For a full PDF version of the Strategic Plan report, click here.

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