Dear WSU Colleagues,

As the academic year draws to a close, I want to thank you for your continued commitment and the impact you make as we work on the WSU System Strategic Plan. I am excited to share a brief update on some of the progress we have made in the past year and highlight some notable achievements.

• Goal Area Priorities
  Last Fall, we put into action four system-level priorities to achieve our system strategic plan goals, and we established a coordinating council to guide the plan’s implementation. We also piloted a new implementation process this spring to monitor our progress in accomplishing our annual strategic plan priorities. Thanks to our systemwide collaborations, we have achieved significant progress among our four goal areas. These include the creation of a dedicated Student Retention Council, targeted initiatives to enhance our large research grant proposals, and a concerted effort to prepare for our reclassification by Carnegie as a community-engaged university.
• Updated Vision
  In November, a new vision statement was introduced as a part of the annual update for our system strategic plan. This new vision statement emphasizes the strengths of each campus and location. Drive to 25 was also formally retired with recognition for the great work done under that vision.
• Develop and refine strategic planning processes
  Over the past year, we established processes for strategic planning and reporting on a system-level, including standards for strategic planning and alignment. These standards will help us to operate more cohesively, efficiently, and effectively, while also ensuring that planning efforts among campuses, colleges, and units are aligned with the system’s strategic goals and objectives.

Looking ahead, our next steps in the implementation of our strategic plan include:

1. Following the successful pilot of our new implementation process, we are poised to broaden the scope of our system priorities by introducing additional strategic objectives for the WSU System. In addition, we will introduce a more transparent reporting process, where anyone can track our progress through a regularly updated online report that will be available on the system strategic plan website.
2. As our current strategic plan comes to a close at the end of 2024, this Fall we will launch a planning process for 2025-2030 system plan and invite you to participate. This will include several opportunities to engage and share your voice as we chart the path for WSU to 2030 and beyond.

We look forward to sharing a comprehensive report that highlights our achievements for fiscal year 2023, which will be available in the Fall. We recognize that our success in implementing the strategic plan depends on the collective efforts of every member of the WSU community. We are grateful for your contributions and look forward to continuing to work together to achieve our mission.

Christine R. Hoyt
Vice President for Strategy, Planning, and Analysis

View our system strategic plan | Learn more about the Office of Strategy, Planning, and Analysis