Progress and Priorities
When we fulfill our goals, we are serving the needs of our communities.
The WSU System Strategic Plan is not just a document to put on the shelf. Developing a culture of planning and data-informed decision-making are critical components of a modern, high-performing institution. This is a strategic imperative for WSU as well.
To help us better accomplish the goals outlined in our strategic plan, we are introducing a system-level priority for each of our four goal areas. Each of these priorities includes a metric and target we feel is achievable to help us make key progress on our goals.
Kirk Schulz
President, Washington State University
Learn about our system-level priorities
Goal 1: Research, Innovation, & Creativity
System Priority: Increase total R&D expenditures by 5% from $357.6M to $375.5M.
Increasing our total R&D expenditures means we are serving the needs of our communities.
METRIC:
Total R&D expenditures
OBJECTIVE & TARGET:
Increase total R&D expenditures by 5% from $357.6M to $375.5M.
WHY IS THIS METRIC IMPORTANT?
- Shows what we are good at and what we actually do.
- A key indicator related to economic impact and growth, innovation, and progress.
- Tells a story about the productivity of our faculty overall.
- Indicator of fiscal stability.
- Core component of WSU’s land-grant mission.
Goal 2: Student Experience
System Priority: Reduce the retention gap between our overall group and our first-generation, Pell-eligible, and students of color by 1% per year.
Reducing retention gaps is the key to ensuring we prepare tomorrow’s leaders.
METRIC:
First to second year retention
OBJECTIVE & TARGET:
Reduce the retention gap between our overall group and our first-generation, Pell-eligible, and people of color by 1% per year
WHY IS THIS METRIC IMPORTANT?
- Educational equity: reduce the opportunity gaps so all students succeed at WSU.
- Helps to promote the educational, social, and economic well-being of the state by providing high-quality graduates for our industries/occupations.
- Key contribution to overall enrollment and fiscal stability of the institution.
- Core component of WSU’s land-grant mission
Goal 3: Outreach, Extension, Service, & Engagement
System Priority: Consensus on a shared definition of community engagement, metrics to be used, and a system-wide tool for data collection.
We need measurable data in order to gauge our community engagement and impact.
METRIC:
Community Engagement
OBJECTIVE & TARGET:
Consensus on a shared definition of community engagement, metrics to be used, and a system-wide tool for data collection.
WHY IS THIS METRIC IMPORTANT?
- Critical to building an engaged audience and strong network with the communities we serve.
- The more our community members’ voices are heard and valued, the strong connections we build with each other and the WSU brand.
- Demonstrate WSU’s impact throughout the state, nation, and world. Core component of WSU’s mission.
THE PROBLEM
- Institutional data we have provide some measures that correlate to engagement
- WSU lacks adequate evidence-based documentation to assess its success in this area.
- Siloed data collection
- Lack of a common reporting tool
THE SOLUTION
- Consistently define and measure community engagement using an established framework throughout the system.
- The Carnegie Classification for Engagement recognizes institutions for their efforts to collaborate with the community “for the mutually beneficial exchange of knowledge and resources in a context of partnership and reciprocity.”
Goal 4: Institutional Effectiveness and Infrastructure
System Priority: Reduce demographic reporting unknowns:
•Faculty from 32.7% to 10%
•Staff from 23.3% to 10%
Stronger reporting helps us better serve our students, faculty, and staff.
METRIC:
Faculty and staff demographics
OBJECTIVE & TARGET:
Reduce demographic reporting unknowns:
•Faculty from 32.7% to 10%
•Staff from 23.3% to 10%
WHY IS THIS METRIC IMPORTANT?
- Helps us identify equity gaps in recruitment, retention, compensation, promotion and tenure, and performance evaluations.
- Informs whether our efforts to decrease equity gaps are succeeding.
- Provides better representation and access to positions within higher education for people who have been under-represented.
- Enables WSU to recruit and retain students of color and under-represented minority students who can see themselves in WSU’s faculty and staff.
- Advantage of diverse perspectives and opinions.
2022 Strategic Plan Annual Report
Looking for institutional data? Check out the Institutional Research website.